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thethief1996 · 8 months

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Israel has cut water, electricity and food to Palestinians in Gaza. They are buying 10.000 M16 rifles and plan to distribute to civilian settlers in the West Bank to hunt down Palestinians. They're bombing the only way out of Gaza through Egypt, after telling refugees to flee through it, and have threatened the Egyptian government in case they let aid trucks pass through. Entire families, generations, are being wiped out and left to wander the streets hoping they don't get bombed.

Palestinians are using their last minutes of battery to let the world know about their genocide and are being met with a wall of "What about Hamas? What about the beheaded babies? Killing children on either side is bad!" even though the propaganda claims have been debunked over and over again. How cruel is it to ask somebody to condemn themselves before their last words? Or before grieving the loss of their entire families? When there's no such disclaimer to Israelis even though their government has shown over and over genocidal intent? Like who are you even trying to appease? What will your wishy washy statement do against decades of zionist thought infiltrating evangelical and Jewish stablishmemts?

Take action. Israel will fall back if public opinion turns its tide. The UK fell back on its bloody decision to cut aid to Palestine under public scrutiny. The USAmerican empire spends $3.8 billion dollars annually solely on this proxy war while its people suffer under a progressively military regime as well. News outlets are canceling last minute on Palestinian speakers while letting Israelis tell lies unchecked. Palestinian refugees are being targeted in ICE establishments and mosques are already being hounded by the FBI. France and Germany have banned pro-Palestine protests, while Netherlands and the UK have placed restrictions . You have the chance to stop this from turning into repeat of the Iraq war.

I want to do something but there's hardly anything for me to do from Brasil besides spreading the word and not letting these testimonies fall on deaf ears. I'm asking you to do this same ant work from wherever you are.

Follow:

Eye On Palestine (instagram / twitter)

Mohammed El-Kurd (instagram / twitter)

Decolonize Palestine (website with a chronological explanation of the occupation and debunking myths)

Muhammad Shehada (twitter)

Plestia Alaqad (directly from Gaza. Many of her videos are interrupted by bombs)

If there's a protest in your city, please attend. Here's an international calendar of events:

Friday, October 13

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (US) – Fri Oct. 13, 3 pm, UNM Bookstore, University of New Mexico. Organized by Southwest Coalition for Palestine.

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA (US) – Fri Oct 13, 6 pm, Sproul Hall (Vigil), University of California Berkeley. Organized by Bears for Palestine.

DOUAIS, FRANCE – Fri Oct 13, 6:30 pm, Place de’Armes.

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN – Fri Oct 13, 5:30 pm, Brunnsparken. Organized by Palestinska samordningsgruppen Gothenburg.

GREENSBORO, NC (US) – Fri Oct. 13, 4 pm, Wendover Village, 4203 W Wendover Ave, Greensboro, NC. Organized by Muslims for a Better NC.

LONDON, ENGLAND – Fri Oct 13, 5 pm, Keir Starmer’s Office, Crowndale Center, 218 Eversholt St, London. Organized by IJAN UK.

MEANJIN/BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – Fri Oct 13, 6 pm, King George Square.

MIAMI, FL (US) – Fri Oct 13, 4:30 pm, Bayfront Park. Organized by Troika Kollectiv.

NAPOLI, ITALY – Fri Oct 13, 4:30 pm, Piazza Garibaldi, Napoli. Organized by GPI and Centro Culturale Handala Ali.

NGUNNAWAL/CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – Fri Oct 13, 5:30 pm, Carema Place.

PERTH/BOORLOO, AUSTRALIA – Fri Oct. 13, 5:30 pm, Murray Street Hall, Boorloo/Perth. Organized by Friends of Palestine WA.

PORTLAND, OREGON (US) – Fri Oct 13, 3 pm, 1200-1220 SW 5th Ave, Portland.

PORT RICHEY, FL (US) – Fri Oct 13, 7:30 am, Route 19 and Ridge Road, Port Richey. Sponsored by: Florida Peace Action Network; Partners for Palestine; CADSI

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – Friday, Oct. 13, 7 pm, UP Main Campus, DSA Building opposite Thuto. Organized by PSC UP.

WITSWATERSRAND UNIVERSITY (SOUTH AFRICA) – Fri Oct 13, 1 pm, Great Hall Piazza, Flag demonstration. Organized by Wits PSC.

Saturday, October 14

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct. 14, 2 pm, St. Nichlas Square. Organized by Scottish PSC.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – Sat Oct 14, 2 pm, Aotea Square, Queens St, 291-2997 Queen St. Organized by PSN Aotearoa.

DETROIT/DEARBORN, MICHIGAN (US) – Sat Oct 14, 2 pm, Ford Woods Park, 5700 Greenfield Road. Organized by SAFE, PYM, SJP, Handala Coalition, more.

DUNDEE, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct. 14, 2 pm, Place TBA. Organized by Scottish PSC.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct 14, 2 pm, Princes Street at Foot of the Mound. Organized by Scottish PSC.

FRANKFURT, GERMANY – Sat Oct 14, 3 pm Hauptwache, Frankfurt am Main. Sponsored by Palestina eV, Migrantifa Rhein-Main and more.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – Sat. Oct 14, 2 pm, Buchanan Steps. Organized by Scottish PSC.

HOUSTON, TEXAS (US) – Sat Oct 14, 2 pm, City Hall, 901 Bagby St. Organizd by PYM, PAC, USPCN, SJP and more.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sat Oc 14, 12 pm, Church St. Organized by FRFI.

LONDON, ENGLAND – Sat Oct 14, 12 pm, BBC Portland Place, London. Organized by a broad coalition.

MILANO, ITALY – Sat. Oct 14, 3:30 pm, Piazza San Babila. Organized by Young Palestinians of Italy, UDAP, Palestinian Community, Association of Palestinians.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Sat Oct 14, 3 pm, Lake Eola at Robinson and Eola, Orland. Organized by Florida Palestine Network.

TORINO, ITALY – Sat. Oct. 14, 3 pm, Piazza Crispi. Organized by Progetto Palestina.

VALPARAISO, CHILE – Sat Oct 14, 6 pm, Plaza Victoria, Valparaiso. Organized by Comite Chileno de Solidaridad con Palestina.

WASHINGTON, DC (US) – Sat Oct 14, 1 pm, Lafayette Square. Organized by AMP.

Sunday, October 15

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – Sun Oct 15, 2 pm, March from Dam Square to Jonas Daniel Meijer plein.

NAARM/MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Sun Oct 15, State Library Victoria.

TARDANYA/ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – Sun Oct 15, 2 pm, Parliament House.

AUSTIN, TEXAS (US) – Sun Oct 15, 3 pm, Texas Capitol. Organized by PSC ATX.

GADIGAL/SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Sun Oct 15, 1 pm, Sydney Town Hall.

SANTIAGO, CHILE -Sun Oct 15, 11 am, Plaza Dignidad, Santiago. Organized by Comite Chileno de Solidaridad con Palestina.

#save palestine #free palestine #save gaza #save sheikh jarrah #save silwan #ask to tag

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xtruss · 9 months

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The US Sent Cluster Munitions to Ukraine But Activists Still Seek to Bolster a Treaty Banning Them

Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions are striving to prevent erosion in support for it after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against ...

— By Jamey Keaten | September 5, 2023

Police officers look at collected fragments of the Russian rockets, including cluster rounds, that hit Kharkiv, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 3, 2022. Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions are striving to prevent erosion in support for it after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against Russia. Advocacy groups in the Cluster Munitions Coalition released their latest annual report on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023. AP Photo/Libkos . The Associated Press

Geneva, Switzerland — Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions are striving to prevent erosion in support for the deal after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.

Advocacy groups in the Cluster Munitions Coalition released their latest annual report on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting next week of envoys from the 112 countries that have acceded to or ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The treaty prohibits the explosives and calls for clearing areas where they litter the ground because they harm and kill many more civilians than combatants,

A further 12 countries have signed the convention. The United States and Russia are not among them.

Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch, who has long championed the 15-year-old convention, says the coalition was “extremely concerned” about the U.S. move in July, after an intense debate among U.S. leaders, to transfer unspecified thousands of 155mm artillery-delivered cluster munition rounds to Ukraine.

More than 20 government leaders and officials have criticized that decision, the coalition says.

Hoping to avoid defections from the convention, Wareham says supporters hope signatories will “stay strong — that they do not weaken their position on the treaty as a result of the U.S. decision. And we don’t see that happening yet. But it’s always a danger.”

U.S. officials argue that the munitions — a type of bomb that opens in the air and releases smaller “bomblets” across a wide area — could help Kyiv bolster its offensive and push through Russian front lines.

Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP Via Getty Images

U.S. leaders have said the transfer involves a version of the munition that has a reduced “dud rate,” meaning fewer of the smaller bomblets fail to explode. The bomblets can take out tanks and equipment, as well as troops, hitting multiple targets at the same time.

But Wareham cited “widespread evidence of civilian harm that (is) caused by these weapons. It was just an unconscionable decision.”

The report says civilians accounted for 95% of cluster munition casualties that were recorded last year, totaling some 1,172 in eight countries: Azerbaijan, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen. The monitor noted efforts in places like Bulgaria, Peru and Slovakia to destroy their stockpiles of the munitions in 2022 and earlier this year.

Children made up 71% of casualties from explosions of cluster-munition remnants last year, the report said.

It said Russia had “repeatedly” used cluster munitions in Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to invade Ukraine in February last year, while Ukraine had used them “to a lesser extent.”

Washington’s decision “is certainly a setback,” said Wareham, “but it’s not the end of the road for the Convention on Cluster Munitions by far.”

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sayruq · 3 months

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Several key architects of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq 21 years ago are presenting a plan for rebuilding and “de-radicalizing” the surviving population of Gaza, while ensuring that Israel retains “freedom of action” to continue operations against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The plan, which was published as a report Thursday by the hard-line neo-conservative Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, or JINSA, and the Vandenberg Coalition, is calling for the creation of a private entity, the “International Trust for Gaza Relief and Reconstruction” to be led by “a group of Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates” and “supported by the United States and other nations.”

In addition to granting Israel license to intervene against Hamas and Islamic Jihad within Gaza, the plan calls for security to be provided by the Trust’s leaders and “capable forces from non-regional states with close ties to Israel,” as well as “vetted Gazans.” The Trust should also be empowered to “hire private security contractors with good reputations among Western militaries” in “close coordination with Israeli security forces,” according to the report. The task force that produced the report consists of nine members, four of whom played key roles as Middle East policymakers under former President George W. Bush and in the run-up to and aftermath of the disastrous Iraq invasion in 2003.

#yemen #jerusalem #tel aviv #current events #palestine #free palestine #gaza #free gaza #news on gaza #palestine news #news update #war news #war on gaza #iraq war #gaza genocide #genocide

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zvaigzdelasas · 5 months

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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Friday said he would set up a dialogue to discuss the removal of the U.S. military presence in his country after an American strike killed an Iraqi militia leader in Baghdad on Thursday. In an address, al-Sudani said the agreement under which American troops are based in Iraq states the equal sovereignty of both countries, which was violated by the U.S. strike.

“We have repeatedly emphasized that in the event of a violation or transgression by any Iraqi party, or if Iraqi law is violated, the Iraqi government is the only party that has the right to follow up on the merits of these violations,” al-Sudani said in remarks shared by his office. “We affirm our firm and principled position in ending the existence of the international coalition after the justifications for its existence have ended,” he added. The prime minister said he was in the process of setting up a bilateral dialogue with the U.S. to discuss the removal of some 2,500 American troops in his country.

“It is a commitment that the government will not back down from, and will not neglect anything that would complete national sovereignty over the land, sky, and waters of Iraq,” he said.[...]

The U.S. strike on Thursday killed Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, the leader of an Iranian-backed militia group Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HHN), after landing near a security headquarters in Baghdad. HHN is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a network of [primarily Shi'ite] militias in Iraq.[...]

Al-Sudani, [...] Friday condemned the U.S. for the strike and said the Popular Mobilization Forces are “an official presence affiliated with the state.”

5 Jan 24

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probablyasocialecologist · 3 months

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Many on the right have sought to depict the protesters as extremists, but the sheer scale and regularity of the protests and actions are in fact a sign of how mainstream pro-Palestinian feeling is within British society. The question, assuming the movement succeeds in ending the Israeli assault, is where does it go next? What becomes of movements when they stop moving? Traditionally, social movements went through phases of emergence, coalescence, institutionalisation and decline, followed by dissipation and co-optation by mainstream parties. This usually took decades, the classic case being the US civil rights movement. Yet the era since “Occupy Wall Street” in 2011 has been one of so-called “flash movements”. From Black Lives Matter to the gilets jaunes, movements have coalesced around hashtagged slogans with astonishing celerity, producing deep political crises – and then subsiding. The Gaza campaign resembles a flash movement. It didn’t come out of nowhere. Palestine has been a cause of the international left since the six-day war in 1967, and the UK has seen repeated protests over Israel’s flattening of the West Bank, invasion of Lebanon and serial bombardments of Gaza. There is a network of organisations doing the groundwork, such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Stop the War. But the turnout for these protests shows the virtues of the flash movement: it can rapidly mobilise masses of people, tolerate a diversity of tactics and keep focus on a simple, morally obvious demand. In many respects, it is succeeding. In the UK, despite efforts to demonise the protests as “hate marches”, and the then home secretary Suella Braverman’s inept provocation of the far right against the protests, the demonstrations brought up to 800,000 people to the streets on 11 November. This was the largest such demonstration since the invasion of Iraq. Nor was the UK alone. There have been mass protests everywhere from Tokyo and Kerala to Cairo, Washington DC and Rio de Janeiro. In France and Berlin, protesters have defied official bans. In the US, the Jewish left has led the movement and often engaged in the most militant tactics,including blockading Manhattan Bridge. The embattled Israeli left has also staged protests, despite a climate of police repression and mob violence. The movement has done what successful movements do: win over public opinion, catalyse cracks in elite consensus and expose divisions in the state. These splits were visible in the form of staffer dissent in the US state department, frontbench resignations in Labour over Keir Starmer’s refusal to support a ceasefire, protests by Dutch civil servants and EU employees, Macron’s ceasefire demand, and recently the call from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, three of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing coalition countries, for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. Only the US now vetoes UN ceasefire resolutions.

#israel #palestine #gaza #uk politics

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workersolidarity · 6 months

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🇮🇶⚔️ 🇺🇲 🚨

GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ MOVES TO END U.S. OCCUPATION PRESENCE

The Iraqi government will move to end the presence of the U.S.-led coalition occupation in Iraq, according to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani.

Al-Sudani made the comments at a joint press conference with the visiting Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez on Thursday, Dec. 28th.

Al-Sudani said the topic was broached during his meeting with Sanchez, during which they discussed the details of the presence of the international coalition in Iraq.

"We appreciate the role of the coalition in supporting Iraq's efforts to confront the Islamic State militants," Al-Sudani said.

"The Iraqi government is in the process of rearranging the relationship with the international coalition in light of the presence of capable Iraqi forces," said the Iraqi prime minister, stressing that "the Iraqi government is moving toward ending the presence of the international coalition forces, which include security advisers who support the security forces in the areas of training, advice, and intelligence cooperation."

The two leaders discussed in depth the difficult situation in the Middle East, including the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Al-Sudani said he appreciated Spain's role and its "courageous stance in condemning these attacks."

Sanchez, for his own part, expressed his country's desire to develop relations with Iraq, in particular the fields of transportation, education, climate change, and defense.

The Spanish Prime Minister also met with the Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Rashid, to discuss ways to enhance bilateral cooperation, and the need to end the genocide in Gaza.

Spain is part of the U.S.-led international coalition tasked with training and advising Iraq's Security Forces in its fight against the radical islamic group, ISIS.

#source

@WorkerSolidarityNews

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bopinion · 4 months

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2024 / 05

Aperçu of the week:

"Remember, democracy never lasts. It soon wastes, exhausts and kills itself. There never was a democracy that did not commit suicide."

(John Adams, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America and its second president from 1797 to 1801)

Bad news of the week:

The war in Gaza threatens to escalate. In response to a drone attack on a US base, the US has bombed pro-Iranian militia positions in Syria and Iraq. More than 85 targets were hit, according to the US military. And Joe Biden made it clear that more military action would follow. It will not be long before Iran retaliates.

The attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on merchant ships in the Red Sea will not stop either. Nor will Israel's military actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon. So will there be the feared conflagration in the region? That will depend on the Pentagon and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Between these two powers are the oppressed peoples of Syria and Iraq. They are as innocent of escalation as the absolute majority of Palestinians.

Meanwhile, the situation of the civilian population in Gaza continues to deteriorate. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has announced that the Israeli offensive will reach Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. What the million of internally displaced people thought was a safe zone. And which, as German Foreign Minister Baerbock aptly put it, "cannot disappear into thin air". For Egypt will continue to keep its border closed.

The parallel negotiations for a cease-fire and the release of the hostages, in which Israel and Egypt as well as Qatar - the seat of the political leadership of Hamas - and the USA are involved, have also come to a standstill. According to media reports, there is no compromise in sight. The majority of Western politicians tirelessly remind us that only a two-state solution can permanently ensure the peaceful coexistence of Israel and Palestine. Rarely has a theory been so far from its practical implementation.

Good news of the week:

While hundreds of thousands of citizens continue to take to the streets against the right and for democracy, the party landscape is also arming itself against the shift to the right. The last general debate in the Bundestag was hardly about the actual item on the agenda, the 2024 budget, but about clearly distancing themselves from the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland / Alternative for Germany) - in rare unity among the so-called established parties across the political spectrum.

These parties are also preparing for the right-wing to remain present in parliament - like the Rassemblement National in France, for example. Currently, the aim is to strengthen the protection of the Federal Constitutional Court. The governing traffic light coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals wants to protect the guardians of the constitution more strongly against possible attempts to remove their power.

Following the experiences of the Weimar Republic and National Socialism in the Third Reich, the authors of the Basic Law built various safeguards into the constitution. These include the "eternity clause", which states that the supporting pillars of the constitution (human dignity, democracy, constitutional state, federal state) may not be changed at all.

The Federal Constitutional Court was also created as a new supervisory body. If the powers of this supervisory body were to be curtailed, the fundamental guarantees could be undermined. The examples of Hungary, Poland and Israel show that right-wing populist governments in particular are trying to disempower the constitutional courts. In order to remove their political actions from any control.

In concrete terms, the core tasks of the Constitutional Court - such as deciding on constitutional complaints or mediating between state bodies - cannot be changed by a simple majority, but many organizational issues can. Since, for example, the election of judges is not regulated in the Basic Law (under the protection of the two-thirds majority), but "only" in a simple law, the legislature could also change key parameters in its favor with a simple majority.

No majority government in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany has ever dared to do this. Because all parties have always felt committed to democratic principles. Until now. It has already been shown several times in the USA that the appointment of judges can be misused for partisan political purposes. A blocking minority would also suffice for a complete blockade here. And the increasing likelihood of this is no longer a dystopia. In this respect, it is a good sign that the largest parliamentary group in the Bundestag - the current opposition conservatives - have also shown themselves to be open to strengthening the independence of the Constitutional Court.

Personal happy moment of the week:

I cleaned the windows. Which I rarely do. And I still prefer to do it myself, because nobody can please me anyway. It's not just the result that makes me happy, but also the positive reactions - from my wife and yes: even from neighbors. Let's see if I learn from it this time and do it more often in the future. After all, I like to be praised from time to time.

I couldn't care less...

...that Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early, mild spring on Groundhog Day. His accuracy is statistically just 40%. I can do the same when I flip a coin. My result: Phil is right. Let's see.

It's fine with me...

...that Taylor Swift's otherwise elusive socio-cultural impact could have a positive effect. According to a Newsweek poll, 30% of 18- to 35-year-olds in the US would follow a proposition from Swift in this November's presidential election - that's more than 13 million votes. No wonder the Republicans are already outdoing each other with conspiracy theories of her being a "Democratic secret weapon". After all, the pop star has already shown a tendency towards Joe Biden in the past, but above all against Donald Trump.

As I write this...

...I am already waiting for next weekend. A little anxious, as the two main sporting events will probably pass by me. Firstly, the top match in the German Bundesliga. Between "my" Munich-based FC Bayern, who strangely enough is only in second place at the moment, and Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Bayer who? Exactly!), who are unbeaten at the top so far this season. And it's only on pay TV, for which I would first have to find a suitably equipped sports bar nearby. Secondly, Superbowl LVIII in Las Vegas between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. This will be broadcast on German free TV, but in the middle of the night in our time zone. From Sunday to Monday. I'm just too old for that. And I console myself with the fact that, in my opinion, Usher lacks the format for the halftime show. Which I will of course still watch on YouTube.

Post Scriptum

It's the fourth anniversary of Brexit. At the end of the last decade, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland left the European Union. Former Prime Minister David Cameron had actually wanted to get backing for Europe through a referendum. The shot backfired and the rest is history: "taking back control" did not work out as the Brexiteers around Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage had hoped. Since then, the island kingdom has been in a political and economic crisis. Without gloating, it can be said that liberal cooperation works obviously better than protectionist isolation.

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girlactionfigure · 2 months

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🔅Tue morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

🔻AIR ATTACKS..

Suicide Drones - from Hezbollah, Lebanon - at Southern Golan: Hamat gader, Avnei Eitan, Eliad, Afik, Bnei Yehuda and Givat Yoav, Gshur, Haspin, Kfar Haruv, Mevo Hama, Metzar, Neot Golan, Nov, Natur, Ramat Magshimim, Bnei Yehuda Industrial Zone

Rockets - from Hezbollah, Lebanon - at Beit Hillel, Iftach, Mevuot Hermon Regional Council, Ramot Naftali

❗️Cruise Missile - from Shia Militias, Iraq - target was intercepted over Syrian airspace.

❗️IRAN WARNS THE US? 0:45 a.m. Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abd Allahian urgently summons the Swiss ambassador (communication channel to the US) and delivers an urgent message to the Americans.

This morning an Iranian source claims, the message to the US was do not interfere (in Iran's response).

The USA after a few hours officially announces that we have nothing to do with the attack.

▪️US BASE ATTACKED.. The US base in al-Tanf in southeastern Syria was attacked by suicide drones.

▪️ISRAEL ATTACKING SYRIA.. The Al Mayadeen network reports on an Israeli artillery attack in southern Syria, in the area of the Daraa district.

A short time ago several shells fell on lands in the Quneitra region.

▪️SHIA MILITIAS (IRAQ) SAY ATTACKED TEL NOF AIR FORCE BASE (Rishon L’Ziyon).. The Shiite militias in Iraq claim: early in the morning we attacked the Tel Nof base with an unmanned aerial vehicle. They may have sent one, it never made it to Israel.

▪️US DEFENDS AL JAZEERA.. Israel is (finally!) completing a law to allow the closure of foreign media in Israel that is damaging national security. US response: The US State Department on Al Jazeera: We support the independent, free press, everywhere in the world - much of what we know about what happened in Gaza is because of reporters who were there doing their jobs, including Al Jazeera reporters.

▪️PROTESTS AND PROTESTS.. Analysis (not ours): . There is a renewed effort to inflame with protests, with the focus of hostage return and also ultra-orthodox draft - with an odd mixture of a subset of distraught families of hostages, Kaplan anti-coalition protestors, Brothers in Arms movement.

However a strong public consensus that exists in a solid way regarding the goals of the war and the importance of internal unity in Israel. Energies are very far from there in the level of reception of the message and especially in the ability to sway the masses.

The fact that official Israel is doing everything in its power to leave no stone unturned in the (for now barren) negotiations with Hamas prevents the widening of the internal fissures and leaves the protests, for the time being, circumscribed and limited. (Yossi Eliezer)

Related: There was a small ultra-orthodox counter-draft protest yesterday, shutting down highway 4 outside Bnei Brak.

#Israel #October 7 #Hamas Massacre #Gaza #Israel/HamasWar #Real Time Updates

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mariacallous · 7 months

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Last weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel, Jordan (to meet with Arab foreign ministers), Ramallah (located in the West Bank), Iraq, and Turkey. With the war between Israel and Hamas now entering its sixth week, U.S. diplomacy has kicked into high gear. As Blinken works to secure humanitarian relief for Gazans caught in the crossfire, he has been signaling where he and the White House would like things to go once the fighting stops: a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority (PA) that would administer the West Bank and Gaza and a temporary international force to help provide security in the latter.

These ideas are probably the only ones that satisfy U.S. political, diplomatic, and geo-strategic concerns as well as those of some Arab governments. Yet they are likely to fail.

The Biden administration is embarking on a path that it studiously avoided during its first three years—and for good reason. It is now going to discover that, despite its efforts, when the war between Israel and Hamas ends, the region will look more like a version of the status quo that existed on Oct. 6 than a new Middle East.

As Blinken crisscrossed the Middle East, he seemed of the mind that this war is a paradigm-shifting event. This is a misplaced hope, however. No doubt there is a place for U.S. diplomacy in the conflict, but the secretary of state is approaching it with a set of assumptions—about the likely effects of the war on Israeli and Palestinian politics, the interests of regional actors, and Washington’s influence—that are defective.

It is not a bad assumption that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s days are numbered. He presided over the single greatest security failure in Israel’s history, which undermined the entire logic of his long tenure as the country’s leader. Netanyahu told Israelis that he was uniquely capable of providing them with the security and normalcy that they so desperately craved. It would be an extraordinary demonstration of political skills for him to survive this crisis.

But his likely political demise does not portend the resurrection of the Israeli peace camp. Even before Hamas murdered around 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7, the standard-bearers of the two-state solution had become marginal political actors. Israel’s left-wing Meretz party, which commanded as many as 12 (out of 120) seats in the Knesset in the mid-1990s and most recently was a member of Naftali Bennett’s anti-Netanyahu government coalition in 2021, failed to win a single mandate in the Israeli parliament in the November 2022 elections—a loss of six seats. The Labor Party—the party of Israel’s founders and builders—sits in the Knesset with a mere four seats.

Elections will not happen until after hostilities in Gaza come to an end. But it seems likely that after Hamas wrought so much death and destruction on Israel, Israelis will again rebuff those peddling a peaceful coexistence with Palestinians. A postwar government could very well end up being a Netanyahu-less center-right-right coalition.

During the second week of the war, polls showed that Benny Gantz—the former defense minister and leader of National Unity alliance—enjoyed broad political support. He is a centrist only by Israeli standards, however; he ran to Netanyahu’s right on Gaza in previous election cycles and remains coy about Palestinian statehood. All of this suggests that if Blinken and his advisors believe they can resurrect the two-state solution, then they misapprehend Israeli politics.

Central to the U.S. day-after approach is the rehabilitation of the Palestinian Authority for it to take responsibility for the Gaza Strip once again. It is not at all clear what the goal of revitalizing the PA means in practice, though. Pouring money and guns into PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s coffers has helped him build a corrupt national security state.

Perhaps Blinken intends for there to be new elections in the Palestinian territories. Yet Abbas could lose, which is why the PA has not held parliamentary elections since 2006, when his faction—Fatah—lost to Hamas.

Even if Abbas could overcome the PA’s corruption, dysfunction, and lack of legitimacy with U.S. help, it is unlikely that he would want to be the U.S.-Israeli proconsul in Gaza. After all, that is at the heart of Hamas’s critique of the Palestinian Authority: that it advances Israeli—and by extension U.S.—interests at the expense of Palestinian rights. On this, the Hamas leadership is not wrong.

Presumably, the United States will enlist the so-called international community to help the Palestinian Authority get on its feet. This is not a bad thought, but Washington needs willing partners—and no leader in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, or Africa has raised their hand to help with either providing security in Gaza after the war or helping to reenergize the PA. It is almost certain that there will be a conference in Geneva or Istanbul, where countries will pledge billions of dollars for the reconstruction of Gaza—most of which will never arrive.

But don’t expect foreign troops to materialize to keep peace. The Europeans will resist out of fear, the Egyptians will balk because they do not want to be responsible for Gaza, and the rest of the Arab world lacks the capacity for such an important mission. One can imagine that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might dramatically offer Turkish troops, claiming historic responsibility and Muslim solidarity, but the Israelis will never agree to Erdogan’s aggrandizement at their expense.

Let’s play a thought experiment: Suspend reality and suppose that the United States can renovate the PA, European and Arab countries step up with peacekeeping forces for Gaza, and the Israelis produce a moderate centrist coalition. This would be good news, but the bases of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians would remain. Israelis will still not want to share Jerusalem, they won’t accept Palestinian refugees in their midst, and they will not agree to live within the boundaries set on June 4, 1967, at the end of that year’s Arab-Israeli War. For their part, the Palestinians will not give up a capital in Jerusalem, cannot forsake the refugee issue, and must have a territorially contiguous and fully sovereign state.

There is nothing about the war in Gaza that will encourage Israelis and Palestinians to alter these positions. The world always expects the two parties to walk right up to the abyss and pull back, but instead they always join hands and jump.

The appetite for destruction that has played out in Israel and Gaza over the past month reflects the fact that the underlying conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is not yet ripe for resolution. And there is little reason to believe that when the current round of fighting is over, the situation will be any more propitious for diplomacy. Hamas needs to not lose, and even if it does, it will have burnished its resistance credentials to the extent that the cost of the conflict will be worth it for the group’s leaders.

The Israelis are bloodied, but not enough for them to seek a different path. This is especially true as long as the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah sits on the sidelines and takes shots at Israel without triggering a full-scale war.

In addition, Israel’s relations with Arab states remain mostly intact. The Jordanians have recalled their ambassador and told the Israelis not to send one back to Amman until after the fighting has stopped, but King Abdallah has not severed relations. The lower house of the Bahraini parliament issued a statement suspending relations that did not actually suspend relations. The head of the foreign affairs and defense committee of the United Arab Emirates’ Federal National Council said: “From the United Arab Emirates perspective, the Abraham Accords are there to stay.” Saudi Arabian Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman, who also happens to be the crown prince’s brother, reportedly indicated in Washington last week that the kingdom remains interested in normalization with Israel.

Breaking ties or putting potential ties on ice might get Israel’s attention, but Arab leaders don’t seem willing to take that step.

Taken together, all of this suggests that after all the death and destruction, and all of Blinken’s shuttling, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will end up no closer—or, more likely, even farther away—from a settlement than before Oct. 7. The only difference will be whatever security regime Israel devises for the Gaza Strip—a territory that Hamas cannot be allowed to continue governing, but which no international power is willing to take responsibility of.

It is true that the Israel-Hamas war seems cataclysmic, but it is not a paradigm-shifting event like Egyptian-Israeli peace, the end of the Cold War, or the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It is a local conflict—the stakes of which have been magnified many times because of passionate partisans on both sides, far away from the bloodshed.

It will remain as it was before: unresolvable, no matter how much mileage Blinken clocks between Washington and Middle Eastern capitals.

#this is a lot bleaker and cynical than I necessarily feel but also I don't think I disagree with a lot of it either

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thisisabernieblog · 5 months

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‘A frightening precedent’: New Zealand to send military personnel to target Houthis

By Mick Hall

Jan 25, 2024

Bombing one of the most impoverished nations on Earth over its sea blockade to stop genocide in Gaza reflects Kiwi values, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.

A decision to send military personnel to the Red Sea to help bomb Yemen reflects New Zealand’s values and a desire to protect the “rules-based international order”, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.

Addressing his first post-Cabinet media stand-up on January 23, Luxon announced the deployment of six NZDF members to target Houthi assets for UK and US bombing missions. The deployment is to last up to 31 July.

Luxon was accompanied by Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins.

The decision was greeted with alarm by a range of politicians and peace campaigners.

In Context revealed in December the government was weighing up a request from the US to send military assets to support Operation Prosperity Guardian, a naval coalition formed to confront Ansarallah/Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in response to Israel’s military onslaught against Gaza.

Yemen has now been targeted in strikes on eight separate occasions since it was first attacked on January 12, a move New Zealand backed in a joint statement by 10 countries. The US has said the bombing campaign is separate from and not associated with Operation Prosperity Guardian.

In the latest attack on January 22, Yemen’s capital was hit Sanaa as up to 30 strikes on targets across the country aimed at degrading drone and rocket capabilities were recorded.

Luxon said the NZDF personnel would not enter Yemen and would be used in an intelligence gathering capacity, based at an undisclosed location outside of New Zealand.

New Zealand military officers already operate out of a US base in Jordan, working alongside others as part of Operation Gallant Phoenix. The intelligence cell of about 250 personnel was originally set up in 2013 to monitor foreign Islamic State (IS) fighters in Iraq and Syria, but is said to target “terrorist” groups across the region regardless of ideology.

The US Department of State announced on January 17 it was designating the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.

The Yemeni forces announced in November shipping destined for Israel and vessels linked to the country would be targeted in response to Israel’s Western-backed genocidal onslaught in Gaza, which began after the Hamas attack on October 7.

Houthis ‘destabilising’

The Houthis have targeted other naval and commercial ships, including those owned by US and UK interests. In response, shipping giants have decided to use travel around Africa, through the Cape of Good Hope, rather than attempt to use the Suez Canal, adding up to 10 days to journeys. Approximate 400 commercial vessels use the route at any one time.

Luxon said: “Houthi attacks against commercial and naval shipping are illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising.

“This deployment, as part of an international coalition, is a continuation of New Zealand’s long history of defending freedom of navigation both in the Middle East and closer to home.”

The Israeli bombardment of under-siege Gaza has officially killed nearly 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, with many of the strip’s displaced residents now on the verge of starvation and threatened by disease. A leaked Israeli government document revealed last year Israel would like to expel the 2.3 million population into Egypt’s Sinai desert.

In an often-incoherent appraisal of the New Zealand’s foreign policy settings, Luxon said his government’s decision to help bomb one of the most impoverished nations on Earth at the behest of the US was ethically grounded and necessary to maintain a rules-based international order, a descriptor for US hegemony.

“It’s about values. It’s about standing up for things we believe in and we need to talk about them, but we also need to do something about it as well to make sure that we put real capability alongside our words and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

As Israel prepared a ground assault in Gaza in late October, US and UK naval and military assets were deployed to the region to deter the so-called Axis of Resistance – Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran and Yemen’s de facto government – from intervening in Israel’s operation, which was described by South Africa at the International Court of Justice earlier this month as a genocide.

As the Gaza killings continue, Israel’s repeated bombing of neighbouring Lebanon and Syria over the past month, with the killing an Iranian general in Damascus and a senior Hamas figure in Beirut, threatens to create a catastrophic regional conflagration.

Wrong to ‘conflate’ issues – Luxon

Luxon said it was wrong to “conflate the two issues” of Houthi attacks and Israel actions in the Middle East. He claimed that 31 attacks from Yemen that had affected 60 countries were “hugely indiscriminate” and that attacks on shipping would have happened regardless of Israel’s operation in Gaza.

“What is obvious is they’ve tried to run an argument but it’s not held up in fact. It’s been a really indiscriminate attack in commercial shipping,” he said.

The Houthi disruption of shipping had the potential to cause starvation, he added.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the attacks on commercial shipping routes had affected hundreds of millions of people. He said the Houthi actions also threatened New Zealand’s national interests as a trading nation and necessitated military action. He said the government would “not be intimidated” by the threat of Houthi attacks on Kiwis.

Defence Minister Judith Collins said the US-led coalition’s response was an inevitable consequence of Houthi actions and were designed to address “a serious threat of global stability”.

Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) spokesman John Minto called the government’s justifications for sending personnel “shamelessly hypocritical” and said it would only add fuel to the fire.

“Luxon should be condemning Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza as ‘illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising’ and yet Mr Luxon refuses to utter a single word of criticism on Israel despite the death toll of over 25,000 Palestinians – including over 10,000 children,” he said.

“Foreign Minister Winston Peters saying the deployment should not be linked to recent developments in Israel and the Gaza strip is simply laughable.”

Without Parliamentary mandate – Te Kuaka

New Zealand foreign policy group, Te Kuaka, called the deployment “deeply alarming”. Co-director, Dr Arama Rata, said it would “inflame regional instability and cause more civilian deaths without addressing the root cause of the Houthi actions, which is ending the genocide in Gaza.”

She said the decision was made without a Parliamentary mandate and that there had been no explicit authorisation of military action in self-defence against Yemen by the UN Security Council.”

“This sets a frightening precedent for how foreign policy decisions are made. There are huge risks to not just the Middle East, but New Zealand directly when we take the side of the US and the UK, nations that have a long history of oppressive intervention in the Global South.”

Peters told media the opposition had not been consulted about the decision because the government didn’t think it needed to.

Rata added: “We need to have an honest reflection about our positioning alongside the US and the UK. Instead of colluding with these colonial powers, we should be standing with countries like Brazil and South Africa, which are challenging old colonial regimes, and represent the majority of the international community.”

The Green Party said the government should be focused on de-escalation.

“We are horrified at this Government’s decision to further inflame tensions in the Middle East by sending New Zealand Defence Force personnel to the Red Sea,” co-leaders of the Green Party, Marama Davidson and James Shaw said.

“It seems inconceivable for this government to be so dangerously naïve to say that this deployment has nothing to do with the horrific violence that continues to suffocate Gaza. The Government should be using every opportunity to push for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”

As well as failing to call for an immediate ceasefire, the government has failed to support South Africa’s application to The Hague for an interim injunction to stop Israel’s military operation in Gaza while the court makes a determination on whether Israeli is guilty of genocide against Palestinians.

There were also moments during the post-cabinet media event where a duplicity in paying lip service to the notion of Palestinian statehood seemed exposed.

When asked if the government would recognise the state of Palestine a clearly bemused Luxon deferred to Peters, who claimed the government supported a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict, but would not recognise Palestine as a state as its borders were not defined.

The Oslo peace accords of the 1990s clearly defined the borders of a future Palestinian state.

When pressed over the fact borders were defined, so why not support Palestinian statehood, a befuddled Peters replied: “Because the Prime Minister of Israel made a statement to the contrary… he didn’t support the two-state solution”.

Luxon bizarrely added it was because Palestinians didn’t have a functional government.

Over the weekend, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood as an existential threat to Israel. He posted on social media: “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area west of [the river] Jordan — and this is irreconcilable with a Palestinian state”.

So New Zealand's gone full fascist.

#Palestine #Red Sea #Yemen #Houthis #Genocide #Axis of Resistance #Apartheid #israel is an apartheid state #death to israel #fuck israel #israel is committing genocide #israel is a war criminal #israel is a terrorist state

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naturalrights-retard · 11 months

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In a massive show of support for limitless executive power, Congress rejected legislation that would have terminated national emergency powers allowing Washington to wage war across the Middle East.

These same emergency powers give the president the power to lift bans on testing biological weapons on US citizens.

Led by Representative Paul Gosar, a handful of Republican members of Congress launched a protest against 41 nominal “national emergency” declarations, many of which are decades old.

Rep. Gosar has argued the National Emergencies Act is “tyrannical,” granting 148 separate powers to the executive branch.

This July 18, the House voted down five resolutions to terminate national emergency powers which date back as far as 2003. The countries affected by the five resolutions include Congo, Yemen, Libya, Syria and Iraq.

Each vote saw a coalition of pro-war Democrats and Republicans join together in overwhelming numbers to protect the executive branch’s emergency authorities.

Among the emergency declarations still in effect is one authorizing war on Libya on the basis that Muammar Ghadhafi posed an urgent threat to the US; one enabling economic warfare on Syria on the specious grounds that Damascus sponsors international terrorism; and another allowing the president to support Saudi Arabia’s military assault on Yemen, which resulted in the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.

Yet another emergency declaration provides the authority for the US government to test biological weapons on American citizens.

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zvaigzdelasas · 5 months

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“It is a huge escalation, involving perhaps 15-20 missiles,” [...]

"It seems like things are spiralling. There's no way they're firing ballistic missiles and not expecting casualties."[...]

The escalation is part of the [PMF's] campaign to pressure the US to leave Iraq. There are about 2,500 American military trainers in the country under the International Coalition against ISIS. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani [...] has criticised militias for attacking coalition troops on Iraqi territory, but has upped his calls for US forces to leave the country as the conflict escalates. Mr Al Sudani has also fiercely condemned US counter strikes against the militias [which are largely a formal part of the Iraqi Armed Forces] as a “violation of sovereignty”.[...]

The rivalry between US forces and Kataib Hezbollah[, one faction of the PMF, ] is bitter and goes back to the US occupation of Iraq, when the militia killed and wounded hundreds of US soldiers.

Baghdad committed to end presence of US troops in Iraq: Iraqi general - AlMayadeen

Spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) Brigadier General Yahya Rasool stated on Sunday that the government of Iraq is determined to terminate the deployment of foreign troops associated with the US-led military coalition, which was originally formed to combat ISIS. "The Iraqi government is resolute to put an end to the deployment of foreign forces in the country. It has devised a vision plan for the next stage, which includes joint technical activities intended for the US-led coalition's departure and subsequent security and military cooperation," Rasool stated. He further stressed that the presence of the US-led military coalition in Iraq is no longer deemed necessary, noting that the capabilities of Iraqi forces are high enough to address terrorism-related issues themselves. On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani reiterated the call for the coalition's departure. "The end of the US-led coalition mission is a necessity for the security and stability of Iraq. It is also a necessity for preserving constructive bilateral relations between Iraq and the coalition countries," Sudani stated during a televised event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Sudani has consistently expressed the desire for foreign troops to leave Iraq, with the country adopting a law to expel foreign forces following the assassination of top Iraqi and Iranian anti-terror commanders in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020. [...]

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh admitted earlier this week that US forces in the region came under attack 140 times [since 7 Oct]. Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, Singh disclosed that the attacks have been "persistent and alarming."

21 Jan 24

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probablyasocialecologist · 8 months

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The demand that Egypt take in 2.2 million refugees from Gaza in furtherance of Israel’s completion of the Nakba is not only immoral, but logistically infeasible as well. On October 24th, a document (currently being circulated by Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel) was leaked to the Israeli news site Calcalist. It detailed Israeli plans for the forced transfer of Palestinians in Gaza to the Sinai peninsula as a culmination of Israel’s genocidal purge of the Strip. Pressure on the Egyptian government to take in the exodus of refugees is already underway, with unsubstantiated reports in regional press stating that the U.S. is prepared to offer Egypt some significant debt relief in exchange for hosting a large number of refugees in Sinai. Egypt is currently facing a historic debt crisis; Bloomberg Economics ranked Egypt as second only to Ukraine in terms of countries most vulnerable to defaulting on debt payments. The Egyptian debt crisis has been little-discussed in the West, but it is a daily reality for Egyptians, who continue to face mounting inflation and unparalleled price hikes as a result of Egypt’s complete reliance on international lending from the IMF and wealthy Gulf states. Such reliance circumscribes Egypt’s range of action, making it difficult and unlikely for it to act independently from U.S. interests—including on foreign policy. This wouldn’t be the first time the U.S. has used the prospect of debt forgiveness as a tool to bring Egypt in compliance with its policy demands. Most recently, in 1991, the United States and its allies forgave half of Egypt’s external debt ($11.1 billion USD, out of $20.2 billion) in exchange for Egypt’s participation in the second Gulf War in the anti-Iraq coalition. The precedent for 1991 however, was the 1978-1979 Camp David accords—Anwar Sadat’s infamous normalization treaty with Israel under the auspices of the U.S., which saw Sadat break with the anti-colonialism of his predecessor Gamal Abdel Nasser. In the post-Camp David period, Egypt became a creditworthy state for Western governments and Western-backed international institutions, both of which increased economic and military lending. The upshot was the further cementing of Sadat’s move away from the self-sufficient autonomy of Nasser’s regime.

#egypt #israel #gaza #palestine

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angelkarafilli · 4 months

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The Day The World Said No To War

Piccadilly Circus, London

15 February 2003

Protesters march through Piccadilly Circus in London, 15 February 2003. After assembling at different points, the two mass groups of protesters converged at Piccadilly Circus.

On 15 February 2003, mass marches were held to protest against a planned invasion of Iraq led by the United States. The invasion was part of an aggressive American military strategy against extremist Islamic terrorism following the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The US Government accused Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, of having links with al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that had carried out the 9/11 attacks. It was also claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, strongly supported US President George W Bushand his plans for invasion. However, other countries such as Canada, France, Germany and Russia urged continued diplomacy. There was also no United Nations resolution to support the action.

Anti-war groups around the world organised a number of protests. The event on the 15 February 2003 was the largest and involved an unprecedented amount of international coordination.

Some of the largest protests took place in Europe. In Rome in Italy, around three million people were involved in a protest that entered the Guinness Book of Records. Thousands took part in a demonstration in the Turkish capital of Istanbul, despite local authorities having banned the protest. The events of 15 February were recorded as the largest protest of its type in human history.

In the UK, a huge protest was organised by the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) in partnership with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Britain. It attracted a diverse group of people, many of whom had never taken part in a protest before. London's march involved up to 2,000,000 people – a record for any British protest.

Despite the international protests and the lack of support from the UN, troops from the US, UK, Australia and Poland launched the invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003.

Source and more on:https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/5-photographs-from-the-day-the-world-said-no-to-war

#15 February #2003 #London #Piccadilly Circus #protesters #Iraq war #people #anti-war protests #history

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deqdyke · 1 day

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I think what someones thoughts are on the war in Ir*q and the Gulf War has become the litmus test for me taking their opinions on the middle east seriously. Do you understand that the motives for the war(s) are not, as memes suggest, able to be boiled down into purely economic incentives? Do you understand that it is in part a result of a web of international relations and diplomatic ties? Do you understand that there were/are religious and political motivations for the war on both sides, and not in an overly simplistic reduction of it being a continuation of the Crusades (since the Gulf War Coalition against Iraq included many Muslim nations)? Are you aware of and willing to acknowledge the war crimes, horrors, and genocidal actions of both the Coalition Nations and the Iraqi Baathist regime without minimizing, sealioning, or equivocating? Do you view the wars as oppressor vs. oppressed, or as imperialist states competing over economic and political ties?

#like theres the obviously stupid batshit takes #like the leftists who fall for the socialist branding of Baathism and claim Saddam was a socialist revolutionary #but whats more frustrating is the desire for people to reduce the compelex web of history into a flat easy to digest narrative #one in which Arabs and Muslims are perpetual victims incapable of perpetrating harm #ie falling into occidentalist thought #because it reveals how they engage with the middle east #they don't see us as people but as pawns in their ideological bloodsport #choose a aide and cheer at the opposing deaths #the goal shouldn't be to root for the underdog in the collisseum it should be to tear down the arena brick by fucking brick

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girlactionfigure · 3 months

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🔅Tuesday morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

🔻Air attacks on Israeli civilians…

Hamas rockets at Sderot, Ibim, Nir Am, Netiv HaAssara, Gavim, Sapir College

Hezbollah rockets at Betzet, Shlomi

.. SINCE the UN Resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire there have been 3 rocket launches out of Gaza.

.. The IDF says it struck a Hamas rocket launching position used in a barrage earlier today on Ashdod. The launchers were located adjacent to a civilian shelter in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah.

▪️CEASEFIRE.. following the UN Sec Council resolution of ceasefire, Hamas's appetite increases against the background of international developments: it rejected the American proposal for the hostage deal. An American delegation is still in Qatar to continue talks.

▪️US RECOMMENDS MAGIC? US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken emphasized in his meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Galant that there are alternatives to a ground operation in Rafah - ones that will better ensure Israel's security and also protect Palestinian citizens, according to the US State Department.

(( While the US has been repeatedly stating this, we have yet to hear a SINGLE suggestion on how. In the meantime, the hostages ROT. ))

▪️MAJOR ATTACK ON IRANIAN SITES IN SYRIA.. attack in the Syrian-Iraqi border town of Albu Kamal. According to the reports, senior members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been eliminated.

Targets: Ayash warehouses in the western area of Deir Ezzor, warehouses for storing Iranian weapons. The headquarters of the Iranian militias in the villa neighborhood in Deir Ezor. Several sites near the El Hari crossing on the Syria-Iraq border. The headquarters on Al-Taz Hagana street in Albu Kamal city includes a security office in the area of Badar Hospital, which is itself an Iranian base. The headquarters of the Iranian militias in the El Tamo neighborhood in the city of Al Mayadin, east of Deir Ezzor. The communications headquarters of the Iranian militias and the Alawite security headquarters on the University's President Street in the city of Deir ez-Zor.

Unknown if the attack was by Israel or the U.S. Syria blames Israel.

🔸SUMMARY - Israel internal politics is reaching a crescendo due to the “Movement for Quality Govt”’s High Court case, in the midst of the war, over draft law and charedi low participation in the IDF.

On one hand the IDF is manpower stressed due to the war, on the other hand the IDF has taken only minor steps to accommodate this population segment and the political class has not pressed or improved the issue over the past 15 years. Sometimes the opposite, demonizing the charedim and driving them away.

The possibility of the war coalition dissolving over this issue is growing, while the core coalition is attempting to build a recruitment law with incentives and disincentives that the charedim can accept, the attorney general will defend, the High Court will not overturn, the IDF can actually implement, and secular society won’t protest… and do so within a month. The good news is Israel is a place of miracles. The bad news is they need it.

#Israel #October 7 #Hamas Massacre #Gaza #Israel/HamasWar #Real Time Updates

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