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  • Alison Weir trending on social media – what the buzz is about
    [email protected] August 31, 2024 Alison Weir, Boykin, council for the national interest, Religious Freedom Coalition, William J. Murray
    Alison Weir at National Press Club, May 2011 (screengrab)
    If Americans Knew founder Alison Weir experienced harassment and assault in 2011 for telling the truth about Palestine and Israel. The ideology behind the attack is alive and well today.

    A video has gone viral of an angry Israel partisan knocking Alison Weir’s phone out of her hand in 2011. Below is a longer video (three minutes) of what went on before that moment: Israel partisans were yelling outlandish, Islamophobic claims not based on fact. (The participants were not aware they were being filmed.)

    Alison was attempting to give important facts to a prominent general, who was listening attentively to what she was sharing – this seemed to be what drew the ire of the other people in the room.

    Below the video, find Alison’s account of the incident, written at the time, including who she was talking to and who hit her phone.

    Further down is more factual information about Christians and Muslims in Palestine.

    Alison Weir experienced this harassment and assault in 2011 – but the ideology behind it is alive and well today.



    “Israel Is Not Alone” member knocks phone out of my hand – Press TV films incident

    (from Alison Weir’s blog, May 2011)

    We had just completed a CNI press briefing at the National Press Club, when the next group scheduled to use the room, “Israel Is Not Alone,” began to enter. One of their members saw our signs and began a discussion with a member of the CNI group. The conversation was heated but within appropriate bounds. Another “Israel Is Not Alone” member, however, then approached the CNI man in a somewhat threatening posture and loudly began to berate him.

    At that point Lt. Col Karen Kwiatkowski, who had spoken on our panel, thought she recognized the man and he was asked his name. At first he only gave his first name, Jerry, but eventually also gave his last name: Boykin.

    Lt. Gen Boykin (three stars) is known for making offensive statements about Islam and supporting Israel.

    For some reason, I actually thought I might be able to convince him to rethink his positions. I told him I had been born at West Point and tried to tell him about Palestine. I was holding a booklet from our press conference, and asked him fervently to read it. He didn’t say anything.

    As I was trying to describe the facts, another man came up and began haranguing me. He was almost shaking with fury. He yelled that Muslims tear the fingernails off Christians and similar things. I tried to answer him, but he shouted over everything I tried to say. I got my phone out and tried to video what he was yelling at me. I then tried to resume my conversation with Boykin and tell him about my first trip to Palestine, but the man continued shouting at me, drowning out my words, so I again tried to video what he was yelling at me. He suddenly violently hit my hand and phone, knocking the phone across the room.

    I was stunned. A bit shaken, I asked someone to get security, which they did. Some of the “Israel Is Not Alone” group, probably realizing that their member had just crossed a serious line and was guilty of battery, brought me the pieces of my phone (fortunately, and surprisingly, it still works). The man (I haven’t yet learned his name) proffered an unconvincing apology.

    Some people have suggested that I file charges. It turns out that a Press TV crew apparently filmed the whole incident and led off with part of it on their broadcast about our conference. You can see the video and news report here.

    I’m undecided about filing charges. I know that if the situation were reversed, they would do so.

    I don’t know what’s behind this angry, disturbed man. Was he angry because he was spreading such venomous lies? Or is it that the people behind “Israel Is Not Alone” are exploiting a vulnerable man and intentionally creating or fueling his rage?

    Text of Press TV report:

    Tempers flared at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, DC .

    A pro Israeli advocate knocked a camera out of the hands of Alison Weir, President of the Council for the National Interest Foundation. The group just finished their press conference on what they call unjustifiable US Aid to Israel.

    The two sides met when the Press Club scheduled a pro Israeli news conference to follow held in the same room. The altercation illustrates heightened tensions on differing views regarding America’s relationship with Israel.

    The Council for the National Interest Foundation wants Americans to know how much of their tax dollars are going to Israel.

    CNIF alleges Israel receives so much aid and special treatment because the US Congress is controlled by AIPAC, America’s pro Israel lobby. Executive director Phillip Giraldi says Israel spends a lot of money on U.S. elections.

    The Council for the National Interest Foundation says many members of Congress fear, if they don’t always side with Israel, that they will face retaliation in their own re-election campaigns.

    Giraldi is a former CIA counter terrorism expert. He questions why America gives aid to Israel when Israel conducts more espionage for profit against the US than any other US friendly country.

    Retired Lt. Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski worked at the Pentagon and says Israel receives preferential treatment.

    Kwiatkowski believes America is beginning to take more interest in US foreign policy in the Middle East in large part due to tough economic times. More and more Americans want to know where their hard earned tax dollars are going and why.

    Update on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 11:55AM by Alison Weir

    I’ve just learned that the furious man was William J. Murray, chair of the “Religious Freedom Coalition.”

    Update on Friday, January 31, 2014 at 05:50PM by Alison Weir

    I later learned the name of my assailant: William J. Murray.

    Murray is the head of something called The Religious Freedom Coalition, a fervently anti-Muslim organization. He is also, apparently, the son of infamous atheist proponent Madeline Murray O’Hare.

    I consulted an attorney about the incident, and he advised me to file a police report since Murray’s actions seemed to constitute “assault and battery.”

    I filed a police report and then waited and waited. Finally, the detective in charge of determining whether or not to prosecute Murray decided not to do so. The detective’s name is in another notebook somewhere. As I recall, it was Rosenbaum or something similar.

    What is the truth about Palestinian Christians?

    IN BRIEF: The loudest of Alison’s detractors in the video (and the one who assaulted her), William J. Murray, insisted that Muslims in Palestine have been persecuting Christians “since Israel ceded [Bethlehem] to Muslims.” He added that the drop in the Christian population of Bethlehem was proof of Muslim oppression.

    For starters, Israel did not “cede” Bethlehem to Muslims. Bethlehem is in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. It is governed by the Palestinian Authority – a Palestinian regime, not Muslim.

    In 1922, Christians made up about 85 percent of the population of Bethlehem (see Andrea Pacini’s Socio-Political and Community Dynamics of Arab Christians in Jordan, Israel, and the Autonomous Palestinian Territories. Clarendon Press, 1998).

    In 1945, Bethlehem’s population was 8,820 (6,430, or 73 percent Christians; 2,370 or 27% Muslims),

    By 1967, the Christian population had dropped slightly (6,231 vs. 6,430 in 1945), while the Muslim population had more than tripled (8,169 vs. 2,370 in 1945). The dramatic increase in the Muslim population was due mostly to Israel’s ethnic cleansing, both in 1948 and in 1967, during which a large Muslim population was forced into exile, thousands of whom ended up in refugee camps in Bethlehem.

    The Christian population has continued to dwindle, due not to persecution by Muslims, but to the intolerable life under Israeli occupation. Christians were more easily able to emigrate, as they on the whole were more liquid, while Muslims were more often tied to the land as farmers. Muslims have also been emigrating, in smaller numbers; those who stay tend to have larger families than Christians.

    Christians and Muslims – and Jews – have lived together in relative harmony throughout history. It was only with the beginning of Jewish colonialist pursuits that the trouble began. Indigenous Palestinians welcomed Jewish refugees, but did not approve of their aspiration to take over the land and create a Jewish state.

    Further reading about Christians in Palestine:

    VIDEO: Armenian Christians under siege by Israel
    Prominent Israeli Settler Says Spitting on Christians ‘Ancient Jewish Custom’
    Christians come under attack as Israeli leaders get more extreme
    Sacred Christian site Emmaus destroyed by Israel
    Israel severely restricts Orthodox Easter celebration in Jerusalem
    Does Israel Permit Freedom of Worship? Are Palestinian Christians Doomed?
    Hundreds of Israelis disrupt prayers in oldest Christian monastery In Palestine
    Israel is not as Christian-friendly as you think

    https://israelpalestinenews.org/alison-weir-trending-social-media-buzz/
    Alison Weir trending on social media – what the buzz is about [email protected] August 31, 2024 Alison Weir, Boykin, council for the national interest, Religious Freedom Coalition, William J. Murray Alison Weir at National Press Club, May 2011 (screengrab) If Americans Knew founder Alison Weir experienced harassment and assault in 2011 for telling the truth about Palestine and Israel. The ideology behind the attack is alive and well today. A video has gone viral of an angry Israel partisan knocking Alison Weir’s phone out of her hand in 2011. Below is a longer video (three minutes) of what went on before that moment: Israel partisans were yelling outlandish, Islamophobic claims not based on fact. (The participants were not aware they were being filmed.) Alison was attempting to give important facts to a prominent general, who was listening attentively to what she was sharing – this seemed to be what drew the ire of the other people in the room. Below the video, find Alison’s account of the incident, written at the time, including who she was talking to and who hit her phone. Further down is more factual information about Christians and Muslims in Palestine. Alison Weir experienced this harassment and assault in 2011 – but the ideology behind it is alive and well today. “Israel Is Not Alone” member knocks phone out of my hand – Press TV films incident (from Alison Weir’s blog, May 2011) We had just completed a CNI press briefing at the National Press Club, when the next group scheduled to use the room, “Israel Is Not Alone,” began to enter. One of their members saw our signs and began a discussion with a member of the CNI group. The conversation was heated but within appropriate bounds. Another “Israel Is Not Alone” member, however, then approached the CNI man in a somewhat threatening posture and loudly began to berate him. At that point Lt. Col Karen Kwiatkowski, who had spoken on our panel, thought she recognized the man and he was asked his name. At first he only gave his first name, Jerry, but eventually also gave his last name: Boykin. Lt. Gen Boykin (three stars) is known for making offensive statements about Islam and supporting Israel. For some reason, I actually thought I might be able to convince him to rethink his positions. I told him I had been born at West Point and tried to tell him about Palestine. I was holding a booklet from our press conference, and asked him fervently to read it. He didn’t say anything. As I was trying to describe the facts, another man came up and began haranguing me. He was almost shaking with fury. He yelled that Muslims tear the fingernails off Christians and similar things. I tried to answer him, but he shouted over everything I tried to say. I got my phone out and tried to video what he was yelling at me. I then tried to resume my conversation with Boykin and tell him about my first trip to Palestine, but the man continued shouting at me, drowning out my words, so I again tried to video what he was yelling at me. He suddenly violently hit my hand and phone, knocking the phone across the room. I was stunned. A bit shaken, I asked someone to get security, which they did. Some of the “Israel Is Not Alone” group, probably realizing that their member had just crossed a serious line and was guilty of battery, brought me the pieces of my phone (fortunately, and surprisingly, it still works). The man (I haven’t yet learned his name) proffered an unconvincing apology. Some people have suggested that I file charges. It turns out that a Press TV crew apparently filmed the whole incident and led off with part of it on their broadcast about our conference. You can see the video and news report here. I’m undecided about filing charges. I know that if the situation were reversed, they would do so. I don’t know what’s behind this angry, disturbed man. Was he angry because he was spreading such venomous lies? Or is it that the people behind “Israel Is Not Alone” are exploiting a vulnerable man and intentionally creating or fueling his rage? Text of Press TV report: Tempers flared at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, DC . A pro Israeli advocate knocked a camera out of the hands of Alison Weir, President of the Council for the National Interest Foundation. The group just finished their press conference on what they call unjustifiable US Aid to Israel. The two sides met when the Press Club scheduled a pro Israeli news conference to follow held in the same room. The altercation illustrates heightened tensions on differing views regarding America’s relationship with Israel. The Council for the National Interest Foundation wants Americans to know how much of their tax dollars are going to Israel. CNIF alleges Israel receives so much aid and special treatment because the US Congress is controlled by AIPAC, America’s pro Israel lobby. Executive director Phillip Giraldi says Israel spends a lot of money on U.S. elections. The Council for the National Interest Foundation says many members of Congress fear, if they don’t always side with Israel, that they will face retaliation in their own re-election campaigns. Giraldi is a former CIA counter terrorism expert. He questions why America gives aid to Israel when Israel conducts more espionage for profit against the US than any other US friendly country. Retired Lt. Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski worked at the Pentagon and says Israel receives preferential treatment. Kwiatkowski believes America is beginning to take more interest in US foreign policy in the Middle East in large part due to tough economic times. More and more Americans want to know where their hard earned tax dollars are going and why. Update on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 11:55AM by Alison Weir I’ve just learned that the furious man was William J. Murray, chair of the “Religious Freedom Coalition.” Update on Friday, January 31, 2014 at 05:50PM by Alison Weir I later learned the name of my assailant: William J. Murray. Murray is the head of something called The Religious Freedom Coalition, a fervently anti-Muslim organization. He is also, apparently, the son of infamous atheist proponent Madeline Murray O’Hare. I consulted an attorney about the incident, and he advised me to file a police report since Murray’s actions seemed to constitute “assault and battery.” I filed a police report and then waited and waited. Finally, the detective in charge of determining whether or not to prosecute Murray decided not to do so. The detective’s name is in another notebook somewhere. As I recall, it was Rosenbaum or something similar. What is the truth about Palestinian Christians? IN BRIEF: The loudest of Alison’s detractors in the video (and the one who assaulted her), William J. Murray, insisted that Muslims in Palestine have been persecuting Christians “since Israel ceded [Bethlehem] to Muslims.” He added that the drop in the Christian population of Bethlehem was proof of Muslim oppression. For starters, Israel did not “cede” Bethlehem to Muslims. Bethlehem is in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. It is governed by the Palestinian Authority – a Palestinian regime, not Muslim. In 1922, Christians made up about 85 percent of the population of Bethlehem (see Andrea Pacini’s Socio-Political and Community Dynamics of Arab Christians in Jordan, Israel, and the Autonomous Palestinian Territories. Clarendon Press, 1998). In 1945, Bethlehem’s population was 8,820 (6,430, or 73 percent Christians; 2,370 or 27% Muslims), By 1967, the Christian population had dropped slightly (6,231 vs. 6,430 in 1945), while the Muslim population had more than tripled (8,169 vs. 2,370 in 1945). The dramatic increase in the Muslim population was due mostly to Israel’s ethnic cleansing, both in 1948 and in 1967, during which a large Muslim population was forced into exile, thousands of whom ended up in refugee camps in Bethlehem. The Christian population has continued to dwindle, due not to persecution by Muslims, but to the intolerable life under Israeli occupation. Christians were more easily able to emigrate, as they on the whole were more liquid, while Muslims were more often tied to the land as farmers. Muslims have also been emigrating, in smaller numbers; those who stay tend to have larger families than Christians. Christians and Muslims – and Jews – have lived together in relative harmony throughout history. It was only with the beginning of Jewish colonialist pursuits that the trouble began. Indigenous Palestinians welcomed Jewish refugees, but did not approve of their aspiration to take over the land and create a Jewish state. Further reading about Christians in Palestine: VIDEO: Armenian Christians under siege by Israel Prominent Israeli Settler Says Spitting on Christians ‘Ancient Jewish Custom’ Christians come under attack as Israeli leaders get more extreme Sacred Christian site Emmaus destroyed by Israel Israel severely restricts Orthodox Easter celebration in Jerusalem Does Israel Permit Freedom of Worship? Are Palestinian Christians Doomed? Hundreds of Israelis disrupt prayers in oldest Christian monastery In Palestine Israel is not as Christian-friendly as you think https://israelpalestinenews.org/alison-weir-trending-social-media-buzz/
    ISRAELPALESTINENEWS.ORG
    Alison Weir trending on social media - what the buzz is about
    Alison Weir experienced harassment and assault in 2011 for talking about Palestine. The ideology behind the attack is alive and well today.
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  • US approves “historic” $20B arms sale to Israel, as Gazans die – Day 311
    [email protected] August 14, 2024 ben gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, ceasefire, free speech on campus, Iran, israeli gang rape, Josep Borrell, palestine olympics head, twins in gaza, weapons to israel
    Destroyed buildings last month in Beit Lahia, one of the northernmost cities in the Gaza Strip.Credit...Omar Al-Qattaa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo)
    More weapons for Israel; newborn twins killed in Gaza; Israel shoots American activist; two Palestinians killed in West Bank; Israel detains Palestine Olympic head; California mulls anti-free speech on campus bill; Ben Gvir leads provocative march on Temple Mount; EU leader calls for sanctions against Israeli Smotrich for calls to starve Gazans; house arrest for gang-rape suspects; yes, Netanyahu has been messing with ceasefire details;

    Iran says Europe’s silence on “inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged Israel to continue atrocities while threatening global peace; more.

    By IAK staff, from reports.

    US State Department Approves Over $20 Billion Arms Package for Israel

    AntiWar reports: On Tuesday, the State Department approved a series of potential weapons sales to Israel worth over $20 billion that includes F-15 fighter jets and tank munitions. The approval comes as Israeli airstrikes continue to slaughter civilians in Gaza, including newborn twins who were killed hours before the State Department announced the new support for Israel.

    Ha’aretz reports the transaction as “among the most significant arms sales to Israel in American history.”

    In total, the US announced five new arms deals for Israel. The biggest is for 50 F-15 fighter jets and related equipment, worth $18.8 billion. Israel will also receive $102.5 million in advanced air-to-air missiles, about 33,000 120mm tank cartridges worth $774 million, 50,000 high-explosive 120mm mortar rounds worth $61.1 million, and $583.1 million worth of medium tactical vehicles.

    It’s unclear how much of the massive weapons sale will be funded by US military aid. The announcement came a few days after the State Department said it was releasing $3.5 billion in military assistance for Israel in the form of Foreign Military Financing, a program that gives foreign governments money to buy US weapons.

    It will take years before the F-15s and other weapons will be delivered to Israel, although, according to Reuters, the tank rounds would be almost immediately available for delivery. The notification begins a period where Congress could potentially block the sales, but it’s expected to breeze through since only a few dozen progressive Democrats are opposed to arming Israel.

    The U.S. has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October, U.S. officials told Reuters in June.

    RECOMMENDED READING: Rafah attack: Netanyahu’s lies expose the truth about Israel

    An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)
    An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images) (photo)
    Newborn twins killed in Israeli strike in Gaza as father collects their birth certificates

    Andalou Agency reports: Newborn twins were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday as their father went to collect their birth certificates.

    The two babies were born on Saturday in the city of Deir al-Balah, but an Israeli strike on their apartment shattered the family’s joy of their newborns.

    “I have just obtained the birth certificates for my newborn babies Aysel and Asser,” their father Mohammad Abu al-Qumsan told Anadolu as tears rolled down his cheeks.

    “They were born on August 10. I was outside the house, finalizing the paperwork, and then I got the call… I didn’t expect to find them all gone.”



    Israeli hardliner Ben-Gvir “put lives at risk” with Jerusalem prayer call

    Reuters reports: Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound known to Jews as Temple Mount, and said Jews should be allowed to pray there, freshly challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied there would be any change to rules prohibiting Jews from praying at the site, which is holy to Muslims as well.

    The Al-Aqsa compound, revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples, is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and under rules dating back decades, Jews are allowed to visit, but may not pray there.

    “Our policy is to allow prayer,” Ben-Gvir said as he passed a line of Jewish visitors who prostrated themselves on the ground, while others sang and clapped their hands in celebration. The Waqf, the foundation that administers the site, said around 2,250 Jews entered the site on Tuesday.

    The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Ben-Gvir’s visit as a “provocation” and called on the U.S. to intervene “if it wants to prevent the region from exploding in an uncontrollable manner”.

    HA’ARETZ ADDS: What happened on the Temple Mount Tuesday categorically puts lives at risk, and is further evidence of the chaos being caused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and his irresponsible leadership.

    National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and another minister ascended the Temple Mount (known as Al-Aqsa to Muslims), and dozens of Jewish visitors prayed on the compound in violation of the status quo. All this happened in front of the police who were stationed there, but they refrained from enforcing the ban on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

    The fact that Ben-Gvir oversees the police doubles the threat he poses, because the police exist in part to deal with criminals like him. But when the criminal is the very minister in charge of the police, who can you turn to? When the person endangering national security is the minister in charge of preserving it, what do you do?

    And the helplessness becomes absolute when you realize the prime minister can’t be relied upon in this situation, since Netanyahu is the one who appointed Ben-Gvir despite very well knowing that he is dangerous.


    An American was just shot in the West Bank. The American press can’t be bothered.

    DropSite News reports: Last Friday, Amado Sison, an activist from New Jersey with the solidarity group Faz3a, joined fellow demonstrators near the West Bank village of Beita. In an interview with Drop Site after being discharged from the hospital, Sison said he was taking part in a “protective presence” exercise aimed at defending Palestinian citizens living in the West Bank from settler and military violence.

    “The Palestinians were holding a rally and doing chants, when Israeli soldiers at a nearby outpost started shooting tear gas and aiming weapons at us,” said Sison. “

    This was only my second demonstration, but some of the more experienced demonstrators shouted that live rounds were being fired and everyone began to run.”

    Sison and others ran from the gunfire into a nearby olive grove. It was then that he felt a “blunt impact” in the back of his leg. He initially thought he had been hit by a tear gas canister.

    It turned out to have been a live bullet, which entered his thigh and exited from the front of his leg.

    In video of the incident taken by Anthony C., an activist with Faz3a, and provided to Drop Site, a group of protesters and local Palestinians can be seen screaming as they attempt to carry a wounded Sison to safety after the shooting.

    (Read the full article here.)

    West Bank: Two Palestinian young men killed by Israeli forces

    WAFA reports: A Palestinian teenager succumbed to serious wounds he sustained earlier Tuesday after being shot by Israeli occupation forces in the town of Anata, east of occupied Jerusalem.

    The Jerusalem Governorate Media Department said in a statement that Shadi Wisam Shehada, 17, was shot by the Israeli occupation in the town of Anata while he was working at his privately-owned car wash shop in the area, for allegedly throwing stones at the occupation soldiers.

    Another Palestinian young man, Moataz Sarsour, was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces during a raid on the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh at Tuesday dawn.

    Shadi Wisam Shehada and Moataz Sarsour, killed by Israeli forces
    Shadi Wisam Shehada and Moataz Sarsour, killed by Israeli forces (photo)
    Israeli authorities detain head of the Palestine Olympic Committee

    Middle East Eye reports: Jibril Rajoub, who is also a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, was reportedly detained by Israeli authorities upon his return from the Paris Olympics while en route to the occupied West Bank.

    The 71-year-old was searched, had his passport confiscated, and was summoned for questioning at the Ofer military compound near Ramallah on Tuesday.

    Rajoub has previously faced threats of imprisonment from some members of the Israeli government due to his efforts to have Israel barred from the Olympics and the football World Cup, citing violations of the Olympic Charter and FIFA regulations against apartheid in sports.

    In May, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened to revoke Rajoub’s travel pass.

    “We will work to thwart his plans, and if he doesn’t stop, we will imprison him in the Muqataa [presidential compound in Ramallah], where he will be left to play stanga by himself between the walls,” Katz said, referring to a popular Israeli street game involving a football.

    Anti-free speech California bill inspired by opposition to pro-Palestine campus protest

    The Intercept reports: A bill making its way through the California legislature would stifle free speech on public university and college campuses, specifically around protests against Israel’s war in Gaza and its occupation of Palestine, according to civil rights advocates.

    The American Civil Liberties Union in California is ringing the alarm bell on Senate Bill 1287, saying that it will “set a dangerous precedent of chilling speech on campuses across the state.”

    The bill, introduced in February by Democratic state Sen. Steve Glazer, would require schools to adopt and enforce rules against harassment, discrimination, or any behavior that “creates a hostile environment on campus.”

    The bill’s supporters include a host of pro-Israel advocacy groups. [Glazer has made many trips to Israel and lived in Israel for six months working on a kibbutz.]

    Among the bill’s most vocal detractors has been ACLU California Action, which said in a letter sent last week to Glazer’s office that the bill would suppress free speech. In the letter, obtained by The Intercept, the ACLU highlighted areas of the bill that are “overly broad” and vague, such as leaving terms like “harassment,” “discrimination,” and “hostile environment” with no clear definitions that may allow institutions to apply them in ways that prohibit students’ free speech.

    Across the U.S., lawmakers on the state and federal level have introduced bills cracking down on campus protests. In Congress, Republican lawmakers proposed a slate of bills, including measures that would revoke visas and deport any international student convicted of a crime related to protests on campus; bar students convicted of a protest-related crime from receiving financial aid; make federal accreditation and funding for schools contingent on their policies toward protests; barring a student of faculty member from student loan forgiveness if they are expelled or fired due to protests; and withholding federal funds from schools that don’t clear encampments.

    Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee who is behind several of the bills, also introduced one that would require a student convicted of a protest-related offense to do community service in Gaza for six months.

    (Read the full article here.)

    RECOMMENDED READING: Unmasking counterprotesters who attacked UCLA’s pro-Palestine encampment

    In early May, police arrested around 200 protesters from the anti-war encampment at UCLA, with the campus police restricting access to the area, and police helicopters hovering overhead.
    In early May, police arrested around 200 protesters from the anti-war encampment at UCLA, with the campus police restricting access to the area, and police helicopters hovering overhead. (photo)
    Iran says silence of UK, France, Germany on “inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged Israel to continue atrocities while threatening global peace

    The Cradle reports: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a phone call that the silence of the international community in the face of Israel’s “unprecedented and inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged it to continue committing atrocities while threatening regional and global peace and security, IRNA reported on 13 August.

    Pezeshkian added that war in any part of the world is not in the interest of any country while emphasizing that a “punitive response to an aggressor is a legal right of states and a way to stop crime and aggression.”

    Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani issued a similar message Tuesday, saying the Islamic Republic will defend its national security and sovereignty and does not ask for permission to exercise its rights.

    Kanaani made the statement in response to a letter published by the UK, France, and Germany, urging Iran not to retaliate for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 1 August.

    The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the three European countries have been indifferent to Israel’s continued “genocidal acts and war crimes against defenseless Palestinians.”

    He stated that the European nations’ request that Iran not respond to the Hamas leader’s assassination would “encourage the criminals to continue massacre, genocide, and crime against humanity.”

    The spokesman said if those mentioned countries were really after peace and stability in the region, they should stand against Israel and seek to end the war on Gaza and the killing of children and women.

    Israeli troops accused of gang raping Palestinian detainee released on house arrest

    The Cradle reports: The Israeli military attorney’s office and defense lawyers agreed on the release to house arrest of the five soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian man in the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp, Haaretz reported in Hebrew on 13 August.

    The Israeli army spokesman said the five soldiers will be released to house arrest for 10 days during the investigation.

    On 8 August, a leaked surveillance video from Sde Teiman was broadcast on Israeli news network Channel 12, showing the Israeli soldiers gang-raping the Palestinian man.

    Members of the Knesset and Hebrew media have strongly criticized the military for detaining the soldiers, arguing that it is morally acceptable to do anything to Hamas fighters, including rape.

    Military police officers who arrested the soldiers have faced death threats.

    Israel’s military advocate general, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi responded to criticism over the arrests by saying they were crucial for shielding Israel from war crimes charges in international courts and ensuring continued weapons deliveries from the US and European nations.

    RECOMMENDED READING: Hostages of Israeli revenge in the Gaza Strip: Testimonies of 100 released Palestinian detainees reveal crimes of torture, cruel treatment.



    Documents confirm Netanyahu responsible for obstructing Gaza ceasefire

    New York Times reports: For weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has denied that he is trying to block a cease-fire deal in Gaza by hardening Israel’s negotiating position.

    Mr. Netanyahu has consistently placed all blame for the deadlocked negotiations on Hamas, even as senior members of the Israeli security establishment accused him of slowing the process himself.

    But in private, Mr. Netanyahu has, in fact, added new conditions to Israel’s demands, additions that his own negotiators fear have created extra obstacles to a deal.

    According to unpublished documents reviewed by The New York Times that detail Israel’s negotiating positions, Israel relayed a list of new stipulations in late July to American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators that added less flexible conditions to a set of principles it had made in late May.

    The documents reviewed by The Times make clear that the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Netanyahu government has been extensive — and suggest that agreement may be elusive at the talks set to begin this week.

    (Read more here.)

    Israel defense ministry expects 100,000 disabled veterans by 2030, half to be related to mental health

    Ha’aretz reports: A recent forecast by the rehabilitation division of Israel’s Defense Ministry expects there to be 100,000 disabled IDF veterans by the year 2030, with half being related to mental health.

    According to the data, since October 7 the rehabilitation division has seen 10,056 wounded individuals. The Defense Ministry is now discussing a strategy to absorb and treat those wounded in the war, on top of approximately 62,000 disabled IDF veterans already being treated by the division before the war.

    NOTE: Over 92,000 Gazans have been injured in just ten months – at least 3,000 children have had a limb amputated. Mental health issues are widespread, including nearly every child in Gaza.

    Josep Borrell calls for sanctions against Israeli ministers for ‘incitement to war crimes’

    The Cradle reports: EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell [from Spain] said on 11 August that the bloc must consider imposing sanctions against Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for “incitement to war crimes.”

    Borrell urged the Israeli government to clearly dissociate itself from individuals who incite war crimes and to work seriously towards a ceasefire deal.

    The high-ranking EU official also denounced Ben Gvir for urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt all humanitarian aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip amidst the ongoing genocide.

    Finance Minister Smotrich’s comments about starving two million Gazans by withholding aid in exchange for Israeli captives as “sinister,” in stark contrast to the Israeli minister’s assertion that the approach is “justified and moral.”

    MORE NEWS:

    IMEMC Daily Reports.

    The Guardian: Why should US troops pay the price for Biden’s failure to rein in Netanyahu?

    Mondoweiss: The ICJ finds that BDS is not merely a right, but an obligation

    +972 Magazine: In Jenin and Tulkarem, Israel’s war on Palestinian armed resistance is failing

    CNN: Rep. Ilhan Omar will win primary in Minnesota, CNN projects, breaking ‘squad’ losing streak

    STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 13:

    Palestinian death toll from October 7 – August 13: at least 40,590* (39,965 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

    This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 625 in the West Bank (~145 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.

    Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

    Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

    At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
    At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
    About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
    2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
    Palestinian injuries from October 7 – August 13: at least 97,714 (including at least 92,294 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

    Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – August 13: ~1,486 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 331 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

    Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

    NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

    *Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.**

    Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.

    † For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

    Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

    Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
    Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
    Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
    Palestinians’ harrowing stories of rape by Israeli soldiers (including female soldiers)
    A Palestinian journalist visited Ismail Haniyeh’s home in Gaza to report on his death. Israel assassinated him too.
    I reported a piece for the New York Times on antisemitism. I found a major error, but the Times didn’t care.
    How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
    Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse
    Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf
    Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories
    “Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”
    Welcome to Hell
    More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own
    U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal
    Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West
    Searching for Gaza’s missing children
    What Would You Do With An Extra $320 Million?
    Assassination of Haniyeh an intentional, dangerous escalation – Parsi, Macgregor
    When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’
    Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
    Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct
    US Should Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu When He’s in Washington
    Airwars investigation: Israeli airstrikes uniquely lethal (video)
    Hesen Jabr paid the price of conscience
    Gaza genocide denial
    Why the news media’s job is to groom us
    ‘Disappeared, buried, detained’: The horrors of Gaza’s missing children

    https://israelpalestinenews.org/us-approves-historic-20b-arms-sale-to-israel-as-gazans-die-day-311/
    US approves “historic” $20B arms sale to Israel, as Gazans die – Day 311 [email protected] August 14, 2024 ben gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, ceasefire, free speech on campus, Iran, israeli gang rape, Josep Borrell, palestine olympics head, twins in gaza, weapons to israel Destroyed buildings last month in Beit Lahia, one of the northernmost cities in the Gaza Strip.Credit...Omar Al-Qattaa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo) More weapons for Israel; newborn twins killed in Gaza; Israel shoots American activist; two Palestinians killed in West Bank; Israel detains Palestine Olympic head; California mulls anti-free speech on campus bill; Ben Gvir leads provocative march on Temple Mount; EU leader calls for sanctions against Israeli Smotrich for calls to starve Gazans; house arrest for gang-rape suspects; yes, Netanyahu has been messing with ceasefire details; Iran says Europe’s silence on “inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged Israel to continue atrocities while threatening global peace; more. By IAK staff, from reports. US State Department Approves Over $20 Billion Arms Package for Israel AntiWar reports: On Tuesday, the State Department approved a series of potential weapons sales to Israel worth over $20 billion that includes F-15 fighter jets and tank munitions. The approval comes as Israeli airstrikes continue to slaughter civilians in Gaza, including newborn twins who were killed hours before the State Department announced the new support for Israel. Ha’aretz reports the transaction as “among the most significant arms sales to Israel in American history.” In total, the US announced five new arms deals for Israel. The biggest is for 50 F-15 fighter jets and related equipment, worth $18.8 billion. Israel will also receive $102.5 million in advanced air-to-air missiles, about 33,000 120mm tank cartridges worth $774 million, 50,000 high-explosive 120mm mortar rounds worth $61.1 million, and $583.1 million worth of medium tactical vehicles. It’s unclear how much of the massive weapons sale will be funded by US military aid. The announcement came a few days after the State Department said it was releasing $3.5 billion in military assistance for Israel in the form of Foreign Military Financing, a program that gives foreign governments money to buy US weapons. It will take years before the F-15s and other weapons will be delivered to Israel, although, according to Reuters, the tank rounds would be almost immediately available for delivery. The notification begins a period where Congress could potentially block the sales, but it’s expected to breeze through since only a few dozen progressive Democrats are opposed to arming Israel. The U.S. has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October, U.S. officials told Reuters in June. RECOMMENDED READING: Rafah attack: Netanyahu’s lies expose the truth about Israel An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images) An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images) (photo) Newborn twins killed in Israeli strike in Gaza as father collects their birth certificates Andalou Agency reports: Newborn twins were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday as their father went to collect their birth certificates. The two babies were born on Saturday in the city of Deir al-Balah, but an Israeli strike on their apartment shattered the family’s joy of their newborns. “I have just obtained the birth certificates for my newborn babies Aysel and Asser,” their father Mohammad Abu al-Qumsan told Anadolu as tears rolled down his cheeks. “They were born on August 10. I was outside the house, finalizing the paperwork, and then I got the call… I didn’t expect to find them all gone.” Israeli hardliner Ben-Gvir “put lives at risk” with Jerusalem prayer call Reuters reports: Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound known to Jews as Temple Mount, and said Jews should be allowed to pray there, freshly challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied there would be any change to rules prohibiting Jews from praying at the site, which is holy to Muslims as well. The Al-Aqsa compound, revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples, is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and under rules dating back decades, Jews are allowed to visit, but may not pray there. “Our policy is to allow prayer,” Ben-Gvir said as he passed a line of Jewish visitors who prostrated themselves on the ground, while others sang and clapped their hands in celebration. The Waqf, the foundation that administers the site, said around 2,250 Jews entered the site on Tuesday. The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Ben-Gvir’s visit as a “provocation” and called on the U.S. to intervene “if it wants to prevent the region from exploding in an uncontrollable manner”. HA’ARETZ ADDS: What happened on the Temple Mount Tuesday categorically puts lives at risk, and is further evidence of the chaos being caused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and his irresponsible leadership. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and another minister ascended the Temple Mount (known as Al-Aqsa to Muslims), and dozens of Jewish visitors prayed on the compound in violation of the status quo. All this happened in front of the police who were stationed there, but they refrained from enforcing the ban on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. The fact that Ben-Gvir oversees the police doubles the threat he poses, because the police exist in part to deal with criminals like him. But when the criminal is the very minister in charge of the police, who can you turn to? When the person endangering national security is the minister in charge of preserving it, what do you do? And the helplessness becomes absolute when you realize the prime minister can’t be relied upon in this situation, since Netanyahu is the one who appointed Ben-Gvir despite very well knowing that he is dangerous. An American was just shot in the West Bank. The American press can’t be bothered. DropSite News reports: Last Friday, Amado Sison, an activist from New Jersey with the solidarity group Faz3a, joined fellow demonstrators near the West Bank village of Beita. In an interview with Drop Site after being discharged from the hospital, Sison said he was taking part in a “protective presence” exercise aimed at defending Palestinian citizens living in the West Bank from settler and military violence. “The Palestinians were holding a rally and doing chants, when Israeli soldiers at a nearby outpost started shooting tear gas and aiming weapons at us,” said Sison. “ This was only my second demonstration, but some of the more experienced demonstrators shouted that live rounds were being fired and everyone began to run.” Sison and others ran from the gunfire into a nearby olive grove. It was then that he felt a “blunt impact” in the back of his leg. He initially thought he had been hit by a tear gas canister. It turned out to have been a live bullet, which entered his thigh and exited from the front of his leg. In video of the incident taken by Anthony C., an activist with Faz3a, and provided to Drop Site, a group of protesters and local Palestinians can be seen screaming as they attempt to carry a wounded Sison to safety after the shooting. (Read the full article here.) West Bank: Two Palestinian young men killed by Israeli forces WAFA reports: A Palestinian teenager succumbed to serious wounds he sustained earlier Tuesday after being shot by Israeli occupation forces in the town of Anata, east of occupied Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Governorate Media Department said in a statement that Shadi Wisam Shehada, 17, was shot by the Israeli occupation in the town of Anata while he was working at his privately-owned car wash shop in the area, for allegedly throwing stones at the occupation soldiers. Another Palestinian young man, Moataz Sarsour, was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces during a raid on the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh at Tuesday dawn. Shadi Wisam Shehada and Moataz Sarsour, killed by Israeli forces Shadi Wisam Shehada and Moataz Sarsour, killed by Israeli forces (photo) Israeli authorities detain head of the Palestine Olympic Committee Middle East Eye reports: Jibril Rajoub, who is also a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, was reportedly detained by Israeli authorities upon his return from the Paris Olympics while en route to the occupied West Bank. The 71-year-old was searched, had his passport confiscated, and was summoned for questioning at the Ofer military compound near Ramallah on Tuesday. Rajoub has previously faced threats of imprisonment from some members of the Israeli government due to his efforts to have Israel barred from the Olympics and the football World Cup, citing violations of the Olympic Charter and FIFA regulations against apartheid in sports. In May, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened to revoke Rajoub’s travel pass. “We will work to thwart his plans, and if he doesn’t stop, we will imprison him in the Muqataa [presidential compound in Ramallah], where he will be left to play stanga by himself between the walls,” Katz said, referring to a popular Israeli street game involving a football. Anti-free speech California bill inspired by opposition to pro-Palestine campus protest The Intercept reports: A bill making its way through the California legislature would stifle free speech on public university and college campuses, specifically around protests against Israel’s war in Gaza and its occupation of Palestine, according to civil rights advocates. The American Civil Liberties Union in California is ringing the alarm bell on Senate Bill 1287, saying that it will “set a dangerous precedent of chilling speech on campuses across the state.” The bill, introduced in February by Democratic state Sen. Steve Glazer, would require schools to adopt and enforce rules against harassment, discrimination, or any behavior that “creates a hostile environment on campus.” The bill’s supporters include a host of pro-Israel advocacy groups. [Glazer has made many trips to Israel and lived in Israel for six months working on a kibbutz.] Among the bill’s most vocal detractors has been ACLU California Action, which said in a letter sent last week to Glazer’s office that the bill would suppress free speech. In the letter, obtained by The Intercept, the ACLU highlighted areas of the bill that are “overly broad” and vague, such as leaving terms like “harassment,” “discrimination,” and “hostile environment” with no clear definitions that may allow institutions to apply them in ways that prohibit students’ free speech. Across the U.S., lawmakers on the state and federal level have introduced bills cracking down on campus protests. In Congress, Republican lawmakers proposed a slate of bills, including measures that would revoke visas and deport any international student convicted of a crime related to protests on campus; bar students convicted of a protest-related crime from receiving financial aid; make federal accreditation and funding for schools contingent on their policies toward protests; barring a student of faculty member from student loan forgiveness if they are expelled or fired due to protests; and withholding federal funds from schools that don’t clear encampments. Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee who is behind several of the bills, also introduced one that would require a student convicted of a protest-related offense to do community service in Gaza for six months. (Read the full article here.) RECOMMENDED READING: Unmasking counterprotesters who attacked UCLA’s pro-Palestine encampment In early May, police arrested around 200 protesters from the anti-war encampment at UCLA, with the campus police restricting access to the area, and police helicopters hovering overhead. In early May, police arrested around 200 protesters from the anti-war encampment at UCLA, with the campus police restricting access to the area, and police helicopters hovering overhead. (photo) Iran says silence of UK, France, Germany on “inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged Israel to continue atrocities while threatening global peace The Cradle reports: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a phone call that the silence of the international community in the face of Israel’s “unprecedented and inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged it to continue committing atrocities while threatening regional and global peace and security, IRNA reported on 13 August. Pezeshkian added that war in any part of the world is not in the interest of any country while emphasizing that a “punitive response to an aggressor is a legal right of states and a way to stop crime and aggression.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani issued a similar message Tuesday, saying the Islamic Republic will defend its national security and sovereignty and does not ask for permission to exercise its rights. Kanaani made the statement in response to a letter published by the UK, France, and Germany, urging Iran not to retaliate for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 1 August. The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the three European countries have been indifferent to Israel’s continued “genocidal acts and war crimes against defenseless Palestinians.” He stated that the European nations’ request that Iran not respond to the Hamas leader’s assassination would “encourage the criminals to continue massacre, genocide, and crime against humanity.” The spokesman said if those mentioned countries were really after peace and stability in the region, they should stand against Israel and seek to end the war on Gaza and the killing of children and women. Israeli troops accused of gang raping Palestinian detainee released on house arrest The Cradle reports: The Israeli military attorney’s office and defense lawyers agreed on the release to house arrest of the five soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian man in the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp, Haaretz reported in Hebrew on 13 August. The Israeli army spokesman said the five soldiers will be released to house arrest for 10 days during the investigation. On 8 August, a leaked surveillance video from Sde Teiman was broadcast on Israeli news network Channel 12, showing the Israeli soldiers gang-raping the Palestinian man. Members of the Knesset and Hebrew media have strongly criticized the military for detaining the soldiers, arguing that it is morally acceptable to do anything to Hamas fighters, including rape. Military police officers who arrested the soldiers have faced death threats. Israel’s military advocate general, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi responded to criticism over the arrests by saying they were crucial for shielding Israel from war crimes charges in international courts and ensuring continued weapons deliveries from the US and European nations. RECOMMENDED READING: Hostages of Israeli revenge in the Gaza Strip: Testimonies of 100 released Palestinian detainees reveal crimes of torture, cruel treatment. Documents confirm Netanyahu responsible for obstructing Gaza ceasefire New York Times reports: For weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has denied that he is trying to block a cease-fire deal in Gaza by hardening Israel’s negotiating position. Mr. Netanyahu has consistently placed all blame for the deadlocked negotiations on Hamas, even as senior members of the Israeli security establishment accused him of slowing the process himself. But in private, Mr. Netanyahu has, in fact, added new conditions to Israel’s demands, additions that his own negotiators fear have created extra obstacles to a deal. According to unpublished documents reviewed by The New York Times that detail Israel’s negotiating positions, Israel relayed a list of new stipulations in late July to American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators that added less flexible conditions to a set of principles it had made in late May. The documents reviewed by The Times make clear that the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Netanyahu government has been extensive — and suggest that agreement may be elusive at the talks set to begin this week. (Read more here.) Israel defense ministry expects 100,000 disabled veterans by 2030, half to be related to mental health Ha’aretz reports: A recent forecast by the rehabilitation division of Israel’s Defense Ministry expects there to be 100,000 disabled IDF veterans by the year 2030, with half being related to mental health. According to the data, since October 7 the rehabilitation division has seen 10,056 wounded individuals. The Defense Ministry is now discussing a strategy to absorb and treat those wounded in the war, on top of approximately 62,000 disabled IDF veterans already being treated by the division before the war. NOTE: Over 92,000 Gazans have been injured in just ten months – at least 3,000 children have had a limb amputated. Mental health issues are widespread, including nearly every child in Gaza. Josep Borrell calls for sanctions against Israeli ministers for ‘incitement to war crimes’ The Cradle reports: EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell [from Spain] said on 11 August that the bloc must consider imposing sanctions against Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for “incitement to war crimes.” Borrell urged the Israeli government to clearly dissociate itself from individuals who incite war crimes and to work seriously towards a ceasefire deal. The high-ranking EU official also denounced Ben Gvir for urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt all humanitarian aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip amidst the ongoing genocide. Finance Minister Smotrich’s comments about starving two million Gazans by withholding aid in exchange for Israeli captives as “sinister,” in stark contrast to the Israeli minister’s assertion that the approach is “justified and moral.” MORE NEWS: IMEMC Daily Reports. The Guardian: Why should US troops pay the price for Biden’s failure to rein in Netanyahu? Mondoweiss: The ICJ finds that BDS is not merely a right, but an obligation +972 Magazine: In Jenin and Tulkarem, Israel’s war on Palestinian armed resistance is failing CNN: Rep. Ilhan Omar will win primary in Minnesota, CNN projects, breaking ‘squad’ losing streak STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 13: Palestinian death toll from October 7 – August 13: at least 40,590* (39,965 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.] This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 625 in the West Bank (~145 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths. Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza. At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank). At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**. About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced. 2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. Palestinian injuries from October 7 – August 13: at least 97,714 (including at least 92,294 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.] Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – August 13: ~1,486 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 331 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured. Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%. NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers. *Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.** Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals. † For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics. Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here. Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated) Palestinians’ harrowing stories of rape by Israeli soldiers (including female soldiers) A Palestinian journalist visited Ismail Haniyeh’s home in Gaza to report on his death. Israel assassinated him too. I reported a piece for the New York Times on antisemitism. I found a major error, but the Times didn’t care. How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories “Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?” Welcome to Hell More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West Searching for Gaza’s missing children What Would You Do With An Extra $320 Million? Assassination of Haniyeh an intentional, dangerous escalation – Parsi, Macgregor When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’ Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct US Should Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu When He’s in Washington Airwars investigation: Israeli airstrikes uniquely lethal (video) Hesen Jabr paid the price of conscience Gaza genocide denial Why the news media’s job is to groom us ‘Disappeared, buried, detained’: The horrors of Gaza’s missing children https://israelpalestinenews.org/us-approves-historic-20b-arms-sale-to-israel-as-gazans-die-day-311/
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    US approves "historic" $20B arms sale to Israel, as Gazans die – Day 311
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  • Israel’s Rule of Law: It Exists Only for Jews

    Does anyone in Israel in a position of power truly understand what the expressions “human rights” and “rule of law” really mean?

    Developments over the past ten months in Gaza would suggest “No,” that Israel’s government, its legal system, and its constitution exist solely to empower the state to do whatever it wishes, which in the current version includes the genocidal elimination of the Palestinian people and the theft of their land and property to be incorporated into a Greater Israel that plausibly will include the already annexed Syrian Golan Heights as well as all of historic Palestine running from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

    But even given the fundamental dishonesty over the Jewish state and what it represents, there is something truly frightening about some recent developments which suggest that the long running United States government pander to Israel and its presumed interests have poisoned the chalice, making Americans absolutely complicit in the Israeli war crimes and other assorted crimes against humanity. And the level of control over Washington by Israel virtually guarantees that it will only get worse.

    I am, of course, referring to the recent state visit of the world’s leading war criminal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where he was worshipped by both Congress and the White House alike together with considerable fawning from the heavily Jewish-influenced media. Netanyahu, to put it succinctly, spoke for an hour in his address to the US Congress, emitting lie after lie. And the Congress critters responded with an outburst of love combined with total subservience, delivering 53 standing ovations, close to one per minute. The most exuberant ovation occurred when Netanyahu denounced the 50,000 or so demonstrators who surrounded the Capitol building to express their disgust at the Jewish mass murderer’s presence. Bibi called the protesters, some of whom were pepper-sprayed and arrested by a heavy police presence including 360 imported New York City Policemen fresh from their beatings of protesters at Columbia University, “useful idiots paid for by Iran.” That particular lie produced paroxysms of celebration among the leaping and waving Congressmen. Given that performance, does anyone need any confirmation that free speech seems to be off the agenda when it comes to Israel and the clowns who nominally represent the American people in Washington, who once upon time swore an oath to support the Constitution, but now consider speaking ill of the Jewish state to be a “hate crime.” Indeed, bills have been introduced in Congress to that effect.

    It is interesting to go through his speech to determine what Netanyahu was trying to accomplish and what lies he thought he could get away with. Actually, he did nothing but lie while blaming most of his neighbors, particularly Iran, for the turmoil that Israel has caused in the Middle East for the past 75 years. And predictably, much of the coverage of the Netanyahu appearance in the mainstream media on the following day was toothless and even laudatory. It generally reflected what was hailed as Bibi’s “fiery speech” that “did not give an inch” which vowed to continue fighting until “total victory” is achieved. “It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.” Ironically, Netanyahu was right about the clash of civilization though he was wrong about who represented which side: Israel backed completely by the US is pure evil. And the Netanyahu visit should be seen as a call to arms. The Jewish state is struggling economically and militarily in its war of extermination in Gaza and it knows it is not in any shape to take on Hezbollah and Iran, so it has decided to let the United States do the heavy lifting. Reading between the lines on what occurred in meetings with the two presidential aspirants as well as with a non-compos-mentis Joe Biden, it is clear that Netanyahu expects American boys and girls to do his fighting for him as well as covering the costs.

    American complicity in the genocide in Gaza as well as in two possible wars in Lebanon and Iran due to the Israeli embrace is a tragedy for all parties involved, but the damage being done to future generations of American citizens cannot be remedied. Our country has done many bad things, but this whole hearted alliance with unmitigated evil is a betrayal of the birthright of every American.

    So how low can you go, but the tale of Netanyahu visits Congress was soon joined by another truly awful story that demonstrates that there is no bottom to the evil in the minds and hearts of Israel’s leaders as well as among a large majority of the Israeli people, which Mondoweiss calls a “genocide from above and below.” Few Americans are aware of the atrocities that occur by virtue of what the Israelis choose to call their legal system. There is a body of law that is applicable to protect Jews and their interests, but where those interests collide with those of the native Palestinians, be they Christian or Muslim, only one outcome is acceptable even when something comparable to a legal procedure takes place. This has enabled the horrible settlement movement with something like 800,000 Jewish settlers having stolen Palestinian land and other property and has meant that Palestinians who were driven from their homes by force when Israel was founded have no ability to return to their own homes. At its most extreme, severely injuring or even killing a Palestinian, which occurs regularly, often at the hands of the heavily armed settlers, is a crime that is almost never prosecuted. To cite only one recent example, Palestinian-America journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was wearing a clearly visible journalist vest was shot and killed by an Israeli army sniper in May 2022. In spite of repeated demands that her murder be fully investigated, no one was ever identified or punished for the killing. Israel has also killed 20 other journalists in the past several years with no one being punished. Often Israeli soldiers stand by and watch crimes involving Jewish perpetrators, never interceding to help the Arab victim. If the Palestinians resist they are immediately labeled as “terrorists” and have no rights of self-defense against the occupiers, be they army or nominally civilians.

    A story that appeared a week after the Netanyahu visit illustrates perfectly the two-tiered justice in Israel and the occupied territories. There are currently nearly 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, the number having increased sharply since the war against Gaza began. Many are Gazans, but an increasing number are from the West Bank, which is also being targeted for “settlement” and eventual annexation. Many are held under what is referred to as “preventive detention,” in which they are not charged with a crime, do not appear in any court, and are held at the will of the Israeli army or police. In jail, they are frequently tortured and starved. If they are ever released, they show the signs of the torture and Israeli human rights groups, among other witnesses, have provided substantial evidence of what is taking place behind closed doors. Israel soldiers are, for their part, not shy about what they do to Palestinians, posting photos and videos online of dead Palestinians, torture in detention areas, and the gleeful destruction of Gazan homes and property.

    The story is as follows: There are a number of detention centers run by the Israeli Army that are generally used to torture Palestinians prisoners, not in the old fashioned “intelligence” role to obtain “information,” but just for the entertainment of the soldiers who are the jailers. Sde Teiman, one such center in the southern Negev desert region, recently made the news due to a particularly outrageous bit of torture engaged in by ten of the soldiers in charge of the prisoners. Conditions in Sde Taiman reportedly included

    “Electric shocks, amputations due to bad conditions, severe beatings, surgery without anesthesia, playing loud music until inmates’ ears bleed, deaths due to bad sanitary conditions, systematic torture and sexual abuse.”



    A Palestinian from Gaza was reported serially sodomized and otherwise raped at the detention site using various implements even including a cell phone which was inserted in the man’s rectum and turned on for the amusement of the Israeli soldiers. The victim also had a wooden stick inserted in similar fashion and it was believed that he was only one of a number of other prisoners who were treated in that same way, which appears to be systemic throughout the detention facilities run by the army. The activity was only exposed when the victim began bleeding heavily both internally and externally and was unable to walk with a “serious wound in his rectum area”, which may have occurred if or when the phone was removed from inside of him and he was taken to a hospital where what had taken place was revealed. The army, somewhat uncharacteristically, sent some military policemen to the center to detain the soldiers for questioning but the suspects fought back using pepper spray and building barriers. When nine of the men (one went AWOL) were eventually taken to a nearby military base at Beit Lid, the MPs were confronted almost immediately by an angry crowd of civilians, consisting largely of settlers and ultra-nationalists, led by several Likud party parliamentarians who demanded that the soldiers be set free. Something like a melee ensued. The unruly crowd chanted its support for torture and even called for the summary execution of the Palestinian prisoners, which has been an “option” supported by some in the Netanyahu government.

    The rioters were so aggressive that they actually broke into the Israeli military base and there was considerable support for their actions even coming from Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who said he was “shocked” to see IDF troops being detained for questioning “in a way that is suitable for arresting dangerous criminals.” He added that the soldiers were doing a “holy job” at the base. Far-right Knesset member Simcha Rotman called the troops “heroes,” instead attacking Israel’s “justice and enforcement systems” for detaining them.

    Typically, later in the day, when asked by the press about the rape accusations, US State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel refused to say whether gang raping and torturing Palestinian prisoners would be considered a war crime, even if conclusively demonstrated by witnesses and other evidence. Patel explained

    “So the reports of abuse are deeply concerning, and we have been clear and consistent with Israel and the IDF that they need to treat all detainees humanely and with dignity in accordance with humanitarian law.”

    He said that the US was going to let “due process” play out in this case. The western media that is bothering to cover the story are refusing to even use the word “rape” or “sodomy” in reference to the allegations, with the BBC describing how the soldiers are accused of “severely mistreating a Palestinian prisoner” while the New York Times prefers to call it “suspected abuse”.



    At the heart of the discussion is the fact that Israel’s Knesset uniquely has a proposed law that was first formulated in 2022 by current National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir which would give automatic immunity to any soldier or policeman who kills or seriously injures any Palestinian. The immunity does not apply if the victim is a Jew. The law still has not passed through parliament, but many conservatives in Israel believe it is the guideline used by the military and judiciary de facto. Ben-Gvir has, in fact, denounced the questioning of the nine men as “shameful,” adding that the Israeli security establishment should support the soldiers and “learn from the prison service: light treatment of terrorists is over. Soldiers need to have our full support.” Ben-Gvir is also supporting a separate bill that would authorize the systematic execution of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. It also does not apply to Jews. In a video statement, Ben-Gvir said that Israel should be able to kill Palestinian prisoners with a “shot to the head.” He also recommended that Palestinian prisoners be given just enough food to keep them alive until the execution law comes into effect.

    So, when it comes to human rights Israel lives in another parallel universe where there is one set of rules for Jews and other for gentiles. Perhaps the easily visible brutality evident in the recent Netanyahu speech to Congress coupled with stories like that out of Sde Teiman and the daily horror inflicted on the Gazans will bring about some kind of wake-up for the American public, which has been heavily propagandized and continues to believe in the myth of the perpetual victimhood of the Jewish people. The real victims of the “miracle of Israel” are those in western countries that the Jewish diaspora continues to buy and manipulate as well as the poor Palestinians who are forced to live under a form of daily repression and humiliation that is almost unimaginable.

    *

    Click the share button below to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

    Spread the Truth, Refer a Friend to Global Research

    This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

    Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [email protected].

    He is a regular contributor to Global Research.


    https://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-rule-law-exists-jews/5864268
    Israel’s Rule of Law: It Exists Only for Jews Does anyone in Israel in a position of power truly understand what the expressions “human rights” and “rule of law” really mean? Developments over the past ten months in Gaza would suggest “No,” that Israel’s government, its legal system, and its constitution exist solely to empower the state to do whatever it wishes, which in the current version includes the genocidal elimination of the Palestinian people and the theft of their land and property to be incorporated into a Greater Israel that plausibly will include the already annexed Syrian Golan Heights as well as all of historic Palestine running from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. But even given the fundamental dishonesty over the Jewish state and what it represents, there is something truly frightening about some recent developments which suggest that the long running United States government pander to Israel and its presumed interests have poisoned the chalice, making Americans absolutely complicit in the Israeli war crimes and other assorted crimes against humanity. And the level of control over Washington by Israel virtually guarantees that it will only get worse. I am, of course, referring to the recent state visit of the world’s leading war criminal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where he was worshipped by both Congress and the White House alike together with considerable fawning from the heavily Jewish-influenced media. Netanyahu, to put it succinctly, spoke for an hour in his address to the US Congress, emitting lie after lie. And the Congress critters responded with an outburst of love combined with total subservience, delivering 53 standing ovations, close to one per minute. The most exuberant ovation occurred when Netanyahu denounced the 50,000 or so demonstrators who surrounded the Capitol building to express their disgust at the Jewish mass murderer’s presence. Bibi called the protesters, some of whom were pepper-sprayed and arrested by a heavy police presence including 360 imported New York City Policemen fresh from their beatings of protesters at Columbia University, “useful idiots paid for by Iran.” That particular lie produced paroxysms of celebration among the leaping and waving Congressmen. Given that performance, does anyone need any confirmation that free speech seems to be off the agenda when it comes to Israel and the clowns who nominally represent the American people in Washington, who once upon time swore an oath to support the Constitution, but now consider speaking ill of the Jewish state to be a “hate crime.” Indeed, bills have been introduced in Congress to that effect. It is interesting to go through his speech to determine what Netanyahu was trying to accomplish and what lies he thought he could get away with. Actually, he did nothing but lie while blaming most of his neighbors, particularly Iran, for the turmoil that Israel has caused in the Middle East for the past 75 years. And predictably, much of the coverage of the Netanyahu appearance in the mainstream media on the following day was toothless and even laudatory. It generally reflected what was hailed as Bibi’s “fiery speech” that “did not give an inch” which vowed to continue fighting until “total victory” is achieved. “It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.” Ironically, Netanyahu was right about the clash of civilization though he was wrong about who represented which side: Israel backed completely by the US is pure evil. And the Netanyahu visit should be seen as a call to arms. The Jewish state is struggling economically and militarily in its war of extermination in Gaza and it knows it is not in any shape to take on Hezbollah and Iran, so it has decided to let the United States do the heavy lifting. Reading between the lines on what occurred in meetings with the two presidential aspirants as well as with a non-compos-mentis Joe Biden, it is clear that Netanyahu expects American boys and girls to do his fighting for him as well as covering the costs. American complicity in the genocide in Gaza as well as in two possible wars in Lebanon and Iran due to the Israeli embrace is a tragedy for all parties involved, but the damage being done to future generations of American citizens cannot be remedied. Our country has done many bad things, but this whole hearted alliance with unmitigated evil is a betrayal of the birthright of every American. So how low can you go, but the tale of Netanyahu visits Congress was soon joined by another truly awful story that demonstrates that there is no bottom to the evil in the minds and hearts of Israel’s leaders as well as among a large majority of the Israeli people, which Mondoweiss calls a “genocide from above and below.” Few Americans are aware of the atrocities that occur by virtue of what the Israelis choose to call their legal system. There is a body of law that is applicable to protect Jews and their interests, but where those interests collide with those of the native Palestinians, be they Christian or Muslim, only one outcome is acceptable even when something comparable to a legal procedure takes place. This has enabled the horrible settlement movement with something like 800,000 Jewish settlers having stolen Palestinian land and other property and has meant that Palestinians who were driven from their homes by force when Israel was founded have no ability to return to their own homes. At its most extreme, severely injuring or even killing a Palestinian, which occurs regularly, often at the hands of the heavily armed settlers, is a crime that is almost never prosecuted. To cite only one recent example, Palestinian-America journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was wearing a clearly visible journalist vest was shot and killed by an Israeli army sniper in May 2022. In spite of repeated demands that her murder be fully investigated, no one was ever identified or punished for the killing. Israel has also killed 20 other journalists in the past several years with no one being punished. Often Israeli soldiers stand by and watch crimes involving Jewish perpetrators, never interceding to help the Arab victim. If the Palestinians resist they are immediately labeled as “terrorists” and have no rights of self-defense against the occupiers, be they army or nominally civilians. A story that appeared a week after the Netanyahu visit illustrates perfectly the two-tiered justice in Israel and the occupied territories. There are currently nearly 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, the number having increased sharply since the war against Gaza began. Many are Gazans, but an increasing number are from the West Bank, which is also being targeted for “settlement” and eventual annexation. Many are held under what is referred to as “preventive detention,” in which they are not charged with a crime, do not appear in any court, and are held at the will of the Israeli army or police. In jail, they are frequently tortured and starved. If they are ever released, they show the signs of the torture and Israeli human rights groups, among other witnesses, have provided substantial evidence of what is taking place behind closed doors. Israel soldiers are, for their part, not shy about what they do to Palestinians, posting photos and videos online of dead Palestinians, torture in detention areas, and the gleeful destruction of Gazan homes and property. The story is as follows: There are a number of detention centers run by the Israeli Army that are generally used to torture Palestinians prisoners, not in the old fashioned “intelligence” role to obtain “information,” but just for the entertainment of the soldiers who are the jailers. Sde Teiman, one such center in the southern Negev desert region, recently made the news due to a particularly outrageous bit of torture engaged in by ten of the soldiers in charge of the prisoners. Conditions in Sde Taiman reportedly included “Electric shocks, amputations due to bad conditions, severe beatings, surgery without anesthesia, playing loud music until inmates’ ears bleed, deaths due to bad sanitary conditions, systematic torture and sexual abuse.” A Palestinian from Gaza was reported serially sodomized and otherwise raped at the detention site using various implements even including a cell phone which was inserted in the man’s rectum and turned on for the amusement of the Israeli soldiers. The victim also had a wooden stick inserted in similar fashion and it was believed that he was only one of a number of other prisoners who were treated in that same way, which appears to be systemic throughout the detention facilities run by the army. The activity was only exposed when the victim began bleeding heavily both internally and externally and was unable to walk with a “serious wound in his rectum area”, which may have occurred if or when the phone was removed from inside of him and he was taken to a hospital where what had taken place was revealed. The army, somewhat uncharacteristically, sent some military policemen to the center to detain the soldiers for questioning but the suspects fought back using pepper spray and building barriers. When nine of the men (one went AWOL) were eventually taken to a nearby military base at Beit Lid, the MPs were confronted almost immediately by an angry crowd of civilians, consisting largely of settlers and ultra-nationalists, led by several Likud party parliamentarians who demanded that the soldiers be set free. Something like a melee ensued. The unruly crowd chanted its support for torture and even called for the summary execution of the Palestinian prisoners, which has been an “option” supported by some in the Netanyahu government. The rioters were so aggressive that they actually broke into the Israeli military base and there was considerable support for their actions even coming from Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who said he was “shocked” to see IDF troops being detained for questioning “in a way that is suitable for arresting dangerous criminals.” He added that the soldiers were doing a “holy job” at the base. Far-right Knesset member Simcha Rotman called the troops “heroes,” instead attacking Israel’s “justice and enforcement systems” for detaining them. Typically, later in the day, when asked by the press about the rape accusations, US State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel refused to say whether gang raping and torturing Palestinian prisoners would be considered a war crime, even if conclusively demonstrated by witnesses and other evidence. Patel explained “So the reports of abuse are deeply concerning, and we have been clear and consistent with Israel and the IDF that they need to treat all detainees humanely and with dignity in accordance with humanitarian law.” He said that the US was going to let “due process” play out in this case. The western media that is bothering to cover the story are refusing to even use the word “rape” or “sodomy” in reference to the allegations, with the BBC describing how the soldiers are accused of “severely mistreating a Palestinian prisoner” while the New York Times prefers to call it “suspected abuse”. At the heart of the discussion is the fact that Israel’s Knesset uniquely has a proposed law that was first formulated in 2022 by current National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir which would give automatic immunity to any soldier or policeman who kills or seriously injures any Palestinian. The immunity does not apply if the victim is a Jew. The law still has not passed through parliament, but many conservatives in Israel believe it is the guideline used by the military and judiciary de facto. Ben-Gvir has, in fact, denounced the questioning of the nine men as “shameful,” adding that the Israeli security establishment should support the soldiers and “learn from the prison service: light treatment of terrorists is over. Soldiers need to have our full support.” Ben-Gvir is also supporting a separate bill that would authorize the systematic execution of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. It also does not apply to Jews. In a video statement, Ben-Gvir said that Israel should be able to kill Palestinian prisoners with a “shot to the head.” He also recommended that Palestinian prisoners be given just enough food to keep them alive until the execution law comes into effect. So, when it comes to human rights Israel lives in another parallel universe where there is one set of rules for Jews and other for gentiles. Perhaps the easily visible brutality evident in the recent Netanyahu speech to Congress coupled with stories like that out of Sde Teiman and the daily horror inflicted on the Gazans will bring about some kind of wake-up for the American public, which has been heavily propagandized and continues to believe in the myth of the perpetual victimhood of the Jewish people. The real victims of the “miracle of Israel” are those in western countries that the Jewish diaspora continues to buy and manipulate as well as the poor Palestinians who are forced to live under a form of daily repression and humiliation that is almost unimaginable. * Click the share button below to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. Spread the Truth, Refer a Friend to Global Research This article was originally published on The Unz Review. Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [email protected]. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. https://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-rule-law-exists-jews/5864268
    WWW.GLOBALRESEARCH.CA
    Israel’s Rule of Law: It Exists Only for Jews
    Does anyone in Israel in a position of power truly understand what the expressions “human rights” and “rule of law” really mean?
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  • Fact Check: Did Samsung drop their $1 billion advertising campaign with The Olympics over Last Supper backlash? Viral post debunked
    Amrita Das
    Modified Jul 29, 2024 14:01 GMT

    follow icon Follow Us
    Following the backlash the 2024 Paris Olympics received over an apparent mock-representation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, an article claimed that Samsung Electronics had pulled out of its $1 billion advertising deal with the event.

    Esspots, the website that published the story on July 28, 2024, explained the supposed reason for the company's alleged move:

    "The decision comes in response to what the company describes as the Olympics’ increasingly “woke” agenda, a stance that has stirred significant debate within both corporate and sporting worlds."
    Esspots alleged that the company’s decision was prompted by the controversial bit of the Olympics opening ceremony:

    "A segment involving drag queens and dancers in a scene that resembled Leonardo da Vinci’s "The Last Supper" sparked outrage among conservative audiences and religious groups."
    However, Esspots' claim is not true. Samsung is not withdrawing its partnership with the Olympics. No official announcement regarding the same has been issued by the company.

    A quick look at the Disclaimer on Esspots' website further proves the inauthenticity of the article. The website, a subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com, publishes fabricated stories that are satirical in nature and are not real. Under the "About Us" section, Esspots clarified:

    "Our team of writers and editors is dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in fake news and absurdity, all with a healthy dose of humor and satire."

    Expand Tweet

    Article alleging Samsung's withdrawal from the Paris Olympics is debunked

    Criticism flooded the internet after drag performers took centre stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics during Friday's opening ceremony to enact a scene from Greek God Dionysus' feast.

    However, the portrayal was interpreted by many as an attempt to ridicule the imagery of Jesus Christ having his final meal next to his apostles before his Crucifixion was executed.

    After the public criticism, Esspots' article about Samsung might have seemed convincing to many readers. The website claimed that the South Korea-based company has issued a detailed statement, allegedly holding the Olympics’ shift from its essence accountable for the supposedly canceled deal. In the purported statement, the electronic brand noted:

    "Recent events have highlighted a shift in focus that no longer aligns with our company’s mission and values. We believe that the Olympics should remain a celebration of athletic prowess and global unity, not a platform for divisive cultural agendas."
    However, the esteemed electronics brand hasn't broken its deal with the Olympics.


    Expand Tweet

    Rather, an article published on the same day by Samsung Newsroom detailed the expanse of the brand's contribution to the event. According to the news article, the company helped athletes live stream their performance by handing out over 200 Galaxy S24 Ultra models.

    The smartphones provided fans with a more distinct view of the games and celebration. Athletes also captured snippets from their experience on the Olympic edition of Galaxy Z Flip 6 smartphones and shared the moments with fans.


    Expand Tweet

    The article further highlighted Samsung's collaboration with Olympic Broadcasting Services and the International Olympic Committee.

    In reality, the US-based telecom company C Spire pulled its advertisement from the event over the Last Supper backlash. The company tweeted:

    "We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics."

    Expand Tweet

    The performance in question was widely critiqued as an “anti-Christian” display by right-wing politicians.


    https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/fact-check-did-samsung-drop-1-billion-advertising-campaign-the-olympics-last-supper-backlash-viral-post-debunked


    https://donshafi911iamthefaceoftruth.blogspot.com/2024/07/fact-check-did-samsung-drop-their-1.html
    Fact Check: Did Samsung drop their $1 billion advertising campaign with The Olympics over Last Supper backlash? Viral post debunked Amrita Das Modified Jul 29, 2024 14:01 GMT follow icon Follow Us Following the backlash the 2024 Paris Olympics received over an apparent mock-representation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, an article claimed that Samsung Electronics had pulled out of its $1 billion advertising deal with the event. Esspots, the website that published the story on July 28, 2024, explained the supposed reason for the company's alleged move: "The decision comes in response to what the company describes as the Olympics’ increasingly “woke” agenda, a stance that has stirred significant debate within both corporate and sporting worlds." Esspots alleged that the company’s decision was prompted by the controversial bit of the Olympics opening ceremony: "A segment involving drag queens and dancers in a scene that resembled Leonardo da Vinci’s "The Last Supper" sparked outrage among conservative audiences and religious groups." However, Esspots' claim is not true. Samsung is not withdrawing its partnership with the Olympics. No official announcement regarding the same has been issued by the company. A quick look at the Disclaimer on Esspots' website further proves the inauthenticity of the article. The website, a subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com, publishes fabricated stories that are satirical in nature and are not real. Under the "About Us" section, Esspots clarified: "Our team of writers and editors is dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in fake news and absurdity, all with a healthy dose of humor and satire." Expand Tweet Article alleging Samsung's withdrawal from the Paris Olympics is debunked Criticism flooded the internet after drag performers took centre stage at the 2024 Paris Olympics during Friday's opening ceremony to enact a scene from Greek God Dionysus' feast. However, the portrayal was interpreted by many as an attempt to ridicule the imagery of Jesus Christ having his final meal next to his apostles before his Crucifixion was executed. After the public criticism, Esspots' article about Samsung might have seemed convincing to many readers. The website claimed that the South Korea-based company has issued a detailed statement, allegedly holding the Olympics’ shift from its essence accountable for the supposedly canceled deal. In the purported statement, the electronic brand noted: "Recent events have highlighted a shift in focus that no longer aligns with our company’s mission and values. We believe that the Olympics should remain a celebration of athletic prowess and global unity, not a platform for divisive cultural agendas." However, the esteemed electronics brand hasn't broken its deal with the Olympics. Expand Tweet Rather, an article published on the same day by Samsung Newsroom detailed the expanse of the brand's contribution to the event. According to the news article, the company helped athletes live stream their performance by handing out over 200 Galaxy S24 Ultra models. The smartphones provided fans with a more distinct view of the games and celebration. Athletes also captured snippets from their experience on the Olympic edition of Galaxy Z Flip 6 smartphones and shared the moments with fans. Expand Tweet The article further highlighted Samsung's collaboration with Olympic Broadcasting Services and the International Olympic Committee. In reality, the US-based telecom company C Spire pulled its advertisement from the event over the Last Supper backlash. The company tweeted: "We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics." Expand Tweet The performance in question was widely critiqued as an “anti-Christian” display by right-wing politicians. https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/fact-check-did-samsung-drop-1-billion-advertising-campaign-the-olympics-last-supper-backlash-viral-post-debunked https://donshafi911iamthefaceoftruth.blogspot.com/2024/07/fact-check-did-samsung-drop-their-1.html
    Like
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  • ‘Boycott, protest, speak out’: Experts urge activism against Israel at Paris Olympics
    ‘Boycott, protest, speak out’: Experts urge activism against Israel at Paris Olympics
    - If athletes are sanctioned for refusing to play against Israeli competitors, then that would mean the IOC is 'double punishing' the Palestinians, by allowing Israel to participate and punishing those who stand against Israel’s crime, says analyst Kamel Hawwash
    - Israel will use the Olympics as an opportunity to 'sports-wash' the genocide they are committing, says Rebecca O’Keeffe, a member of Irish Sport for Palestine
    ISTANBUL
    As the Paris Olympics draw near, calls persist for Israel’s expulsion from the world’s biggest sporting event.
    From rights groups to athletes, demands are growing for a boycott of Israel over the atrocities taking place in the Gaza Strip, which have led to the death of more than 39,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7 last year.
    The Palestine Olympic Committee sent a letter Monday to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief, Thomas Bach, asking him to ban Israel.
    Meanwhile, petitions and social campaigns have gained momentum. A petition launched by US-based rights group Avaaz garnered over 600,000 signatures, demanding the IOC ban Israel “until their government ceases its assault on innocent civilians in Gaza.”
    On the other hand, pro-Palestine activists have mobilized, actively demonstrating in Paris and at the IOC headquarters in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
    But with the Games to commence Friday and no ban on Israel yet in sight, experts urge continued activism against Israel’s participation and expressions of solidarity with Gaza throughout the event.
    Ban on Israel
    Rebecca O’Keeffe, a peace activist and member of Irish Sport for Palestine, has been strongly advocating against Israel and believes it should be banned from the Olympics and Paralympics.
    “For decades, apartheid Israel has targeted, abused, injured, and murdered Palestinian athletes and coaches, and this has only intensified during the ongoing genocide.
    “Israel has also converted Palestinian sports venues into mass detention centers and continues to play in illegal settlements,” O’Keeffe, a former international basketball player, told Anadolu.
    She criticized the IOC for remaining silent, and said that though it claims political neutrality and will not permit political demonstrations, the reality of its stance exposes “blatant double standards and selective morality.”
    O’Keeffe said previous action taken by the IOC, including a ban on Apartheid South Africa and on Russia, sets a precedent and gives clear justification to remove Israel from the Games.
    “When you consider Israel’s violations of the Olympic Charter, as well as both rulings from the International Court of Justice of plausible genocide and illegal occupation, it should be a clear-cut case in my opinion,” she said.
    O’Keeffe said she thinks Israel wants to use the Olympics as an opportunity to “sports-wash the genocide” in Palestinian territories through “overt displays of propaganda, promotion of Zionist nationalism, and inclusion of athletes who have served — or still serve — in the Israeli Occupation Forces.”
    In a similar tone, Palestinian political analyst Kamel Hawwash questions why Israel has not been banned from the Games while its forces have been killing Palestinians, many of whom might have participated in the Olympics
    “I believe that based on its record, it should be banned from the Olympics and any attempt to say, ‘no it shouldn’t be banned,’ is outrageous and demonstrates a lack of sympathy with the Palestinian people,” Hawwash told Anadolu in a video interview.
    He said athletes from other countries that have been banned, pointing to Russia and Belarus, are competing as neutrals.
    “If Russia is banned, Israel should be banned too, and that would be equality. It wouldn’t be picking on Israel, but it will be punishing it for its crimes,” said Hawwash.
    ‘Rambunctious’ street protests
    Experts are of the view that during the tournament, the street protests will intensify.
    Jules Boykoff, an American author and academic whose research areas include the Olympics, believes that the demonstrations could intensify after the Games begin.
    “Activists in France are promising to deliver rambunctious street protests during the Olympic period to raise the issue of Palestinian justice,” he told Anadolu.
    Boykoff highlighted how both the IOC and FIFA, the world governing body for football, have gone out of their way to avoid the question of Gaza’s destruction by the Israel Defense Forces, adding that their behavior has been both “hypocritical and shameful” and violates the spirit of their charter documents.
    “The IOC, based on its actions, appears impervious to the pleas of activists but street protests could force the question at press conferences,” he said.
    Pressure from countries & athletes
    Experts also highlight how participating countries and athletes can exercise pressure on Israel and the IOC.
    Activist O’Keeffe said that within the IOC, there is a certain set of guidelines outlining athletes’ freedom of expression, recommending familiarization of rights and working within that to apply pressure wherever possible.
    “Athletes and countries can also appeal to their politicians to advocate and mobilize on their behalf, and national sporting bodies can release a statement to the IOC,” she said.
    Supporters and spectators can follow the BDS movement, sign petitions, email the organizations demanding action, join protests, and boycott commercial sponsors, she added.
    On the other hand, analyst Hawwash believes that countries should boycott the Olympics, adding that several countries did this when the Games were held in Russia years ago and that athletes participated in their own capacity
    “So, it wouldn’t be a new thing to do to say that countries will boycott the Olympics if Israel participates.”
    “If many countries decided to do that, the International Olympics Committee would have to consider banning Israeli athletes from participation.”
    O’Keeffe argues that the IOC should remove Israel from the Olympics and Paralympics, adding that if organizations act decisively, countries and athletes would not be put in such positions.
    On athletes participating against Israeli competitors, Hawwash said this was a matter of principle.
    “I think they should withdraw from facing Israeli athletes, Israeli teams, like the football team,” he said, adding that countries should not put their athletes in such a difficult position and that they themselves should decide they cannot participate in a sporting event since the opponent country is committing war crimes and genocide.
    For many athletes, opting out of the Games would be a moral stand that would be on the right side of history, said Hawwash.
    On the issue of possible sanctions and bans as faced in the past by athletes who refused to compete against Israeli athletes, the political analyst said:
    “If they are sanctioned by the International Olympics Committee, then that would mean the International Olympics Committee is double punishing the Palestinians: One, by allowing Israel to participate and then punishing those who stand against Israel’s crimes and who will withdraw from competitions with Israelis.”
    Boykoff maintained that many athletes will feel compelled to speak out.
    “Refusing to play against Israeli athletes would raise the issue into the global news cycle, but any athlete who does that risks a backlash from both the IOC and those living under the spell of Israeli impunity.”
    Solidarity with Palestinians
    Experts also spoke on how participants could express solidarity with the Palestinians.
    He said that once the Palestinian flag is raised at the opening of the Olympic Games, “I have no doubt there would be the most audible voice of encouragement and celebration of the Palestinian team that is there.”
    That would be the most visible way of showing support, with the whole stadium “on its feet,” said Hawwash.
    Other means of expressing support he suggests include displays of the Palestinian flag or keffiyeh by medal winners, along with their own flag
    “These are all visible ways of supporting the Palestinians,” he said.
    “Countries that support Palestine could invite the Palestinian team to their countries to show their solidarity after the games are finished and that would send the best response to Israel that it is not the victim.”
    “It is the Palestinians who are, but that these Palestinians are walking proud and tall, lifting their flag and competing to win,” he said.
    Boykoff noted that the Olympics represent the pinnacle of most athletes’ careers, adding that Palestinian athletes would have the support of justice-seekers around the world.
    If they feel a bit more wind beneath their wings, that may be why, he added.
    For her part, O’Keeffe believes that within the guidelines of freedom of expression, athletes could use any opportunity to mention Palestine during interviews, press conferences, or social media. Understanding the key messages of Palestinian solidarity would also help in this regard.
    “Supporters can wave flags, wear various Palestinian symbols, and attend protests that will be taking place in civil society.
    “Above all else though, recognize the achievements of these Palestinian athletes, especially in a world that has denied them any semblance of fairness, dignity, or level playing field – all values that are supposed to be promoted by the Olympic Charter.”
    Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.

    http://donshafi911iamthefaceoftruth.blogspot.com/2024/07/boycott-protest-speak-out-experts-urge.html

    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/-boycott-protest-speak-out-experts-urge-activism-against-israel-at-paris-olympics/3282958
    ‘Boycott, protest, speak out’: Experts urge activism against Israel at Paris Olympics ‘Boycott, protest, speak out’: Experts urge activism against Israel at Paris Olympics - If athletes are sanctioned for refusing to play against Israeli competitors, then that would mean the IOC is 'double punishing' the Palestinians, by allowing Israel to participate and punishing those who stand against Israel’s crime, says analyst Kamel Hawwash - Israel will use the Olympics as an opportunity to 'sports-wash' the genocide they are committing, says Rebecca O’Keeffe, a member of Irish Sport for Palestine ISTANBUL As the Paris Olympics draw near, calls persist for Israel’s expulsion from the world’s biggest sporting event. From rights groups to athletes, demands are growing for a boycott of Israel over the atrocities taking place in the Gaza Strip, which have led to the death of more than 39,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7 last year. The Palestine Olympic Committee sent a letter Monday to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief, Thomas Bach, asking him to ban Israel. Meanwhile, petitions and social campaigns have gained momentum. A petition launched by US-based rights group Avaaz garnered over 600,000 signatures, demanding the IOC ban Israel “until their government ceases its assault on innocent civilians in Gaza.” On the other hand, pro-Palestine activists have mobilized, actively demonstrating in Paris and at the IOC headquarters in the Swiss city of Lausanne. But with the Games to commence Friday and no ban on Israel yet in sight, experts urge continued activism against Israel’s participation and expressions of solidarity with Gaza throughout the event. Ban on Israel Rebecca O’Keeffe, a peace activist and member of Irish Sport for Palestine, has been strongly advocating against Israel and believes it should be banned from the Olympics and Paralympics. “For decades, apartheid Israel has targeted, abused, injured, and murdered Palestinian athletes and coaches, and this has only intensified during the ongoing genocide. “Israel has also converted Palestinian sports venues into mass detention centers and continues to play in illegal settlements,” O’Keeffe, a former international basketball player, told Anadolu. She criticized the IOC for remaining silent, and said that though it claims political neutrality and will not permit political demonstrations, the reality of its stance exposes “blatant double standards and selective morality.” O’Keeffe said previous action taken by the IOC, including a ban on Apartheid South Africa and on Russia, sets a precedent and gives clear justification to remove Israel from the Games. “When you consider Israel’s violations of the Olympic Charter, as well as both rulings from the International Court of Justice of plausible genocide and illegal occupation, it should be a clear-cut case in my opinion,” she said. O’Keeffe said she thinks Israel wants to use the Olympics as an opportunity to “sports-wash the genocide” in Palestinian territories through “overt displays of propaganda, promotion of Zionist nationalism, and inclusion of athletes who have served — or still serve — in the Israeli Occupation Forces.” In a similar tone, Palestinian political analyst Kamel Hawwash questions why Israel has not been banned from the Games while its forces have been killing Palestinians, many of whom might have participated in the Olympics “I believe that based on its record, it should be banned from the Olympics and any attempt to say, ‘no it shouldn’t be banned,’ is outrageous and demonstrates a lack of sympathy with the Palestinian people,” Hawwash told Anadolu in a video interview. He said athletes from other countries that have been banned, pointing to Russia and Belarus, are competing as neutrals. “If Russia is banned, Israel should be banned too, and that would be equality. It wouldn’t be picking on Israel, but it will be punishing it for its crimes,” said Hawwash. ‘Rambunctious’ street protests Experts are of the view that during the tournament, the street protests will intensify. Jules Boykoff, an American author and academic whose research areas include the Olympics, believes that the demonstrations could intensify after the Games begin. “Activists in France are promising to deliver rambunctious street protests during the Olympic period to raise the issue of Palestinian justice,” he told Anadolu. Boykoff highlighted how both the IOC and FIFA, the world governing body for football, have gone out of their way to avoid the question of Gaza’s destruction by the Israel Defense Forces, adding that their behavior has been both “hypocritical and shameful” and violates the spirit of their charter documents. “The IOC, based on its actions, appears impervious to the pleas of activists but street protests could force the question at press conferences,” he said. Pressure from countries & athletes Experts also highlight how participating countries and athletes can exercise pressure on Israel and the IOC. Activist O’Keeffe said that within the IOC, there is a certain set of guidelines outlining athletes’ freedom of expression, recommending familiarization of rights and working within that to apply pressure wherever possible. “Athletes and countries can also appeal to their politicians to advocate and mobilize on their behalf, and national sporting bodies can release a statement to the IOC,” she said. Supporters and spectators can follow the BDS movement, sign petitions, email the organizations demanding action, join protests, and boycott commercial sponsors, she added. On the other hand, analyst Hawwash believes that countries should boycott the Olympics, adding that several countries did this when the Games were held in Russia years ago and that athletes participated in their own capacity “So, it wouldn’t be a new thing to do to say that countries will boycott the Olympics if Israel participates.” “If many countries decided to do that, the International Olympics Committee would have to consider banning Israeli athletes from participation.” O’Keeffe argues that the IOC should remove Israel from the Olympics and Paralympics, adding that if organizations act decisively, countries and athletes would not be put in such positions. On athletes participating against Israeli competitors, Hawwash said this was a matter of principle. “I think they should withdraw from facing Israeli athletes, Israeli teams, like the football team,” he said, adding that countries should not put their athletes in such a difficult position and that they themselves should decide they cannot participate in a sporting event since the opponent country is committing war crimes and genocide. For many athletes, opting out of the Games would be a moral stand that would be on the right side of history, said Hawwash. On the issue of possible sanctions and bans as faced in the past by athletes who refused to compete against Israeli athletes, the political analyst said: “If they are sanctioned by the International Olympics Committee, then that would mean the International Olympics Committee is double punishing the Palestinians: One, by allowing Israel to participate and then punishing those who stand against Israel’s crimes and who will withdraw from competitions with Israelis.” Boykoff maintained that many athletes will feel compelled to speak out. “Refusing to play against Israeli athletes would raise the issue into the global news cycle, but any athlete who does that risks a backlash from both the IOC and those living under the spell of Israeli impunity.” Solidarity with Palestinians Experts also spoke on how participants could express solidarity with the Palestinians. He said that once the Palestinian flag is raised at the opening of the Olympic Games, “I have no doubt there would be the most audible voice of encouragement and celebration of the Palestinian team that is there.” That would be the most visible way of showing support, with the whole stadium “on its feet,” said Hawwash. Other means of expressing support he suggests include displays of the Palestinian flag or keffiyeh by medal winners, along with their own flag “These are all visible ways of supporting the Palestinians,” he said. “Countries that support Palestine could invite the Palestinian team to their countries to show their solidarity after the games are finished and that would send the best response to Israel that it is not the victim.” “It is the Palestinians who are, but that these Palestinians are walking proud and tall, lifting their flag and competing to win,” he said. Boykoff noted that the Olympics represent the pinnacle of most athletes’ careers, adding that Palestinian athletes would have the support of justice-seekers around the world. If they feel a bit more wind beneath their wings, that may be why, he added. For her part, O’Keeffe believes that within the guidelines of freedom of expression, athletes could use any opportunity to mention Palestine during interviews, press conferences, or social media. Understanding the key messages of Palestinian solidarity would also help in this regard. “Supporters can wave flags, wear various Palestinian symbols, and attend protests that will be taking place in civil society. “Above all else though, recognize the achievements of these Palestinian athletes, especially in a world that has denied them any semblance of fairness, dignity, or level playing field – all values that are supposed to be promoted by the Olympic Charter.” Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options. http://donshafi911iamthefaceoftruth.blogspot.com/2024/07/boycott-protest-speak-out-experts-urge.html https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/-boycott-protest-speak-out-experts-urge-activism-against-israel-at-paris-olympics/3282958
    WWW.AA.COM.TR
    ‘Boycott, protest, speak out’: Experts urge activism against Israel at Paris Olympics
    Activists in France are promising to deliver rambunctious street protests throughout the Olympics, which are kicking off on July 26, says academic Jules Boykoff - Anadolu Ajansı
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  • Wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress
    Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress to bolster support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. About half of the Democrats in Congress skipped the speech where he vowed to continue the attack until “total victory” is met.

    Michael ArriaJuly 24, 2024
    Benjamin Netanyahu is applauded by Rep. Mike Johnson and Sen. Ben Cardin during his speech to Congress on July 24, 2024
    Benjamin Netanyahu is applauded by Rep. Mike Johnson and Sen. Ben Cardin during his speech to Congress on July 24, 2024
    On Wednesday Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress in an effort to bolster support for his country’s brutal 10-month assault on Gaza. The Israeli Prime Minister’s visit to the United States comes amid political tumult, as GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt less than two weeks ago and President Joe Biden recently announced he would drop out of the 2024 race.

    It was the fourth time Netanyahu had addressed Congress, the most for any world leader in U.S. history. Netanyahu was invited to address Congress by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

    In a fiery, defiant speech Netanyahu defended Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza, warned of an alleged nuclear threat from Iran, and called on lawmakers to embrace the special relationship between the United States and Israel.

    LIVE: Netanyahu delivers speech before Congress
    “We meet today at a crossroads of history,” he told attendees. “Our world is in upheaval. In the Middle East, Iran’s axis of terror confronts America, Israel and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life for the forces of civilization to triumph. America and Israel must stand together.”

    “America and Israel must stand together. When we stand together something really simple happens: we win, they lose,” he added.

    The Prime Minister also presented loose post-war plans, claiming that “a new Gaza could emerge,” after Israel defeats Hamas. He insisted that his government has no plans to “resettle” Gaza, but vowed to keep attacking Gaza until a “total victory” was achieved.

    The tens of thousands around the world who have protested against Israel’s genocidal war were smeared as “Iran’s useful idiots” in the speech. The line was met by one of many standing ovations.


    Protests

    Thousands took to the streets of D.C. to protest the speech.

    The actions were kicked off Tuesday night when more than 300 people were arrested during a protest at the Cannon House Office Building, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).


    “It is utterly shameful that U.S. lawmakers would invite war criminal Netanyahu to address Congress. We are hundreds of American Jews calling on our elected leaders to stop funding and fueling this genocide,” said JVP Communications Director Sonya Meyerson-Knox.


    Netanyahu’s motorcade was forced to reroute after protesters blocked streets around the Capitol by locking arms while holding a banner reading, “STOP ARMING ISRAEL.”


    Calls for Netanyahu to be arrested were a consistent feature of the protests.

    The International Criminal Court is currently seeking warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader Yihya Sinwar, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif over possible crimes against humanity.

    Activists and politicians have also used the moment to highlight the need for a U.S. arms embargo Palestine solidarity activists have been calling for an end to U.S. weapons shipments for years, and this week organizers with the Uncommitted Movement launched a 4-week push based around that specific demand.

    The Not Another Bomb campaign hopes to pressure delegates to back the effort at the Democratic National Convention next month. They are circulating a petition that calls on Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to embrace the the embargo.


    “Adopting an arms embargo against Israel’s assault on Gaza is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic move to defeat Trump and MAGA extremism. It is difficult for the Democratic candidate to champion democracy while arming Netanyahu’s authoritarian regime,” it reads. “Supporting Israel’s war on Gaza undermines our fight against MAGA extremism and contradicts our core values of human rights and justice. By taking a strong stand against Netanyahu’s authoritarian policies, the Biden-Harris administration can unify the Democratic Party and regain the trust of key voter bases, including young people, Arabs, and Muslims.”

    Harris skipped Netanyahu’s congressional address over a previous engagement in Indianapolis (a move that Israeli officials called “disappointing”), but is scheduled to attend meet with him on Thursday, as is President Biden.

    Family members of Israeli prisoners were arrested outside the speech while wearing t-shirts that read, “SEAL THE DEAL NOW,” a call for the Netanyahu government to negotiate a hostage deal with Hamas.


    Lawmakers Boycott Speech

    About half of the Democrats in Congress skipped Netanyahu’s speech, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC).

    Some, like Harris, cited scheduling conflicts while others said they were boycotting the address over Gaza.

    “No, Netanyahu should not be welcomed into the U.S. Congress,” tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). “On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank and his refusal to support a two-state solution should be roundly condemned.”


    “By bestowing Prime Minister Netanyahu with a joint address, Congress is not only continuing to green-light genocide; it is actively celebrating the man at the forefront of that genocide,” said Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO). “Instead of platforming a war criminal, Congress should be imposing an arms embargo and using its leverage to force Netanyahu to end the bombing and bloodshed that has already killed over 39,000 Palestinians and failed to ensure the safe release of the vast majority of hostages, all while decimating schools, hospitals, homes, and humanitarian convoys.”

    “Years from now this body will be ashamed of its actions,” declared Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) in a speech on the House floor.


    “Today Congress will undertake political theater on behalf of the State Department,” wrote Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). “The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel and to quell int’l opposition to his war. I don’t feel like being a prop so I won’t be attending.”


    Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, attended the speech but held up a sign while many of her colleagues applauded Netanyahu’s comments. One of side of Tlaib sign read, “GUILTY OF GENOCIDE” and the other said, “WAR CRIMINAL.”


    “Make no mistake: this event is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo op with a man who is actively committing genocide,” said Tlaib in a statement before the speech. “It is hypocritical to claim to be concerned about the massive death toll of innocent civilians, and then turn around and welcome the person responsible for these war crimes to our Capitol. Their silence is betrayal, and history will remember them accordingly. Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now.”

    Over 100 Congressional interns boycotted the speech in a coordinated sick-out.

    “In an act of protest, many of us have pledged to call in sick today, the day of Netanyahu’s address,” reads a statement from boycott participants. “We stand in full solidarity with the victims of Netanyahu’s actions. We call on all members of Congress to boycott the address and take a unified stand against what we believe is a ‘universal evil.’ We urge our representatives to respond to the collective will of the American people and reject any semblance of endorsement of Netanyahu’s actions.”


    “The most important thing you should know: in 2015, about 50 Democrats in Congress boycotted Netanyahu’s speech to Congress,” Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid pointed out on Twitter. “Today, it was 136 Democrats. Netanyahu and AIPAC are losing the Democratic Party.”


    The British medical journal The Lancet estimates that the death toll of Israel’s genocidal onslaught on Gaza will reach at least an estimated 186,000 Palestinians.


    https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/wanted-war-criminal-benjamin-netanyahu-addresses-congress/
    Wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress to bolster support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. About half of the Democrats in Congress skipped the speech where he vowed to continue the attack until “total victory” is met. Michael ArriaJuly 24, 2024 Benjamin Netanyahu is applauded by Rep. Mike Johnson and Sen. Ben Cardin during his speech to Congress on July 24, 2024 Benjamin Netanyahu is applauded by Rep. Mike Johnson and Sen. Ben Cardin during his speech to Congress on July 24, 2024 On Wednesday Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress in an effort to bolster support for his country’s brutal 10-month assault on Gaza. The Israeli Prime Minister’s visit to the United States comes amid political tumult, as GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt less than two weeks ago and President Joe Biden recently announced he would drop out of the 2024 race. It was the fourth time Netanyahu had addressed Congress, the most for any world leader in U.S. history. Netanyahu was invited to address Congress by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). In a fiery, defiant speech Netanyahu defended Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza, warned of an alleged nuclear threat from Iran, and called on lawmakers to embrace the special relationship between the United States and Israel. LIVE: Netanyahu delivers speech before Congress “We meet today at a crossroads of history,” he told attendees. “Our world is in upheaval. In the Middle East, Iran’s axis of terror confronts America, Israel and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life for the forces of civilization to triumph. America and Israel must stand together.” “America and Israel must stand together. When we stand together something really simple happens: we win, they lose,” he added. The Prime Minister also presented loose post-war plans, claiming that “a new Gaza could emerge,” after Israel defeats Hamas. He insisted that his government has no plans to “resettle” Gaza, but vowed to keep attacking Gaza until a “total victory” was achieved. The tens of thousands around the world who have protested against Israel’s genocidal war were smeared as “Iran’s useful idiots” in the speech. The line was met by one of many standing ovations. Protests Thousands took to the streets of D.C. to protest the speech. The actions were kicked off Tuesday night when more than 300 people were arrested during a protest at the Cannon House Office Building, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). “It is utterly shameful that U.S. lawmakers would invite war criminal Netanyahu to address Congress. We are hundreds of American Jews calling on our elected leaders to stop funding and fueling this genocide,” said JVP Communications Director Sonya Meyerson-Knox. Netanyahu’s motorcade was forced to reroute after protesters blocked streets around the Capitol by locking arms while holding a banner reading, “STOP ARMING ISRAEL.” Calls for Netanyahu to be arrested were a consistent feature of the protests. The International Criminal Court is currently seeking warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader Yihya Sinwar, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif over possible crimes against humanity. Activists and politicians have also used the moment to highlight the need for a U.S. arms embargo Palestine solidarity activists have been calling for an end to U.S. weapons shipments for years, and this week organizers with the Uncommitted Movement launched a 4-week push based around that specific demand. The Not Another Bomb campaign hopes to pressure delegates to back the effort at the Democratic National Convention next month. They are circulating a petition that calls on Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to embrace the the embargo. “Adopting an arms embargo against Israel’s assault on Gaza is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic move to defeat Trump and MAGA extremism. It is difficult for the Democratic candidate to champion democracy while arming Netanyahu’s authoritarian regime,” it reads. “Supporting Israel’s war on Gaza undermines our fight against MAGA extremism and contradicts our core values of human rights and justice. By taking a strong stand against Netanyahu’s authoritarian policies, the Biden-Harris administration can unify the Democratic Party and regain the trust of key voter bases, including young people, Arabs, and Muslims.” Harris skipped Netanyahu’s congressional address over a previous engagement in Indianapolis (a move that Israeli officials called “disappointing”), but is scheduled to attend meet with him on Thursday, as is President Biden. Family members of Israeli prisoners were arrested outside the speech while wearing t-shirts that read, “SEAL THE DEAL NOW,” a call for the Netanyahu government to negotiate a hostage deal with Hamas. Lawmakers Boycott Speech About half of the Democrats in Congress skipped Netanyahu’s speech, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC). Some, like Harris, cited scheduling conflicts while others said they were boycotting the address over Gaza. “No, Netanyahu should not be welcomed into the U.S. Congress,” tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). “On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank and his refusal to support a two-state solution should be roundly condemned.” “By bestowing Prime Minister Netanyahu with a joint address, Congress is not only continuing to green-light genocide; it is actively celebrating the man at the forefront of that genocide,” said Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO). “Instead of platforming a war criminal, Congress should be imposing an arms embargo and using its leverage to force Netanyahu to end the bombing and bloodshed that has already killed over 39,000 Palestinians and failed to ensure the safe release of the vast majority of hostages, all while decimating schools, hospitals, homes, and humanitarian convoys.” “Years from now this body will be ashamed of its actions,” declared Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) in a speech on the House floor. “Today Congress will undertake political theater on behalf of the State Department,” wrote Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). “The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel and to quell int’l opposition to his war. I don’t feel like being a prop so I won’t be attending.” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, attended the speech but held up a sign while many of her colleagues applauded Netanyahu’s comments. One of side of Tlaib sign read, “GUILTY OF GENOCIDE” and the other said, “WAR CRIMINAL.” “Make no mistake: this event is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo op with a man who is actively committing genocide,” said Tlaib in a statement before the speech. “It is hypocritical to claim to be concerned about the massive death toll of innocent civilians, and then turn around and welcome the person responsible for these war crimes to our Capitol. Their silence is betrayal, and history will remember them accordingly. Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now.” Over 100 Congressional interns boycotted the speech in a coordinated sick-out. “In an act of protest, many of us have pledged to call in sick today, the day of Netanyahu’s address,” reads a statement from boycott participants. “We stand in full solidarity with the victims of Netanyahu’s actions. We call on all members of Congress to boycott the address and take a unified stand against what we believe is a ‘universal evil.’ We urge our representatives to respond to the collective will of the American people and reject any semblance of endorsement of Netanyahu’s actions.” “The most important thing you should know: in 2015, about 50 Democrats in Congress boycotted Netanyahu’s speech to Congress,” Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid pointed out on Twitter. “Today, it was 136 Democrats. Netanyahu and AIPAC are losing the Democratic Party.” The British medical journal The Lancet estimates that the death toll of Israel’s genocidal onslaught on Gaza will reach at least an estimated 186,000 Palestinians. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/wanted-war-criminal-benjamin-netanyahu-addresses-congress/
    MONDOWEISS.NET
    Wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress
    Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress to bolster support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. About half of the Democrats in Congress skipped the speech where he vowed to continue the attack until “total victory” is met.
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  • As Israel-First politicians embrace Netanyahu, many people say No Thanks – Day 290
    [email protected] July 24, 2024 gaza displacement, gaza evacuation, israeli settler violence, jewish activists, jewish voice for peace, kamala harris, khan younis, labor unions, netanyahu speech, Olympics, palestinian unity government, starlink, targeting aid workers, us complicity in war crimes, West Bank
    Israel's assault on Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians seek shelter near hospital (screenshot)
    2 million Gazans are squeezed into 20% of their land, as Israeli bombers and snipers keep killing; UNICEF vehicles hit by Israeli gunfire; peace activists arrested in US Capitol; Israeli luminaries call Netanyahu an “existential threat” to Israel and US; Rashida Tlaib: “Netanyahu’s Congress speech is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”; Schumer says he will attend Netanyahu’s Congress speech; Israeli gov’t heavily funding illegal Israeli outposts; 350 “experts” endorse Kamala Harris for her Israel support; Olympics news; Israeli forces killing spree in West Bank; seven major labor unions demand that Biden pull the plug on Israel aid; China brokers reconciliation deal with Palestinian factions

    By IAK staff, from reports.

    Israel blocks Palestinians from 80 percent of Gaza

    The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says the Israeli military has placed more than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip “under evacuation orders or designated as a no-go zone”.

    “We just keep hearing the same question: Where do I go?” UNRWA said on X, quoting its spokeswoman’s remarks to the BBC’s Radio 4.

    It comes a day after Israel ordered thousands of people to flee from the eastern parts of the Khan Younis governorate to al-Mawasi in the west.

    Death toll from Israeli bombing in Khan Younis rises to 89

    At least 89 people have been killed in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis governorate, according to the enclave’s Government Media Office, since Israel launched a new military operation in the area yesterday morning, without giving civilians time to flee. Hundreds of people are also reported injured.

    Palestinians, including women and children, living in the east of Khan Younis city move towards safe areas with whatever belongings they can take with them after Israel announced that an operation will be carried out and ordered the Palestinians to evacuate the area immediately in Khan Yunis, Gaza on July 22, 2024.
    Palestinians, including women and children, living in the east of Khan Younis city move towards safe areas with whatever belongings they can take with them after Israel announced that an operation will be carried out and ordered the Palestinians to evacuate the area immediately in Khan Yunis, Gaza on July 22, 2024. (photo)
    UNICEF vehicles attacked with gunfire in central Gaza


    NOTE: The targeting of aid workers in Gaza by Israel has been a long-standing pattern. Since October 2023, at least 278 aid workers were reported killed in Gaza, including 201 UN staff members.

    Following an Israeli attack on a high-profile humanitarian aid convoy in early April, MSF official Christopher Lockyear decried what was already a norm: “This pattern of attacks is either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence.”


    US Capitol Police arrest activists calling for Israel arms embargo

    Al Jazeera reports: The rotunda of an office building in the United States Capitol complex filled in minutes with hundreds of people who appeared as if from nowhere, as part of a surprise protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.

    “Let Gaza live,” they chanted in unison inside the Cannon House Office Building, removing their outer garments to reveal matching red T-shirts.

    One side of the shirt read, “Jews say stop arming Israel.” The other side: “Not in our name.”

    Tuesday’s coordinated protest, led by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), took Congressional staffers and law enforcement agents aback, as it came together within minutes.

    But the crackdown started almost immediately after the protesters assembled. Capitol Police quickly declared the area a closed “zone” and arrested hundreds of demonstrators who refused to leave.

    “This is a moment in history where we have to say we stood up for Palestinian freedom. We stood up to end this genocide,” said protester Liv Kunins-Berkowitz.

    “For so many of us, we are the descendants who survived ethnic cleansing and genocide. Our ancestors and grandparents taught us that the worst thing to do in these moments is to be a bystander.”

    The activists are of all faiths, races, and ethnicities. They’re working to overcome the powerful Israel lobby.

    Embed from Getty Images




    Seven major US labor unions call on Biden to ‘shut off military aid to Israel’

    The Guardian reports: Seven major US labor unions representing about 6 million workers sent a letter to Joe Biden on Tuesday calling on his administration to “immediately halt all military aid to Israel” ahead of a visit to the US from Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, this week.

    The unions that signed on to the letter include the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW) and United Electrical Workers (UE).

    “Our unions are hearing the cries of humanity as this vicious war continues,” said Mark Dimondstein, the APWU president, in a press release. “Working people and our unions are horrified that our tax dollars are financing this ongoing tragedy. We need a ceasefire now, and the best way to secure that is to shut off US military aid to Israel.”

    The UAW stated, “This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to come to Congress to ask our government to keep supporting this war [in Gaza]. We reject this insult to all those calling for peace and justice.”


    Amnesty issues fresh warning about US complicity in Israeli war crimes

    Middle East Monitor reports: Amnesty International has issued a fresh warning about US complicity in Israeli war crimes as Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington. The human rights NGO also called on the US to halt arms exports to Israel with Netanyahu set to meet Joe Biden and possibly Kamala Harris during his trip.

    In the absence of a UN Security Council arms embargo, Amnesty is calling on all countries to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel immediately, until there is no longer a substantial risk that arms could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.

    Countries which continue to transfer arms to Israel with knowledge that the recipient state or group is using these arms to commit “internationally wrongful acts” — which include crimes under international law such as war crimes and crimes against humanity — are not only violating their obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, said Amnesty today, but are in fact also assisting these violations.

    Companies manufacturing and exporting arms also have a responsibility to respect human rights and international humanitarian law throughout their value chains. Any companies providing material assistance in the commission of a war crime can be found legally liable for such a crime.

    “The US government has been presented with ample evidence from experts around the world that US-origin arms have been used in war crimes and unlawful killings by the Israeli government.”

    Continued weapons transfers will make the US “complicit” in violations of international law committed with these arms, explained the Amnesty official.

    NOTE: Weapons transfers to armed Palestinian groups also fall within Amnesty’s call for embargo – although in reality, international law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, the UN extending that right to the point of armed resistance.

    Israel carries out major strikes on three regions in one day
    Israel carries out major strikes on three regions in one day (collage)
    Israeli executives, former security officials denounce Netanyahu ahead of address to US Congress

    Andalou Agency reports: Dozens of Israeli executives, academics, and former national security officials denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, warning in a letter to US congressional leaders that he represents an “existential threat” to the US and Israel.

    The letter signed by 31 Israelis comes on the eve of Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress where many lawmakers are expected to not attend or stage protests to interrupt the Israeli leader’s speech. It is addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

    “We cannot overstate this: Prime Minister Netanyahu poses an existential threat to the State of Israel. He has no clear strategic objectives for the war in Gaza, no plan for the day after, nor a strategy for how to deal with the existential threat of Iran. For decades, he has been inciting Israelis against each other, damaging our national social fabric, dramatically harming our defense capabilities, eroding our economy and devastating our international standing,” the authors wrote. A copy of the letter was posted publicly by CNN.

    “Further, Netanyahu severely harms the US national security interests through his approach to this war, which adversely impacts American policy in the Middle East and beyond and further endangers Israel,” they added.

    Prominent signatories include former Israeli military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Haloutz, ex-Mossad Director Tamir Pardo, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Nobel Prize Laureate Aaron Ciechanover and Israel’s former UN envoy Gabriela Shalev.

    Netanyahu’s speech to Congress is a ‘celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians’

    Middle East Eye reports: Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress “a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”.

    Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, said that “Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court.”

    She further remarked, “Make no mistake: this event is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo op with a man who is actively committing genocide.

    “It is hypocritical to claim concern about the massive death toll of innocent civilians, then turn around and welcome the person responsible for these war crimes to our Capitol. Their silence is betrayal, and history will remember them accordingly. Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now.”

    Israel was founded in 1948 through a war of ethnic cleansing.

    Embed from Getty Images

    Schumer says he will attend Netanyahu’s Congress speech despite ‘disagreements’

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at Congress:

    “Even though I disagree with many of Bibi Netanyahu’s policies, I will attend this speech because the United States’ relationship with Israel remains ironclad and transcends any prime minister.”

    Schumer endorsed Kamala Harris for president.





    Ha’aretz reports: The Democratic Majority for Israel wholeheartedly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the party’s nomination for the upcoming presidential election.

    Israeli government quietly sends millions to unauthorized West Bank settler outposts

    Associated Press reports: The Israeli government has budgeted millions of dollars to protect small, illegal, unauthorized Jewish farms in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, underwriting tiny outposts meant to grow into full-fledged , illegal settlements, according to an anti-settlement monitoring group.

    Documents uncovered by Peace Now illustrate how Israel’s pro-settler government has quietly poured tens of millions of dollars into the unauthorized outposts, which are separate from its more than 100 officially recognized – but also illegal – settlements. Some of those outposts have been linked to settler violence against Palestinians and are sanctioned by the U.S.

    The group estimates approximately 500 people live on the small, unauthorized farms and 25,000 more live in larger outposts. Those outposts, while not officially authorized by the government, often receive tacit support before they are retroactively legalized.

    Rights groups say the expanding network of remote farms atop West Bank hilltops are the primary drivers of violence and displacement of Palestinians.

    On Friday, the top United Nations court said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and called for an immediate halt to settlement construction.

    NOTE: While there has been an uptick in settler violence since October 7th, every one of the more than 700,000 Israeli settlers living on Palestinian land are violating international law.

    Israel has illegally built around 280 settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and incentivized Israeli Jews to live in them.

    Many Palestinians believe that Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are the main barrier to any lasting peace agreement.

    Settlers, moreover, have a history of violence against Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces.

    NOTE: The International Solidarity Movement recently posted this video of Israeli settlers brutally attacking both Palestinians and international volunteers – one day after the ICJ ruled that the Israeli occupation and settlements are illegal.

    350 foreign policy and national security personages endorse Kamala Harris, highlighting her involvement in the U.S.’ ‘defense of Israel when Iran attacked in April’

    Ha’aretz reports: 350 leading foreign policy and national security experts endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy for U.S. President, calling her “the best qualified person to lead our nation as commander in chief.”

    “She has been by the president’s side in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room managing high-stakes international crises and advising on the toughest decisions,” they wrote, highlighting “the United States’ defense of Israel when Iran attacked in April 2024.”

    Among those to sign the letter include former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel Tom Nides and Daniel Kurtzer, former Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Frank Lowenstein, former national security advisers Susan Rice and Thomas E. Donilon, former secretaries of state John F. Kerry and Hillary Clinton; former secretaries of defense Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta; and former top intelligence officials Michael Hayden and James Clapper.

    NOTE: While it’s not hard to find cheerleaders for Israel in its genocidal war on Gaza, voters themselves are not so enthusiastic: A Gallup poll in March showed that 55 percent of respondents disapproved of the Israeli military’s actions in the Gaza Strip. Among Democratic Party voters, the percentage was even higher, with 75 percent of respondents expressing a negative view of Israel’s actions, while 60 percent of independents also said they disapproved.

    Politicians have failed to grasp the significance of millions of Americans across the country protesting for ceasefire and an end to military aid to Israel – wrongly accusing them of antisemitism and ignoring their message.

    RECOMMENDED READING:

    How Israel twists antisemitism claims to project its own crimes onto Palestinians.

    AIPAC: Has the pro-Israel lobby bribed and bought the US Democratic Party?

    It isn’t Netanyahu who is acting against the will of his people, it’s Biden

    Palestinians accuse Israel of Olympic Truce breach

    Al Jazeera reports: The Palestine Olympic Committee has called for the “immediate exclusion of Israel from the Paris Olympics 2024”.

    In a letter to Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee, the Palestinians said Israel has been engaged in violations that include illegal colonial settlement, occupation and annexation, as well as genocidal incitement.

    The letter also stressed that there has been a breach of the Olympic truce. The UN General Assembly Resolution on the Paris 2024 Olympics mandates an Olympic truce from July 19 to September 15, 2024, to ensure a peaceful environment for the Games.

    “However, Israel has violated this truce within the first 24 hours by continuing its bombing on Gaza, resulting in the killing of at least 70 Palestinians. This contravention underscores the urgent need for OIC and FIFA to act in line with its statutes and promote respect for international human rights law,” the letter said.

    The letter was also sent to FIFA President Gianni Infantino by the Palestine Football Association.

    NOTE: At least 265 Palestinian sportsmen have been killed in Israeli attacks since last October, according to the Palestinian Football Association.

    “The victims include players, administrators and technical staff, including 11 in the West Bank” Jibril Rajoub, head of the association, told reporters.

    “Dozens of athletes remain under the rubble, and we are unable to count their number,” he said. “Many athletes are also held in Israeli jails.”

    RECOMMENDED READING: Palestinians launch first national amputee football team in Gaza



    Many West Bank deaths on Tuesday

    Five Palestinians were killed Tuesday by Israeli occupation army gunfire in Tulkarm camp, including three men, a young girl, and a 50-year-old woman. Four of the bodies were confiscated by Israeli forces. The men were reportedly a Qassam commander and two members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
    A 13-year-old child from the town of Bal’a, east of Tulkarem, succumbed Tuesday to critical injuries he sustained by Israeli forces’ live bullets about two weeks ago.
    A 39-year-old Palestinian man was Tuesday morning killed by Israeli occupation forces in the town of Sa’ir, northeast of Hebron.
    A young man, age 22, was Tuesday killed by Israeli occupation army gunfire from the town of Shuyoukh, northeast of Hebron.

    Palestinians hail new reconciliation deal amid Israeli opposition

    Andalou Agency reports: A China-mediated agreement to heal the years-long rift between Palestinian factions and form a national unity government has been met with Palestinian praise and Israeli opposition.

    The Palestinian groups on Monday reached a reconciliation agreement following three days of intensive talks in the Chinese capital Beijing to end their political division since 2007.

    Representatives of 14 Palestinian groups, including the rival Fatah and Hamas movements, signed a new statement pledging to end the division and strengthen unity.

    The agreement aims at maintaining Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip following the end of Israel’s ongoing offensive on the enclave.

    Signatories of the agreement said they would form an interim national unity government to supervise the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip and hold new elections.

    “The Beijing declaration is an additional positive step towards achieving Palestinian national unity,” Husam Badran, a member of Hamas political bureau, said in a statement.

    He said the factions agreed to form a national unity government to supervise Gaza reconstruction and prepare the conditions for holding elections.

    The agreement also underlined the right of the Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation and to self-determination based on international laws and UN Charter.

    Embed from Getty Images


    Palestinians living inside Israel face home demolition

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    STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JULY 23:

    Palestinian death toll from October 7 – July 23: at least 39,668* (39,090 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,034 children as of June 17. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

    This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 587 in the West Bank (~140 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.

    Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

    Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

    At least 46 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
    At least 40 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
    About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
    2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
    Palestinian injuries from October 7 – July 23: at least 95,567 (including at least 90,147 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

    Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – July 23: ~1,481 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 326 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

    Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

    NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

    *Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.**

    Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.

    † For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

    Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

    Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
    Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
    Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
    Hundreds of social media influencers attend Israel strategy summit in NYC
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    Pro-Israel ADL ‘spied on’ African American activist over opposition to US-Israel police exchange programme
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    Lancet: Counting the dead in Gaza – difficult but essential
    ‘Revealer of Inconvenient Truths’ – Julian Assange’s Impact on Palestine
    Fact or Fiction: Is Israel Unfairly Singled Out for Global Condemnation?
    How an Israeli colonel invented the burned babies lie to justify genocide
    Widely reported Palestinian father-son ‘rape’ confession contradicted by piles of evidence
    The Gaza Project reveals how Israel has targeted the press – in 3 stories
    ‘Buying Our Own Stolen Water’ in Bethlehem – Scorching Summer Awaits Palestinians in the West Bank
    Israel’s covert info bots targeting America met with hypocritical silence
    AIPAC: Has the pro-Israel lobby bribed and bought the US Democratic Party?
    Israel’s war on Gaza is the deadliest conflict on record for journalists.
    Israeli army hits Gaza family, uses them as human shields, and runs over their mother.
    Strangling Israeli restrictions were in place long before October 7th.


    https://israelpalestinenews.org/many-american-politicians-embrace-netanyahu-real-people-say-no-thanks-day-290/

    https://donshafi911iamthefaceoftruth.blogspot.com/2024/07/as-israel-first-politicians-embrace.html
    As Israel-First politicians embrace Netanyahu, many people say No Thanks – Day 290 [email protected] July 24, 2024 gaza displacement, gaza evacuation, israeli settler violence, jewish activists, jewish voice for peace, kamala harris, khan younis, labor unions, netanyahu speech, Olympics, palestinian unity government, starlink, targeting aid workers, us complicity in war crimes, West Bank Israel's assault on Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians seek shelter near hospital (screenshot) 2 million Gazans are squeezed into 20% of their land, as Israeli bombers and snipers keep killing; UNICEF vehicles hit by Israeli gunfire; peace activists arrested in US Capitol; Israeli luminaries call Netanyahu an “existential threat” to Israel and US; Rashida Tlaib: “Netanyahu’s Congress speech is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”; Schumer says he will attend Netanyahu’s Congress speech; Israeli gov’t heavily funding illegal Israeli outposts; 350 “experts” endorse Kamala Harris for her Israel support; Olympics news; Israeli forces killing spree in West Bank; seven major labor unions demand that Biden pull the plug on Israel aid; China brokers reconciliation deal with Palestinian factions By IAK staff, from reports. Israel blocks Palestinians from 80 percent of Gaza The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says the Israeli military has placed more than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip “under evacuation orders or designated as a no-go zone”. “We just keep hearing the same question: Where do I go?” UNRWA said on X, quoting its spokeswoman’s remarks to the BBC’s Radio 4. It comes a day after Israel ordered thousands of people to flee from the eastern parts of the Khan Younis governorate to al-Mawasi in the west. Death toll from Israeli bombing in Khan Younis rises to 89 At least 89 people have been killed in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis governorate, according to the enclave’s Government Media Office, since Israel launched a new military operation in the area yesterday morning, without giving civilians time to flee. Hundreds of people are also reported injured. Palestinians, including women and children, living in the east of Khan Younis city move towards safe areas with whatever belongings they can take with them after Israel announced that an operation will be carried out and ordered the Palestinians to evacuate the area immediately in Khan Yunis, Gaza on July 22, 2024. Palestinians, including women and children, living in the east of Khan Younis city move towards safe areas with whatever belongings they can take with them after Israel announced that an operation will be carried out and ordered the Palestinians to evacuate the area immediately in Khan Yunis, Gaza on July 22, 2024. (photo) UNICEF vehicles attacked with gunfire in central Gaza NOTE: The targeting of aid workers in Gaza by Israel has been a long-standing pattern. Since October 2023, at least 278 aid workers were reported killed in Gaza, including 201 UN staff members. Following an Israeli attack on a high-profile humanitarian aid convoy in early April, MSF official Christopher Lockyear decried what was already a norm: “This pattern of attacks is either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence.” US Capitol Police arrest activists calling for Israel arms embargo Al Jazeera reports: The rotunda of an office building in the United States Capitol complex filled in minutes with hundreds of people who appeared as if from nowhere, as part of a surprise protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. “Let Gaza live,” they chanted in unison inside the Cannon House Office Building, removing their outer garments to reveal matching red T-shirts. One side of the shirt read, “Jews say stop arming Israel.” The other side: “Not in our name.” Tuesday’s coordinated protest, led by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), took Congressional staffers and law enforcement agents aback, as it came together within minutes. But the crackdown started almost immediately after the protesters assembled. Capitol Police quickly declared the area a closed “zone” and arrested hundreds of demonstrators who refused to leave. “This is a moment in history where we have to say we stood up for Palestinian freedom. We stood up to end this genocide,” said protester Liv Kunins-Berkowitz. “For so many of us, we are the descendants who survived ethnic cleansing and genocide. Our ancestors and grandparents taught us that the worst thing to do in these moments is to be a bystander.” The activists are of all faiths, races, and ethnicities. They’re working to overcome the powerful Israel lobby. Embed from Getty Images Seven major US labor unions call on Biden to ‘shut off military aid to Israel’ The Guardian reports: Seven major US labor unions representing about 6 million workers sent a letter to Joe Biden on Tuesday calling on his administration to “immediately halt all military aid to Israel” ahead of a visit to the US from Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, this week. The unions that signed on to the letter include the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW) and United Electrical Workers (UE). “Our unions are hearing the cries of humanity as this vicious war continues,” said Mark Dimondstein, the APWU president, in a press release. “Working people and our unions are horrified that our tax dollars are financing this ongoing tragedy. We need a ceasefire now, and the best way to secure that is to shut off US military aid to Israel.” The UAW stated, “This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to come to Congress to ask our government to keep supporting this war [in Gaza]. We reject this insult to all those calling for peace and justice.” Amnesty issues fresh warning about US complicity in Israeli war crimes Middle East Monitor reports: Amnesty International has issued a fresh warning about US complicity in Israeli war crimes as Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington. The human rights NGO also called on the US to halt arms exports to Israel with Netanyahu set to meet Joe Biden and possibly Kamala Harris during his trip. In the absence of a UN Security Council arms embargo, Amnesty is calling on all countries to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel immediately, until there is no longer a substantial risk that arms could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law. Countries which continue to transfer arms to Israel with knowledge that the recipient state or group is using these arms to commit “internationally wrongful acts” — which include crimes under international law such as war crimes and crimes against humanity — are not only violating their obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law, said Amnesty today, but are in fact also assisting these violations. Companies manufacturing and exporting arms also have a responsibility to respect human rights and international humanitarian law throughout their value chains. Any companies providing material assistance in the commission of a war crime can be found legally liable for such a crime. “The US government has been presented with ample evidence from experts around the world that US-origin arms have been used in war crimes and unlawful killings by the Israeli government.” Continued weapons transfers will make the US “complicit” in violations of international law committed with these arms, explained the Amnesty official. NOTE: Weapons transfers to armed Palestinian groups also fall within Amnesty’s call for embargo – although in reality, international law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, the UN extending that right to the point of armed resistance. Israel carries out major strikes on three regions in one day Israel carries out major strikes on three regions in one day (collage) Israeli executives, former security officials denounce Netanyahu ahead of address to US Congress Andalou Agency reports: Dozens of Israeli executives, academics, and former national security officials denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, warning in a letter to US congressional leaders that he represents an “existential threat” to the US and Israel. The letter signed by 31 Israelis comes on the eve of Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress where many lawmakers are expected to not attend or stage protests to interrupt the Israeli leader’s speech. It is addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “We cannot overstate this: Prime Minister Netanyahu poses an existential threat to the State of Israel. He has no clear strategic objectives for the war in Gaza, no plan for the day after, nor a strategy for how to deal with the existential threat of Iran. For decades, he has been inciting Israelis against each other, damaging our national social fabric, dramatically harming our defense capabilities, eroding our economy and devastating our international standing,” the authors wrote. A copy of the letter was posted publicly by CNN. “Further, Netanyahu severely harms the US national security interests through his approach to this war, which adversely impacts American policy in the Middle East and beyond and further endangers Israel,” they added. Prominent signatories include former Israeli military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Haloutz, ex-Mossad Director Tamir Pardo, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Nobel Prize Laureate Aaron Ciechanover and Israel’s former UN envoy Gabriela Shalev. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress is a ‘celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians’ Middle East Eye reports: Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress “a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”. Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, said that “Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court.” She further remarked, “Make no mistake: this event is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo op with a man who is actively committing genocide. “It is hypocritical to claim concern about the massive death toll of innocent civilians, then turn around and welcome the person responsible for these war crimes to our Capitol. Their silence is betrayal, and history will remember them accordingly. Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now.” Israel was founded in 1948 through a war of ethnic cleansing. Embed from Getty Images Schumer says he will attend Netanyahu’s Congress speech despite ‘disagreements’ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at Congress: “Even though I disagree with many of Bibi Netanyahu’s policies, I will attend this speech because the United States’ relationship with Israel remains ironclad and transcends any prime minister.” Schumer endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Ha’aretz reports: The Democratic Majority for Israel wholeheartedly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the party’s nomination for the upcoming presidential election. Israeli government quietly sends millions to unauthorized West Bank settler outposts Associated Press reports: The Israeli government has budgeted millions of dollars to protect small, illegal, unauthorized Jewish farms in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, underwriting tiny outposts meant to grow into full-fledged , illegal settlements, according to an anti-settlement monitoring group. Documents uncovered by Peace Now illustrate how Israel’s pro-settler government has quietly poured tens of millions of dollars into the unauthorized outposts, which are separate from its more than 100 officially recognized – but also illegal – settlements. Some of those outposts have been linked to settler violence against Palestinians and are sanctioned by the U.S. The group estimates approximately 500 people live on the small, unauthorized farms and 25,000 more live in larger outposts. Those outposts, while not officially authorized by the government, often receive tacit support before they are retroactively legalized. Rights groups say the expanding network of remote farms atop West Bank hilltops are the primary drivers of violence and displacement of Palestinians. On Friday, the top United Nations court said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and called for an immediate halt to settlement construction. NOTE: While there has been an uptick in settler violence since October 7th, every one of the more than 700,000 Israeli settlers living on Palestinian land are violating international law. Israel has illegally built around 280 settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and incentivized Israeli Jews to live in them. Many Palestinians believe that Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are the main barrier to any lasting peace agreement. Settlers, moreover, have a history of violence against Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces. NOTE: The International Solidarity Movement recently posted this video of Israeli settlers brutally attacking both Palestinians and international volunteers – one day after the ICJ ruled that the Israeli occupation and settlements are illegal. 350 foreign policy and national security personages endorse Kamala Harris, highlighting her involvement in the U.S.’ ‘defense of Israel when Iran attacked in April’ Ha’aretz reports: 350 leading foreign policy and national security experts endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy for U.S. President, calling her “the best qualified person to lead our nation as commander in chief.” “She has been by the president’s side in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room managing high-stakes international crises and advising on the toughest decisions,” they wrote, highlighting “the United States’ defense of Israel when Iran attacked in April 2024.” Among those to sign the letter include former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel Tom Nides and Daniel Kurtzer, former Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Frank Lowenstein, former national security advisers Susan Rice and Thomas E. Donilon, former secretaries of state John F. Kerry and Hillary Clinton; former secretaries of defense Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta; and former top intelligence officials Michael Hayden and James Clapper. NOTE: While it’s not hard to find cheerleaders for Israel in its genocidal war on Gaza, voters themselves are not so enthusiastic: A Gallup poll in March showed that 55 percent of respondents disapproved of the Israeli military’s actions in the Gaza Strip. Among Democratic Party voters, the percentage was even higher, with 75 percent of respondents expressing a negative view of Israel’s actions, while 60 percent of independents also said they disapproved. Politicians have failed to grasp the significance of millions of Americans across the country protesting for ceasefire and an end to military aid to Israel – wrongly accusing them of antisemitism and ignoring their message. RECOMMENDED READING: How Israel twists antisemitism claims to project its own crimes onto Palestinians. AIPAC: Has the pro-Israel lobby bribed and bought the US Democratic Party? It isn’t Netanyahu who is acting against the will of his people, it’s Biden Palestinians accuse Israel of Olympic Truce breach Al Jazeera reports: The Palestine Olympic Committee has called for the “immediate exclusion of Israel from the Paris Olympics 2024”. In a letter to Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee, the Palestinians said Israel has been engaged in violations that include illegal colonial settlement, occupation and annexation, as well as genocidal incitement. The letter also stressed that there has been a breach of the Olympic truce. The UN General Assembly Resolution on the Paris 2024 Olympics mandates an Olympic truce from July 19 to September 15, 2024, to ensure a peaceful environment for the Games. “However, Israel has violated this truce within the first 24 hours by continuing its bombing on Gaza, resulting in the killing of at least 70 Palestinians. This contravention underscores the urgent need for OIC and FIFA to act in line with its statutes and promote respect for international human rights law,” the letter said. The letter was also sent to FIFA President Gianni Infantino by the Palestine Football Association. NOTE: At least 265 Palestinian sportsmen have been killed in Israeli attacks since last October, according to the Palestinian Football Association. “The victims include players, administrators and technical staff, including 11 in the West Bank” Jibril Rajoub, head of the association, told reporters. “Dozens of athletes remain under the rubble, and we are unable to count their number,” he said. “Many athletes are also held in Israeli jails.” RECOMMENDED READING: Palestinians launch first national amputee football team in Gaza Many West Bank deaths on Tuesday Five Palestinians were killed Tuesday by Israeli occupation army gunfire in Tulkarm camp, including three men, a young girl, and a 50-year-old woman. Four of the bodies were confiscated by Israeli forces. The men were reportedly a Qassam commander and two members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. A 13-year-old child from the town of Bal’a, east of Tulkarem, succumbed Tuesday to critical injuries he sustained by Israeli forces’ live bullets about two weeks ago. A 39-year-old Palestinian man was Tuesday morning killed by Israeli occupation forces in the town of Sa’ir, northeast of Hebron. A young man, age 22, was Tuesday killed by Israeli occupation army gunfire from the town of Shuyoukh, northeast of Hebron. Palestinians hail new reconciliation deal amid Israeli opposition Andalou Agency reports: A China-mediated agreement to heal the years-long rift between Palestinian factions and form a national unity government has been met with Palestinian praise and Israeli opposition. The Palestinian groups on Monday reached a reconciliation agreement following three days of intensive talks in the Chinese capital Beijing to end their political division since 2007. Representatives of 14 Palestinian groups, including the rival Fatah and Hamas movements, signed a new statement pledging to end the division and strengthen unity. The agreement aims at maintaining Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip following the end of Israel’s ongoing offensive on the enclave. Signatories of the agreement said they would form an interim national unity government to supervise the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip and hold new elections. “The Beijing declaration is an additional positive step towards achieving Palestinian national unity,” Husam Badran, a member of Hamas political bureau, said in a statement. He said the factions agreed to form a national unity government to supervise Gaza reconstruction and prepare the conditions for holding elections. The agreement also underlined the right of the Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation and to self-determination based on international laws and UN Charter. Embed from Getty Images Palestinians living inside Israel face home demolition MORE NEWS: MintPress News: Meta’s Policy On Zionism Exposed: Cyberwell Scrambles After Israel Ties Revealed Declassified UK: UK Covers Up Gaza Spy Footage From Day of Aid Worker Massacre Mondoweiss: Biden staffers who resigned over Gaza say US has destroyed international law and endangered Americans Middle East Eye: Cambridge University to review investments in response to pro-Gaza protests STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JULY 23: Palestinian death toll from October 7 – July 23: at least 39,668* (39,090 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,034 children as of June 17. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.] This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 587 in the West Bank (~140 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths. Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza. At least 46 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank). At least 40 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**. About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced. 2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. Palestinian injuries from October 7 – July 23: at least 95,567 (including at least 90,147 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.] Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – July 23: ~1,481 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 326 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured. Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%. NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers. *Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.** Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals. † For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics. Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here. Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated) Hundreds of social media influencers attend Israel strategy summit in NYC Supporting Israel Is Big Business in the U.S. for Israel partisans Toys, spices, sewing machines: the items Israel banned from entering Gaza Synopsis of ICJ’s decision on Israeli occupation, reactions, and take-aways Russia attacks hospitals in Ukraine; Israel does the same in Gaza. The US response couldn’t be more different. ‘I have the prison inside me’: The emaciated Palestinian bodybuilder broken by Israel Israel has manufactured an industrial-scale version of Jim Crow rape hoaxes If Americans Knew Mobile Billboard Truck at Republican Convention Col. Douglas MacGregor: US is under the control of Israel, likens Gaza to Warsaw Ghetto Israel’s leading paper says its own army deliberately killed Israelis on October 7 Gaza has turned into Biden’s most perplexing moral and foreign policy failure ‘Suffering horrifically’: 10 months of Israel’s ‘war on children’ in Gaza Pro-Israel ADL ‘spied on’ African American activist over opposition to US-Israel police exchange programme ‘I’m bored, so I shoot’: The Israeli army’s approval of free-for-all violence in Gaza Lancet: Counting the dead in Gaza – difficult but essential ‘Revealer of Inconvenient Truths’ – Julian Assange’s Impact on Palestine Fact or Fiction: Is Israel Unfairly Singled Out for Global Condemnation? How an Israeli colonel invented the burned babies lie to justify genocide Widely reported Palestinian father-son ‘rape’ confession contradicted by piles of evidence The Gaza Project reveals how Israel has targeted the press – in 3 stories ‘Buying Our Own Stolen Water’ in Bethlehem – Scorching Summer Awaits Palestinians in the West Bank Israel’s covert info bots targeting America met with hypocritical silence AIPAC: Has the pro-Israel lobby bribed and bought the US Democratic Party? Israel’s war on Gaza is the deadliest conflict on record for journalists. Israeli army hits Gaza family, uses them as human shields, and runs over their mother. Strangling Israeli restrictions were in place long before October 7th. https://israelpalestinenews.org/many-american-politicians-embrace-netanyahu-real-people-say-no-thanks-day-290/ https://donshafi911iamthefaceoftruth.blogspot.com/2024/07/as-israel-first-politicians-embrace.html
    ISRAELPALESTINENEWS.ORG
    As Israel-First politicians embrace Netanyahu, many people say No Thanks – Day 290
    Jewish peace activists arrested in DC; US complicity in Israeli war crimes; 7 major labor unions demand that Biden pull plug on Israel aid
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  • Reasons why Egypt is not a friend of Palestine Part 1 - the economic trap
    Egypt has long been responsible for the collective punishment of Palestinians while feigning sympathy.

    vanessa beeley

    Our path to Palestine will not be covered with a red carpet or with yellow sand. Our path to Palestine will be covered with blood... In order that we may liberate Palestine, the Arab nation must unite, the Arab armies must unite, and a unified plan of action must be established. Gamal Abdul Nasser 1965

    Egypt’s pivotal role as an ally and supporter of the Palestinian cause degraded dramatically after the suspected assassination of President Gamal Abdul Nasser in 1967 when Nasser was only 52 and known to be in excellent health.

    Nasser was succeeded by Anwar Sadat who deceived and betrayed Syria during the 1973 October war or the Yom Kippur war as Zionists have named it. Sadat developed a close relationship with war criminal Henry Kissinger which proved deadly for the nationalist movements in the region who opposed normalisation with the genocidal Zionist entity and supported the central Palestinian cause.

    Kissinger astutely perceived Sadat as someone who could be persuaded to capitulate to Israeli ‘peace’ demands which he did in 1979 with the Camp David agreement.

    Camp David was considered a betrayal of the Palestinian Resistance liberation movement and of the legitimate claims of neighbouring states to their land and sovereignty.

    In May 2000 Kissinger wrote about Sadat:

    He did me the honor of inviting me to fly with him to New York from Washington--we had concluded his trip. And he said to me, "you know, next March the Sinai is coming back to us. It's going to be a big celebration. And since you and I started this, you should come to Egypt and celebrate with us."

    Then he thought for a moment and he said "no, you're Jewish. It is very painful for the Israelis to give up this territory. And if they see you in Cairo celebrating with us, they'll be very hurt and we mustn't do this to them. I have a better idea," he said. "Let the territory come back. And then, a month later, you and I alone will take a trip through the Sinai and we'll go to the top of Mt. Sinai where I intend to build a synagogue, a mosque, and a church. And this will be a more meaningful celebration of the peace process than if you come to Cairo."

    In 1973 Kissinger and President Hafez Al Assad met - the first high level meeting between the US and Syria for years. After Kissinger had been speaking for just under and hour, Assad interrupted him and asked if it was his turn to speak.

    As a professor you have spoken for fifty minutes. The President was an officer and officers are brief. As a military man, I take the place of politicians; professors take the place of politicians.

    Assad continued:

    First, we are not or never have been against the people of the United States. I have said this many times and in many places. There is much convincing evidence that we have to be against U.S. policy because it is against Syrian interests and Syrian just aspirations. Had it not been for U.S. assistance in support of Israel, Israel could not remain in occupation and forced out the Palestinians from their lands since 1948 but we are not against the United States as a country or a people.

    Secondly, our policy is decided in light of our national interests. We want to build our line in a completely independent way. Syria is non-aligned. It is an effective member of the non-aligned group and a member of the Bureau. It cannot be diverted, because it has deep convictions.

    […]

    …there can be no peace with justice unless the Arab Palestinian question is settled. The Arab people of Palestine were driven out by force and are now living in camps. How can there be peace without settling their problem?

    On the Zionist occupation of Syrian Golan, Assad said:

    If we are to suppose there are such secure borders, history shows we are in the need of secure borders if anyone. Why should secure borders be at the expense of Syria? Let secure borders be at Galilee if anywhere. Under what logic should secure borders be at the expense of the population of Golan? Why should the line of danger be closer to Damascus than Tel Aviv? The distance from the ‘67 border to Damascus is 80 kilometers; the distance from the ‘67 border to Tel Aviv is 135 kilometers. So why should they want secure borders? If the idea behind it is to keep danger away from both capitals, why not?

    Syria and Egypt depend upon unity for their national security. Presidents Nasser and Hafez Al Assad understood this concept. It is no coincidence that Britain created the settler state of Israel in Palestine to drive these two countries apart geographically, politically, economically and ultimately ideologically.

    My dream was realised in the Orient as it almost turned into a nightmare in the Occident. I have spent the best years of my life in Egypt. In Europe the clouds do not allow you to think of the projects that change the course of history whereas in Egypt, whoever rules it is capable of changing history. If I were not ruler of Egypt, I would not have become Emperor of France. (Attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte)

    Fast forward to 2024 and Egypt’s state-role in the humanitarian blockade and Zionist genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories.

    I have collated the following reasons why and how Egypt has relinquished its role as a principal loyalist to the Palestinian national liberation movements.

    1: Egypt is on economic life-support provided by the US, EU, IMF, Saudi Arabia and UAE and is reliant on good relations with Israel

    For decades Egypt has been kept afloat economically with multi-billion loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and US allies among the Gulf States.

    At the end of March 2024 the IMF approved Egypt’s loan program which was duly expanded to $ 8 billion. Concurrently the EU has approved a Euros 7.4 billion “assistance” package to revive Egypt’s flatlined economy. Analysts have linked Egypt’s loan packages to the Zionist ongoing genocide in Palestine.

    Egypt is adamant that they are opposed to a Palestinian exodus from Gaza into the Sinai but IMF messaging suggests otherwise:

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says there is “excellent progress” in talks with Egypt over a loan program that seeks to “support” the country in weathering its financial woes and handling a potential deluge of Palestinian refugees that Israel seeks to ethnically cleanse from Gaza.

    Reports of Egypt constructing an enclosure for Palestinian refugees have been circulating since October 7th, gathering traction in February 2024 when satellite images showed an area of land just the other side of the Egyptian Rafah crossing being cleared for construction. Egypt denied any such intentions, claiming that they were preparing an area for the storage of humanitarian aid - aid that has not entered Gaza since 7th October.

    However according to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in November 2023:

    “The loan could reach up to $10 billion to help the Egyptian economy survive amid local and external factors, including the Israeli onslaught on the neighboring Gaza Strip and tensions in the Red Sea…

    This coincided with the start of construction work on an “isolated security zone” in the eastern Sinai Desert on the border with the Gaza Strip, which many expect will serve as a buffer zone for displaced Palestinians.

    “The construction work seen in Sinai along the border with Gaza – the establishment of a reinforced security perimeter around a specific, open area of land – are serious signs that Egypt may be preparing to accept and allow the displacement of Gazans to Sinai, in coordination with Israel and the United States.”

    In October 2023 - as Israel's brutal military assault on Gaza continued unabated, reports continued to swirl about a big Egyptian trade-off in the works: the absorption of large numbers of displaced Palestinians from the Strip in exchange for easing Cairo's massive debt load – which surpasses $160 billion.

    Since these rumours of Egypt providing a secondary open air compound for forcibly displaced Palestinians, there have been recent reports of the US “humanitarian” pier being used to ferry Palestinian from Gaza to northern Lebanon, Cyprus and other destinations. Sources within the Resistance in Gaza told Mondoweiss:

    “The floating pier project is an American solution to the displacement dilemma in Gaza,” the source said. “It goes beyond both the Israeli solution of displacing Gazans into Sinai…and the Egyptian suggestion of displacing [Gazans] into the Naqab [desert].”

    This should not detract from Egypt being mired in debt to the friends of Israel and enemies of Palestine nor from its role in blockading Gaza and tacitly collaborating with Israel in the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

    In March the European Union also pledged 7.4 billion Euros to the economically floundering Egyptian regime. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni travelled to Cairo alongside EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Greek, Austrian and Belgian prime ministers, and the Cypriot president. All these countries have a vested interest in getting someone else to take on the potential tsunami of a Palestinian refugee crisis.

    Ostensibly the investment and concessional loans are designed to boost cooperation in areas including renewable energy, trade and security, while delivering grants, loans and other funding over the next three years to support Egypt's faltering economy.

    The proposed funding includes 5 billion euros in concessional loans and 1.8 billion euros of investments, according to a summary published by the EU. Another 600 million euros would be provided in grants, including 200 million euros for managing migration. (Reuters)

    The United Arab Emirates, a former British protectorate, normalised relations with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords concocted by the Trump administration to bring Arab states into the Greater Israel/Clean Break plan.

    In early May, Egypt received the second installment of funding, worth $ 20 billion, from the Ras Al Hekma deal with the UAE intended to develop the luxury Ras Al Hekma resort on the Mediterranean Sea.

    Cairo had already received $ 5 billion from the UAE deal.

    Egypt is also looking to close a similar deal with Saudi Arabian investors to enable elite coastal developments on the Red Sea coast near Sharm El Sheikh, including the Ras Ghamila resort. This is in combination with the Saudi futuristic Neom project that is seeking to expand into the Egyptian Sinai.


    In 2018 - Saudi Arabia signed an investment agreement with Egypt to develop Egyptian lands in south Sinai to become part of a planned mega-city and business zone unveiled by Saudi Arabia last October. The two countries established a $ 10 billion joint investment fund.

    Reuters reported a Saudi official as saying that Egypt has committed more than 1,000 square kilometers of land in the southern Sinai Peninsula to the NEOM project.

    Saudi Arabia is in negotiations with the US over bilateral defence pacts while allegedly delaying normalisation with Israel dependent on the establishment of a Palestinian state on the scraps of land and rubble left intact in the ever-dwindling Palestinian zones in the Occupied Territories and Gaza.

    Concurrently the Saudi regime is cracking down on pro-Palestine protests in the ‘kingdom’ and has allegedly begun removing negative portrayal of Israel from its school curriculum, as has the UAE.

    In October 2023 journalist Mohamad Hasan Sweidan noted:

    It seems clear that Riyadh decided, from the beginning of the Gaza war, to prepare the internal environment for the post-Gaza phase, that is, the phase of normalization and settlement. Saudi Arabia insisted on not postponing any festival or celebration, prevented participating artists from showing sympathy for the Palestinians, punished those who sympathized with the martyrs of Gaza from a Saudi platform, and even banned the wearing of the Palestinian Kufiyyeh at Mawsim al-Riyadh, a state-funded annual festival.

    Bahrain has been actively investing in Egypt, driven by a mutual need for economic cooperation and diversification. The country has been seeking to revive its fortunes through a recently discovered oilfield and plans to become a regional financial hub. Bahrain normalised with Israel in December 2020.

    UAE and Bahrain were involved in providing a land bridge for Israel during the Zionist genocide in Gaza and West Bank and to counter the Yemeni blockade of the Red Sea shipping routes.

    Egypt leveraged the perceived threat of an overwhelming refugee crisis as a result of the Zionist genocide to secure the IMF and EU loans and to float the faltering economy. Egypt is now in bed with Gulf States, Jordan and even Israel at the expense of the Palestinian cause - Egypt’s impotence has been further demonstrated by the lack of any military deterrence when faced with the Zionist invasion of Rafah and the shooting of an Egyptian soldier at the border.

    Journalist Mohamad Sweidan points out:

    Closing the file on the Palestinian cause and forging ties with Tel Aviv is an ambition the Saudis share with the UAE in pursuit of economic and political gains. Despite official Arab declarations rebuffing displacement plans, behind-the-scenes maneuvers suggest a different reality, one that veers towards the gradual dissolution of the Palestinian cause.

    Egypt’s sovereignty is in question when one considers the following information:

    Riyadh's sudden eagerness to bolster economic ties with Cairo is palpable. With unprecedented directives from both governments, mutual investments are set to soar, with Saudi Arabia aiming to ramp up trade to $100 billion.

    Recent collaborations include a $4 billion deal with Saudi-listed ACWA Power for the Green Hydrogen project. Moreover, strategic initiatives like the memorandum of understanding between the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production and the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries and agreements in petroleum and mineral resources signal deepening economic integration.

    Ongoing negotiations between Cairo and Abu Dhabi to develop a substantial tract of land along Egypt's Mediterranean coast, potentially valued at $22 billion, could be a game-changer for Egypt's beleaguered economy.

    According to the CBE report, the proposed contract's value encompasses a significant portion of the Egyptian government's external debt due in 2024, totaling $29.229 billion. This includes interest payments totaling $6.312 billion and debt installments amounting to $22.917 billion.

    History repeats itself - in 1991, Washington forgave Egypt's debt in return for its support of the US-led coalition against Iraq.

    Only the NATO-proxy failed state of Ukraine has a debt higher than Egypt’s national debt. Let that sink in.

    It is difficult to consider Egypt an honest broker in the Hamas-Israel negotiations. The fate of Palestinians is effectively (from a Western perspective) in the hands of nations that have already acquiesced to recognition and approval of the Zionist entity. Egypt is indebted to every single one of those countries and to their controlling interests in the UK, EU and US. Extrication from such a position is virtually impossible.

    In part 2 I will look at Egypt’s covert cooperation and collaboration with Israel via non-state actors with close ties to the Sisi regime. I will also cover the decades-long Egyptian blockade of Gaza and the treatment of Palestinians in the enclave by Egyptian security forces - something I have personally witnessed when trying to cross into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing.

    ****

    Please do consider subscribing to my Substack. Thank you to all those who already do.

    https://substack.com/home/post/p-145438393
    Reasons why Egypt is not a friend of Palestine Part 1 - the economic trap Egypt has long been responsible for the collective punishment of Palestinians while feigning sympathy. vanessa beeley Our path to Palestine will not be covered with a red carpet or with yellow sand. Our path to Palestine will be covered with blood... In order that we may liberate Palestine, the Arab nation must unite, the Arab armies must unite, and a unified plan of action must be established. Gamal Abdul Nasser 1965 Egypt’s pivotal role as an ally and supporter of the Palestinian cause degraded dramatically after the suspected assassination of President Gamal Abdul Nasser in 1967 when Nasser was only 52 and known to be in excellent health. Nasser was succeeded by Anwar Sadat who deceived and betrayed Syria during the 1973 October war or the Yom Kippur war as Zionists have named it. Sadat developed a close relationship with war criminal Henry Kissinger which proved deadly for the nationalist movements in the region who opposed normalisation with the genocidal Zionist entity and supported the central Palestinian cause. Kissinger astutely perceived Sadat as someone who could be persuaded to capitulate to Israeli ‘peace’ demands which he did in 1979 with the Camp David agreement. Camp David was considered a betrayal of the Palestinian Resistance liberation movement and of the legitimate claims of neighbouring states to their land and sovereignty. In May 2000 Kissinger wrote about Sadat: He did me the honor of inviting me to fly with him to New York from Washington--we had concluded his trip. And he said to me, "you know, next March the Sinai is coming back to us. It's going to be a big celebration. And since you and I started this, you should come to Egypt and celebrate with us." Then he thought for a moment and he said "no, you're Jewish. It is very painful for the Israelis to give up this territory. And if they see you in Cairo celebrating with us, they'll be very hurt and we mustn't do this to them. I have a better idea," he said. "Let the territory come back. And then, a month later, you and I alone will take a trip through the Sinai and we'll go to the top of Mt. Sinai where I intend to build a synagogue, a mosque, and a church. And this will be a more meaningful celebration of the peace process than if you come to Cairo." In 1973 Kissinger and President Hafez Al Assad met - the first high level meeting between the US and Syria for years. After Kissinger had been speaking for just under and hour, Assad interrupted him and asked if it was his turn to speak. As a professor you have spoken for fifty minutes. The President was an officer and officers are brief. As a military man, I take the place of politicians; professors take the place of politicians. Assad continued: First, we are not or never have been against the people of the United States. I have said this many times and in many places. There is much convincing evidence that we have to be against U.S. policy because it is against Syrian interests and Syrian just aspirations. Had it not been for U.S. assistance in support of Israel, Israel could not remain in occupation and forced out the Palestinians from their lands since 1948 but we are not against the United States as a country or a people. Secondly, our policy is decided in light of our national interests. We want to build our line in a completely independent way. Syria is non-aligned. It is an effective member of the non-aligned group and a member of the Bureau. It cannot be diverted, because it has deep convictions. […] …there can be no peace with justice unless the Arab Palestinian question is settled. The Arab people of Palestine were driven out by force and are now living in camps. How can there be peace without settling their problem? On the Zionist occupation of Syrian Golan, Assad said: If we are to suppose there are such secure borders, history shows we are in the need of secure borders if anyone. Why should secure borders be at the expense of Syria? Let secure borders be at Galilee if anywhere. Under what logic should secure borders be at the expense of the population of Golan? Why should the line of danger be closer to Damascus than Tel Aviv? The distance from the ‘67 border to Damascus is 80 kilometers; the distance from the ‘67 border to Tel Aviv is 135 kilometers. So why should they want secure borders? If the idea behind it is to keep danger away from both capitals, why not? Syria and Egypt depend upon unity for their national security. Presidents Nasser and Hafez Al Assad understood this concept. It is no coincidence that Britain created the settler state of Israel in Palestine to drive these two countries apart geographically, politically, economically and ultimately ideologically. My dream was realised in the Orient as it almost turned into a nightmare in the Occident. I have spent the best years of my life in Egypt. In Europe the clouds do not allow you to think of the projects that change the course of history whereas in Egypt, whoever rules it is capable of changing history. If I were not ruler of Egypt, I would not have become Emperor of France. (Attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte) Fast forward to 2024 and Egypt’s state-role in the humanitarian blockade and Zionist genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories. I have collated the following reasons why and how Egypt has relinquished its role as a principal loyalist to the Palestinian national liberation movements. 1: Egypt is on economic life-support provided by the US, EU, IMF, Saudi Arabia and UAE and is reliant on good relations with Israel For decades Egypt has been kept afloat economically with multi-billion loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and US allies among the Gulf States. At the end of March 2024 the IMF approved Egypt’s loan program which was duly expanded to $ 8 billion. Concurrently the EU has approved a Euros 7.4 billion “assistance” package to revive Egypt’s flatlined economy. Analysts have linked Egypt’s loan packages to the Zionist ongoing genocide in Palestine. Egypt is adamant that they are opposed to a Palestinian exodus from Gaza into the Sinai but IMF messaging suggests otherwise: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says there is “excellent progress” in talks with Egypt over a loan program that seeks to “support” the country in weathering its financial woes and handling a potential deluge of Palestinian refugees that Israel seeks to ethnically cleanse from Gaza. Reports of Egypt constructing an enclosure for Palestinian refugees have been circulating since October 7th, gathering traction in February 2024 when satellite images showed an area of land just the other side of the Egyptian Rafah crossing being cleared for construction. Egypt denied any such intentions, claiming that they were preparing an area for the storage of humanitarian aid - aid that has not entered Gaza since 7th October. However according to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in November 2023: “The loan could reach up to $10 billion to help the Egyptian economy survive amid local and external factors, including the Israeli onslaught on the neighboring Gaza Strip and tensions in the Red Sea… This coincided with the start of construction work on an “isolated security zone” in the eastern Sinai Desert on the border with the Gaza Strip, which many expect will serve as a buffer zone for displaced Palestinians. “The construction work seen in Sinai along the border with Gaza – the establishment of a reinforced security perimeter around a specific, open area of land – are serious signs that Egypt may be preparing to accept and allow the displacement of Gazans to Sinai, in coordination with Israel and the United States.” In October 2023 - as Israel's brutal military assault on Gaza continued unabated, reports continued to swirl about a big Egyptian trade-off in the works: the absorption of large numbers of displaced Palestinians from the Strip in exchange for easing Cairo's massive debt load – which surpasses $160 billion. Since these rumours of Egypt providing a secondary open air compound for forcibly displaced Palestinians, there have been recent reports of the US “humanitarian” pier being used to ferry Palestinian from Gaza to northern Lebanon, Cyprus and other destinations. Sources within the Resistance in Gaza told Mondoweiss: “The floating pier project is an American solution to the displacement dilemma in Gaza,” the source said. “It goes beyond both the Israeli solution of displacing Gazans into Sinai…and the Egyptian suggestion of displacing [Gazans] into the Naqab [desert].” This should not detract from Egypt being mired in debt to the friends of Israel and enemies of Palestine nor from its role in blockading Gaza and tacitly collaborating with Israel in the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. In March the European Union also pledged 7.4 billion Euros to the economically floundering Egyptian regime. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni travelled to Cairo alongside EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Greek, Austrian and Belgian prime ministers, and the Cypriot president. All these countries have a vested interest in getting someone else to take on the potential tsunami of a Palestinian refugee crisis. Ostensibly the investment and concessional loans are designed to boost cooperation in areas including renewable energy, trade and security, while delivering grants, loans and other funding over the next three years to support Egypt's faltering economy. The proposed funding includes 5 billion euros in concessional loans and 1.8 billion euros of investments, according to a summary published by the EU. Another 600 million euros would be provided in grants, including 200 million euros for managing migration. (Reuters) The United Arab Emirates, a former British protectorate, normalised relations with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords concocted by the Trump administration to bring Arab states into the Greater Israel/Clean Break plan. In early May, Egypt received the second installment of funding, worth $ 20 billion, from the Ras Al Hekma deal with the UAE intended to develop the luxury Ras Al Hekma resort on the Mediterranean Sea. Cairo had already received $ 5 billion from the UAE deal. Egypt is also looking to close a similar deal with Saudi Arabian investors to enable elite coastal developments on the Red Sea coast near Sharm El Sheikh, including the Ras Ghamila resort. This is in combination with the Saudi futuristic Neom project that is seeking to expand into the Egyptian Sinai. In 2018 - Saudi Arabia signed an investment agreement with Egypt to develop Egyptian lands in south Sinai to become part of a planned mega-city and business zone unveiled by Saudi Arabia last October. The two countries established a $ 10 billion joint investment fund. Reuters reported a Saudi official as saying that Egypt has committed more than 1,000 square kilometers of land in the southern Sinai Peninsula to the NEOM project. Saudi Arabia is in negotiations with the US over bilateral defence pacts while allegedly delaying normalisation with Israel dependent on the establishment of a Palestinian state on the scraps of land and rubble left intact in the ever-dwindling Palestinian zones in the Occupied Territories and Gaza. Concurrently the Saudi regime is cracking down on pro-Palestine protests in the ‘kingdom’ and has allegedly begun removing negative portrayal of Israel from its school curriculum, as has the UAE. In October 2023 journalist Mohamad Hasan Sweidan noted: It seems clear that Riyadh decided, from the beginning of the Gaza war, to prepare the internal environment for the post-Gaza phase, that is, the phase of normalization and settlement. Saudi Arabia insisted on not postponing any festival or celebration, prevented participating artists from showing sympathy for the Palestinians, punished those who sympathized with the martyrs of Gaza from a Saudi platform, and even banned the wearing of the Palestinian Kufiyyeh at Mawsim al-Riyadh, a state-funded annual festival. Bahrain has been actively investing in Egypt, driven by a mutual need for economic cooperation and diversification. The country has been seeking to revive its fortunes through a recently discovered oilfield and plans to become a regional financial hub. Bahrain normalised with Israel in December 2020. UAE and Bahrain were involved in providing a land bridge for Israel during the Zionist genocide in Gaza and West Bank and to counter the Yemeni blockade of the Red Sea shipping routes. Egypt leveraged the perceived threat of an overwhelming refugee crisis as a result of the Zionist genocide to secure the IMF and EU loans and to float the faltering economy. Egypt is now in bed with Gulf States, Jordan and even Israel at the expense of the Palestinian cause - Egypt’s impotence has been further demonstrated by the lack of any military deterrence when faced with the Zionist invasion of Rafah and the shooting of an Egyptian soldier at the border. Journalist Mohamad Sweidan points out: Closing the file on the Palestinian cause and forging ties with Tel Aviv is an ambition the Saudis share with the UAE in pursuit of economic and political gains. Despite official Arab declarations rebuffing displacement plans, behind-the-scenes maneuvers suggest a different reality, one that veers towards the gradual dissolution of the Palestinian cause. Egypt’s sovereignty is in question when one considers the following information: Riyadh's sudden eagerness to bolster economic ties with Cairo is palpable. With unprecedented directives from both governments, mutual investments are set to soar, with Saudi Arabia aiming to ramp up trade to $100 billion. Recent collaborations include a $4 billion deal with Saudi-listed ACWA Power for the Green Hydrogen project. Moreover, strategic initiatives like the memorandum of understanding between the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production and the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries and agreements in petroleum and mineral resources signal deepening economic integration. Ongoing negotiations between Cairo and Abu Dhabi to develop a substantial tract of land along Egypt's Mediterranean coast, potentially valued at $22 billion, could be a game-changer for Egypt's beleaguered economy. According to the CBE report, the proposed contract's value encompasses a significant portion of the Egyptian government's external debt due in 2024, totaling $29.229 billion. This includes interest payments totaling $6.312 billion and debt installments amounting to $22.917 billion. History repeats itself - in 1991, Washington forgave Egypt's debt in return for its support of the US-led coalition against Iraq. Only the NATO-proxy failed state of Ukraine has a debt higher than Egypt’s national debt. Let that sink in. It is difficult to consider Egypt an honest broker in the Hamas-Israel negotiations. The fate of Palestinians is effectively (from a Western perspective) in the hands of nations that have already acquiesced to recognition and approval of the Zionist entity. Egypt is indebted to every single one of those countries and to their controlling interests in the UK, EU and US. Extrication from such a position is virtually impossible. In part 2 I will look at Egypt’s covert cooperation and collaboration with Israel via non-state actors with close ties to the Sisi regime. I will also cover the decades-long Egyptian blockade of Gaza and the treatment of Palestinians in the enclave by Egyptian security forces - something I have personally witnessed when trying to cross into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing. **** Please do consider subscribing to my Substack. Thank you to all those who already do. https://substack.com/home/post/p-145438393
    SUBSTACK.COM
    Reasons why Egypt is not a friend of Palestine Part 1 - the economic trap
    Egypt has long been responsible for the collective punishment of Palestinians while feigning sympathy.
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  • Ukraine’s murder of 30 Russian journalists met with Western indifference…or grotesque gloating
    Eva BartlettJuly 3, 2024

    -by Eva Karene Bartlett

    Just over two weeks after another Russian journalist was deliberately targeted and killed by Ukrainian forces, global media and most international journalist support groups remain unsurprisingly silent.

    Nikita Tsitsagi, 29, a Russian photojournalist, was targeted by a Ukrainian drone on June 16 as he prepared to do another report from the St. Nicholas Monastery near Ugledar—a monastery, heavily-targeted by Ukrainian shelling over the years. Yet, civilians remain the region, and many have taken shelter in the monastery. These are often the focus of journalists who go there.

    Just three days prior, Ukrainian forces targeted Russian NTV journalists filming in the extremely hard hit village of Golmovsky, east of the northern DPR city of Gorlovka. The Ukrainian drone strike killed cameraman Valery Kozhin and seriously injured Alexey Ivliyev, a war correspondent.

    The targeting of journalists is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

    In June, President Vladimir Putin spoke of Ukraine’s targeting of Russian journalists, noting, “At least 30 people died, our journalists died, and no one gives us the opportunity to investigate what happened to them.”

    Russia’s Envoy to UNESCO in Paris called for UNESCO to condemn the killing of Russian journalists, saying:

    “All these killings, they were not condemned. This is despite the fact that the Secretariat has all the information on their killings.” He noted the lack of condemnation shows double standards and a political bias.


    It is sadly another case of only some journalists lives matter.


    Remembering Nikita

    Nikita’s murder is personal for me, as I’d met him several times and gotten to know his gentle character: kind, humble, generous with his time, and professional.

    We went together on two different occasions in November 2022 to interview people, one of which was to the Ukrainian-battered villages of Zaitsevo and Golmovsky in the Gorlovka region. Nikita kindly translated my questions to residents there, giving of his time and ensuring no nuance was lost.

    He also was quick to reply the few times I messaged him regarding an event in the Donbass or a contact I asked to speak with.

    His journalism covered military aspects, as well as humanitarian issues. One of his reports from July 2023 was from the same St. Nicholas Monastery where he was ultimately killed. I know the monastery, in June 2022, I went there with other Russian journalists. Ukrainian forces started shelling, apparently having spotted the van we arrived in. We sheltered, along with civilians living nearby, in the basement stairwell until the shelling subsided.

    Nikita’s July 2023 report, showed people taking cover in the same stairwell from the Ukrainian shelling. Then, he and those he accompanied courageously went to the home of elderly nearby, to evacuate them. Even if you don’t understand Russian, watching his report you can see his focus is on the suffering of civilians.

    Portuguese journalist Bruno Carvalho, who has reported extensively from the Donbass, knew Nikita. He told me:

    “Ukrainian propaganda said he was a Russian propagandist. This is not true. He told me he came to Donbass to see with his own eyes what was happening. He came to find the truth, and to show the truth as journalist. Ukraine committed a war crime killing him and other journalists as well. They bombed hotels full of journalists.”

    Hunting journalists

    Bombing hotel housing journalists is definitely one of Ukraine’s tactics. In June, 2022, using 155 mm caliber NATO standard shells, Ukrainian forces targeted directly next to the central Donetsk hotel numerous journalists were in, including myself. As I wrote at the time, it was plausible that Ukraine deliberately targeted a hotel known to house journalists.

    However, there were certainly many other very clear instances of Ukraine deliberately targeted journalists in hotels they were known to be staying in, most notably that of the Kherson hotel RT war correspondent Murad Gazdiev and his crew were in when in September 2022 Ukrainian armed forces hit it with an American HIMARS missile.

    Miraculously, the crew emerged from the rubble relatively unscathed. But one civilian (the hotel was full of civilians), ex-Ukrainian Rada deputy Zhuravko, was killed, along with his guard.

    Throughout the second half of 2022, there were many reports of Ukrainian targeting the three main hotels in Donetsk known to house journalists.

    Likewise, there are many clear examples of journalists coming under fire while reporting who thankfully were not killed. Too many to list here, I’ll note just a fraction of these instances.

    In December 2022, RT correspondent Maxim Toury and his colleagues were targeted by Ukrainian shelling. He wrote of the incident:

    “They filmed the work of our units. We were traveling in a civilian car, but, apparently, this did not prevent the Armed Forces of Ukraine from opening fire on the exact place where we were. There were at least 15 arrivals. Thank God, our team was not injured, but, unfortunately, there are injured among the escorts who were with us.”

    In August 2022, Izvestiya journalists filming a report near Ugledar, were deliberately targeted.

    “Ukrainian armed forces observed the journalists from a drone and then began bombing. Two hours later, a video from the same drone appeared on the Ukrainian segment of TikTok. ‘Here are the correspondents. There are guys in civilian clothes,’ says the Ukrainian drone operator.”

    Long time French-Russian war correspondent Christelle Néant and colleague Laurent Brayard came under intensive Ukrainian shelling while covering earlier shelling in a district of Petrovsky, western Donetsk in June 2022. Her car was destroyed.

    Ukraine’s assassinations of Russian journalists

    Of the at least 30 Russian journalists killed, the following are some of those recently murdered:

    In November 2023, in the Zaporozhye region, Ukrainian forces targeted a group of Russian journalists with a drone. One of the journalists, Boris Maksudov, died as a result of his injuries.

    In July 2023, Ukrainian shelling of a civilian vehicle killed RIA Novosti war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev, and injured four of his colleagues. The shelling was with US cluster munitions.


    In October 2022, Ukrainian forces shelled a group of Tavria TV and radio company’s reporters, killing journalist Oleg Klokov.

    In April 2023, in St. Petersburg, war correspondent Maxim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky) was murdered when a statuette he’d been handed, containing a bomb, exploded.

    In August 2022, journalist Darya Dugina was killed in a car bombing in Moscow. Both the murders of Dugina and Fomin are believed to be the work of Kiev’s intelligence agents. Ukrainian intelligence also plotted assassination attempts against RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan and journalist Ksenia Sobchak.

    But it’s worth pointing out these targeted killings didn’t start in 2022. Back in 2014, Russian photojournalist Andrei Stenin was killed in a Ukrainian attack on, “a vehicle traveling in a convoy of escaping civilians when it came under heavy fire.”

    Ghoulish celebration of murder of Russian journalists

    By now, Ukraine’s “kill list”, Myrotvorets, is well known. It’s an extensive list of Ukrainian, Russian and foreign journalists, commentators, analysts, several hundred children (!!!), and other figures who have in some way offended Kiev’s terrorist regime. Whatever is known about the person in question is put on the list, including address when possible. If the person is killed, they are marked “liquidated” on Myrotvorets, as was the case with Darya Dugina.


    There have been various renditions of this, black lists and graphics comprising people not in Kiev’s graces. The intent of which is intimidation, but also to discredit those listed as “Russian propagandists”.


    Professor and author, Glenn Diesen pointed out on X, “NEXTA, referring to itself as “the largest Eastern European media”, celebrates the killing of a journalist. This reflects a much wider problem: Anyone challenging NATO’s war narrative can be labelled a “propagandist”, which legitimises censorship, cancellation and even violence.”


    Indeed, recently George and Amal Clooney’s foundation announced their intention to seek arrest warrants for journalists from Russian state media, to be extradited to a country where a criminal case can be opened against them.

    This is absurdity—seeking to arrest journalists for doing their job! And, I’d note, this nonsense comes from the same actors who whitewashed terrorism in Syria.

    International Committees ignore Russian journalists

    Unsurprisingly, Nikita’s murder, nor those of the tens of Russian journalists before him, will not be highlighted by agencies whose mandate is supposedly to protect journalists.

    We’ve seen the same in Syria. In 2014, I wrote about the deliberate murders by Western-backed terrorists of Syrian and allied journalists in Syria, noting, “The murders of non-Westerners—whether in Syria, Palestine or elsewhere—doesn’t matter to the media and public, unless it serves an Imperialist or Zionist agenda.”

    In Gaza, it is exponentially worse. RT journalists Mustafa al-Bayed reported on June 17 that, according to the Government Media Office, 151 Palestinian journalists in Gaza have been killed since October 2023.

    Just over two weeks after Nikita Tsitsagi’s killing, there is still no entry on RSF, nor on CPJ. Somewhat surprisingly, The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the murders of Tsitsagi and also that of NTV’s Valery Kozhin (although not fully impartially, as in spite of the 2022 referendum for the DPR to join Russia, IFJ still inserts “Russia’s occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine” in its entry).

    Nor has UNESCO, although it has for decades condemned violence against journalists.

    However, searching all of the above sites for any mention of the Ukrainian targeted assassinations of those I’ve mentioned earlier, only Rostislav Zhuravlev is mentioned, again only by the IFJ. RSF even apparently refused to comment on its exclusion of the murders of Rostislav Zhuravlev and Boris Maksudov.

    They, being very partial organizations, serve NATO’s agenda; reporting on Ukraine’s slaughter of Russian journalists doesn’t.

    The very tragic irony is that none of these journalists would have been killed if Kiev had not unleashed hell on its former citizens in the Donbass a decade ago. Journalists reporting from there courageously put their lives on the line to show the world how Ukraine has been slaughtering civilians, with Western backing and using Western weapons.


    MY RELATED:

    –Ukraine bombed a Donetsk hotel full of journalists – here’s what it felt like to be inside at the time

    –I’m on a ‘hit list’ Kiev allows to silence dissent & journalism. That’s all you need to know about Ukrainian ‘democracy’

    –Media Black-Out on Arab Journalists and Civilians Beheaded in Syria by Western-Backed Terrorists

    –Reporters without shame: Top ‘media rights’ organization ignores rampant killings of Gaza journalists

    OTHER RELATED:

    –Kiev deliberately targeting journalists – Kremlin

    –Russian journalist killed in Ukrainian drone attack

    https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2024/07/03/ukraines-murder-of-30-russian-journalists-met-with-western-indifferenceor-grotesque-gloating/
    Ukraine’s murder of 30 Russian journalists met with Western indifference…or grotesque gloating Eva BartlettJuly 3, 2024 -by Eva Karene Bartlett Just over two weeks after another Russian journalist was deliberately targeted and killed by Ukrainian forces, global media and most international journalist support groups remain unsurprisingly silent. Nikita Tsitsagi, 29, a Russian photojournalist, was targeted by a Ukrainian drone on June 16 as he prepared to do another report from the St. Nicholas Monastery near Ugledar—a monastery, heavily-targeted by Ukrainian shelling over the years. Yet, civilians remain the region, and many have taken shelter in the monastery. These are often the focus of journalists who go there. Just three days prior, Ukrainian forces targeted Russian NTV journalists filming in the extremely hard hit village of Golmovsky, east of the northern DPR city of Gorlovka. The Ukrainian drone strike killed cameraman Valery Kozhin and seriously injured Alexey Ivliyev, a war correspondent. The targeting of journalists is a violation of the Geneva Conventions. In June, President Vladimir Putin spoke of Ukraine’s targeting of Russian journalists, noting, “At least 30 people died, our journalists died, and no one gives us the opportunity to investigate what happened to them.” Russia’s Envoy to UNESCO in Paris called for UNESCO to condemn the killing of Russian journalists, saying: “All these killings, they were not condemned. This is despite the fact that the Secretariat has all the information on their killings.” He noted the lack of condemnation shows double standards and a political bias. It is sadly another case of only some journalists lives matter. Remembering Nikita Nikita’s murder is personal for me, as I’d met him several times and gotten to know his gentle character: kind, humble, generous with his time, and professional. We went together on two different occasions in November 2022 to interview people, one of which was to the Ukrainian-battered villages of Zaitsevo and Golmovsky in the Gorlovka region. Nikita kindly translated my questions to residents there, giving of his time and ensuring no nuance was lost. He also was quick to reply the few times I messaged him regarding an event in the Donbass or a contact I asked to speak with. His journalism covered military aspects, as well as humanitarian issues. One of his reports from July 2023 was from the same St. Nicholas Monastery where he was ultimately killed. I know the monastery, in June 2022, I went there with other Russian journalists. Ukrainian forces started shelling, apparently having spotted the van we arrived in. We sheltered, along with civilians living nearby, in the basement stairwell until the shelling subsided. Nikita’s July 2023 report, showed people taking cover in the same stairwell from the Ukrainian shelling. Then, he and those he accompanied courageously went to the home of elderly nearby, to evacuate them. Even if you don’t understand Russian, watching his report you can see his focus is on the suffering of civilians. Portuguese journalist Bruno Carvalho, who has reported extensively from the Donbass, knew Nikita. He told me: “Ukrainian propaganda said he was a Russian propagandist. This is not true. He told me he came to Donbass to see with his own eyes what was happening. He came to find the truth, and to show the truth as journalist. Ukraine committed a war crime killing him and other journalists as well. They bombed hotels full of journalists.” Hunting journalists Bombing hotel housing journalists is definitely one of Ukraine’s tactics. In June, 2022, using 155 mm caliber NATO standard shells, Ukrainian forces targeted directly next to the central Donetsk hotel numerous journalists were in, including myself. As I wrote at the time, it was plausible that Ukraine deliberately targeted a hotel known to house journalists. However, there were certainly many other very clear instances of Ukraine deliberately targeted journalists in hotels they were known to be staying in, most notably that of the Kherson hotel RT war correspondent Murad Gazdiev and his crew were in when in September 2022 Ukrainian armed forces hit it with an American HIMARS missile. Miraculously, the crew emerged from the rubble relatively unscathed. But one civilian (the hotel was full of civilians), ex-Ukrainian Rada deputy Zhuravko, was killed, along with his guard. Throughout the second half of 2022, there were many reports of Ukrainian targeting the three main hotels in Donetsk known to house journalists. Likewise, there are many clear examples of journalists coming under fire while reporting who thankfully were not killed. Too many to list here, I’ll note just a fraction of these instances. In December 2022, RT correspondent Maxim Toury and his colleagues were targeted by Ukrainian shelling. He wrote of the incident: “They filmed the work of our units. We were traveling in a civilian car, but, apparently, this did not prevent the Armed Forces of Ukraine from opening fire on the exact place where we were. There were at least 15 arrivals. Thank God, our team was not injured, but, unfortunately, there are injured among the escorts who were with us.” In August 2022, Izvestiya journalists filming a report near Ugledar, were deliberately targeted. “Ukrainian armed forces observed the journalists from a drone and then began bombing. Two hours later, a video from the same drone appeared on the Ukrainian segment of TikTok. ‘Here are the correspondents. There are guys in civilian clothes,’ says the Ukrainian drone operator.” Long time French-Russian war correspondent Christelle Néant and colleague Laurent Brayard came under intensive Ukrainian shelling while covering earlier shelling in a district of Petrovsky, western Donetsk in June 2022. Her car was destroyed. Ukraine’s assassinations of Russian journalists Of the at least 30 Russian journalists killed, the following are some of those recently murdered: In November 2023, in the Zaporozhye region, Ukrainian forces targeted a group of Russian journalists with a drone. One of the journalists, Boris Maksudov, died as a result of his injuries. In July 2023, Ukrainian shelling of a civilian vehicle killed RIA Novosti war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev, and injured four of his colleagues. The shelling was with US cluster munitions. In October 2022, Ukrainian forces shelled a group of Tavria TV and radio company’s reporters, killing journalist Oleg Klokov. In April 2023, in St. Petersburg, war correspondent Maxim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky) was murdered when a statuette he’d been handed, containing a bomb, exploded. In August 2022, journalist Darya Dugina was killed in a car bombing in Moscow. Both the murders of Dugina and Fomin are believed to be the work of Kiev’s intelligence agents. Ukrainian intelligence also plotted assassination attempts against RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan and journalist Ksenia Sobchak. But it’s worth pointing out these targeted killings didn’t start in 2022. Back in 2014, Russian photojournalist Andrei Stenin was killed in a Ukrainian attack on, “a vehicle traveling in a convoy of escaping civilians when it came under heavy fire.” Ghoulish celebration of murder of Russian journalists By now, Ukraine’s “kill list”, Myrotvorets, is well known. It’s an extensive list of Ukrainian, Russian and foreign journalists, commentators, analysts, several hundred children (!!!), and other figures who have in some way offended Kiev’s terrorist regime. Whatever is known about the person in question is put on the list, including address when possible. If the person is killed, they are marked “liquidated” on Myrotvorets, as was the case with Darya Dugina. There have been various renditions of this, black lists and graphics comprising people not in Kiev’s graces. The intent of which is intimidation, but also to discredit those listed as “Russian propagandists”. Professor and author, Glenn Diesen pointed out on X, “NEXTA, referring to itself as “the largest Eastern European media”, celebrates the killing of a journalist. This reflects a much wider problem: Anyone challenging NATO’s war narrative can be labelled a “propagandist”, which legitimises censorship, cancellation and even violence.” Indeed, recently George and Amal Clooney’s foundation announced their intention to seek arrest warrants for journalists from Russian state media, to be extradited to a country where a criminal case can be opened against them. This is absurdity—seeking to arrest journalists for doing their job! And, I’d note, this nonsense comes from the same actors who whitewashed terrorism in Syria. International Committees ignore Russian journalists Unsurprisingly, Nikita’s murder, nor those of the tens of Russian journalists before him, will not be highlighted by agencies whose mandate is supposedly to protect journalists. We’ve seen the same in Syria. In 2014, I wrote about the deliberate murders by Western-backed terrorists of Syrian and allied journalists in Syria, noting, “The murders of non-Westerners—whether in Syria, Palestine or elsewhere—doesn’t matter to the media and public, unless it serves an Imperialist or Zionist agenda.” In Gaza, it is exponentially worse. RT journalists Mustafa al-Bayed reported on June 17 that, according to the Government Media Office, 151 Palestinian journalists in Gaza have been killed since October 2023. Just over two weeks after Nikita Tsitsagi’s killing, there is still no entry on RSF, nor on CPJ. Somewhat surprisingly, The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the murders of Tsitsagi and also that of NTV’s Valery Kozhin (although not fully impartially, as in spite of the 2022 referendum for the DPR to join Russia, IFJ still inserts “Russia’s occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine” in its entry). Nor has UNESCO, although it has for decades condemned violence against journalists. However, searching all of the above sites for any mention of the Ukrainian targeted assassinations of those I’ve mentioned earlier, only Rostislav Zhuravlev is mentioned, again only by the IFJ. RSF even apparently refused to comment on its exclusion of the murders of Rostislav Zhuravlev and Boris Maksudov. They, being very partial organizations, serve NATO’s agenda; reporting on Ukraine’s slaughter of Russian journalists doesn’t. The very tragic irony is that none of these journalists would have been killed if Kiev had not unleashed hell on its former citizens in the Donbass a decade ago. Journalists reporting from there courageously put their lives on the line to show the world how Ukraine has been slaughtering civilians, with Western backing and using Western weapons. MY RELATED: –Ukraine bombed a Donetsk hotel full of journalists – here’s what it felt like to be inside at the time –I’m on a ‘hit list’ Kiev allows to silence dissent & journalism. That’s all you need to know about Ukrainian ‘democracy’ –Media Black-Out on Arab Journalists and Civilians Beheaded in Syria by Western-Backed Terrorists –Reporters without shame: Top ‘media rights’ organization ignores rampant killings of Gaza journalists OTHER RELATED: –Kiev deliberately targeting journalists – Kremlin –Russian journalist killed in Ukrainian drone attack https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2024/07/03/ukraines-murder-of-30-russian-journalists-met-with-western-indifferenceor-grotesque-gloating/
    INGAZA.WORDPRESS.COM
    Ukraine’s murder of 30 Russian journalists met with Western indifference…or grotesque gloating
    -by Eva Karene Bartlett Just over two weeks after another Russian journalist was deliberately targeted and killed by Ukrainian forces, global media and most international journalist support groups …
    0 Comments 0 Shares 8355 Views
  • The President of the ICJ Joan E. Donoghue was a legal advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton under the Obama administration. Joan Donoghue takes her instructions from Washington.

    Moreover, the conduct of the genocide is a joint Israel-US endeavor with US forces involved in Israel’s combat units.

    Nobody in the media nor in the peace movement has underscored the fact that the President of the ICJ is de facto in “conflict of interest”.

    “The anger of the World has been pacified for a while with the false celebration of a fake “victory” at The Hague. The US chief judge at ICJ must be laughing.

    Israel’s genocide will continue while the US and its chief justice at the ICJ keep the world at bay for very long with new false words and delaying actions.” (Karsten Riise, Global Research emphasis added)


    http://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2024/04/fake-justice-at-hague-icj-appoints.html https://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2024/04/fake-justice-at-hague-icj-appoints.html?m=1
    The President of the ICJ Joan E. Donoghue was a legal advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton under the Obama administration. Joan Donoghue takes her instructions from Washington. Moreover, the conduct of the genocide is a joint Israel-US endeavor with US forces involved in Israel’s combat units. Nobody in the media nor in the peace movement has underscored the fact that the President of the ICJ is de facto in “conflict of interest”. “The anger of the World has been pacified for a while with the false celebration of a fake “victory” at The Hague. The US chief judge at ICJ must be laughing. Israel’s genocide will continue while the US and its chief justice at the ICJ keep the world at bay for very long with new false words and delaying actions.” (Karsten Riise, Global Research emphasis added) http://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2024/04/fake-justice-at-hague-icj-appoints.html https://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2024/04/fake-justice-at-hague-icj-appoints.html?m=1
    Like
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  • Full Movie Link: https://rb.gy/etdx6v
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  • “Fake Victory at The Hague”: The ICJ Requires Netanyahu to “Prevent” and “Punish” “Those Responsible for the Genocide”
    donshafi911
    “Fake Victory at The Hague”: The ICJ Requires Netanyahu to “Prevent” and “Punish” “Those Responsible for the Genocide”
    The Criminalization of International Law. Part I
    All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).
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    .
    First published on January 29, 2024
    .
    Part I
    The Criminalization of International Law
    The ICJ Requires Netanyahu to “Prevent” and “Punish”
    “Those Responsible for the Genocide”
    by
    Michel Chossudovsky
    Introduction
    While the ICJ has rejected Israel’s attempt to dismiss South Africa’s assertions, the Judgment –which is full of contradictions– is ultimately supportive of the Likud government.
    Moreover, no ceasefire was declared by the ICJ with a view to saving lives. Since October 7, amply documented, the atrocities committed against the People of Palestine are beyond description. At least 10,000 children have been killed: “That is one Palestinian child killed every 15 minutes… Thousands more are missing under the rubble, most of them are presumed dead.”
    Of significance: The Judgment intimates that the Israeli military rather than the Netanyahu government should be held responsible for committing criminal acts in violation of Article 2 of the Genocide Convention. What this “fake statement” suggests is that “Netanyahu’s hands are clean”. Nonsense!
    There is ample evidence that the genocide was carefully planned well in advance of October 7, 2023 by Netanyahu’s Cabinet.
    There is a command structure within the Israeli military. Israeli soldiers and pilots obey the “illegal orders” emanating from the Netanyahu government.
    America Endorses The Genocide
    In many regards, The World Court’s Judgment contradicts its own mandate: Presided by a former legal advisor to Hillary Clinton, this should come as no surprise.
    The ICJ is under Washington’s Spotlight. Let us be under no illusions, the U.S has firmly endorsed Israel’s criminal undertaking:
    “The US said the ICJ ruling was consistentwith Washington’s view that Israel has the right to take action, in accordance with international law, to ensure the October 7 attack cannot be repeated.
    “We continue to believe that allegations of genocide are unfounded and note the court did not make a finding about genocide or call for a ceasefire in its ruling and that it called for the unconditional, immediate release of all hostages being held by Hamas,” a State Department spokesperson said. Al Jazeera, January 26, 2024, emphasis added)
    The President of the ICJ Joan E. Donoghue was a legal advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton under the Obama administration. Joan Donoghue takes her instructions from Washington.
    Moreover, the conduct of the genocide is a joint Israel-US endeavor with US forces involved in Israel’s combat units.
    Nobody in the media nor in the peace movement has underscored the fact that the President of the ICJ is de facto in “conflict of interest”.
    “The anger of the World has been pacified for a while with the false celebration of a fake “victory” at The Hague. The US chief judge at ICJ must be laughing.
    Israel’s genocide will continue while the US and its chief justice at the ICJ keep the world at bay for very long with new false words and delaying actions.” (Karsten Riise, Global Research emphasis added)
    The Crimes Committed by Israel are “Genocidal In Character”
    According to The Republic of South Africa —referring to Article II of the Genocide Convention–, the crimes committed by the State of Israel “are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group. …”:
    “The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.
    … That intent is also properly to be inferred from the nature and conduct of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, having regard inter alia to Israel’s failure to provide or ensure essential food, water, medicine, fuel, shelter and other humanitarian assistance for the besieged and blockaded Palestinian people, which has pushed them to the brink of famine.
    The acts are all attributable to [The state of] Israel, which has failed to prevent genocide and is committing genocide in manifest violation of the Genocide Convention. … “(emphasis added)
    (See The Republic of South Africa’s 84 page document submitted to the ICJ)
    The Republic of South Africa’s Legal Team, ICJ, The Hague
    click the above to access the full test of the Genocide Convention
    Now Here Comes the “Upside Down Contradiction”. C’est le monde à l’envers
    Article IV of the Genocide Convention reads as follows:
    Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals
    In the Judgment (referring to Article IV above) the IJC calls upon the Netanyahu government, namely the “Constitutionally Responsible Rulers (CRRs)” to prevent and punish those individuals who allegedly committed crimes of genocide:
    “The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention.(ICJ, emphasis added)
    What this judgment intimates is that the “Constitutionally Responsible Rulers (CRRs)” including Netanyahu ARE INNOCENT. They have been assigned “TO PREVENT AND PUNISH”.
    The CRRs within Netanyahu’s Cabinet acting on behalf of the State of Israel-– who carefully planned prior to October 7, 2023 a genocidal attack against the People of Palestine have now been assigned to “take all measures within its power” to “prevent” and “punish” “public officials”, “private individuals” as well as members of the Military in acts of “direct and public incitement to commit genocide”.
    Punishment for obvious reasons is not contemplated against the CRRs. See Article IV.
    What does this imply? Ask the Mafia Boss to Prevent and Punish?
    Under present circumstances, this “take all measures within its power” concept is tantamount to the criminalization of International Law: The CRRs Criminals in high office are invited to take law enforcement in their own hands.
    The Netanyahu government has ordered the most hideous crimes against the People of Palestine.
    And now the World Court has instructed a criminal government led by Netanyahu (who has a criminal record) to “take all measures within its power” to prevent and punish “public officials, “private individuals” (Article IV) as well as combatants within the Israeli military.
    Visibly, the prevent and punish requirement is not meant to apply to the so-called “Constitutionally Responsible Rulers (CRR)” (i.e. “the good guys”) namely the “REAL CRIMINALS” in blatant contradiction with Article IV.
    It’s an absurd proposition. It unfortunately disallows Netanyahu to “prevent and punish himself”.
    And this is really what is required under international law.
    The Ceasefire
    While the Court acknowledges that criminal acts may have been committed by the State of Israel, it categorically refuses South Africa’s provisional demands including a “Ceasefire”, which would have served to interrupt at least temporarily the ongoing atrocities against the People of Palestine.
    Does this not constitute a “criminal act” by the ICJ, which indelibly will result in countless deaths of Palestinian civilians?
    What this signifies is that Netanyahu’s Genocide (from a strategic angle) is virtually unscathed, while sustaining rhetorical and meaningless condemnations against the State of Israel.
    Throughout history, wars and war crimes have invariably been instigated by “civilian politicians”.
    The Israeli military has been “Obeying Illegalorders” emanating from a government which is firmly committed to the conduct of genocide against the People of Palestine.
    And now the IJC Judgment enables Israel’s “Constitutionally Responsible Rulers”, namely civilian politicians to place the blame on the Israeli Military.
    The Road Ahead: Resistance within the Armed Forces. “Disobey Illegal Orders. Abandon the Battlefield”
    There is resistance within the Armed Forces. Voices within Israel’s military have spoken out against the Netanyahu government. There is a Protest Movement in Israel.
    In response to the ICJ slanted decision, what is required is to initiate a Worldwide campaign entitled:
    Abandon the Battlefield and Disobey Illegal Orders under Principle IV of the Nuremberg Charter
    The objective is to undermine the conduct of the genocide as well reverse the course of history.
    It is a proposal which sofar has not been the object of debate by anti-war activists in solidarity with Palestine.
    Principle IV of the Nuremberg Charter defines the responsibility of combatants “to refuse the orders of Government or a superior … “provided a moral choice [is] possible“.
    Based on the Nuremberg Charter, what is required is a campaign encouraging:
    Israeli, American and NATO Combatants to “Disobey Unlawful Orders” and “Abandon the Battlefield”.
    The Campaign would focus on making that “moral choice” possible, namely to enable enlisted Israeli, American, and NATO service men and women to “Abandon the Battlefield”.
    The Abandon the Battlefield campaign will in large part be waged in Israel. In regards to Israel, already there are unfolding divisions in the IDF command structures, political divisions, coupled with a mass protest movement against Netanyahu. The use of a False Flag justification to wage the Genocide is amply documented.
    IDF soldiers and commanders must be informed and briefed on the significance of Nuremberg Principle IV.
    Inasmuch as the U.S. and its allies are waging a hegemonic war in major regions of the World, Abandon the Battlefield should be a call for action by the anti-war movement Worldwide.
    Click title page to access full document (pdf)
    Now let me turn my attention to Nuremberg Principle VI, which defines the crimes punishable under The Nuremberg Charter.
    Nuremberg Charter. Principle VI
    Both Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu as well as President Joe Biden are responsible for “war crimes”, “crimes against peace” and “crimes against humanity” as defined under Principle VI of the Nuremberg Charter:
    The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:
    (a) Crimes against peace:
    (i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;
    (ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i).
    (b) War crimes:
    Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill- treatment or deportation to slave-labour or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war, of persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity.
    (c) Crimes against humanity:
    Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhuman acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds.
    Disobey Unlawful Orders, Abandon the Battlefield
    According to Principle IV of the Nuremberg Charter:
    “The fact that a person [e.g. Israeli, U.S.soldiers, pilots] acted pursuant to order of his [her] Government or of a superior does not relieve him [her] from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him [her].”
    Let us make that “moral choice” possible, to enlisted Israeli, American, and NATO service men and women.
    Let us call upon Israeli and American soldiers and pilots “to abandon the battlefield”, as an act of refusal to participate in a criminal undertaking against the People of Gaza.
    “Disobey Unlawful Orders, Abandon the Battlefield”. A campaign under Nuremberg Charter Principle IV.
    While it is predicated on international law, its conduct does not require the political rubber stamp of the ICJ. It is part of a grassroots campaign in Israel and the Middle East as well as Worldwide.
    Solidarity With Palestine
    Let us have tears to our eyes in solidarity with the People of Palestine, in building a mass movement Worldwide, which confronts the ongoing slaughter before our very eyes.
    Let us recall The Christmas Truce of 1914, more than 109 years ago:
    “Something happened in the early months of the “War to End All Wars” that put a tiny little blip of hope in the historical timeline of the organized mass slaughter that is war. The event was regarded by the professional military officer class to be so profound and so important (and so disturbing) that strategies were immediately put in place that would ensure that such an event could never happen again.” (Dr. Gary G. Kohls)
    The men learned in many ways that the official enemy was in fact not the real enemy, that the soldiers on the other side were human beings just like themselves.” (Dr. Jacques Pauwels)
    Let It Happen Again
    Today, we are “fraternizing” and acting in solidarity Worldwide with the People of Palestine against the hegemonic agenda of the U.S. and it allies which are waging an all-out war against humanity.
    Principle IV of the Nuremberg Charter defines the rights of soldiers and pilots who have the responsibility to Disobey Illegal Orders and Abandon the Battlefield
    Nuremberg Principle IV is not only a “Legal Text”, It is A Guiding Light in a Worldwide campaign against Acts of Genocide.
    (Principle IV was not available in 1914)
    Part II. Forthcoming
    ***
    Related Articles from our Archives

    https://telegra.ph/Fake-Victory-at-The-Hague-The-ICJ-Requires-Netanyahu-to-Prevent-and-Punish-Those-Responsible-for-the-Genocide-01-30

    https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-icj-requires-netanyahu-to-prevent-and-punish-those-responsible-for-the-genocide/5847666
    “Fake Victory at The Hague”: The ICJ Requires Netanyahu to “Prevent” and “Punish” “Those Responsible for the Genocide” donshafi911 “Fake Victory at The Hague”: The ICJ Requires Netanyahu to “Prevent” and “Punish” “Those Responsible for the Genocide” The Criminalization of International Law. Part I All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version). To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here. Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. . First published on January 29, 2024 . Part I The Criminalization of International Law The ICJ Requires Netanyahu to “Prevent” and “Punish” “Those Responsible for the Genocide” by Michel Chossudovsky Introduction While the ICJ has rejected Israel’s attempt to dismiss South Africa’s assertions, the Judgment –which is full of contradictions– is ultimately supportive of the Likud government. Moreover, no ceasefire was declared by the ICJ with a view to saving lives. Since October 7, amply documented, the atrocities committed against the People of Palestine are beyond description. At least 10,000 children have been killed: “That is one Palestinian child killed every 15 minutes… Thousands more are missing under the rubble, most of them are presumed dead.” Of significance: The Judgment intimates that the Israeli military rather than the Netanyahu government should be held responsible for committing criminal acts in violation of Article 2 of the Genocide Convention. What this “fake statement” suggests is that “Netanyahu’s hands are clean”. Nonsense! There is ample evidence that the genocide was carefully planned well in advance of October 7, 2023 by Netanyahu’s Cabinet. There is a command structure within the Israeli military. Israeli soldiers and pilots obey the “illegal orders” emanating from the Netanyahu government. America Endorses The Genocide In many regards, The World Court’s Judgment contradicts its own mandate: Presided by a former legal advisor to Hillary Clinton, this should come as no surprise. The ICJ is under Washington’s Spotlight. Let us be under no illusions, the U.S has firmly endorsed Israel’s criminal undertaking: “The US said the ICJ ruling was consistentwith Washington’s view that Israel has the right to take action, in accordance with international law, to ensure the October 7 attack cannot be repeated. “We continue to believe that allegations of genocide are unfounded and note the court did not make a finding about genocide or call for a ceasefire in its ruling and that it called for the unconditional, immediate release of all hostages being held by Hamas,” a State Department spokesperson said. Al Jazeera, January 26, 2024, emphasis added) The President of the ICJ Joan E. Donoghue was a legal advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton under the Obama administration. Joan Donoghue takes her instructions from Washington. Moreover, the conduct of the genocide is a joint Israel-US endeavor with US forces involved in Israel’s combat units. Nobody in the media nor in the peace movement has underscored the fact that the President of the ICJ is de facto in “conflict of interest”. “The anger of the World has been pacified for a while with the false celebration of a fake “victory” at The Hague. The US chief judge at ICJ must be laughing. Israel’s genocide will continue while the US and its chief justice at the ICJ keep the world at bay for very long with new false words and delaying actions.” (Karsten Riise, Global Research emphasis added) The Crimes Committed by Israel are “Genocidal In Character” According to The Republic of South Africa —referring to Article II of the Genocide Convention–, the crimes committed by the State of Israel “are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group. …”: “The acts in question include killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. … That intent is also properly to be inferred from the nature and conduct of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, having regard inter alia to Israel’s failure to provide or ensure essential food, water, medicine, fuel, shelter and other humanitarian assistance for the besieged and blockaded Palestinian people, which has pushed them to the brink of famine. The acts are all attributable to [The state of] Israel, which has failed to prevent genocide and is committing genocide in manifest violation of the Genocide Convention. … “(emphasis added) (See The Republic of South Africa’s 84 page document submitted to the ICJ) The Republic of South Africa’s Legal Team, ICJ, The Hague click the above to access the full test of the Genocide Convention Now Here Comes the “Upside Down Contradiction”. C’est le monde à l’envers Article IV of the Genocide Convention reads as follows: Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals In the Judgment (referring to Article IV above) the IJC calls upon the Netanyahu government, namely the “Constitutionally Responsible Rulers (CRRs)” to prevent and punish those individuals who allegedly committed crimes of genocide: “The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention.(ICJ, emphasis added) What this judgment intimates is that the “Constitutionally Responsible Rulers (CRRs)” including Netanyahu ARE INNOCENT. They have been assigned “TO PREVENT AND PUNISH”. The CRRs within Netanyahu’s Cabinet acting on behalf of the State of Israel-– who carefully planned prior to October 7, 2023 a genocidal attack against the People of Palestine have now been assigned to “take all measures within its power” to “prevent” and “punish” “public officials”, “private individuals” as well as members of the Military in acts of “direct and public incitement to commit genocide”. Punishment for obvious reasons is not contemplated against the CRRs. See Article IV. What does this imply? Ask the Mafia Boss to Prevent and Punish? Under present circumstances, this “take all measures within its power” concept is tantamount to the criminalization of International Law: The CRRs Criminals in high office are invited to take law enforcement in their own hands. The Netanyahu government has ordered the most hideous crimes against the People of Palestine. And now the World Court has instructed a criminal government led by Netanyahu (who has a criminal record) to “take all measures within its power” to prevent and punish “public officials, “private individuals” (Article IV) as well as combatants within the Israeli military. Visibly, the prevent and punish requirement is not meant to apply to the so-called “Constitutionally Responsible Rulers (CRR)” (i.e. “the good guys”) namely the “REAL CRIMINALS” in blatant contradiction with Article IV. It’s an absurd proposition. It unfortunately disallows Netanyahu to “prevent and punish himself”. And this is really what is required under international law. The Ceasefire While the Court acknowledges that criminal acts may have been committed by the State of Israel, it categorically refuses South Africa’s provisional demands including a “Ceasefire”, which would have served to interrupt at least temporarily the ongoing atrocities against the People of Palestine. Does this not constitute a “criminal act” by the ICJ, which indelibly will result in countless deaths of Palestinian civilians? What this signifies is that Netanyahu’s Genocide (from a strategic angle) is virtually unscathed, while sustaining rhetorical and meaningless condemnations against the State of Israel. Throughout history, wars and war crimes have invariably been instigated by “civilian politicians”. The Israeli military has been “Obeying Illegalorders” emanating from a government which is firmly committed to the conduct of genocide against the People of Palestine. And now the IJC Judgment enables Israel’s “Constitutionally Responsible Rulers”, namely civilian politicians to place the blame on the Israeli Military. The Road Ahead: Resistance within the Armed Forces. “Disobey Illegal Orders. Abandon the Battlefield” There is resistance within the Armed Forces. Voices within Israel’s military have spoken out against the Netanyahu government. There is a Protest Movement in Israel. In response to the ICJ slanted decision, what is required is to initiate a Worldwide campaign entitled: Abandon the Battlefield and Disobey Illegal Orders under Principle IV of the Nuremberg Charter The objective is to undermine the conduct of the genocide as well reverse the course of history. It is a proposal which sofar has not been the object of debate by anti-war activists in solidarity with Palestine. Principle IV of the Nuremberg Charter defines the responsibility of combatants “to refuse the orders of Government or a superior … “provided a moral choice [is] possible“. Based on the Nuremberg Charter, what is required is a campaign encouraging: Israeli, American and NATO Combatants to “Disobey Unlawful Orders” and “Abandon the Battlefield”. The Campaign would focus on making that “moral choice” possible, namely to enable enlisted Israeli, American, and NATO service men and women to “Abandon the Battlefield”. The Abandon the Battlefield campaign will in large part be waged in Israel. In regards to Israel, already there are unfolding divisions in the IDF command structures, political divisions, coupled with a mass protest movement against Netanyahu. The use of a False Flag justification to wage the Genocide is amply documented. IDF soldiers and commanders must be informed and briefed on the significance of Nuremberg Principle IV. Inasmuch as the U.S. and its allies are waging a hegemonic war in major regions of the World, Abandon the Battlefield should be a call for action by the anti-war movement Worldwide. Click title page to access full document (pdf) Now let me turn my attention to Nuremberg Principle VI, which defines the crimes punishable under The Nuremberg Charter. Nuremberg Charter. Principle VI Both Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu as well as President Joe Biden are responsible for “war crimes”, “crimes against peace” and “crimes against humanity” as defined under Principle VI of the Nuremberg Charter: The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law: (a) Crimes against peace: (i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances; (ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i). (b) War crimes: Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill- treatment or deportation to slave-labour or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war, of persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity. (c) Crimes against humanity: Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhuman acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds. Disobey Unlawful Orders, Abandon the Battlefield According to Principle IV of the Nuremberg Charter: “The fact that a person [e.g. Israeli, U.S.soldiers, pilots] acted pursuant to order of his [her] Government or of a superior does not relieve him [her] from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him [her].” Let us make that “moral choice” possible, to enlisted Israeli, American, and NATO service men and women. Let us call upon Israeli and American soldiers and pilots “to abandon the battlefield”, as an act of refusal to participate in a criminal undertaking against the People of Gaza. “Disobey Unlawful Orders, Abandon the Battlefield”. A campaign under Nuremberg Charter Principle IV. While it is predicated on international law, its conduct does not require the political rubber stamp of the ICJ. It is part of a grassroots campaign in Israel and the Middle East as well as Worldwide. Solidarity With Palestine Let us have tears to our eyes in solidarity with the People of Palestine, in building a mass movement Worldwide, which confronts the ongoing slaughter before our very eyes. Let us recall The Christmas Truce of 1914, more than 109 years ago: “Something happened in the early months of the “War to End All Wars” that put a tiny little blip of hope in the historical timeline of the organized mass slaughter that is war. The event was regarded by the professional military officer class to be so profound and so important (and so disturbing) that strategies were immediately put in place that would ensure that such an event could never happen again.” (Dr. Gary G. Kohls) The men learned in many ways that the official enemy was in fact not the real enemy, that the soldiers on the other side were human beings just like themselves.” (Dr. Jacques Pauwels) Let It Happen Again Today, we are “fraternizing” and acting in solidarity Worldwide with the People of Palestine against the hegemonic agenda of the U.S. and it allies which are waging an all-out war against humanity. Principle IV of the Nuremberg Charter defines the rights of soldiers and pilots who have the responsibility to Disobey Illegal Orders and Abandon the Battlefield Nuremberg Principle IV is not only a “Legal Text”, It is A Guiding Light in a Worldwide campaign against Acts of Genocide. (Principle IV was not available in 1914) Part II. Forthcoming *** Related Articles from our Archives https://telegra.ph/Fake-Victory-at-The-Hague-The-ICJ-Requires-Netanyahu-to-Prevent-and-Punish-Those-Responsible-for-the-Genocide-01-30 https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-icj-requires-netanyahu-to-prevent-and-punish-those-responsible-for-the-genocide/5847666
    WWW.GLOBALRESEARCH.CA
    "Fake Victory at The Hague": The ICJ Requires Netanyahu to "Prevent" and "Punish" "Those Responsible for the Genocide"
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  • Screening for Silent Spike Toxicity
    Spike levels build up over time with repeated exposures and eventually the dam breaks. Here's how to detect toxicity before it causes symptoms.

    Dr. Syed Haider
    Pet Toxin Safety - Mill Creek Animal Hospital
    This post will provide a deep dive on tests for spike toxicity, including the best screening tests for those who have no symptoms, but have been exposed. These tests detect specific spike-induced inflammation, clotting, AIDS, turbo cancer, etc, and can help get ahead of disease developing underneath the surface. In a future post I plan to cover the best tests for fine tuning a healing protocol.

    There are now hundreds if not thousands of physicians treating spike toxicity with varying protocols and degrees of success.

    In my experience most hesitate to escalate ivermectin enough. At high enough doses it almost always helps (at mygotodoc.com I usually start where others end, at 0.2mg/kg/day and then may gradually escalate as high as 10 times more than that ie 2mg/kg/day in some patients over the course of 5-10 weeks).

    Most physicians treating spike toxicity also refrain from much or any testing.

    This makes sense on a budget, and I often come across patients who can’t afford testing and we skip it as well, but if it can be afforded then it can be helpful in fine tuning the protocol and sometimes uncovering key missing ingredients, like nutritional deficiencies, or particularly stubborn micro clotting requiring escalated dosing and varied types of anticoagulants.

    The other place for testing is in screening of the general population without symptoms, both vaxxed and unvaxxed (though when you really press you often do find new symptoms have sprouted up since the beginning of the pandemic).

    But even in those who truly have no new symptoms and feel perfectly fine, it seems that it may simply be a matter of time before spike toxicity catches up with them, especially if, like so many people, they can’t detox quickly enough, can’t break up the atypical microclots fast enough, and then are reexposed to a new variant, or a big shedding bolus, and that tips the scales and sends them into outright long haul.

    People find it hard to believe that they could feel fantastic and yet there could be something brewing inside that is just 1 straw away from breaking their backs.

    Yet almost everyone was in this very situation even before the pandemic.

    We all have a health span and a lifespan, and for most in the modern world the overlap between them has been dramatically shrinking for generations, and it has only gained speed with each passing year, and especially the last 3 years since the pandemic hit.

    Health is wealthqbak - http://asianpin.com/health-is-wealthqbak/ | Funny cartoons jokes, Funny cartoon pictures, Funny cartoons
    source
    In plain English, we often gradually become chronically ill and then debilitated starting decades before we finally die. In the worst cases spending the last years of our lives in nursing homes, oblivious to our surroundings and infrequently visiting loved ones.

    The reason for this is a chronic mismatch between our bodies and our environments - not just lack of exercise and poor diets, but also the chemical soup we find ourselves in, the toxins in the air, water and soil, the lack of fresh air and sunlight throughout the day, the lack of grounding, and too much toxic blue light at night that is soaked up by our eyes and very skin while we lounge in front of our screens, greatly stressing ourselves, while thinking we’re relaxing, followed by restless, unfulfilling sleep.

    Most of us are drawing down on our health savings accounts - not the tax free HSA - but a metaphorical account that represents our life force.

    Thank you for reading Dr. Syed Haider. This post is public so feel free to share it.

    Share

    Just like a regular bank account, if it isn’t managed properly and wealth is overused, it will eventually get close to zero, by which time we will be liable to illness at the drop of a hat - anything that is too taxing can overdraw the account since what’s flowing into it can’t overcome what’s flowing out.

    And then some of us become chronically overdrawn, living on credit, and in the toxic embrace of chronic illness because of it, dragging us into the depths, while we struggle vainly to get back above the surface.

    This is why when you finally realize you have to change your ways to get better, it makes no sense to give up those changes as soon as you break free of illness.

    You are just above zero, still liable to dipping below the surface again. You need to build up your reserves of health over time and not overdraw your account again. You have to become a good steward of your body and resources. And over time you can get to the point where you’re on solid ground again and can put up with small and large stressors without backsliding. But you should always keep in mind how bad it can get to motivate you to stay on the straight and narrow going forward.





    To get back to the topic, the spike protein builds up in our bodies over time and causes detectable changes to our immune and vascular systems. There is an immune fingerprint of various cytokine markers, there are the microclots, there are alterations to the red blood cell zeta potential, there are predictable decreases of various micronutrients. There may be early warning signs of AIDS, or cancer or organ dysfunction.

    Nowadays almost all new patients with Long COVID or Vax injury made it through a few shots, or a few rounds of COVID without getting long haul, but the final infection or shot put them over the edge.

    If they had come before they got that last shot or infection I could have detected their susceptibility in the lab and we could have worked to correct it.

    This is the epidemic of Silent Spike Toxicity.

    And these are the tests we have available to screen for it:

    The Microclot Test: only available from 1 lab in the US (mail order). Detects abnormal clotting not seen on any other test. The single most specific spike toxicity test.

    The Comprehensive Spike Screening Panel: includes imaging tests: EKG, CXR, Echo. Blood tests that detect damage to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys. Checks zeta potential. Can show the immune fingerprint of spike. Detection of AIDS. Typical gut microbiome changes. Advanced cancer screening (blood & whole body MRI), and more.

    The Masterjohn-Schilling Spike Healing Panel: detects neuroinflammation, free radicals, mitochondrial dysfunction, autoantibodies, reactivated viruses and bacteria, MCAS, specific micronutrients that are depleted by spike toxicity, and more.

    Masterjohn’s Deep Dive Nutrition Panel goes beyond nutrients depleted by spike toxicity to provide a complete snapshot of functional nutrition and is indispensable for deep healing when half measures don’t work.


    source
    A quick note on tests in general: There is no perfect test. Tests are evaluated by their sensitivity and specificities, but we don’t have research on any of these for spike toxicity diseases. Sensitivity is how good a test is at ruling out a diagnosis and specificity is how good it is at ruling in a diagnosis.

    The best screening tests would be 100% specific - meaning if you have the diagnosis it will be detected 100% of the time, but in order to gain that level of specificity they often have to cast a wide net and give up some sensitivity. What this means practically is that if the diagnosis is present you will test positive, but there will also be some people who don’t have the diagnosis who also test positive.

    Highly specific tests are usually paired with confirmatory tests that are hopefully highly sensitive. Meaning they can weed out the people who were including in the first round of screening, but don’t actually have the diagnosis in question.

    In the absence of research into spike toxicity diseases and optimal screening regimens we have to fall back on expert opinion.

    It seems that the microclot test is likely the best screening test, because those treating spike toxicity have never come across someone with the clinical symptoms of the disease who doesn’t have elevated microclots. Unfortunately microclots can be elevated by other conditions. So a confirmatory test like the incelldx Incellkyne panel might be ordered from the Comprehensive Spike Screening panel, along with other tests we’ll discuss below.

    If the diagnosis of spike toxicity is made then the Masterjohn-Schilling panel is the best next step for fine tuning the protocol, ensuring that the right micronutrients are topped up and the right treatments are prescribed.

    If not improving after targeted and sustained treatment, then the Deep Dive Nutrition panel is indicated to uncover rare and unusual nutritional deficits that could be holding you back.

    Here I’ll cover the primary screening tests: The Microclot Test and the Comprehensive Spike Screening Panel. In a future article I may cover the more expansive and complicated panels that are used primarily in treatment.

    Share

    The Microclot Test

    figure 3
    source
    Typical microclots are usually found in the elderly and those with chronic illnesses like diabetes.

    Spike induced atypical amyloid fibrin microclots are found in those with spike induced blood toxicity.

    The difference between typical and atypical are that spike induced microclots are very difficult to break down, so difficult that they often do not break down at all.

    This explains why the D-dimer isn’t helpful for detecting spike toxicity.

    D-dimer is always trapped inside of clots. Typical clots are always being broken down on the margins - at the edge of a typical clot there will be breakdown. Sometimes the breakdown happens slower than the growth of the clot, but there is always a battle going on between clot growth and clot destruction which will release D-dimer into the blood stream.

    Since it is virtually always elevated in the presence of clotting it is a very specific test, and is used as a screening test when a physician suspects a clotting disorder, but isn’t sure. For example if someone shows up with chest pain and it could be a pulled muscle or a pulmonary embolism (clot in the pulmonary veins), a D-dimer is a simple ad very cheap test that can be done to determine if further confirmatory, but more expensive more risky testing should be considered, like a CT Angiogram of the chest.

    For this reason every doctor going through residency comes to consider a positive D-dimer as indicative of clotting and a negative D-dimer as indicative of no clotting.

    figure 4
    source
    The D-dimer is often elevated during severe acute COVID-19 infection, and during a severe acute injection reaction, but it is not usually elevated in chronic spike toxicity, including chronic long haul and vaccine injured patients.

    The reason it isn’t elevated is that most people cannot break down the atypical microclots caused by spike protein without some additional help from medications and supplements.

    Once medications like aspirin (and sometimes prescriptions ones like plavix and eliquis), supplements like nattokinase, serrapeptase, lumbrokinase, bromelain and NAC are started the atypical microclots start to be broken down and D-dimer goes up, which in this case is usually reason for celebration.

    So the microclot test is the only test in America today that can detect elevated atypical microclots. It’s only available from one lab in the country via mail order (request it from mygotodoc.com), and it helps detect spike toxicity as well as helping track treatment.


    If initial treatment for microclots with aspirin and supplements doesn’t bring the levels down then we escalate to using higher doses, or add plavix and then later eliquis. And we can also consider plasma donation, or even therapeutic plasmapheresis, if available.



    DETOX [spike buster] PRE-ORDER NOW: initial stock is limited! Shipping late November 2023.

    The Comprehensive Spike Screening Panel

    This set of tests includes an EKG, CXR, Echo. It includes blood tests to screen for daamage to the major organs including the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. It checks for zeta potential in the blood, which is affected by spike toxicity. It detects an immune fingerprint of spike. It can detect AIDS. It covers stool testing for the gut microbiome as well as advanced cancer screening (via blood & whole body MRI), and more.

    Tests Included in the Panel:

    Spike antibody test: Measures your B cell’s response to the spike protein. In the absence of a direct test for spike protein this helps indirectly detect and track the spike protein levels in your body. Your body produces antibodies in response to the spike protein, and this test measures those antibodies. Generally speaking the more spike protein in your body, the higher the antibody levels. However, what's considered a problematic level varies by individual. The goal is to lower this level as much as possible. The test can also help detect those individuals who might be transmitting the spike protein to others. This is by no means a perfect test, but in the right setting it is helpful as a red flag for further workup, or as a way of monitoring response to therapies over time.

    Incellkyne Panel from Incelldx - provides an immune fingerprint of spike protein, a combination of elevated cytokine markers that are typically seen in spike protein disease. There are other immune fingerprints they have identified on this same test that indicate non spike Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lyme disease. If CCL-5/RANTES and/or VEGF are elevated (VEGF is almost always elevated) then the medication Maraviroc can be helpful. VEGF indicates vascular inflammation and omega-3s, infrared light exposure, and a number of other approaches can be particularly helpful to deal with that. Other inflammatory markers tested are TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, GM-CSF, SCD40L, CCL3, CCL-4, and IFN-Gamma. Ivermectin is known to decrease IL-6, which is commonly elevated in Long Haul and Vax injury.

    Lymphocyte Subset Panel or Cyrex Lymphocyte MAP:



    The subset panel is the standard test for AIDS and tests for these immune subsets: CD3, CD19,CD20, CD4, CD8, CD56+. The primary pathognomic feature of AIDS would be a CD4 T cell count lower than 200, though there are other red flags such as NK cell activity <10%, or a deficit of T helper cells (CD4+), as well as these others that would only be found on the Cyrex Lymphocyte MAP test: TH1 insufficiency, Increased T-Reg (CD4+ CD25+), deficits of cytotoxic cells (CD8+, CD56+), increased TGF-beta, etc. The Lymphocyte subset panel is cheaper and available at any standard lab and may be covered by insurance, the Cyrex test is more expensive and is a mail order blood test only that has to be paid in cash up front. The Cyrex test can detect 14 different immunotypes and reveal immune under or overactivity, infections, inflammation, autoimmunity, allergies, asthma, hypersentivities and some cancers. It also helps determine what further immune tests can be done to fine tune a healing protocol.

    Galleri Cancer Screening is an advanced test for 50+ types of common cancers based on a genetic marker found in the blood. It is a good screening test because it is 99.5% specific. This might be a good option for someone with a family or personal history of cancer as it can detect occurance at a the earliest microscopic stage, far before any visual test like an MRI or CT scan would show a mass. If cancer is found ivermectin, fenbendazole, vitamin C, baking soda and many other of label easily available substances are very promising for treatment.

    Can 2 Cheap Meds, 1 Vitamin & Baking Soda Kill Any Cancer?

    Can 2 Cheap Meds, 1 Vitamin & Baking Soda Kill Any Cancer?
    Cancer rates have skyrocketed in the past century for a number of reasons not least of which is the incredibly large number of toxins spewed into the environment and incorporated into our food supplies. And now with most of humanity exposed to the cancerous spike protein there is likely to be even further acceleration. Those exposed to the fallout from …

    Read full story

    Complete Blood Count (CBC)


    Measures various components and features of the blood, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Amongst the white blood cells we can see various abnormalities - they can be high or low, and subsets like basophils, neutrophils and eosinophils might be off. For example a patient started aspirin which is a cornerstone of most treatments of spike toxicity, but in this case raised the eosinophil level and caused some histaminergic symptoms. The symptoms were the same as her usual disease symptoms so initially were written off as a normal fluctuation in symptomatology over time, but in light of the elevated eosinophil level we finally determined that the aspirin was triggering a problem, since that is possible side effect of aspirin. Once off aspirin the symptoms and the eosinophils normalized.

    Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)


    Measures 14 different substances in the blood. It provides information about kidney and liver function, electrolyte levels, and blood sugar. Blood sugar can be high or low in spike toxicity, and that would indicate a pancreatic issue requiring further workup. Liver function often needs to be tracked in those on ivermectin and many other medications. Potassium balances sodium and usually needs to be supplemented in long haul, since most people don’t get enough, especially if blood pressure is rising.

    Cystatin C is a more specific marker of kidney dysfunction than the creatinine level that is included on the CMP.

    D-dimer: as mentioned earlier this is a product of the breakdown of clots, it’s often elevated in the acute phase of spike injury or disease, but over time the microclots being inherently difficult to break down stop releasing D-dimer unless the patient is taking a combination of supplements and/or medications to trigger this.

    Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)

    Decoding ESR Test: What Your Results Could Reveal About Your Health | Pathkind Labs Blog
    Measures the rate at which red blood cells settle in a standardized tube over one hour. It is a nonspecific marker of inflammation in the body. It is also an indication of the zeta potential, which is a measure of the normal negative charge on red cells that prevents them from clumping together. Spike protein lowers the normal zeta potential which usually causes ESR to rise. Potassium citrate can help reverse this trend, as can sunlight and grounding.

    hs-CRP Test (C-Reactive Protein High-Sensitivity) is another non specific marker of inflammation in the body and if found require further workup. It can be elevated in myo-pericarditis.

    Troponin T is a protein relatively specific to heart muscle cells, leaked into the blood. This is a cardiac biomarker that indicates myocardial injury and along with an EKG is. one of the primary screening tests for a heart attack as well as for myocarditis/pericarditis.

    Pro BNP (N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide) is produced by the heart in response to strain, particularly heart failure.

    Electrocardiogram (EKG)

    EKG: What is it and what does it mean? – JP Stroke Foundation
    Non-invasive medical test that records the heart's electrical activity. Can be used to diagnose myocarditis/pericarditis, heart attack, and various rhythm abnormalities like atrial fibrillation, SVTs and more that can raise the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, such as that seen in some athletes who have been vaxxed.

    Echocardiogram (ECHO)


    Provides valuable information about the heart's structure, function, and blood flow and is an important test for helping visualize the inflammatory changes of myocarditis-pericarditis, such as fluid leaking into the sack around the heart.

    Chest X-ray


    source
    Non-invasive imaging test that uses X-rays to visualize the structures and organs within the chest, including the lungs, heart, ribs, diaphragm, and large arteries. Anyone with shortness of breath should have a Chest Xray as a first screening test looking for pneumonia, inflammation, scarring, nodules/cancer, etc.

    Whole Body MRI

    The Latest Quantified Self Trend: Whole-Body MRI
    Another imaging modality that can turn up hidden cancers and a whole host of other abnormalities and might be ordered for someone where the Galleri test was negative but there was still some suspicion present (here is always the risk of over diagnosis with imaging tests like this, which can lead to otherwise unnecessary stress and procedures that can themselves cause harm).

    Microbiome testing: Microbiomix Metagenomic Sequencing of Stool by Genova or Sabine Hazan’s Whole Genome Deep Sequencing by Progenabiome. Spike toxicity leads to depletion of beneficial gut bacterials species such as Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia inulinivorans, and Roseburia hominis all of which are associated with long COVID complications. Presence of 'unfriendly' bacterial species is linked to poor performance on the 6-minute walk test among long COVID patients. Microbiomix is cheaper because it uses a less thorough sequencing technique, but can show some changes found due to spike toxicity. Sabine Hazan’s test is better if budgeting allows, both because it does a whole genome sequencing, but also because it benefits from her proprietary and private knowledge base (essentially studies and findings that have not yet been published). There are some supplements that can help correct deficits, and in stubborn cases a stool transplant can be transformative, though this is somewhat difficult to get done as it usually requires travel.





    And that’s a wrap!

    Next time We’ll look at the Masterjohn-Schilling panel which is our go to for optimizing treatment of long haul/vax injury and perhaps the Comprehensive Nutrition panel, which is important for anyone who has a chronic illness resistant to treatment, including long haul syndromes.

    https://blog.mygotodoc.com/p/screening-for-silent-spike-toxicity

    https://telegra.ph/Screening-for-Silent-Spike-Toxicity-01-07
    Screening for Silent Spike Toxicity Spike levels build up over time with repeated exposures and eventually the dam breaks. Here's how to detect toxicity before it causes symptoms. Dr. Syed Haider Pet Toxin Safety - Mill Creek Animal Hospital This post will provide a deep dive on tests for spike toxicity, including the best screening tests for those who have no symptoms, but have been exposed. These tests detect specific spike-induced inflammation, clotting, AIDS, turbo cancer, etc, and can help get ahead of disease developing underneath the surface. In a future post I plan to cover the best tests for fine tuning a healing protocol. There are now hundreds if not thousands of physicians treating spike toxicity with varying protocols and degrees of success. In my experience most hesitate to escalate ivermectin enough. At high enough doses it almost always helps (at mygotodoc.com I usually start where others end, at 0.2mg/kg/day and then may gradually escalate as high as 10 times more than that ie 2mg/kg/day in some patients over the course of 5-10 weeks). Most physicians treating spike toxicity also refrain from much or any testing. This makes sense on a budget, and I often come across patients who can’t afford testing and we skip it as well, but if it can be afforded then it can be helpful in fine tuning the protocol and sometimes uncovering key missing ingredients, like nutritional deficiencies, or particularly stubborn micro clotting requiring escalated dosing and varied types of anticoagulants. The other place for testing is in screening of the general population without symptoms, both vaxxed and unvaxxed (though when you really press you often do find new symptoms have sprouted up since the beginning of the pandemic). But even in those who truly have no new symptoms and feel perfectly fine, it seems that it may simply be a matter of time before spike toxicity catches up with them, especially if, like so many people, they can’t detox quickly enough, can’t break up the atypical microclots fast enough, and then are reexposed to a new variant, or a big shedding bolus, and that tips the scales and sends them into outright long haul. People find it hard to believe that they could feel fantastic and yet there could be something brewing inside that is just 1 straw away from breaking their backs. Yet almost everyone was in this very situation even before the pandemic. We all have a health span and a lifespan, and for most in the modern world the overlap between them has been dramatically shrinking for generations, and it has only gained speed with each passing year, and especially the last 3 years since the pandemic hit. Health is wealthqbak - http://asianpin.com/health-is-wealthqbak/ | Funny cartoons jokes, Funny cartoon pictures, Funny cartoons source In plain English, we often gradually become chronically ill and then debilitated starting decades before we finally die. In the worst cases spending the last years of our lives in nursing homes, oblivious to our surroundings and infrequently visiting loved ones. The reason for this is a chronic mismatch between our bodies and our environments - not just lack of exercise and poor diets, but also the chemical soup we find ourselves in, the toxins in the air, water and soil, the lack of fresh air and sunlight throughout the day, the lack of grounding, and too much toxic blue light at night that is soaked up by our eyes and very skin while we lounge in front of our screens, greatly stressing ourselves, while thinking we’re relaxing, followed by restless, unfulfilling sleep. Most of us are drawing down on our health savings accounts - not the tax free HSA - but a metaphorical account that represents our life force. Thank you for reading Dr. Syed Haider. This post is public so feel free to share it. Share Just like a regular bank account, if it isn’t managed properly and wealth is overused, it will eventually get close to zero, by which time we will be liable to illness at the drop of a hat - anything that is too taxing can overdraw the account since what’s flowing into it can’t overcome what’s flowing out. And then some of us become chronically overdrawn, living on credit, and in the toxic embrace of chronic illness because of it, dragging us into the depths, while we struggle vainly to get back above the surface. This is why when you finally realize you have to change your ways to get better, it makes no sense to give up those changes as soon as you break free of illness. You are just above zero, still liable to dipping below the surface again. You need to build up your reserves of health over time and not overdraw your account again. You have to become a good steward of your body and resources. And over time you can get to the point where you’re on solid ground again and can put up with small and large stressors without backsliding. But you should always keep in mind how bad it can get to motivate you to stay on the straight and narrow going forward. To get back to the topic, the spike protein builds up in our bodies over time and causes detectable changes to our immune and vascular systems. There is an immune fingerprint of various cytokine markers, there are the microclots, there are alterations to the red blood cell zeta potential, there are predictable decreases of various micronutrients. There may be early warning signs of AIDS, or cancer or organ dysfunction. Nowadays almost all new patients with Long COVID or Vax injury made it through a few shots, or a few rounds of COVID without getting long haul, but the final infection or shot put them over the edge. If they had come before they got that last shot or infection I could have detected their susceptibility in the lab and we could have worked to correct it. This is the epidemic of Silent Spike Toxicity. And these are the tests we have available to screen for it: The Microclot Test: only available from 1 lab in the US (mail order). Detects abnormal clotting not seen on any other test. The single most specific spike toxicity test. The Comprehensive Spike Screening Panel: includes imaging tests: EKG, CXR, Echo. Blood tests that detect damage to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys. Checks zeta potential. Can show the immune fingerprint of spike. Detection of AIDS. Typical gut microbiome changes. Advanced cancer screening (blood & whole body MRI), and more. The Masterjohn-Schilling Spike Healing Panel: detects neuroinflammation, free radicals, mitochondrial dysfunction, autoantibodies, reactivated viruses and bacteria, MCAS, specific micronutrients that are depleted by spike toxicity, and more. Masterjohn’s Deep Dive Nutrition Panel goes beyond nutrients depleted by spike toxicity to provide a complete snapshot of functional nutrition and is indispensable for deep healing when half measures don’t work. source A quick note on tests in general: There is no perfect test. Tests are evaluated by their sensitivity and specificities, but we don’t have research on any of these for spike toxicity diseases. Sensitivity is how good a test is at ruling out a diagnosis and specificity is how good it is at ruling in a diagnosis. The best screening tests would be 100% specific - meaning if you have the diagnosis it will be detected 100% of the time, but in order to gain that level of specificity they often have to cast a wide net and give up some sensitivity. What this means practically is that if the diagnosis is present you will test positive, but there will also be some people who don’t have the diagnosis who also test positive. Highly specific tests are usually paired with confirmatory tests that are hopefully highly sensitive. Meaning they can weed out the people who were including in the first round of screening, but don’t actually have the diagnosis in question. In the absence of research into spike toxicity diseases and optimal screening regimens we have to fall back on expert opinion. It seems that the microclot test is likely the best screening test, because those treating spike toxicity have never come across someone with the clinical symptoms of the disease who doesn’t have elevated microclots. Unfortunately microclots can be elevated by other conditions. So a confirmatory test like the incelldx Incellkyne panel might be ordered from the Comprehensive Spike Screening panel, along with other tests we’ll discuss below. If the diagnosis of spike toxicity is made then the Masterjohn-Schilling panel is the best next step for fine tuning the protocol, ensuring that the right micronutrients are topped up and the right treatments are prescribed. If not improving after targeted and sustained treatment, then the Deep Dive Nutrition panel is indicated to uncover rare and unusual nutritional deficits that could be holding you back. Here I’ll cover the primary screening tests: The Microclot Test and the Comprehensive Spike Screening Panel. In a future article I may cover the more expansive and complicated panels that are used primarily in treatment. Share The Microclot Test figure 3 source Typical microclots are usually found in the elderly and those with chronic illnesses like diabetes. Spike induced atypical amyloid fibrin microclots are found in those with spike induced blood toxicity. The difference between typical and atypical are that spike induced microclots are very difficult to break down, so difficult that they often do not break down at all. This explains why the D-dimer isn’t helpful for detecting spike toxicity. D-dimer is always trapped inside of clots. Typical clots are always being broken down on the margins - at the edge of a typical clot there will be breakdown. Sometimes the breakdown happens slower than the growth of the clot, but there is always a battle going on between clot growth and clot destruction which will release D-dimer into the blood stream. Since it is virtually always elevated in the presence of clotting it is a very specific test, and is used as a screening test when a physician suspects a clotting disorder, but isn’t sure. For example if someone shows up with chest pain and it could be a pulled muscle or a pulmonary embolism (clot in the pulmonary veins), a D-dimer is a simple ad very cheap test that can be done to determine if further confirmatory, but more expensive more risky testing should be considered, like a CT Angiogram of the chest. For this reason every doctor going through residency comes to consider a positive D-dimer as indicative of clotting and a negative D-dimer as indicative of no clotting. figure 4 source The D-dimer is often elevated during severe acute COVID-19 infection, and during a severe acute injection reaction, but it is not usually elevated in chronic spike toxicity, including chronic long haul and vaccine injured patients. The reason it isn’t elevated is that most people cannot break down the atypical microclots caused by spike protein without some additional help from medications and supplements. Once medications like aspirin (and sometimes prescriptions ones like plavix and eliquis), supplements like nattokinase, serrapeptase, lumbrokinase, bromelain and NAC are started the atypical microclots start to be broken down and D-dimer goes up, which in this case is usually reason for celebration. So the microclot test is the only test in America today that can detect elevated atypical microclots. It’s only available from one lab in the country via mail order (request it from mygotodoc.com), and it helps detect spike toxicity as well as helping track treatment. If initial treatment for microclots with aspirin and supplements doesn’t bring the levels down then we escalate to using higher doses, or add plavix and then later eliquis. And we can also consider plasma donation, or even therapeutic plasmapheresis, if available. DETOX [spike buster] PRE-ORDER NOW: initial stock is limited! Shipping late November 2023. The Comprehensive Spike Screening Panel This set of tests includes an EKG, CXR, Echo. It includes blood tests to screen for daamage to the major organs including the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. It checks for zeta potential in the blood, which is affected by spike toxicity. It detects an immune fingerprint of spike. It can detect AIDS. It covers stool testing for the gut microbiome as well as advanced cancer screening (via blood & whole body MRI), and more. Tests Included in the Panel: Spike antibody test: Measures your B cell’s response to the spike protein. In the absence of a direct test for spike protein this helps indirectly detect and track the spike protein levels in your body. Your body produces antibodies in response to the spike protein, and this test measures those antibodies. Generally speaking the more spike protein in your body, the higher the antibody levels. However, what's considered a problematic level varies by individual. The goal is to lower this level as much as possible. The test can also help detect those individuals who might be transmitting the spike protein to others. This is by no means a perfect test, but in the right setting it is helpful as a red flag for further workup, or as a way of monitoring response to therapies over time. Incellkyne Panel from Incelldx - provides an immune fingerprint of spike protein, a combination of elevated cytokine markers that are typically seen in spike protein disease. There are other immune fingerprints they have identified on this same test that indicate non spike Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lyme disease. If CCL-5/RANTES and/or VEGF are elevated (VEGF is almost always elevated) then the medication Maraviroc can be helpful. VEGF indicates vascular inflammation and omega-3s, infrared light exposure, and a number of other approaches can be particularly helpful to deal with that. Other inflammatory markers tested are TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, GM-CSF, SCD40L, CCL3, CCL-4, and IFN-Gamma. Ivermectin is known to decrease IL-6, which is commonly elevated in Long Haul and Vax injury. Lymphocyte Subset Panel or Cyrex Lymphocyte MAP: The subset panel is the standard test for AIDS and tests for these immune subsets: CD3, CD19,CD20, CD4, CD8, CD56+. The primary pathognomic feature of AIDS would be a CD4 T cell count lower than 200, though there are other red flags such as NK cell activity <10%, or a deficit of T helper cells (CD4+), as well as these others that would only be found on the Cyrex Lymphocyte MAP test: TH1 insufficiency, Increased T-Reg (CD4+ CD25+), deficits of cytotoxic cells (CD8+, CD56+), increased TGF-beta, etc. The Lymphocyte subset panel is cheaper and available at any standard lab and may be covered by insurance, the Cyrex test is more expensive and is a mail order blood test only that has to be paid in cash up front. The Cyrex test can detect 14 different immunotypes and reveal immune under or overactivity, infections, inflammation, autoimmunity, allergies, asthma, hypersentivities and some cancers. It also helps determine what further immune tests can be done to fine tune a healing protocol. Galleri Cancer Screening is an advanced test for 50+ types of common cancers based on a genetic marker found in the blood. It is a good screening test because it is 99.5% specific. This might be a good option for someone with a family or personal history of cancer as it can detect occurance at a the earliest microscopic stage, far before any visual test like an MRI or CT scan would show a mass. If cancer is found ivermectin, fenbendazole, vitamin C, baking soda and many other of label easily available substances are very promising for treatment. Can 2 Cheap Meds, 1 Vitamin & Baking Soda Kill Any Cancer? Can 2 Cheap Meds, 1 Vitamin & Baking Soda Kill Any Cancer? Cancer rates have skyrocketed in the past century for a number of reasons not least of which is the incredibly large number of toxins spewed into the environment and incorporated into our food supplies. And now with most of humanity exposed to the cancerous spike protein there is likely to be even further acceleration. Those exposed to the fallout from … Read full story Complete Blood Count (CBC) Measures various components and features of the blood, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Amongst the white blood cells we can see various abnormalities - they can be high or low, and subsets like basophils, neutrophils and eosinophils might be off. For example a patient started aspirin which is a cornerstone of most treatments of spike toxicity, but in this case raised the eosinophil level and caused some histaminergic symptoms. The symptoms were the same as her usual disease symptoms so initially were written off as a normal fluctuation in symptomatology over time, but in light of the elevated eosinophil level we finally determined that the aspirin was triggering a problem, since that is possible side effect of aspirin. Once off aspirin the symptoms and the eosinophils normalized. Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) Measures 14 different substances in the blood. It provides information about kidney and liver function, electrolyte levels, and blood sugar. Blood sugar can be high or low in spike toxicity, and that would indicate a pancreatic issue requiring further workup. Liver function often needs to be tracked in those on ivermectin and many other medications. Potassium balances sodium and usually needs to be supplemented in long haul, since most people don’t get enough, especially if blood pressure is rising. Cystatin C is a more specific marker of kidney dysfunction than the creatinine level that is included on the CMP. D-dimer: as mentioned earlier this is a product of the breakdown of clots, it’s often elevated in the acute phase of spike injury or disease, but over time the microclots being inherently difficult to break down stop releasing D-dimer unless the patient is taking a combination of supplements and/or medications to trigger this. Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) Decoding ESR Test: What Your Results Could Reveal About Your Health | Pathkind Labs Blog Measures the rate at which red blood cells settle in a standardized tube over one hour. It is a nonspecific marker of inflammation in the body. It is also an indication of the zeta potential, which is a measure of the normal negative charge on red cells that prevents them from clumping together. Spike protein lowers the normal zeta potential which usually causes ESR to rise. Potassium citrate can help reverse this trend, as can sunlight and grounding. hs-CRP Test (C-Reactive Protein High-Sensitivity) is another non specific marker of inflammation in the body and if found require further workup. It can be elevated in myo-pericarditis. Troponin T is a protein relatively specific to heart muscle cells, leaked into the blood. This is a cardiac biomarker that indicates myocardial injury and along with an EKG is. one of the primary screening tests for a heart attack as well as for myocarditis/pericarditis. Pro BNP (N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide) is produced by the heart in response to strain, particularly heart failure. Electrocardiogram (EKG) EKG: What is it and what does it mean? – JP Stroke Foundation Non-invasive medical test that records the heart's electrical activity. Can be used to diagnose myocarditis/pericarditis, heart attack, and various rhythm abnormalities like atrial fibrillation, SVTs and more that can raise the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, such as that seen in some athletes who have been vaxxed. Echocardiogram (ECHO) Provides valuable information about the heart's structure, function, and blood flow and is an important test for helping visualize the inflammatory changes of myocarditis-pericarditis, such as fluid leaking into the sack around the heart. Chest X-ray source Non-invasive imaging test that uses X-rays to visualize the structures and organs within the chest, including the lungs, heart, ribs, diaphragm, and large arteries. Anyone with shortness of breath should have a Chest Xray as a first screening test looking for pneumonia, inflammation, scarring, nodules/cancer, etc. Whole Body MRI The Latest Quantified Self Trend: Whole-Body MRI Another imaging modality that can turn up hidden cancers and a whole host of other abnormalities and might be ordered for someone where the Galleri test was negative but there was still some suspicion present (here is always the risk of over diagnosis with imaging tests like this, which can lead to otherwise unnecessary stress and procedures that can themselves cause harm). Microbiome testing: Microbiomix Metagenomic Sequencing of Stool by Genova or Sabine Hazan’s Whole Genome Deep Sequencing by Progenabiome. Spike toxicity leads to depletion of beneficial gut bacterials species such as Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia inulinivorans, and Roseburia hominis all of which are associated with long COVID complications. Presence of 'unfriendly' bacterial species is linked to poor performance on the 6-minute walk test among long COVID patients. Microbiomix is cheaper because it uses a less thorough sequencing technique, but can show some changes found due to spike toxicity. Sabine Hazan’s test is better if budgeting allows, both because it does a whole genome sequencing, but also because it benefits from her proprietary and private knowledge base (essentially studies and findings that have not yet been published). There are some supplements that can help correct deficits, and in stubborn cases a stool transplant can be transformative, though this is somewhat difficult to get done as it usually requires travel. And that’s a wrap! Next time We’ll look at the Masterjohn-Schilling panel which is our go to for optimizing treatment of long haul/vax injury and perhaps the Comprehensive Nutrition panel, which is important for anyone who has a chronic illness resistant to treatment, including long haul syndromes. https://blog.mygotodoc.com/p/screening-for-silent-spike-toxicity https://telegra.ph/Screening-for-Silent-Spike-Toxicity-01-07
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    Screening for Silent Spike Toxicity
    Spike levels build up over time with repeated exposures and eventually the dam breaks. Here's how to detect toxicity before it causes symptoms.
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  • The Four Horsemen of Gaza’s Apocalypse. Chris Hedges
    Joe Biden relies on advisors who view the world through the prism of the West’s civilizing mission to the “lesser breeds” of the earth to formulate his policies towards Israel and the Middle East.


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    Joe Biden’s inner circle of strategists for the Middle East — Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and Brett McGurk — have little understanding of the Muslim world and a deep animus towards Islamic resistance movements. They see Europe, the United States and Israel as involved in a clash of civilizations between the enlightened West and a barbaric Middle East. They believe that violence can bend Palestinians and other Arabs to their will. They champion the overwhelming firepower of the U.S. and Israeli military as the key to regional stability — an illusion that fuels the flames of regional war and perpetuates the genocide in Gaza.

    In short, these four men are grossly incompetent. They join the club of other clueless leaders, such as those who waltzed into the suicidal slaughter of World War One, waded into the quagmire of Vietnam or who orchestrated the series of recent military debacles in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine. They are endowed with the presumptive power vested in the Executive Branch to bypass Congress, to provide weapons to Israel and carry out military strikes in Yemen and Iraq. This inner circle of true believers dismiss the more nuanced and informed counsels in the State Department and the intelligence communities, who view the refusal of the Biden administration to pressure Israel to halt the ongoing genocide as ill-advised and dangerous.

    Biden has always been an ardent militarist — he was calling for war with Iraq five years before the U.S. invaded. He built his political career by catering to the distaste of the white middle class for the popular movements, including the anti-war and civil rights movements, that convulsed the country in the 1960s and 1970s. He is a Republican masquerading as a Democrat. He joined Southern segregationists to oppose bringing Black students into Whites-only schools. He opposed federal funding for abortions and supported a constitutional amendment allowing states to restrict abortions. He attacked President George H. W. Bush in 1989 for being too soft in the “war on drugs.” He was one of the architects of the 1994 crime bill and a raft of other draconian laws that more than doubled the U.S. prison population, militarized the police and pushed through drug laws that saw people incarcerated for life without parole. He supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, the greatest betrayal of the working class since the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. He has always been a strident defender of Israel, bragging that he did more fundraisers for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) than any other Senator.

    “As many of you heard me say before, were there no Israel, America would have to invent one. We’d have to invent one because… you protect our interests like we protect yours,” Biden said in 2015, to an audience that included the Israeli ambassador, at the 67th Annual Israeli Independence Day Celebration in Washington D.C. During the same speech he said, “The truth of the matter is we need you. The world needs you. Imagine what it would say about humanity and the future of the 21st century if Israel were not sustained, vibrant and free.”

    The year before Biden gave a gushing eulogy for Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister and general who was implicated in massacres of Palestinians, Lebanese and others in Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon — as well as Egyptian prisoners of war — going back to the 1950s. He described Sharon as “part of one of the most remarkable founding generations in the history not of this nation, but of any nation.”

    While repudiating Donald Trump and his administration, Biden has not reversed Trump’s abrogation of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Barack Obama, or Trump’s sanctions against Iran. He has embraced Trump’s close ties with Saudi Arabia, including the rehabilitation of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, following the assassination of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2017 in the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. He has not intervened to curb Israeli attacks on Palestinians and settlement expansion in the West Bank. He did not reverse Trump’s moving of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, although the embassy includes land Israel illegally colonized after invading the West Bank and Gaza in 1967.

    As a seven-term senator of Delaware, Biden received more financial support from pro-Israel donors than any other senator, since 1990. Biden retains this record despite the fact that his senatorial career ended in 2009, when he became Obama’s vice president. Biden explains his commitment to Israel as “personal” and “political.”

    He has parroted back Israeli propaganda — including fabrications about beheaded babies and widespread rape of Israeli women by Hamas fighters — and asked Congress to provide $14 billion in additional aid to Israel since the Oct. 7 attack. He has twice bypassed Congress to supply Israel with thousands of bombs and munitions, including at least 100 2,000-pound bombs, used in the scorched earth campaign in Gaza.

    Israel has killed or seriously wounded close to 90,000 Palestinians in Gaza, almost one in every 20 inhabitants. It has destroyed or damaged over 60 percent of the housing. The “safe areas,” to which some 2 million Gazans were instructed to flee in southern Gaza, have been bombed, with thousands of casualties. Palestinians in Gaza now make up 80 percent of all the people facing famine or catastrophic hunger worldwide, according to the U.N. Every person in Gaza is hungry. A quarter of the population are starving and struggling to find food and drinkable water. Famine is imminent. The 335,000 children under the age of five are at high risk of malnutrition. Some 50,000 pregnant women lack healthcare and adequate nutrition.

    And it could all end if the U.S. chose to intervene.

    “All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the U.S.,” retired Israeli Major General Yitzhak Brick told the Jewish News Syndicate. “The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting. You have no capability… Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.”

    Blinken was Biden’s principal foreign policy adviser when Biden was the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. He, along with Biden, lobbied for the invasion of Iraq. When he was Obama’s deputy national security advisor, he advocated the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. He opposed withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria. He worked on the disastrous Biden Plan to partition Iraq along ethnic lines.

    “Within the Obama White House, Blinken played an influential role in the imposition of sanctions against Russia over the 2014 invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, and subsequently led ultimately unsuccessful calls for the U.S. to arm Ukraine,” according to the Atlantic Council, NATO’s unofficial think tank.

    Image: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Oct. 12, 2023. – Secretary Antony Blinken on X



    When Blinken landed in Israel following the attacks by Hamas and other resistance groups on Oct. 7, he announced at a press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

    “I come before you not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew.”

    He attempted, on Israel’s behalf, to lobby Arab leaders to accept the 2.3 million Palestinian refugees Israel intends to ethnically cleanse from Gaza, a request that evoked outrage among Arab leaders.

    Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, and McGurk, are consummate opportunists, Machiavellian bureaucrats who cater to the reigning centers of power, including the Israel lobby.

    Sullivan was the chief architect of Hillary Clinton’s Asia pivot. He backed the corporate and investor rights Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which was sold as helping the U.S. contain China. Trump ultimately killed the trade agreement in the face of mass opposition from the U.S. public. His focus is thwarting a rising China, including through the expansion of the U.S. military.

    While not focused on the Middle East, Sullivan is a foreign policy hawk who has a knee jerk embrace of force to shape the world to U.S. demands. He embraces military Keynesianism, arguing that massive government spending on the weapons industry benefits the domestic economy.

    In a 7,000-word essay for Foreign Affairs magazine published five days before the Oct. 7 attacks, which left some 1,200 Israelis dead, Sullivan exposed his lack of understanding of the dynamics of the Middle East.



    Screenshot from The New York Times

    “Although the Middle East remains beset with perennial challenges,” he writes in the original version of the essay, “the region is quieter than it has been for decades,” adding that in the face of “serious” frictions, “we have de-escalated crises in Gaza.”

    Sullivan ignores Palestinian aspirations and Washington’s rhetorical backing for a two-state solution in the article, hastily rewritten in the online version after the Oct. 7 attacks. He writes in his original piece:

    At a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last year, the president set forth his policy for the Middle East in an address to the leaders of members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan. His approach returns discipline to US policy. It emphasizes deterring aggression, de-escalating conflicts, and integrating the region through joint infrastructure projects and new partnerships, including between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

    McGurk, the deputy assistant to President Biden and the coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the White House National Security Council, was a chief architect of Bush’s “surge” in Iraq, which accelerated the bloodletting. He worked as a legal advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority and the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad. He then became Trump’s anti-ISIS czar.

    He does not speak Arabic — none of the four men does — and came to Iraq with no knowledge of its history, peoples or culture. Nevertheless, he helped draft Iraq’s interim constitution and oversaw the legal transition from the Coalition Provisional Authority to an Interim Iraqi Government led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. McGurk was an early backer of Nouri al-Maliki, who was Iraq’s prime minister between 2006 and 2014. Al-Maliki built a Shi’ite-controlled sectarian state that deeply alienated Sunni Arabs and Kurds. In 2005, McGurk transferred to the National Security Council (NSC), where he served as director for Iraq, and later as special assistant to the president and senior director for Iraq and Afghanistan. He served on the NSC staff from 2005 to 2009. In 2015, he was appointed as Obama’s Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He was retained by Trump until his resignation in Dec. 2018.

    An article in April 2021 titled “Brett McGurk: A Hero of Our Times,” in New Lines Magazine by former BBC foreign correspondent Paul Wood, paints a scathing portrait of McGurk. Wood writes:

    A senior Western diplomat who served in Baghdad told me that McGurk had been an absolute disaster for Iraq. “He is a consummate operator in Washington, but I saw no sign that he was interested in Iraqis or Iraq as a place full of real people. It was simply a bureaucratic and political challenge for him.” One critic who was in Baghdad with McGurk called him Machiavelli reincarnated. “It’s intellect plus ambition plus the utter ruthlessness to rise no matter the cost.”

    [….]

    A U.S. diplomat who was in the embassy when McGurk arrived found his steady advance astonishing. “Brett only meets people who speak English. … There are like four people in the government who speak English. And somehow he’s now the person who should decide the fate of Iraq? How did this happen?”

    Even those who didn’t like McGurk had to admit that he had a formidable intellect — and was a hard worker. He was also a gifted writer, no surprise as he had clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. His rise mirrored that of an Iraqi politician named Nouri al-Maliki, one careerist helping the other. That is McGurk’s tragedy — and Iraq’s.

    [….]

    McGurk’s critics say his lack of Arabic meant he missed the vicious, sectarian undertones of what al-Maliki was saying in meetings right from the start. Translators censored or failed to keep up. Like many Americans in Iraq, McGurk was deaf to what was happening around him.

    Al-Maliki was the consequence of two mistakes by the U.S. How much McGurk had to do with them remains in dispute. The first mistake was the “80 Percent Solution” for ruling Iraq. The Sunni Arabs were mounting a bloody insurgency, but they were just 20% of the population. The theory was that you could run Iraq with the Kurds and the Shiites. The second error was to identify the Shiites with hardline, religious parties backed by Iran. Al-Maliki, a member of the religious Da’wa Party, was the beneficiary of this.

    In a piece in HuffPost in May 2022 by Akbar Shahid Ahmed, titled “Biden’s Top Middle East Advisor ‘Torched the House and Showed Up With a Firehose,’” McGurk is described by a colleague, who asked not to be named, as “the most talented bureaucrat they’ve ever seen, with the worst foreign policy judgment they’ve ever seen.”

    McGurk, like others in the Biden administration, is bizarrely focused on what comes after Israel’s genocidal campaign, rather than trying to halt it. McGurk proposed denying humanitarian aid and refusing to implement a pause in the fighting in Gaza until all the Israeli hostages were freed. Biden and his three closest policy advisors have called for the Palestinian Authority — an Israeli puppet regime that is reviled by most Palestinians — to take control of Gaza once Israel finishes leveling it. They have called on Israel — since Oct. 7 — to take steps towards a two-state solution, a plan rejected in an humiliating public rebuke to the the Biden White House by Netanyahu.

    The Biden White House spends more time talking to the Israelis and Saudis, who are being lobbied to normalize relations with Israel and help rebuild Gaza, than the Palestinians, who are at best, an afterthought. It believes the key to ending Palestinian resistance is found in Riyadh, summed up in a top-secret document peddled by McGurk called the “Jerusalem-Jeddah Pact,” the HuffPost reported. It is unable or unwilling to curb Israel’s bloodlust, which included missile strikes in a residential neighborhood in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday that killed five military advisors from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and a drone attack in South Lebanon on Sunday, which killed two senior members of Hezbollah. These Israeli provocations will not go unanswered, evidenced by the ballistic missiles and rockets launched on Sunday by militants in western Iraq that targeted U.S. personnel stationed at the al-Assad Airbase.

    The Alice-in-Wonderland idea that once the slaughter in Gaza ends a diplomatic pact between Israel and Saudi Arabia will be the key to regional stability is stupefying. Israel’s genocide, and Washington’s complicity, is shredding U.S. credibility and influence, especially in the Global South and the Muslim world. It ensures another generation of enraged Palestinians — whose families have been obliterated and whose homes have been destroyed — seeking vengeance.

    The policies embraced by the Biden administration not only blithely ignore the realities in the Arab world, but the realities of an extremist Israeli state that, with Congress bought and paid for by the Israel lobby, couldn’t care less what the Biden White House dreams up. Israel has no intention of creating a viable Palestinian state. Its goal is the ethnic cleansing of the 2.3 million Palestinians from Gaza and the annexation of Gaza by Israel. And when Israel is done with Gaza, it will turn on the West Bank, where Israeli raids now occur on an almost nightly basis and where thousands have been arrested and detained without charge since Oct. 7.

    Those running the show in the Biden White House are chasing after rainbows. The march of folly led by these four blind mice perpetuates the cataclysmic suffering of the Palestinians, stokes a regional war and presages another tragic and self-defeating chapter in the two decades of U.S. military fiascos in the Middle East.

    *

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    Featured image: Blood Brothers – by Mr. Fish via Chris Hedges

    https://www.globalresearch.ca/four-horsemen-gaza-apocalypse/5847199
    The Four Horsemen of Gaza’s Apocalypse. Chris Hedges Joe Biden relies on advisors who view the world through the prism of the West’s civilizing mission to the “lesser breeds” of the earth to formulate his policies towards Israel and the Middle East. All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version). To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here. Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth” *** Joe Biden’s inner circle of strategists for the Middle East — Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and Brett McGurk — have little understanding of the Muslim world and a deep animus towards Islamic resistance movements. They see Europe, the United States and Israel as involved in a clash of civilizations between the enlightened West and a barbaric Middle East. They believe that violence can bend Palestinians and other Arabs to their will. They champion the overwhelming firepower of the U.S. and Israeli military as the key to regional stability — an illusion that fuels the flames of regional war and perpetuates the genocide in Gaza. In short, these four men are grossly incompetent. They join the club of other clueless leaders, such as those who waltzed into the suicidal slaughter of World War One, waded into the quagmire of Vietnam or who orchestrated the series of recent military debacles in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine. They are endowed with the presumptive power vested in the Executive Branch to bypass Congress, to provide weapons to Israel and carry out military strikes in Yemen and Iraq. This inner circle of true believers dismiss the more nuanced and informed counsels in the State Department and the intelligence communities, who view the refusal of the Biden administration to pressure Israel to halt the ongoing genocide as ill-advised and dangerous. Biden has always been an ardent militarist — he was calling for war with Iraq five years before the U.S. invaded. He built his political career by catering to the distaste of the white middle class for the popular movements, including the anti-war and civil rights movements, that convulsed the country in the 1960s and 1970s. He is a Republican masquerading as a Democrat. He joined Southern segregationists to oppose bringing Black students into Whites-only schools. He opposed federal funding for abortions and supported a constitutional amendment allowing states to restrict abortions. He attacked President George H. W. Bush in 1989 for being too soft in the “war on drugs.” He was one of the architects of the 1994 crime bill and a raft of other draconian laws that more than doubled the U.S. prison population, militarized the police and pushed through drug laws that saw people incarcerated for life without parole. He supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, the greatest betrayal of the working class since the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. He has always been a strident defender of Israel, bragging that he did more fundraisers for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) than any other Senator. “As many of you heard me say before, were there no Israel, America would have to invent one. We’d have to invent one because… you protect our interests like we protect yours,” Biden said in 2015, to an audience that included the Israeli ambassador, at the 67th Annual Israeli Independence Day Celebration in Washington D.C. During the same speech he said, “The truth of the matter is we need you. The world needs you. Imagine what it would say about humanity and the future of the 21st century if Israel were not sustained, vibrant and free.” The year before Biden gave a gushing eulogy for Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister and general who was implicated in massacres of Palestinians, Lebanese and others in Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon — as well as Egyptian prisoners of war — going back to the 1950s. He described Sharon as “part of one of the most remarkable founding generations in the history not of this nation, but of any nation.” While repudiating Donald Trump and his administration, Biden has not reversed Trump’s abrogation of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Barack Obama, or Trump’s sanctions against Iran. He has embraced Trump’s close ties with Saudi Arabia, including the rehabilitation of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, following the assassination of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2017 in the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. He has not intervened to curb Israeli attacks on Palestinians and settlement expansion in the West Bank. He did not reverse Trump’s moving of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, although the embassy includes land Israel illegally colonized after invading the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. As a seven-term senator of Delaware, Biden received more financial support from pro-Israel donors than any other senator, since 1990. Biden retains this record despite the fact that his senatorial career ended in 2009, when he became Obama’s vice president. Biden explains his commitment to Israel as “personal” and “political.” He has parroted back Israeli propaganda — including fabrications about beheaded babies and widespread rape of Israeli women by Hamas fighters — and asked Congress to provide $14 billion in additional aid to Israel since the Oct. 7 attack. He has twice bypassed Congress to supply Israel with thousands of bombs and munitions, including at least 100 2,000-pound bombs, used in the scorched earth campaign in Gaza. Israel has killed or seriously wounded close to 90,000 Palestinians in Gaza, almost one in every 20 inhabitants. It has destroyed or damaged over 60 percent of the housing. The “safe areas,” to which some 2 million Gazans were instructed to flee in southern Gaza, have been bombed, with thousands of casualties. Palestinians in Gaza now make up 80 percent of all the people facing famine or catastrophic hunger worldwide, according to the U.N. Every person in Gaza is hungry. A quarter of the population are starving and struggling to find food and drinkable water. Famine is imminent. The 335,000 children under the age of five are at high risk of malnutrition. Some 50,000 pregnant women lack healthcare and adequate nutrition. And it could all end if the U.S. chose to intervene. “All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the U.S.,” retired Israeli Major General Yitzhak Brick told the Jewish News Syndicate. “The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting. You have no capability… Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.” Blinken was Biden’s principal foreign policy adviser when Biden was the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. He, along with Biden, lobbied for the invasion of Iraq. When he was Obama’s deputy national security advisor, he advocated the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. He opposed withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria. He worked on the disastrous Biden Plan to partition Iraq along ethnic lines. “Within the Obama White House, Blinken played an influential role in the imposition of sanctions against Russia over the 2014 invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, and subsequently led ultimately unsuccessful calls for the U.S. to arm Ukraine,” according to the Atlantic Council, NATO’s unofficial think tank. Image: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Oct. 12, 2023. – Secretary Antony Blinken on X When Blinken landed in Israel following the attacks by Hamas and other resistance groups on Oct. 7, he announced at a press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “I come before you not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew.” He attempted, on Israel’s behalf, to lobby Arab leaders to accept the 2.3 million Palestinian refugees Israel intends to ethnically cleanse from Gaza, a request that evoked outrage among Arab leaders. Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, and McGurk, are consummate opportunists, Machiavellian bureaucrats who cater to the reigning centers of power, including the Israel lobby. Sullivan was the chief architect of Hillary Clinton’s Asia pivot. He backed the corporate and investor rights Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which was sold as helping the U.S. contain China. Trump ultimately killed the trade agreement in the face of mass opposition from the U.S. public. His focus is thwarting a rising China, including through the expansion of the U.S. military. While not focused on the Middle East, Sullivan is a foreign policy hawk who has a knee jerk embrace of force to shape the world to U.S. demands. He embraces military Keynesianism, arguing that massive government spending on the weapons industry benefits the domestic economy. In a 7,000-word essay for Foreign Affairs magazine published five days before the Oct. 7 attacks, which left some 1,200 Israelis dead, Sullivan exposed his lack of understanding of the dynamics of the Middle East. Screenshot from The New York Times “Although the Middle East remains beset with perennial challenges,” he writes in the original version of the essay, “the region is quieter than it has been for decades,” adding that in the face of “serious” frictions, “we have de-escalated crises in Gaza.” Sullivan ignores Palestinian aspirations and Washington’s rhetorical backing for a two-state solution in the article, hastily rewritten in the online version after the Oct. 7 attacks. He writes in his original piece: At a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last year, the president set forth his policy for the Middle East in an address to the leaders of members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan. His approach returns discipline to US policy. It emphasizes deterring aggression, de-escalating conflicts, and integrating the region through joint infrastructure projects and new partnerships, including between Israel and its Arab neighbors. McGurk, the deputy assistant to President Biden and the coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the White House National Security Council, was a chief architect of Bush’s “surge” in Iraq, which accelerated the bloodletting. He worked as a legal advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority and the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad. He then became Trump’s anti-ISIS czar. He does not speak Arabic — none of the four men does — and came to Iraq with no knowledge of its history, peoples or culture. Nevertheless, he helped draft Iraq’s interim constitution and oversaw the legal transition from the Coalition Provisional Authority to an Interim Iraqi Government led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. McGurk was an early backer of Nouri al-Maliki, who was Iraq’s prime minister between 2006 and 2014. Al-Maliki built a Shi’ite-controlled sectarian state that deeply alienated Sunni Arabs and Kurds. In 2005, McGurk transferred to the National Security Council (NSC), where he served as director for Iraq, and later as special assistant to the president and senior director for Iraq and Afghanistan. He served on the NSC staff from 2005 to 2009. In 2015, he was appointed as Obama’s Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He was retained by Trump until his resignation in Dec. 2018. An article in April 2021 titled “Brett McGurk: A Hero of Our Times,” in New Lines Magazine by former BBC foreign correspondent Paul Wood, paints a scathing portrait of McGurk. Wood writes: A senior Western diplomat who served in Baghdad told me that McGurk had been an absolute disaster for Iraq. “He is a consummate operator in Washington, but I saw no sign that he was interested in Iraqis or Iraq as a place full of real people. It was simply a bureaucratic and political challenge for him.” One critic who was in Baghdad with McGurk called him Machiavelli reincarnated. “It’s intellect plus ambition plus the utter ruthlessness to rise no matter the cost.” [….] A U.S. diplomat who was in the embassy when McGurk arrived found his steady advance astonishing. “Brett only meets people who speak English. … There are like four people in the government who speak English. And somehow he’s now the person who should decide the fate of Iraq? How did this happen?” Even those who didn’t like McGurk had to admit that he had a formidable intellect — and was a hard worker. He was also a gifted writer, no surprise as he had clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. His rise mirrored that of an Iraqi politician named Nouri al-Maliki, one careerist helping the other. That is McGurk’s tragedy — and Iraq’s. [….] McGurk’s critics say his lack of Arabic meant he missed the vicious, sectarian undertones of what al-Maliki was saying in meetings right from the start. Translators censored or failed to keep up. Like many Americans in Iraq, McGurk was deaf to what was happening around him. Al-Maliki was the consequence of two mistakes by the U.S. How much McGurk had to do with them remains in dispute. The first mistake was the “80 Percent Solution” for ruling Iraq. The Sunni Arabs were mounting a bloody insurgency, but they were just 20% of the population. The theory was that you could run Iraq with the Kurds and the Shiites. The second error was to identify the Shiites with hardline, religious parties backed by Iran. Al-Maliki, a member of the religious Da’wa Party, was the beneficiary of this. In a piece in HuffPost in May 2022 by Akbar Shahid Ahmed, titled “Biden’s Top Middle East Advisor ‘Torched the House and Showed Up With a Firehose,’” McGurk is described by a colleague, who asked not to be named, as “the most talented bureaucrat they’ve ever seen, with the worst foreign policy judgment they’ve ever seen.” McGurk, like others in the Biden administration, is bizarrely focused on what comes after Israel’s genocidal campaign, rather than trying to halt it. McGurk proposed denying humanitarian aid and refusing to implement a pause in the fighting in Gaza until all the Israeli hostages were freed. Biden and his three closest policy advisors have called for the Palestinian Authority — an Israeli puppet regime that is reviled by most Palestinians — to take control of Gaza once Israel finishes leveling it. They have called on Israel — since Oct. 7 — to take steps towards a two-state solution, a plan rejected in an humiliating public rebuke to the the Biden White House by Netanyahu. The Biden White House spends more time talking to the Israelis and Saudis, who are being lobbied to normalize relations with Israel and help rebuild Gaza, than the Palestinians, who are at best, an afterthought. It believes the key to ending Palestinian resistance is found in Riyadh, summed up in a top-secret document peddled by McGurk called the “Jerusalem-Jeddah Pact,” the HuffPost reported. It is unable or unwilling to curb Israel’s bloodlust, which included missile strikes in a residential neighborhood in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday that killed five military advisors from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and a drone attack in South Lebanon on Sunday, which killed two senior members of Hezbollah. These Israeli provocations will not go unanswered, evidenced by the ballistic missiles and rockets launched on Sunday by militants in western Iraq that targeted U.S. personnel stationed at the al-Assad Airbase. The Alice-in-Wonderland idea that once the slaughter in Gaza ends a diplomatic pact between Israel and Saudi Arabia will be the key to regional stability is stupefying. Israel’s genocide, and Washington’s complicity, is shredding U.S. credibility and influence, especially in the Global South and the Muslim world. It ensures another generation of enraged Palestinians — whose families have been obliterated and whose homes have been destroyed — seeking vengeance. The policies embraced by the Biden administration not only blithely ignore the realities in the Arab world, but the realities of an extremist Israeli state that, with Congress bought and paid for by the Israel lobby, couldn’t care less what the Biden White House dreams up. Israel has no intention of creating a viable Palestinian state. Its goal is the ethnic cleansing of the 2.3 million Palestinians from Gaza and the annexation of Gaza by Israel. And when Israel is done with Gaza, it will turn on the West Bank, where Israeli raids now occur on an almost nightly basis and where thousands have been arrested and detained without charge since Oct. 7. Those running the show in the Biden White House are chasing after rainbows. The march of folly led by these four blind mice perpetuates the cataclysmic suffering of the Palestinians, stokes a regional war and presages another tragic and self-defeating chapter in the two decades of U.S. military fiascos in the Middle East. * Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. Featured image: Blood Brothers – by Mr. Fish via Chris Hedges https://www.globalresearch.ca/four-horsemen-gaza-apocalypse/5847199
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    The Four Horsemen of Gaza’s Apocalypse. Chris Hedges
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