Chamblee54

This is part three of my visitation with Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem, a podcast series about Israel and Palestine. FLNJ covers the time between 1890 and 1948, and was created by Darryl Cooper aka @MartyrMade. Other episodes are available: 041525 041825 042625 … Disclaimer This post is a greatly simplified view of what happened. For more information, you can listen to FLNJ, or google one of the many histories of this era.
April 19, 2025 I listened to FLNJ-5 on the morning walk without incident. This listening thing needs to go at a slower pace. Burnout is creeping in. The FLNJ story makes me think too much. So much of it corresponds to current events, controversies over historic events, and conflicts from my own life. I have eight hours to go on FLNJ.
There are several whatifs here. One involves the Ottoman Empire. Why did the OE ally with Germany in World War 1? If the OE had stayed neutral, or sided with the British and French, it would have changed a lot of things. When you deal with wikipedia level history, it simply seems like the Germans made the Turks a better deal than the British. See disclaimer above.
I spent much of saturday afternoon editing photographs, and listening to FLNJ-5. I don’t have a lot of product to show for it. Every few minutes, I would hear something the piqued my interest, and go looking for a transcript of it. A good example is this: 2:27:36 “Hitler never left those trenches you can see a few old pictures of Adolf Hitler sporting a normal mustache in the early days of the war the shortened mustache tucked under his nose that was a modification made in order to allow a soldier’s gas mask to seal against his skin during an attack”
Later, at 2:34:17, there was a long quote from Winston Churchill. “Just a month before Hitler was discharged from the German Army, in March 1920, Winston Churchill had published that editorial … called Zionism Vs Bolshevism … ‘the international Jews were engaged in quote a worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization. There is no need to exaggerate the part played in the creation of Bolshevism and in the actual bringing about of the Russian Revolution by these International and for the most part atheistical Jews.’
FWIW, Winston Churchill … who Darryl Cooper famously called the real villain of World War II … was a staunch supporter of Zionism. “… as colonial secretary in the 1920s, Churchill took steps that enabled 300,000 Jews to emigrate to Palestine … As prime minister, in 1941, he proclaimed that “I was one of the authors” of Zionist policy. Indeed, among the lengthy catalogue of criticisms of Churchill was that “He was too fond of Jews.”
April 20, 2025 I come in from my morning walk shaking with rage. FLNJ-5 is at 4:43:00. Israel has declared Independence, the British are leaving, and the Nakba is going strong. Darryl tells some confirmed stories of Israeli atrocities, during the ethnic cleansing of the Arab population.
I HAVE F$$$ED UP. I am not listening to FLNJ-5, but FLNJ-6. I should have looked closer at the screen. Apparently, when I switched from youtube to mp3, I started back with the wrong file. I suspected that something was up last night. At one point, there was a gap. First, we were at Hitler’s rise to power, which had obvious implications for the Zionist project. Next, it was 1946, and the Irgun terrorist movement was in full flower. After realizing my mistake, I think I understand why. I will find where I was in FLNJ-5, and start over. Unfortunately, when I get to the Nakba in FLNJ-6, I will have to listen a second time.
April 21, 2025 I am now 8 days into this project, one day longer than it would have taken Douglas Murray to record it. I am at 3:52:23 of FLNJ-5, and burnout is setting in. Files from other podcasts that I enjoy are piling up.
Monday morning means a new episode of “Blocked and Reported.” This week features Episode 257, Faux POC Poetry. I am part of a poetry community that is run by POC. This should be entertaining.
April 22, 2025 When I got back from my morning walk, I was at 5:21:11 of FLNJ-5. The various situations are not improving. Germany is lurching towards war, and the “final solution.” British Mandate Palestine is descending into chaos, with the elimination of Arabs on the horizon.
There are many, many things to learn from FLNJ-5. The Mandatory British Administration of Palestine is a disaster for the Arabs. An Arab revolt was suppressed by the British and Zionists, with the trademark cruelty of all anti-insurgencies. Torture, collective punishment, and limitless “collateral damage” are all present. An estimated 10% of the Arab population in Palestine died. The British Army is forcing Arab prisoners to ride on the hood of trucks, as human shields against land mines. The rhetoric of this era could have been spoken today.
In the early nineties, I read A Child of the Century by Ben Hecht, a journalist, screenwriter, and piece of work. During the last days of the Mandatory Government, Mr. Hecht became involved with the Irgun … a notorious para-military outfit in Palestine. Mr. Hecht proudly used the term “terrorists” to describe the Irgun. I read this during a time when Israeli propaganda made “terrorist” synonymous with Palestinians. The evening news was full of leaders saying the name Yassir Arafat, pause, terrorist. Using the t-word to describe a Zionist force struck me as highly ironic. FWIW, the term “terroriste” was coined in 1794, during the French Revolution.
April 23, 2025 This is #nationalpoetrymonth. Every day in April, I post a picture poem from my archives. Today it is In Jerusalem. The text is based on Ecclesiastes 1, and the pictures are “added value” shots of the American flag.
Whirleth about continually dim, Preacher was King over Israel’s fate, Have been before me in Jerusalem, That which is crooked cannot be made straight, I gave my heart to know how wisdom sings, Generation passeth away below, There is no remembrance to former things, Increaseth knowledge Increaseth sorrow.
A month after October 7, I was working on another poem, Cha Cha Part Two. One of the lines was “Ecclesiastical Abomination,” which rhymes with “Cultural Appropriation.” … FWIW, the poem was a celebration of white people who like to dance. … I was working on the pictures, and glanced at twitter. I saw a video of PM Netanyahu saying, there is a time for war. I began crying, and could not stop. By then, the exponential over-retaliation of Israel was all full display, for those who could see. This was truly an Ecclesiastical Abomination.
The FLNJ series runs 22:54:47. (FLNJ-1 – 2:21:05, FLNJ-2 – 3:18:52, FLNJ-3 – 1:44:03, FLNJ-4 – 4:25:58, FLNJ-5 – 5:35:43, FLNJ-6 – 5:30:07) Mileage may vary. Today’s pictures are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the facebook picture in April 1941. “Saturday night in barroom. Southside of Chicago, Illinois” · selah