Israeli Caterpillar bulldozers are so symbolic of settler violence and brutality towards Palestinians; they are literal death machines. D9 bulldozers are sold by Caterpillar Inc., based in the US, and are equipped with armor and can be fitted with machine guns and grenade launchers. The nickname for these machines in Israel is “Doobi” - meaning teddy bear.
In 2004, Human Rights Watch called on Caterpillar to suspend bulldozer sales to Israel because of their use in the demolition of Palestinian property and infrastructure. Caterpillar makes military specifications for the D9 and sells them to Israel as weapons under the U.S Foreign Military Sales program, upon arrival, they are armored by Israel Industries Ltd. Before Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, D9s were used to demolish over 2,500 Palestinian homes in Gaza, most being in Rafah where the Israeli Government tried to expand a “buffer zone” along the border with Egypt. This was almost 20 years ago.
Massafer Yatta is another Palestinian village that has been under threat of Israeli demolitions for years now and was greenlit for destruction. Bulldozers crushed the village’s school and destroyed the homes of 121 families in the area. The Palestinians who had their homes crushed by the bulldozers were forced to live in caves (which they were forbidden to even renovate), it is a decision between leaving their land and community or trying to build a new home that will be demolished by Israelis.
Palestinians throughout the West Bank know that the arrival of a bulldozer means the same thing time and time again: “You have 24 hours to flee, or we will shoot you.” There are countless towns/villages/communities that have faced demolitions by the IOF throughout the decades of Israel’s existence, I couldn’t even begin to name all of them here.
Outside of home and public infrastructure demolitions, the military bulldozers are also used in Israeli raids. In August this year (2023), the IOF raided Nablus in the Balata refugee camp, accompanied by a military bulldozer that destroyed several homes. I can’t even pick a date for raids in Jenin refugee camp, which has been raided continuously this year and years before, but Israeli bulldozers have been filmed tearing up streets in Jenin and leaving them in rubble, making the roads unusable.
And now, we have not only gotten the confirmation that these D9s will be used in Gaza but images, testimonies, and videos of them being used on Gazan homes and infrastructure. They are also being used to crush Palestinians to death just as Rachel Corrie had been in 2004, just as those Palestinian families had been in 2002-2004, and (extreme trigger warning for mutilation of a corpse) videos are circulating of Israelis flattening already deceased Palestinians with bulldozers out of pure contempt for us. Almost 20 years since Israel demolished thousands of homes in Gaza (not even including the genocidal bombings campaigns and the blockade Israel has placed on Gaza for years), now they’re back destroying anything in their path.
I will repeat: these bulldozers are death machines and are designed to be so. Caterpillar is complicit, the US is complicit, and both are actively benefiting from the mass murder and displacement of Palestinians. Keep your eyes on Gaza but also remember the Armenian Quarter and the West Bank, all of Palestine is under threat of demolitions.
While it’s somewhat criminal to think that 15 years after ONEW’s debut with SHINee in 2008 we only just received his first full Korean album, the singer-songwriter himself would say that now was the perfect time for Circle. A musical journey unlike anything released this year, ONEW shared that he had attempted to record the album’s title track before dropping his Dice EP in early 2022, but felt it wasn’t at the level of perfection it deserved and held onto the song. ONEW then involved himself in every aspect of Circle‘s production process, from meticulous mixing and mastering to tuning, beats, recording and mastering, attesting to the singer-songwriter’s dedication to artistic expression.
The single “O (Circle)” opens the album with an intriguing blend of electronica and strings, while its gospel-tinged chorus emphasizes lyrics about the circular nature of life and how memories, feelings and dreams are all fleeting. The 10 tracks on Circle develop unique transformations from start to finish: the breezy melodies in “Cough” are paired with loneliness-themed lyrics and a melancholy instrumental breakdown, while “Rain on Me” starts with aggressive acoustic guitar strumming before transitioning into an atmospheric, percussive ballad. Sweet surprises abound, too: ONEW scats on the jazz-rap hybrid “Caramel” and gives a glimpse into his indie-rock side on “Parachute.”
The album’s effortless flow is anchored by ONEW’s famously solid yet understated vocals. As Circle concludes with the tender piano ballad “Always” which addresses themes of loyalty and resilience, the listener wonders if it’s an allegory for ONEW’s public journey through health challenges, including vocal cord surgery. Even without any writing credits on Circle, ONEW’s presence is undeniably felt in this seamless collection that boasts an emotional depth brought on by 15 years in the game. That’s the kind of introspection you can’t rush or doctor through A&R but need to cycle through and arrive at when the moment is right. From scheduling this album’s release to the messages on the final track, time is definitely on ONEW’s side to deliver such a project.
#1 ONEW, Circle - The 1st Album!!!!
Congratulations Jinki on having your album listed as the #1 kpop album of the year by Billboard Magazine! AS IT DESERVES!
There is a heart wrenching video of a father who went to buy biscuits for his son only to return and find out his son and the man’s wife had both been killed by an Israeli air strike. He is seen putting the pack of biscuits in his son’s hand and saying “take it with you to heaven”.
There is an indescribable pain to all of this, and I don’t know what Israel thinks it’s doing by ripping everyone’s heart out like this if not to make the whole world resent the mere mention of it.
I don’t think the question we should be asking at this point is “how do you justify this?” anymore, even if rhetorically. We need to understand that it is simply irrational to expect an occupying power that built itself on ethnic cleansing to provide any means of reasoning.
This is genocide, you don’t debate genocide and you don’t rationalise genocide.
I don’t care what you do, but speaking about Palestine doesn’t suffice anymore. Speak louder, force people to have uncomfortable conversations, call whoever the heck your representative is, go out to rallies if you can, push others to do the same - this is unlike anything we have seen.
Bisan brings up an excellent point about disabled Palestinians. Palestinian liberation is a climate, racism all problems. It is everyone’s business.
Video transcription (includes sign language part):
[Text says “People with disabilities in the Bombing”]
Bisan: Hey everyone. Have you ever thought about the people with disabilities in Gaza? I mean those people with disability in the hearing. How can they hear the bombings and just escape? Those who cannot move, those who cannot see the road in front of them, how can they escape? How can they just survive this? Okay, so during the past few days, I’ve been hearing more and more stories. One of them was on X (Twitter) and a girl was talking about an old woman. She was blind and she was killed during a bombing on the neighbourhood that they’re living in. And another friend yesterday –he’s deaf– and he was talking about those people who were killed. Some of his neighbours were killed because they did not hear the soldiers, the Israeli soldiers, warning them. So, yeah. No one is safe in Gaza. You can just see the video of this friend, and I’ll be translating his signs.
[Video cuts to a man speaking in sign language.]
Hello everyone. Hope you’re doing well. I know people from the deaf community. They were displaced at to Khaleefa school in Jabalia - North of Gaza. They were three - and they were all killed! The Israeli soldiers told them to stop while they were escaping! But they didn’t hear, so they shot and killed them! [Man shows his phone with a picture of the three boys in it on the right.
There’s arabic text on the left that translates to
“Let’s all just be diplomatic to each other here because there’s nothing we can do” the way sentiments like this make my skin crawl and blood boil -some of y'all act like Canada isn’t a white settler country with a contiuum of violence in its history and current politics… such a willfully IGNORANT statement to make.
Sam 34(minsam2), The Untamed
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