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davedyecom · 1 year

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Hands up who's heard of TOM LICHTENHELD?

In the late 80s, I discovered a discount bookshop on Shaftesbury Avenue, amongst the junk, ‘Knitting For The Whole Family’ and ‘Fun With Chives’ were piles American advertising books I’d never heard of; One Show Annuals. They were dirt cheap – £4.99. For the cost of one D&AD Annual I could buy six One Shows. So I bought six One Shows. The work was a revelation. Bolder, funnier and less genteel…

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zvaigzdelasas · 4 months

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[NewYorkTimes is Private US Media]

Over the past month, we’ve watched an astonishing, high-stakes global drama play out in The Hague. A group of countries from the poorer, less powerful bloc some call the global south, led by South Africa, dragged the government of Israel and, by extension, its rich, powerful allies into the top court of the Western rules-based order and accused Israel of prosecuting a brutal war in Gaza that is “genocidal in character.”

The responses to this presentation from the leading nations of that order were quick and blunt.

“Completely unjustified and wrong,” said a statement from Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister.

“Meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the United States National Security Council.

“The accusation has no basis in fact,” a German government spokesman said, adding that Germany opposed the “political instrumentalization” of the genocide statute.

But on Friday, that court had its say, issuing a sober and careful provisional ruling that doubled as a rebuke to those dismissals. In granting provisional measures, the court affirmed that some of South Africa’s allegations were plausible and called on Israel to take immediate steps to protect civilians, increase the amount of humanitarian aid and punish officials who engaged in violent and incendiary speech. The court stopped short of calling for a cease-fire, but it granted South Africa’s request for provisional measures to prevent further civilian death. For the most part, the court ruled in favor of the global south.[...]

The court was not asked to rule on whether Israel had in fact committed genocide, a matter that is likely to take years to adjudicate. Whatever the eventual outcome of the case, it sets up an epic battle over the meaning and values of the so-called rules-based order. If these rules don’t apply when powerful countries don’t want them to, are they rules at all?

“As long as those who make rules enforce them against others while believing that they and their allies are above those rules, the international governance system is in trouble,” Thuli Madonsela, one of South Africa’s leading legal minds and an architect of its post-apartheid Constitution, told me. “We say these rules are the rules when Russia invades Ukraine or when the Rohingya are being massacred by Myanmar, but if it’s now Israel butchering Palestinians, depriving them of food, displacing them en masse, then the rules don’t apply and whoever tries to apply the rules is antisemitic? It is really putting those rules in jeopardy.”[...]

The military campaign has “wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II,” the report quoted researchers as saying. The researchers, hardly some raving left-wing activists, are experts cited in one of the most respected news organizations in the world, The Associated Press.[...]

The International Court of Justice issued a nonbinding opinion in 2004 that the security barriers Israel was erecting in the West Bank violated international law, but that ruling has had no effect. The walls still stand.[...]

Indeed, what is a rules-based system if the rules apply only selectively and if seeking to apply them to certain countries is viewed as self-evidently prejudiced? To put it more simply, is there no venue in the international system to which the stateless people of Palestine and their allies and friends can go to seek redress amid the slaughter in Gaza? And if not, what are they to do?

For the cause of Palestinian statehood, every alternative to violence has been virtually snuffed out, in part because Israel’s allies have helped to discredit them. The most recent example is the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that has, in many places, been successfully tarred as antisemitic or even banned altogether. Efforts to use the United Nations Security Council have drawn U.S. vetoes for decades. Is seeking redress at the appropriate venue for alleged violations of international law also antisemitic, as Israel’s defense minister said on Friday? Does no law apply to Israel? Are there no limits to what it may do to defend itself?[...]

The Biden administration has made the shoring up of the international rules-based order a centerpiece of its foreign policy but, unsurprisingly, has struggled to live up to that aspiration.[...]

Occasionally straying from your principles because circumstances require it is very different from being seen to have no principles at all, and that is precisely how much of the global south has come to regard the United States.

It seems especially shortsighted in these times that the Biden administration elected to wave away the carefully documented case prepared by South Africa. One of the biggest threats to the rules-based international order is the growing consensus in the poor world that the rich world will apply those rules selectively, at its discretion, when it suits the powerful nations that make up the global north, such as when Russia invaded Ukraine.[...]

As far as the rules-based order is concerned, when it comes to crimes like genocide and ethnic cleansing, it simply does not matter who started it. [...] The best way to shore up the rules-based order is to be seen, in word and deed, as committing to the institutions and moral commitments of that order.

28 Jan 24

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decolonize-the-left · 19 days

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United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain lambasted the mass arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses across the country, while emphasizing the union’s call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. “The UAW will never support the mass arrest or intimidation of those exercising their right to protest, strike, or speak out against injustice,” Fain wrote Wednesday on the social platform X. “Our union has been calling for a ceasefire for six months. This war is wrong, and this response against students and academic workers, many of them UAW members, is wrong.”

Hundreds of students and faculty members have been arrested over the past two weeks as pro-Palestinian protests roil college campuses nationwide. Demonstrators have taken to university yards and streets and started encampments to protest Israel’s wartime campaign in Gaza and call for a halt in U.S. aid to Israel. Tensions spiked in New York and California on Tuesday night, resulting in the arrest of hundreds of demonstrators. The New York Police Department on Tuesday went through a second-story window of a building at Columbia that was seized by demonstrators. Police cleared out the protesters, and videos quickly circulated on social media showing the arrests at Columbia, which has served as ground zero for the mass college protests that have quickly spread across the country.

New York Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday confirmed around 300 people were arrested. At the University of California, Los Angeles, counter-protesters clashed with pro-Palestinian demonstrators when they attempted to dismantle the encampment on that campus. Los Angeles Police Department officers responded, but it was not immediately clear how many arrests were made and whether there were any injuries. The leadership at UAW 4811, the union chapter representing postdoctoral scholars and researchers of the University of California campuses, voted on Wednesday to hold a strike authorization vote as early as next week should the “circumstances justify.”

“Should the university decide to curtail the right to participate in protected, concerted activity; discriminate against union members or political viewpoints; and create or allow threats to members’ health and safety, among others, UAW 4811 members will take any and all actions necessary to enforce our rights,” UAW 4811 wrote in a statement. Fain on Wednesday said the UAW is calling for the release of students and employees. “And If you can’t take the outcry, stop supporting this war,” Fain added. The UAW backed a long-term cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in December. The war has lasted nearly seven months since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks against southern Israel, during which the militant group killed about 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

#UAW #university encampments #ucla #columbia #united auto workers #unions #free palestine #end the occupation #Palestine #usa #protests #strike #uaw strike

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opencommunion · 3 months

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since zionists want to act obtuse about why we're criticizing a superbowl ad, here's an explanation from before the ad even aired. it was openly designed to act as pro-genocide propaganda. fighting antisemitism is a worthy goal but that's not what's happening here:

"The New England Patriots’ 81-year-old owner, Robert Kraft, writes seven-digit checks to the right-wing Israeli lobbying machine AIPAC, but his personal, political, and financial ties to Israel run deeper than the occasional donation. The multibillionaire married his late wife, Myra, in Israel in 1963 when Kraft, then 22, was older than the nation itself. Together they set up numerous business, athletic, and charitable ties to Israel, a record of which is proudly proclaimed on the Kraft company website. In particular, the Kraft Group boasts of its 'Touchdown in Israel' program, where NFL players are given free, highly organized vacations to see 'the holy land' and come back to spread the word about 'the only democracy in the Middle East.' (Not every NFL player has chosen to take part.) Kraft also attends fundraisers for the Israel Defense Forces, currently—and in open view of the world—committing war crimes in Gaza."

Now, as Israel wages war against the civilians of Gaza—more than 25,000 Palestinian have been killed with at least 10,000 of them children—Kraft is again flexing his financial and political muscles in order to defend the indefensible. His Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) will be spending an estimated $7 million to buy a Super Bowl ad titled 'Stop Jewish Hate' that will be seen by well over 100 million people. Under Kraft’s direction, the ad’s goal is to create a propaganda campaign to counter the reports and images from Gaza that young people are consuming on social media.

... The content of the Super Bowl ad is not yet known, but FCAS has afforded Kraft the opportunity to make the rounds on cable news saying things like, 'It’s horrible to me that a group like Hamas can be respected and people in the United States of America can be carrying flags or supporting them.'

This is Kraft enacting the mission of FCAS: fostering disinformation. He is far from subtle: A Palestinian flag becomes a 'Hamas flag,' and people like the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets of Washington, D.C., last month to call for a cease-fire and end the violence are expressions of the 'rise in antisemitism.' Without a sense of irony or the horrors happening on the ground in Gaza, Kraft says he is giving $100 million of his own money to FCAS, because 'hate leads to violence.'

Let’s be clear: What Kraft is doing politically and what he will be using the Super Bowl as a platform to do is dangerous. He appears to think any criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic. For Kraft, it is Jews like myself, rabbis, and Holocaust survivors calling for a cease-fire and a Free Palestine that are part of the problem. Kraft seems to think that opposition to Israel, the IDF, and the AIPAC agenda is antisemitism.

... Right-wing Christian nationalists, with their belief in a Jewish state existing alongside their conviction that Jews are going to Hell, are welcome in Netanyahu’s Israel and Kraft’s coalition. Left-wing anti-Zionist Jews are not. The greatest foghorn of this evangelical right-wing 'love Israel, hate Jews' perspective is, of course, Donald Trump. Kraft, while speaking of being troubled by events like the Charlottesville Nazi march and the right-wing massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue, counts Donald Trump as a close friend and even donated $1 million to his presidential inauguration.

No one who provides cover for the most powerful, public antisemite in the history of US politics should ever be taken seriously on how to best fight antisemitism. No one who funds AIPAC and the IDF and opposes a cease-fire amid the carnage should be allowed a commercial platform at the Super Bowl. But given that the big game is always an orgy of militarism, blind patriotism, and big budget commercials that lie through their teeth, perhaps that ad could not be more appropriate. We can do better than Kraft’s perspective on how to fight antisemitism. Morally, we don’t have a choice."

#zionism

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plethoraworldatlas · 2 months

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As the death toll from Israel's war on the Gaza Strip hit at least 32,623 on Friday, the New York Working Families Party endorsed the "Leave It Blank" campaign, which encourages Democratic voters to cast a blank ballot in the state presidential primary next Tuesday to increase pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to end the bloodshed.

Since January, when New Hampshire residents critical of U.S. complicity in Israel's genocidal assault wrote "cease-fire" on their Democratic ballots, voters across the country have used the primary process to stage similar protests. In Michigan, home to many Muslims and Arab Americans, over 100,000 people voted "uncommitted" last month

"Many New Yorkers are struggling with the question of whether to show up for Tuesday's presidential primary. We're urging voters to use their voice at the ballot box to send a clear message to President Biden that he must correct course on the war on Gaza," said New York Working Families Party co-directors Ana María Archila and Jasmine Gripper in a statement.

"With the general election seven months away, voters can make a strategic appeal to President Biden to listen to the overwhelming majority of voters who support a permanent cease-fire, the safe return of hostages, and emergency humanitarian aid," they added

Biden is expected to face Republican former President Donald Trump in November. Although the Democratic president called for Israel to end the "indiscriminate bombing" of civilians in Gaza, his administration has also continued to arm Israeli forces—sending fighter jets and 2,000-pound bombs that can take out an entire city block.

"The war in Gaza has really splintered the Democratic coalition that is urgently needed to defeat Trump and his right-wing extremist agenda," Archila toldGothamist. "And it has created a very serious moral dilemma for voters across the country."

According to Gothamist:

Archila said she viewed the blank vote campaign as something that would engage and unify Democrats at a moment when they lack enthusiasm. "Instead of disconnecting from democracy, what we need to be doing is leaning into our democracy," she said. "And we know that voters who show up in the primary are more likely to show up in a general election."

Archila and Gripper's party joins a growing number of groups supporting the campaign. They include IfNotNow NYC, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action, MPOWER Action: Muslim Grassroots Movement, Peace Action New York State, Sunrise Movement NYC, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, and multiple chapters of Democratic Socialists of America

#us politics #palestine #biden administration #2024 primaries #2024 presidential election #new york #vote uncommitted

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theothin · 13 days

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“You’ve got to finish the problem,” Trump said on Fox News on Tuesday when asked about the war. “You had a horrible invasion that took place that would have never happened if I was president.” When asked on the program whether he supported a cease-fire in Gaza, Trump demurred, avoiding an explicit position on Israel’s military effort that has now also left more than 30,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The likely 2024 Republican nominee has not provided his own position on U.S. or Israel's strategy throughout the five months of the war.

“President Trump did more for Israel than any American President in history, and he took historic action in the Middle East that created unprecedented peace,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national press secretary, said in a statement, adding, "When President Trump is back in the Oval Office, Israel will once again be protected, Iran will go back to being broke, terrorists will be hunted down, and the bloodshed will end.” Just days after Hamas attacked Israel, Trump, in a video posted from his Mar-a-Lago estate here, declared: “I kept Israel safe. Nobody else will. Nobody else can. And I know all of the players — they can’t do it.” Trump did lay out a few markers in the three weeks that followed the Hamas attack. He said on Oct. 11 that a future Trump administration would “fully support Israel defeating, dismantling, and permanently destroying the terrorist group Hamas,” while telling the Republican Jewish Coalition later that month that Hamas fighters “will burn forever in the eternal pit of hell." That month, his campaign also said that, if elected again, he would bar Gaza residents from entering the U.S. as part of an expanded travel ban.

Do not lose sight of the stakes. If Trump is elected, he will add to the atrocities being committed against Palestinians.

As for why he hasn't been talking as much about the topic lately?

Maureen Maldonado, an author and a Christian radio host, said she understood why Trump wasn’t as vocal on Israel as some supporters might expect. “He’s a friend of Israel,” she said. “It’s all political, and he needs to get into office before anything. He’s got to play the game.”

Trump wants the backlash against Israel to focus specifically on Biden, not on himself. He's advertised himself as a more dedicated ally of Israel than Biden, but he's willing to avoid giving much attention to that topic until after the election - because he knows conservatives will remember his real position on Israel, while leftists might not.

Do not fall for it. If you're criticizing Biden's position on Israel more than Trump's, you're playing right into Trump's hands. If you're calling Biden "Genocide Joe", you're playing right into Trump's hands. If you're talking about withholding votes for Biden, you're playing right into Trump's hands. Cut it the fuck out.

#us politics #i-p war #trump #biden #nbc

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justinspoliticalcorner · 27 days

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Taiyler S. Mitchell and Sanjana Karanth at HuffPost:

College campuses across the country have become home to protests and encampments against Israel’s war on Gaza — leading to hundreds of arrests. The protesters across the numerous universities are calling for a permanent cease-fire and university divestment from companies making money off of the war, according to Reuters. Additionally, they are also demanding that the U.S. stops military assistance for Israel, and that disciplined student or faculty protesters are given amnesty, per the outlet. In one high-profile instance at Columbia University in New York, more than 100 people were arrested Thursday as students and faculty protested the university’s Israel-related investments. The demonstrations mirror a week of protests at the university in 1968 over the Vietnam War, which led to more than 700 arrests and nearly 150 reported injuries.

The present-day Columbia demonstrations seem to have added fuel to numerous other demonstrations across the country despite the arrests. On Monday, 120 protesters were arrested at New York University, 47 students were arrested at Yale University, and three people were arrested at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. On Tuesday, nine people at the University of Minnesota were arrested, and two were arrested at Ohio State University. The demonstrations at Columbia and across the country have been labeled as antisemitic and unsafe for Jewish students. But many of the protesters at these campuses’ “solidarity encampments” are themselves Jewish students calling for Palestinian freedom.

[...] “We condemn any and all hateful or violent comments targeting Jewish students; however, in shutting down public protest and suspending students, the actions of the University of Columbia are not ensuring safety for Jewish students ― or any students ― on campus,” progressive group Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement on Monday. The White House joined university administrators earlier this week in condemning the protests, presuming that Jewish students in the U.S. automatically support Israel’s military offensive in Gaza ― a dangerous assumption that JVP said is “actively harming Palestinian and Jewish students.”

Protests over Israel's genocidal Gaza campaign have flared up at college campuses across the nation that began at Columbia University with Gaza Solidarity Encampments.

Their goals are to divest from funding companies making money off the Gaza Genocide campaign, permanent ceasefire, ending US military funding for Israel, and amnesty for disciplined students and faculty.

Pro-Israel Apartheid supporters have baselessly called these protests "antisemitic", forgetting that Jewish folks are joining in support of the protests.

#Gaza Solidarity Encampment #Gaza Genocide #Gaza #Israel/Hamas War Protests #Israel/Hamas War #Israel Apartheid #Israel #Columbia University #Ceasefire NOW Protests #Gaza/Israel Conflict #Campus Protests

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kp777 · 7 months

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By Brett Wilkins

Common Dreams

Nov. 6, 2023

Progressive U.S. Congressman Mark Pocan pulled no punches in an interview published Monday by Slate, addressing his ongoing feud with the influential lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee—a fervent booster of Israel's bloody bombardment of Gaza and a top contributor to the campaign coffers of Democrats and Republicans alike.

"I don't give a fuck about AIPAC—period," Pocan (D-Wis.) told Slate politics writer Alexander Sammon. "I think they're a cancerous presence on our democracy and politics in general, and if I can be a surgeon, that's great."

"The reason I'm poking the bear is because they've become a Trojan bear," Pocan explained. "AIPAC at least pretended to be bipartisan when I first got [to Congress]. Now they're basically a wholly owned subsidiary of the GOP."

"It's time to call them out for what they are—a front group for conservative policy here in the U.S.—instead of being afraid of them," he added.

Pocan was drawn into the fracas between progressive lawmakers and AIPAC last month after the group falsely accused him and other representatives of "trying to keep Hamas in power." The attack came after 10 members of Congress—nine Democrats and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)—voted against an October 25 resolution pledging unconditional support for Israel's war on Gaza.

Massie joined progressive Democrats in pushing back against AIPAC, posting on social media that "this baseless smear is meant to intimidate me into voting to send $14+ billion of your money to a foreign country."

Pocan—who did not vote against the resolution—wrote: "AIPAC is not good at telling the truth. We don't support Hamas. We just don't support killing kids, which it seems you do."

Palestinian officials said Monday that Israeli forces have killed at least 10,022 people in Gaza, including 2,550 women and more than 4,100 children, while wounding over 25,000 others. At least 155 people have also been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, when Hamas-led militants launched surprise attacks in southern Israel that left more than 1,400 people dead.

On Sunday, Pocan responded to an AIPAC social media post that observers said was meant to drive a wedge between progressives who support a cease-fire and others, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who don't.

"I should be glad to get tagged regularly by the GOP/Netanyahu front group AIPAC," he wrote, referring to far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Without me, their tags would be all people of color, showing their generally more racial approach to their conservative politics."

"Bluntly, a lot of what they've been doing is just going after women of color," Pocan told Slate. "I believe the reason I'm even thrown into the loop is because I'm a white guy, which gives them a bit of cover."

Indeed, AIPAC has reserved its most vitriolic attacks for lawmakers like Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—the only two Muslim women and, in the case of Tlaib, the only Palestinian American, in Congress—and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who last month introduced a resolution calling on President Joe Biden to push Israel for a cease-fire.

Sanders also entered the fray after AIPAC thanked him for not demanding a cease-fire.

"AIPAC has supported dozens of GOP extremists who are undermining our democracy," the progressive senator said Sunday on social media. "They're now working hard to defeat progressive members of Congress. We won't let that happen. Let us stand together in the fight for a world of peace, economic and social justice, and climate sanity."

AIPAC has spent lavishly on both Republicans and non-progressive Democrats and was the number one donor to both House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) during the last election cycle.

The group has also been a top contributor to lawmakers like Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who not only vocally support Israel, but also attack colleagues like Tlaib and Omar for their pro-Palestinian views. AIPAC was by far Gottheimer's largest contributor in the 2022 electoral cycle, donating more than $216,000 to his campaign. The same goes for Torres, who received over $141,000 from the group during the same period.

Critics also say it is no coincidence that Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.)—whose third-biggest campaign contributor during the last election cycle was AIPAC—introduced a censure motion against Tlaib last month, baselessly alleging she sympathizes with terrorism.

On Monday, far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)—who once suggested that a "Jewish space laser" started a California wildfire—reintroduced a resolution to censure Tlaib for alleged offenses including "antisemitism, spreading pro-Hamas propaganda, and inciting an illegal occupation in the Capitol complex."

Pocan responded by calling Greene "dumb and unconscionable."

#marc pocan #aipac #israel #gaza #palestine #aoc #ilhan omar #human rights

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militantinremission · 5 months

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Reaching beyond their grasp?

Israel has made clear their intention to kill as many Palestinians as possible, before appropriating Palestinian Land, Oil, & Gas Fields. The picture above, is an Ad from a Real Estate Developer promoting Israeli 'Beachfront Houses' in Gaza (Seriously!)... Since Oct. 7th, over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, & over 50,000 have been injured. Gaza now resembles Dresden, but Zionists insist that "From the River, to the Sea" is Anti Semitic hate speech. Israel is losing face w/ each passing day, & they're taking America & The European Union w/ them. Experts on The Region point out the economic toll that Israel is paying for their blitzkrieg on Gaza.

Scott Ritter points out how 300,000 IDF Reserves & their Support Staff are no longer contributing to the Israeli Economy, but are draining it. The Houthis have effectively created a blockade in The Red Sea that is costing Israel Billions. Hezbollah is doing Real Damage in Northern Israel, while Turkey & Iran remain X- Factors. Benjamin Netanyahu & his Cabinet seem oblivious to Current Events; their actions imply that they have a Right to continue the ongoing carnage. The Biden Administration is caught in a conundrum- they want Israel to scale back the assault, but they're obliged to show solidarity w/ The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The result, has Biden Staffers expressing dissatisfaction w/ Israel's asymmetrical 'War Campaign' in Gaza; while they continue to supply Israel w/ 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'.

The Global Community is holding The U.S. responsible for 1,000lb & 2,000lb Bombs, along w/ White Phosphorus that have been used by the IDF to kill innocent Palestinian Men, Women, & Children. In effect, America is Israel's Partner In Crime. Mainstream Media focuses on the Israeli perspective of eliminating Hamas, but are they? We hear very little about IDF casualities. Last count, Israel claims 1,593 injured; but the Israeli Newspaper, Haaretz says that number is far off. Using Israeli Hospital Admissions, Haaretz discovered that the IDF averages 60 wounded per day. They also discovered that 10,584 injured were admitted to dozens of Hospitals across Israel; the 3 closest Hospitals to Gaza accounting for roughly 3,000 admissions alone- nearly double the Israeli claim.

According to Limor Luria- Deputy Director General & Head of the Ministry's Rehabilitation Department, 'nearly 60%' have severe injuries to their hands & feet; including those requiring amputations. The Associated Press says the total of IDF deaths since Oct. 7th is 153, but The Israeli Military reported 420 Soldiers killed. Luria warns of a looming Mental Health Crisis among IDF Soldiers; some IDF Units have refused to engage. Netanyahu says there are 36,000 Hamas Soldiers; I believe THAT is his threshold for a Cease Fire. He has already displaced nearly 3 times as many Palestinians as The Nakba; roughly 90% of Gaza has been displaced. Netanyahu's actions have set Records in the number of Hospitals/ Health Facilities, Mosques, Churches, & Schools destroyed in a Conflict. He's also responsible for Record Setting deaths to Medical Staff, Journalists, UN Staff & other Aid Workers. European Leaders have straddled the fence, but Leaders in the Global South have condemned Israel's 'War' as an Ethnic Cleansing; some have called it Palestinian Genocide.

Attempts to silence naysayers are not working; Israel is losing The War and The Narrative. People are learning about Zionism, & how it differs from Judaism. Groups like AIPAC have incredible influence, but The Global Masses aren't intimidated by their threats. Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) have played a major role in demystifying the distinction between Judaism & Zionism. Their 'Not in Our Name' Campaign reverberated globally. As The Masses rose up- demanding a Cease Fire in Gaza, We saw a global pushback from an assortment of Power Brokers in Business, Media, & Government. Their efforts were fruitless, but it revealed the global reach of Zionism. What was most revealing, is the prominence of Christian Zionists. They don't just outnumber Zionists, but ALL European Jews.

These Christian Zionists are mostly Evangelicals in The Bible Belt, but they are not limited to one denomination or region. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, & Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth) are well-known preachers of Christian Zionism. Joe Biden (a Catholic) & Donald Trump (a Presbyterian) are also proud Zionists; this may explain Biden's reluctance to slow the flow of weapons to Israel... I was surprised to learn that Theodor Herzl was a student of Christian Zionists, & not the other way around. Men like Baron Walter Rothschild, [British Foreign Secretary] Lord Arthur James Balfour, & President Woodrow Wilson were all Zionists; that may explain why Herzl & Co. proposed the idea of a 'Jewish State' specifically to Balfour & Rothschild. While Christian Zionists go out of their way to support Israel, their reasons can be viewed as Anti- Semitic.

Christian Zionists identify w/ 'The Children of Abraham' through Spiritual Ancestry (as it relates to Acts: 34,35). They subscribe to the Theory of Dispensationalism- the brainchild of John Nelson Darby, in the late 19th Century. Darby is described as a former clergyman of the Anglican Church of Ireland, & a Bible Teacher... Dispensationalism deals w/ the Rapture, & the 2nd Coming of Christ. Followers (Dispensational Premillennials) believe 'The State' of Israel is a necessary step in this Prophecy. The (so called) Chosen People are defined as: Those who rejected Christ. According to the Prophecy, a number of these 'Ethnic Jews' (160,000?) accept Jesus/Yeshua as Christ & are Saved; The rest are sent to The Underworld w/ All of the other 'Sinners'. Both Sides use it to their advantage. Zionists ignore the Christian motivation to deal w/ Europe's 'Jewish Problem', while Christians ignore Zionist duplicity (as allowed in Bava Kamma 113a, 37b) & The Talmud's description of Jesus/ Yeshua as: 'The Son of a Whore/ Harlot' (Sanhedrin 106a,b & Shabbat 104b) & a blasphemer (Sanhedrin 107b[Sotah 47a], Gittin 57a, Shabbos 104b). Christian Scholars like Dr. Ken Matto condemn the notion of a 'Judeo Christian' narrative as oxymoronic, & they think Dispensationalist Ministers are grifters.

Orthodox Jews condemn Zionism as heresy. They don't see the need for a 'Jewish State' before the return of the Melekh Mashiak. Leaders like Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, are the latest generation of Orthodox Jews that have been on the Front Line contesting the validity of Zionism over the last 120Yrs. Orthodox Jewish Scholars have pointed out that Theodor Herzl, David Ben Gurion, & Benjamin Netanyahu aren't practicing Jews; they're Atheists. It appears that 'Radical (Revisionist) Judaism' is a Zionist Agenda to influence World Opinion regarding Ashkenazi claims to Biblical Israel (Palestine). Their philosophy lines up w/ Nazism more than Orthodox Judaism, & their methodology is pure Colonialism... The Rothschild Family used their personal finances to lay the foundation & infrastructure of Israel. We also know that European Jews in Palestine were supported by Jewish Mobsters, like Meyer Lansky's National Crime Syndicate. They supplied them w/ cash, smuggled in weapons, & possibly taught them Intelligence tactics.

Lansky was a Master at blackmail, bribery, & extortion. In addition to compromising Police Officers, Judges, Politicians, Business & Union Leaders; he 'persuaded' J. Edgar Hoover to ignore American Organized Crime for decades. The U.S. Government sought Meyer Lansky's 'Intelligence gathering' services for O.S.S. operations during WW 2... We see Lansky's tactics currently being used by Mossad. If you believe Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad Agent (One of MANY) tasked w/ putting prominent men & women in 'compromising positions', you can understand the Pro Israel stance of World Leaders & Captains of Industry... It's almost comical to remember how crazy We all thought Skinheads were, when they declared America is a Z.O.G. (Zionist Occupied Government). In hindsight, we cannot deny the degree of Zionist influence in Entertainment, Finance, Government, & Mainstream Media. Scott Ritter points out that 400 of 418 Members Of Congress & 95- 98 Senators are 'bought & paid for' by AIPAC... Everyone else gets 'Primaried'. Rapper/ Journalist, Lowkey pointed out Rupert Murdoch's multiple connections to Israeli Intelligence Agencies (Mossad, Shin Bet, Unit 8200). His Media Outlets & Journalists regularly walk in lock step w/ Israeli Agendas... He's not alone.

It's no surprise that Mainstream Media has been less than critical of Israel's blatant War Crimes. Their Reporters & Contributors repeat Israeli talking points. Meanwhile, Sean 'Diddy' Combs & an ever expanding list of literal Bad Actors have taken precedence over the mess that Benjamin Netanyahu has made. The Zionists have a habit of using morally questionable Black Men to deflect any attention on them. Bill Cosby was a proxy for Harvey Weinstein & Les Moonves, R. Kelly was a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein & Prince Edward, Johnathan Majors was a proxy for Dana White, Ezra Miller, & Danny Masterson... Bibi's politically finished, but he's not going down alone. Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Olaf Scholtz, & Emmanuel Macron are All 'Damaged Goods'. Volodymor Zelenskyy is probably the only Leader on thinner ice; most Experts on Ukraine expect a 'Fall from Grace', sometime after his Term ends on May 21st.

American Zionists went to great lengths to support Israel, to the detriment of America's National Security. Joe Biden wants an $880B Defense Budget, but The U.S. Navy is being outmaneuvered by Houthi Rebels using 'swarms' of $2,000 drones. Scott Ritter has insinuated that Russia has copied British Underwater Drones, & passed blueprints to Iran. It's likely that Houthi Rebels will also have these designs; how many drones will it take to disable a $30B Aircraft Carrier? Sabre rattling w/ Xi Jinping & Vladimir Putin is Keyboard Gangsterism... These Days, The Military Industrial Complex is as broken as the American Economy. It looks like the Israelis are giving Dispensationalism the Taste Test- let's hope that they don't set off another World War in the process.

#VoluntaryMigration #GenocideConventionArticle3 #ZionismIsNotJudaism #Ze'evJabotinski #MoralBankruptcy #AntiZionismIsNotAntiSemitism #PaperTiger #PeePeeTapePolitics #Herem #HannibalDoctrine #AgeOfProphecy

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glvlvukcan · 3 months

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What Could Happen

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Ukraine is fighting for the lives of its people and its very existence, and it is running out of ammunition. If the United States does not step back in with aid, Russia could eventually win this war.

Despite the twaddle from propagandists in Moscow (and a few academics in the United States), Russia’s war is not about NATO, or borders, or the balance of power. The Russian dictator Vladimir Putin intends to absorb Ukraine into a new Russian empire, and he will eradicate the Ukrainians if they refuse to accept his rule. Europe is in the midst of the largest war on the continent since Nazi panzers rolled from Norway to Greece, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is by far the most important threat to world peace since the worst days of the Cold War. In a less febrile political era, defeating Russia would be the top priority of every American politician.

The Republicans in Congress, however, remain fixated both on their hatred of Ukraine and on their affection for Russia. Their relentless criticism of assistance to Kyiv has had its intended effect, taking a bite out of the American public’s support for continuing aid, especially as the war has been crowded out by the torrent of more recent news, including Donald Trump’s endless legal troubles and Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

And so it’s time to think more seriously about what might happen if the Republicans succeed in this irresponsible effort to blockade any further assistance to Ukraine. The collapse and dismemberment of a nation of millions is immediately at stake, and that should be enough for any American to be appalled at the GOP’s obstructionism. But the peace of the world itself could rest on what Congress does—or does not do—next.

First, what would it even mean for Russia to “win”? A Russian victory does not require sending Moscow’s tanks into Kyiv, even if that were possible. (The Russians have taken immense losses in manpower and armor, and they would have to fight house-to-house as they approached the capital.) Putin is reckless and a poor strategist, but he is not stupid: He knows that he doesn’t need to plant the Russian flag on the Mother Ukraine statue just yet. He can instead tear Ukraine apart, piece by piece.

The destruction of Ukraine would begin with some kind of cease-fire offered by a Ukrainian leadership that has literally run out of bullets, bombs, and bodies. (The average age of Ukraine’s soldiers is already over 40; there are not that many more men to draft.) The Russians would signal a willingness to deal only with a new Ukrainian regime, perhaps some “government of national salvation” that would exist solely to save whatever would be left of a rump Ukrainian state in the western part of the country while handing everything else over to the Kremlin.

The Russians would then dictate more terms: The United States and NATO would be told to pound sand. Ukraine would have to destroy its weapons and convert its sizable army into a small and weak constabulary force. Areas under Russian control would become, by fiat, parts of Russia. The remaining thing called “Ukraine” would be a demilitarized puppet state, kept from integration of any kind with Europe; in a few years, an internal putsch or a Russian-led coup could produce a new government that would request final union with the Russian Federation. Soon, Ukraine would be part of a new Russian superstate, with Russian forces on NATO’s borders as “peacekeepers” or “border guards,” a ploy the Russians have used in Central Asia since the 1990s.

Imagine the world as Putin (and other dictators, including in China) might see it even a few years from now if Russia wins in 2024: America stood by, paralyzed and shamed, as Ukraine was torn to pieces, as millions of people and many thousands of square miles were added to the Kremlin’s empire, and as U.S. alliances in Europe and then around the world quietly disintegrated—all of which will be even more of a delight in Moscow and Beijing if Americans decide to add the ultimate gift of voting the ignorant and isolationist Trump back into the White House.

The real danger for the U.S. and Europe would begin after Ukraine is crushed, when only NATO would remain as the final barrier to Putin’s dreams of evolving into a new emperor of Eurasia. Putin has never accepted the legitimate existence of Ukraine, but like the unreformed Soviet nostalgist that he is, he has a particular hatred for NATO. After the collapse of Ukraine, he would want to take bolder steps to prove that the Atlantic Alliance is an illusion, a lie promulgated by cowards who would never dare to stop the Kremlin from reclaiming its former Soviet and Russian imperial possessions.

Reckless and emboldened, emotional and facing his own mortality, Putin would be tempted to extend his winning streak and try one last throw of the dice, this time against NATO itself. He would not try to invade all of Europe; he would instead seek to replicate the success of his 2014 capture of Crimea—only this time on NATO territory. Putin might, for example, declare that his commitment to the Russian-speaking peoples of the former Soviet Union compels him to defend Russians in one of the Baltic states. After some Kremlin-sponsored agitation close to the Russian border, Russian forces (including more of the special forces known as “little green men”) might seize a small piece of territory and call it a Russian “safe zone” or “haven”—violating NATO sovereignty while also sticking it to the West for similar attempts many years ago, using similar terms, to protect the Bosnians from Russia’s friends, the Serbs.

The Kremlin would then sit on this piece of NATO territory, daring America and Europe to respond, in order to prove that NATO lacks the courage to fight for its members, and that whatever the strength of the alliance between, say, Washington and London, no one is going to die—or risk nuclear war—for some town in Estonia.

Should Putin actually do any of this, however, he would be making a drastic mistake. Dictators continually misunderstand democracies, believing them to be weak and unwilling to fight. Democracies, including the United States, do hate to fight—until roused to action. Republicans might soon succeed in forcing the United States to abandon Ukraine, but if fighting breaks out in Europe between Russia and America’s closest allies—old and new—no one, not even a President Trump, who has expressed his hostility to NATO and professed his admiration for Putin, is going to be able to keep the United States out of the battle, not least because U.S. forces will inevitably be among NATO’s casualties.

And at that point, anything could happen. The world, should Russia win, will face remarkable new dangers—and for what? Because in 2024 some astonishingly venal and ambitious politicians wanted to hedge their bets and kiss Trump’s ring one more time? Perhaps enough Republicans will come to their senses in time to avert these possible outcomes. If they do not, future historians—that is, if anyone is left to record what happened—will be perplexed at how a small coterie of American politicians were so willing to trade the safety of the planet for a few more years of power.

From The Atlanic Newsletter Feb 9th 2024

#politics #gop #donald trump #ukraine #russia

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workersolidarity · 4 months

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[ 📹 As Israeli Occupation Forces continue their genocidal war in Gaza, 10 IOF Special Forces soldiers dressed as medical staff entered Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin before sneaking up to the third floor and assassinating three Palestinians, one of whom had been receiving medical care.]

[ 📸 Hind Rajab, a 7 year-old girl who's entire family was killed after the IOF opened fire on their car. Hind called PRCS for help, who dispatched an ambulance that has since gone missing. Hind and the ambulance crews' fates remain unknown at this time.]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚨

💥ISRAELI OCCUPATION CONTINUES LARGE-SCALE SLAUGHTER IN GAZA, ASSASINATES THREE IN HOSPITAL IN THE WEST BANK💥

On the 116th day of Israel's war of genocide in the Gaza Strip, scores of civilians were killed, and dozens of others wounded, as result of Israeli occupation bombing and shelling across the Gaza Strip.

Local medical sources are reporting dozens of killed and wounded after Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shelled two residential homes belonging to the Madoukh and al-Amawi families in the al-Sabra neighborhood south of Gaza City.

At the same time, occupation aircraft bombarded multiple local residences in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of three civilians, who were transported to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

Occupation warplanes and artillery fire are also targeting civilian residences west of Khan Yunis, and also in the al-Geneina neighborhood east of Rafah City.

Meanwhile, Israeli jets and artillery shelling targeted various areas of Beit Lahia, north of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Continuing with a campaign of war crimes, the Israeli occupation army also detonated an entire neighborhood of apartment complexes west of Khan Yunis governate, in the south of Gaza, part of an attempt to destroy the housing of the Palestinian population of Gaza. More than 70% of all buildings in the Gaza Strip have been partially or completely destroyed by occupation forces since October 7th.

In a truly horrific tale, Israeli occupation tanks and soldiers fired on a civilian vehicles with an entire family inside, killing everyone in the vehicle except for one young 7 year-old girl named Hind Rajab who placed a call for emergency assistance to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), which currently acts as the sole emergency organization in Gaza.

PRCS said they received a call from Hind, who told emergency crews that her mother, father and four siblings had been killed, and she herself was trapped inside the vehicle with an Israeli tank just outside.

Emergency crews left to assist Hind while PRCS teams remained on the phone to keep her calm, however the ambulance team had trouble reaching the location due to occupation forces who considered the area a closed firing zone.

The PRCS ambulance team arrived at the location of Hind, still trapped inside the vehicle with her deceased family members, hoping to evacuate her to safety after coordinating their response with the Palestinian Coordination and Liaison Office and Israeli authorities.

At that time, communications with both the ambulance crews and the young girl Hind ceased, with the fates of Hind and the emergency team that arrived to evacuate her still unknown many hours later. PRCS said information about Hind and their rescue crew remains unknown at the time of publishing, adding that "we feel extremely concerned about their fate and whether they succeeded in evacuating her or not."

PRCS is also reporting that the IOF continues to target the vicinity of al-Amal Hospital in the northeast of Khan Yunis City for the eighth consecutive day, with the besieged hospital receiving three martyrs and four wounded persons as a result of munitions fire on the neighborhoods around the medical complex.

According to PRCS, after gunfire and shelling near al-Amal and the PRCS headquarters in Khan Yunis, shrapnel tore through nearby residents, killing one woman and wounding 9 others.

In an increasingly desperate situation, the surgical ward of al-Amal Hospital has ceased operations due to the depletion of oxygen and other medical supplies essential to surgical services, while at the same time, the IOF continues to warn the hospital to clear itself of local residents sheltering inside under the threat of violent shelling, according to the Red Crescent Society.

Israeli Occupation Forces also repeatedly launched violent air raids targeting the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, resulting in dozens of deaths and scores of casualties.

Occupation warplanes bombed three inhabited local residences in the al-Rimal neighborhood, killing several Palestinians and causing a multitude of additional casualties.

With occupation tanks and armored vehicles sitting on al-Shuhada'a street, the Israeli occupation army besieged the al-Rimal neighborhood, while also surrounding al-Shifa Hospital.

The Israeli Occupation Forces also forced Palestinians from their homes in several neighborhoods today, forming an exodus with thousands of civilians walking down al-Rashid Street on orders from the IOF, heading towards Deir al-Balah.

Occupation aircraft continue their bombardment of Khan Yunis, with five dead civilians reportedly transported to the European Gaza Hospital in the southeast of the city.

The Israeli occupation army also flattened the Al-Farouk Mosque in Khan Yunis City while also bombarding the Batn al-Sameen and al-Amal neighborhoods, resulting in the deaths of at least 7 civilians.

In the southernmost areas of Gaza, occupation aircraft targeted a residential home belonging to the al-Sanhouri family, though luckily, no casualties were reported in the shelling.

Across over to the West Bank, another horrific crime was committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces after a group of 10 undercover Israeli Special Forces soldiers dressed in the clothes of civilian medical staff entered the Ibn Sina Hospital in the northwest of the city of Jenin, proceeding to the third floor of the hospital where they then executed three Palestinians, one of whom had been receiving medical care, using silenced handguns.

According to local sources, the 10 Special Forces soldiers executed the siblings Mohammad and Basil Ayman Al-Ghazawi, and also murdered Mohammad Walid Jalamna. Basil Al-Ghazawi had been previously wounded in October 2023 and had been receiving medical care at the Jenin Ibn Sina hospital at the time of the assassination.

According to medical sources with Gaza's Ministry of Health, the Israeli occupation army committed a total of 14 massacres of Palestinian families, killing more than 215 residents and wounding an additional 300.

The death toll in Israel's ongoing genocide has risen in excess of 26'637, with another 65'387 wounded since October 7th.

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#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

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beardedmrbean · 6 months

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, the White House said, as President Joe Biden pressed Israelis for a multi-day stoppage in the fighting in a bid to release hostages held by the militant group.

Biden said Thursday that there was “no possibility” of a formal cease-fire at the moment, and said it had “taken a little longer” than he hoped for Israel to agree to the humanitarian pauses. Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a Monday call and said he had also asked the Israelis for a pause of at least three days to allow for negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas.

“Yes,” Biden said, when asked whether he had asked Israel for a three-day pause. “I’ve asked for even a longer pause for some of them.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the first daily humanitarian pause would be announced Thursday and that the Israelis had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance. Israel, he said, also was opening a second corridor for civilians to flee the areas that are the current focus of its military campaign against Hamas, with a coastal road joining the territory’s main north-south highway.

Similar short-term pauses have occurred over the last several days as tens of thousands of civilians have fled southward, but Thursday’s announcement appeared to be an effort to formalize and expand the process, as the U.S. has pressed Israelis to take greater steps to protect civilians in Gaza.

Biden’s push for an even longer pause comes as part of a renewed diplomatic push to free hostages taken by Hamas and other militant groups to the Gaza Strip during their Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel.

Israeli officials estimate that militants still hold 239 hostages, including children and the elderly, from the attack that also saw 1,400 Israelis killed. U.S. officials say it believes fewer than 10 Americans are among those held captive.

Kirby told reporters Thursday that pauses could be useful to “getting all 239 hostages back with their families to include the less than 10 Americans that we know are being held. So if we can get all the hostages out, that’s a nice finite goal.”

“Humanitarian pauses can be useful in the transfer process,” he added.

Indirect talks were taking place in Qatar — which also played a role in the freeing of four hostages by Hamas last month — about a larger release of hostages. CIA Director William Burns was in Doha on Thursday to discuss efforts to win the release of hostages in Gaza with the Qatari prime minister and the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, according to a U.S. official.

Burns met with Mossad chief David Barnea and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the official, who talked to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Qatar is a frequent go-between in international dealings with Hamas, and some top Hamas political leaders make their home in the Gulf country. The U.S. official stressed Burns was not playing a lead role in the negotiations.

Kirby confirmed that the U.S. continues to have “active discussions with partners about trying to secure the release of hostages,” noting in particular Qatar’s help.

“We know they have lines of communication with Hamas that we don’t,” Kirby said of Qatar. “And we’re going to continue to work with them and regional partners to try to secure the release of all the hostages.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had warned Israel last week that it risked destroying an eventual possibility for peace unless it acted swiftly to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza for Palestinian civilians as it intensifies its war against Hamas.

In a blunt call for Israel to pause military operations in the territory to allow for the immediate and increased delivery of assistance, Blinken said the situation would drive Palestinians toward further radicalism and effectively end prospects for any eventual resumption of peace talks to end the conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron had opened a Gaza aid conference on Thursday with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians, saying that “all lives have equal worth” and that fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules.”

Kirby said Uzra Zeya, the State Department’s under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights; special envoy David Satterfield; and Sarah Charles, who leads the USAID’s bureau for humanitarian assistance, were representing the U.S. at the Paris conference. Israel has not been invited by France to the conference. Kirby demurred when asked about the decision to leave Israel out of the international talks.

“We’re focused on trying to have the most constructive conversation there that we can,” Kirby said.

#nunyas news

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mariacallous · 6 months

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PARIS—As France, the home of Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, tears itself apart over the war between Israel and Hamas, French President Emmanuel Macron is leveling the harshest criticism seen from any G-7 leader toward Israel since the beginning of the conflict, talking openly about the need to work toward a long-term cease-fire.

Besides humanitarian concerns, let alone a desire to play a grander role on the global stage, Macron has good reason to wish for a speedy conclusion to the war. Antisemitism and Islamophobia are both on the rise in the country: France has seen more than 1,500 antisemitic acts or remarks since the conflict broke out, three times as many as those that occurred in the whole of last year. Six hundred people have been arrested over the incidents. Muslim leaders say enmity is brewing against their communities as well.

“This is the only solution we have, this cease-fire, because it’s impossible to explain we want to fight against terrorism by killing innocent people,” Macron said in a BBC interview last week. “These babies, ladies, and old people are [being] bombed and killed. There is no reason for that, and no legitimacy, so we do urge Israel to stop,” he added.

Well over 10,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, are believed to have been killed so far by the Israeli campaign in Gaza, following the slaughter of around 1,200 Israelis by Hamas in early October. Other allies of Israel, including the U.S. and Britain, are also trying to rein it in and get it to agree to humanitarian pauses. But Macron’s strongly worded calls for a cease-fire, a term that implies an indefinite cessation of hostilities, have largely made him an outlier among Western leaders and haven’t gone unnoticed, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu snapping that Macron had “made a serious mistake factually and morally.”

The war is simmering on Macron’s homefront. More than 100,000 people took to the streets of Paris in solidarity with France’s Jews over the weekend, but antisemitic episodes continue, with several Jewish graves damaged in a cemetery in the Oise region north of Paris on Wednesday. While the country has no equivalent record of Islamophobic acts, prominent French Muslim figures say that following the massacre perpetrated by Hamas, as well as two Islamist attacks that hit France and Belgium last month, racism against their communities is growing, too. On Saturday, far-right militants raided an event organized by a pro-Palestinian association in the eastern French city of Lyon, leaving three people injured.

“If things continue to be this troubling in the Middle East, the internal situation in France will continue to be as awful as it is today,” said Michel Wieviorka, director of research at the School of Advanced Social Science Studies in Paris. Macron “is seeking to stay on top of all these elements, and it’s not easy,” he said.

The war is also presenting Macron with fresh political challenges. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally and the centrist president’s most fearsome rival, was quick to express unequivocal support for Israel’s military campaign, a move that many saw as a successful step to further sever ties with her party’s antisemitic past and boost her credentials as presidential material. She is currently leading in the polls.

But it’s not just about domestic woes. Macron breaking ranks with other Western powers and openly lambasting Israel over its military operation also has to do with France’s long-standing aspiration to punch above its weight on the world stage, refusing to simply toe the line dictated by the United States, experts say. France’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian question is traditionally more nuanced than America’s unequivocal support for Israel, and “strategic autonomy” from Washington has long been one of Macron’s pet projects.

“Whenever a crisis breaks out, France seeks to find a role for itself,” said Christian Lequesne, a professor of international relations at Sciences Po university. Ever since French President Charles de Gaulle in the 1950s and 1960s, “even if we have fewer resources than the superpowers, we try to act as if we were still one of them,” he said. “For the French, it would be a tragedy to admit that they don’t matter anymore.”

After the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, Macron embarked on a tour of the region, meeting the leaders of Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, and Egypt; announced the deployment of two helicopter carriers to the eastern Mediterranean; and hosted a conference on humanitarian aid for Palestinians, where he pledged to bring French donations from 20 million euros to 100 million euros this year.

To many, this may feel like déjà vu. Early last year, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine loomed, the French leader also went into diplomatic overdrive, with a much-hyped trip to Moscow in a bid to prevent the onslaught. Then, just months into the war, he drew the ire of his allies by suggesting that Russia “should not be humiliated,” and appeared to be pushing for a negotiated solution much too soon for Ukraine’s taste.

Despite these efforts to carve out a role for itself, however, France is confronted time and again with the limited influence it has on the events it tries to shape.

France’s stance may pique Israeli leaders, but it hardly carries the same weight as the almost $4 billion in defense funding provided to Israel every year by the United States, with negotiations currently underway in Congress for an additional package to the tune of $14 billion.

“The key external actors here are the U.S. and Iran, with Paris having a much weaker hand,” said Julien Barnes-Dacey, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The question is whether Macron’s outspoken criticism of Israel’s conduct will accelerate the closing of the window of legitimacy that the military campaign has enjoyed internationally, amid shock at the brutality of Hamas’s attack.

Macron is hardly the only Western leader facing a difficult situation at home over the conflict. Like France, the United States, Britain, and Germany are all dealing with skyrocketing antisemitic incidents. U.S. President Joe Biden’s material and diplomatic backing of Israel is getting him into trouble with his own base, with 44 percent of Democrats thinking that he has been too supportive of the military operation in Gaza and his ratings plummeting among Muslim Americans, which may hurt him badly in crucial swing states in next year’s presidential election. Rep. Ilhan Omar sponsored a resolution this week in the House of Representatives to ban the sale of certain U.S.-made precision weapons that Israel is using against Hamas in Gaza.

In Britain, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is confronted with huge pro-Palestinian protests every week, and he just fired his home secretary, Suella Braverman, after she inflamed tensions by labeling the demonstrations as “hate marches” and alleging the police were being too lenient on them.

The winds may be shifting already. The Biden administration has avoided pushing for a long-term cease-fire so far, but it is growing more vocal in its calls for pauses in the fighting to get aid to civilians and facilitate the release of the hundreds of hostages still in Hamas’s hands. After the Israelis started targeting Gaza’s main hospital, under which they said Hamas had placed one of its command centers, Biden urged them to take “less intrusive action” there. Israel resisted the pressure, storming the hospital earlier this week, eventually finding weapons and an operational command center, according to Israel’s military.

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council passed for the first time since the beginning of the war a resolution calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses,” thanks to the abstention, among others, of the United States.

For now, however, Israel’s most powerful ally remains loath to adopt language as direct as Macron’s. “What’s important for France is being proactive,” Lequesne said. “Whether results can be achieved, though, is a different question.”

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cosmicanger · 7 months

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David Velasco, one of the letter’s thousands of signatories, was fired after six years as the editor of Artforum.Credit...Pietro D'Aprano/Getty Images for Fondazione Prada

Artforum Fires Top Editor After Its Open Letter on Israel-Hamas War

David Velasco was removed after the magazine’s publishers said there was a flawed editorial process behind the publication of a letter that supported Palestinian liberation.

By Zachary Small

Oct. 26, 2023

One of the art world’s top magazine editors was fired Thursday night after the publishers of Artforum said that the staff’s decision to post an open letter about the Israel-Hamas War failed to meet the organization’s standards.

The editor in chief, David Velasco, said he had been terminated after six years as Artforum’s leader. He had worked at the publication, considered among the world’s most prestigious art magazines, since 2005.

“I have no regrets,” Velasco said in an email. “I’m disappointed that a magazine that has always stood for freedom of speech and the voices of artists has bent to outside pressure.”

Thousands of artists, academics and cultural workers, including Velasco, signed the Oct. 19 open letter, which supported Palestinian liberation and criticized the silence of cultural institutions about the Israeli bombing of residents in Gaza.

The letter initially omitted mention of Hamas’s surprise Oct. 7 attack, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis, information that was added after criticism from subscribers and advertisers. A preface was also added to say that the letter “reflects the views of the undersigned individual parties and was not composed, directed or initiated by Artforum or its staff.”

It is not clear who wrote the letter. In it, the signatories “call for an end to the killing and harming of all civilians, an immediate cease-fire, the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the end of the complicity of our governing bodies in grave human rights violations and war crimes.”

The magazine’s publishers, Danielle McConnell and Kate Koza, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a post on the magazine’s website Thursday evening, they criticized the decision as “not consistent with Artforum’s editorial process.” The letter “was widely misinterpreted as a statement from the magazine about highly sensitive and complex geopolitical circumstances,” they said in the post, which made no mention of Velasco’s termination.

“Our publication has a proud history of advocacy,” they added. “That the letter was misinterpreted as being reflective of the magazine’s position understandably led to significant dismay among our readers and community, which we deeply regret.”

The Oct. 19 open letter met condemnation, drawing responses by figures in the art world. On WhatsApp, campaigns were organized to dissuade advertisers from working with the magazine.

“I think it was a complete betrayal of their readers,” Michael Phillips Moskowitz, a curator and collector, said. “It was characterized by hubris with no understanding of what led to this moment.”

Several prominent artists later removed their names from the Oct. 19 letter, but it remained popular among many of the people who signed it, including those who said that the intention was to advocate peace.

“Tampering with the opinions of artists is to not understand the role of art,” said Cecilia Vicuña, a Chilean poet and artist who signed the letter, adding that she valued “the right to freedom of speech.”

Velasco joined Artforum in 2005 as an editorial assistant and became editor in chief in 2017 when the magazine’s leadership was accused of ignoring issues of misconduct amid a sexual harassment lawsuit against its publisher at the time, Knight Landesman. The lawsuit was later dismissed, but Velasco had to rebuild trust in the publication’s brand. He was largely successful, restoring Artforum’s reputation as an authoritative source of art world intrigue and criticism.

Before Velasco was fired, some artists defended him in a letter to Jay Penske, the mogul behind Penske Media Corporation, which recently acquired Artforum, saying that Velasco had “established a fearless and uncompromising vision for the magazine.”

“David’s leadership at Artforum is needed now more than ever,” the letter said.

#artforum #art #theory #news #article #gaza #palestine

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dicapiito · 3 months

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Kinda surprised there’s still Black leftists in 2024. The north always remembers what they did during the BLM Protests in 2020 and how they had the audacity to speak over Black People. I have been tired of it but yesterday was just…wow…

Fast forward to 2024 and the same shit has happened with the Palestinian movement. Leftists are speaking over actual Palestinians who have repeatedly said that Trump and the GOP second choice would be a nightmare but leftists don’t give a fuck about that. They just want to be antiblack and act like Black People ‘ don’t do enough’ for a cause they themselves only learned about on October 7th.

Being critical of the Democratic Party is one thing but buying into the leftist Russian propaganda and the hijacking of another movement yet again really should’ve made people realize that Leftist socialism really is just another word for a Libertarians and they only want s few tokens so they won’t appear racist. Nonblack leftists are also using the movement to be able to harass Black People and claim its in the name of Palestine when it’s clearly not.

The goal of leftists is the same as it’s always been. Fuck over the Democrats and fuck over Black and brown people and help out their actual party, which is the GOP. There’s no “ lesser evil”. There is a Democratic Party and an Evangelical white supremacist party. It’s unfortunate there are shitty motherfuckers who are claiming to be Democrats ( Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Omar, Ro Kanna, Katie Porter, AOC, Barbara Lee, Summer Lee and Dean Phillips), but the Republicans are a cult and there’s NO good Republicans.

Leftists don’t care that there will be mass deportation for Project 2025. They don’t care that there will be a national abortion ban. They’re in safe Deep Blue States so they’re comfortable enough to keep spreading misinformation. They love being disruptive especially in areas where they know that there’s many Black People around. Examples:

The same church where a white terrorist took the lives on nine Black People. Ever hear of them doing this shit to any white churches? Or how about these:

And notice what they all have in common. Using a movement to target Black People and it’s not just the yts who are doing this shit.

As well as look at how they use antiblack racist images while playing in our faces about how it’s not offensive to Black People:

And our phrases

And if that’s not enough. They need to call Biden ‘ Old’ because they can’t admit that they don’t want MVP Harris as President. A Black Woman as President ? They are saying it with their chest but want to act like theyre not.

And last but not least. Examples of the chaos agents in our community playing in our faces because they got money and white acceptance. They know they’re full of shit but they’re paid enough to sell out Black People and they’re also why yt and nonblack leftists are comfortable being antiblack:

The entire Breakfast Club, Killer Mike ad Joy Reid. Notice what they all have in common. You can research further to realize that they got theirs so fuck the rest.

I really hope that Black People who call themselves leftists wake up because our lives are always on the line and voting is a way for us to fight back against the yts who want their white evangelical world and the nonblacks who only care about us when we are ‘ useful’ to them. I hope this post helps because there’s way too much misinformation happening and way too much antiblackness happening in the ‘ name of Palestine’.

#us politics #us elections #long post #project 2025 #receipts attached because I’m over the bullshit

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 years

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Tom Petty's family says they sent a cease-and-desist notice to President Donald Trump's reelection campaign after the late musician's song "I Won't Back Down" was used during the president's Tulsa rally.

In a statement on Twitter, Petty's family says the song was used without permission.

"Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind," reads a statement on Petty's Twitter account, signed by daughters Adria and Annakim along with his widow Dana Petty and ex-wife Jane Benyo.

"Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together."

During the president's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday night, Trump gave a 1 hour and 41 minute speech to his supporters, during which he boasted of his administration's response to the coronavirus, said he wanted to slow down testing for the disease and blamed China for spreading the virus.

"Tom wrote this song for the underdog, for the common man and for EVERYONE," the Petty family statement added. "We want to make it clear that we believe everyone is free to vote as they like, think as they like, but the Petty family doesn't stand for this. We believe in America and we believe in democracy. But Donald Trump is not representing the noble ideals of either. We would hate for fans that are marginalized by this administration to think we were complicity in this usage."

In the past, Petty also called for George W. Bush and John McCain to stop playing "I Won't Back Down" on the campaign trail.

Trump has previously faced backlash from his choice of songs.

He came under fire last fall from the late singer Prince's estate when one of the singer's most iconic tunes, "Purple Rain," was played during the president's campaign rally in Minneapolis.

According to Prince's official Twitter account, the president went back on a promise not to use the musician's work.

"President Trump played Prince’s 'Purple Rain' tonight at a campaign event in Minneapolis despite confirming a year ago that the campaign would not use Prince’s music," the tweet said. "The Prince Estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs."

The tweet included an image of a letter from Oct. 15, 2018, from lawyer Megan Newton regarding the estate's first request that Trump "refrain from using Prince's 'Purple Rain,' or any other Prince music, in connection with Campaign rallies, or other Campaign events."

Pharrell Williams sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump after the president played Williams' 2014 smash hit "Happy" at a political event in the Midwest, just hours after nearly a dozen people were gunned down in a Pittsburgh synagogue in October 2018.

Aerosmith, R.E.M. and Queen are among the other artists who have objected to the president's use of their music.

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