However, pre-Zionist Palestine was a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews coexisted peacefully, and where most people experienced violence only rarely — likely less frequently than in many parts of the Global North.
Violence as a permanent and massive aspect of life can only be removed when its source is removed. In the case of Palestine, it is the ideology and praxis of the Israeli settler state, not the existential struggle of the colonised Palestinian people.
The media wedge of Hamas is simply the purpose of the excercise. However Israel is losing the media war not because Hamas is winning but because the hypocricy and contradictions have been increasingly self-evident over the past 11 months no matter how hard Israel tries to vet the releases,. The case of NOA ARGAMANI a prime example.
“These negotiations were doomed to fail from the start… it’s basically a waste of time,” Achcar said.
“The function is more for the Biden administration to try to show that it is doing something. But I think they know quite well that it’s leading nowhere because the gap between what Netanyahu wants and what Hamas requests is too wide to be overcome.”
As the Democratic National Convention entered its final day in Chicago, the topic of the war on Gaza and the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in elections had been largely absent from the main stage. No Palestinian speakers got time on the dais, despite the protest efforts from the “Uncommitted” movement this week.
Instead, the conversation among Democrats about pushing for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to U.S. weapons shipments to Israel, and the party’s role in allowing AIPAC to shape its primaries has been taking place outside the United Center, where progressives held protests to hold convention delegates’ feet to the fire.
And victims of AIPAC’s political campaigns were on hand to add their voices to the demonstrations.
But the Israeli government claims that a handful of settlers are bad apples in an otherwise “law-abiding settlement” barrel, is an attempt to distract from who the settlers actually serve, and to whitewash the settlement project as a whole.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government is advancing plans to construct Jewish-only settlements on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Battir, designated in 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNESCO’s designation aimed to protect Battir’s unique, ancient agricultural landscape and culture from Israel’s plans to build its separation wall through it.
“The Battir cultural landscape encompasses ancient terraces, archaeological sites, rock-cut tombs, agricultural towers, and most importantly an intact water system, represented by a collection pool [and] channels,” UNESCO states. “The integrity of this traditional water system is guaranteed by the families of Battir, who depend on it.”
Ibrahim Salem was detained by Israeli forces in Gaza and held for 8 months, including 52 days at the now infamous Sde Teiman torture facility. Salem recounts the torture he…
Failing to restore military or strategic deterrence, Tel Aviv is invested in restoring the element of fear that was breached on Oct. 7, writes Ramzy Baroud.
Raping prisoners, leaking videos of the gruesome acts, and carrying out the same horrific deed, again and again are all part of the Israeli strategy — that of restoring fear.
But Israel will fail simply because Palestinians have already succeeded in demolishing Israel’s 76-year matrix of physical domination and mental torture.
After rejecting the idea for months, US officials are now arguing that a ceasefire agreement should be signed.
US officials estimate that Israel has achieved all it can militarily in the Gaza Strip, but Israel’s leadership is divided on ending the war, argues Joost Hiltermann, the programme director for the Middle East at the International Crisis Group.
Hiltermann tells host Steve Clemons that Israel’s military believes Hamas has been weakened enough for now, while its politicians argue that the war should be open-ended, allowing for a resumption after Israeli captives are released.
The question remains: is the United States content to allow the internal Israeli debate to run its course, even if that means endless war on Gaza?
The head of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which nominated Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda for an Emmy Award for her documentary on life under Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, rebuffed a demand on Tuesday from more than 150 actors, producers, and other industry leaders who wanted the nomination revoked.
America’s Jewish population is 2.4%. Washington’s Population of Jews is 9%. What is it they do? The Israel lobby wields as much or more influence over American politics than any lobbying group in Washington. As Ilan Pappé, the Israeli historian, professor and author, and host Chris Hedges detail in this latest episode of The Chris Hedges Report, the lobby’s rise to power consisted of diverging ideological factions uniting in pursuit of their shared interests in controlling the land of historic Palestine. The history and manifestation of this systemic corruption of the Zionist lobby, hyper-dependent on coercion and total control, is thoroughly described in Pappé’s new book, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic.
“Teeth were broken, bones were broken,” said one soldier. “You notice how easy it is to lose your humanity,” said another.
An Israeli newspaper on Friday published interviews with Israel Defence Forces reservists and medical staff who witnessed the “day-to-day torture” of Palestinian prisoners at the notorious Sde Teiman prison in the Negev Desert, where dozens of detainees have died and others were allegedly raped.
The Israelis described seeing torture and abuse of Palestinians detained in Sde Teiman, who included everyone from Hamas fighters to innocent civilians, and ranged in age from children to octogenarians.
“We said, ‘It’s torture.’ But you don’t get into it; you change the subject immediately.”
The Media Scam Israel, America and the Bridge Proposal
“Blame Hamas” any which way every time! 1) The first step is to look as if America and Israel are united on a ceasefire with no need for any detail on its execution. 3) Spread that as good news before the DNC. 4) Change nothing but leave the details of the offer silent and “Wedge Hamas”. 5)Trumpet Hamas’ refusal and spread that news LOUDLY. 6) Never mention Israel the tail is still wagging the dog
Upon concluding his stay in Israel, Blinken said that Netanyahu assured him of Israel’s acceptance of the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal, stressing that it is up to Hamas to accept it in order to move forward to discussing implementation details. But as the timeline of events above shows, Israel has consistently undermined ceasefire talks throughout the Gaza genocide, and Netanyahu’s conditions on Philadelphi and Netzarim are just the latest ploy.
These demands are a non-starter that Hamas will be forced to reject, which is exactly what Netanyahu wants: he nominally accepted the U.S. proposal, putting the ball in Hamas’s court, but later doubled down on demands that make it impossible for Hamas to accept. The result is it looks like Hamas is the reason for the breakdown in the talks, and the Biden-Harris administration is happy to play along. Meanwhile, Israel’s genocide in Gaza rages on.
“Since the Israeli offensive began following 7 October 2023, people in Gaza have had only 4.74 litres of water per person per day for all uses including drinking, cooking, and washing, which is a dramatic 94% reduction in the amount of water available before. This is significantly below the internationally accepted minimum standard of 15 litres of water per person per day for basic survival in emergencies.”
Ibrahim Salem was detained by Israeli forces in Gaza and held for 8 months, including 52 days at the now infamous Sde Teiman torture facility. Salem recounts the torture he endured, including physical abuse, starvation, and electrocution.
Israel paraded Israeli girl held hostage and tortured too. They were required to do some housework and live like Gazans in fear of Israel bombs
As Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza continues unabated, the Israeli economy is facing a catastrophe. The physical destruction in Israel from the war has been minimal, but one thing has been destroyed: its future.
Some political projects in history fail because their underlying strategy contradicts the goals of the broader project. The American strategy for the past three decades, of hugging Israel so tightly that peace and security would flow, has clearly failed. If the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same failed thing, then US policy today toward Israel and its neighbors is, indeed, insane.
“Corporations supplying jet fuel and oil to Israel may be providing material support to the military,” one expert said, “and therefore risk complicity in war crimes, genocide, and other crimes under international law.”
Approximately 4,750,000 Israelis oppose criminal prosecution or 50% of the Israeli population. 16% of Israel’s Jews. The Haredim tend not to have anything to do with the State institutions and that would include polls and surveys. That would suggest far less than 50% of Israelis oppose criminal prosecution. Yet we constantly are being told 96% of Israelis support this “retaliatory war of vengeance” committed on a population of over 50% of women children and elderly who led simple family lives in an open-air Israeli concentration camp for over 18 years
TOI quoted Jonathan Katz, chief economist at Leader Capital Markets, as saying that supply bottlenecks contributed to the slowdown, as did a 26% fall in construction investment because of the lack of — get this — Palestinian laborers! Israel is at full employment, given the call-up of reservists into the army, and the labor shortage is also a big drag on the economy.
“We need actions, not words,” said Ibrahim Sidda, 55, whose home was also attacked during the pogrom. “The army says they’re against this violence — so do something. Here in Area C we are under Israel’s jurisdiction and security responsibility. Let them come and protect us. Stop the settlers. We didn’t come to them; they came here.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza, and he called on Hamas to do the same, without saying whether concerns cited by the militant group had been addressed.
Netanyahu has never accepted a proposal that he knew he wasn’t going to break. A “bridging proposal” is about as clear as once declaring Israel was “just mowing the lawn” and not breaking any truce. America and Israel need not just a vague announcement but a specific course of action. Blinken seems more like a Netanyahu puppet than a “tour de force” mediator &/or negotiator.
What is a “bridging proposal”? How is it to be executed? If it’s anything like the “Pier Proposal” the Americans put forward to allow Netanyahu’s war to proceed while aid was being delivered. Well, we know how well that went down.
What about Israel’s Moral High Ground? “We let the aid trucks into Gaza” but kept the Gazans moving to prevent any distribution. Then blamed the NGO volunteers who they routinely killed. If Gazans even tried they too were shot at along with the starving people queued.
So what we are seeing is more Hasbara. Propaganda for both Israel and America’s sake rather than reality. Reality was the a hostage exchange in November 2023. It made Netanyahu and Israel look so bad they have never offered another “bridge to peace” since. This one you can be assured is built on sand. Why on earth would Hamas accept it?
Hamas — designated by the Australian government as a terrorist group — has said it is losing faith in the US as a mediator, accusing American negotiators of siding with Israel as it makes new demands that the militant group rejects.
What we are witnessing is the greatest “Conflict of Interest” with America acting as the principal negotiator while supplying arms to Israel for the duration of this war.
The speed at which the UN and ICJ is operating favors Israel not the Unity of Nations,
I imagine that many of us grew up assuming that Australia was a good international citizen, setting an exemplary example for other countries. I have no doubt that a great number of us are now ashamed of our country’s response to the ICJ opinion, and wonder where we went wrong, and how we became beholden to the rogue state, Israel, and indeed, compromised our sovereignty to it and its Zionist supporters.
The genocide in Gaza and the global mobilisation against it have put the Palestinian struggle at an important juncture. It is essential for Palestinians and their allies to seize this moment and push for a solution that dismantles colonial structures and establishes a single, democratic state where all citizens, regardless of ethnicity or religion, are equal.
In trying to Palestine’s prospects of independence and peace with Israel, one is reminded of Tolstoy’s observation that ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’. This is to say that, successful claims to independence share common features, but the circumstances of Palestine’s aspiration for independence are distinctively its own.
olddogthoughts 
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