Israel

How Netanyahu and Fascists in his Coalition shot down the Biden Peace Plan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is attempting to peddle the line that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the Biden proposal for negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire, but that Hamas has rejected it.

This position is simply dishonest, and forms part of a pattern whereby the Biden administration runs interference for the extremist, fascist Israeli cabinet, which has repeatedly rejected any call for a ceasefire. In fact, the Israeli government has issued no communique stating its acceptance of the Biden plan, and both Netanyahu and powerful cabinet members have on the contrary vocally rejected elements of the Biden plan.

On Sunday, according to the Israeli newspaper Arab 48, Netanyahu told the families of soldiers killed in the Gaza campaign, “There was no deal because we will not give up on completing the war objectives. The main disagreement with Hamas revolves around the commitment to end the fighting without completing the objectives.”

Source: How Netanyahu and Fascists in his Coalition shot down the Biden Peace Plan

Israel

Open Letter to Norman Finkelstein

Source: Tony Greenstein’s Blog

Open Letter to Norman Finkelstein – Zionism has Failed – Two States is Dead – Stop Undermining the Global Movement in Support of the Palestinians

Israel

93 Nations Back ICC as Israel Faces Charges for War Crimes in Gaza | Common Dreams

Israeli attacks on Gaza continue

“The ICC, as the world’s first and only permanent international criminal court, is an essential component of the international peace and security architecture,” the statement reads. “We therefore call on all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression, grave crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world.”

Source: 93 Nations Back ICC as Israel Faces Charges for War Crimes in Gaza | Common Dreams

Israel

Eight Israeli soldiers killed, deal looks distant

Hamas militants say they ambushed an Israeli armoured personnel carrier in Rafah.

Last week it was over according to the Israeli leadership. 15,000 Hamas are dead.

Source: Eight Israeli soldiers killed, deal looks distant

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel kills children, damages infrastructure in West Bank | The Electronic Intifada

 

The Israeli military, at times in collaboration with Israel’s Border Police and Israel’s domestic secret police Shin Bet, has continued to conduct deadly raids into the occupied West Bank, wreaking havoc to private Palestinian property and civilian infrastructure in the process.

Source: Israel kills children, damages infrastructure in West Bank | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Max Blumenthal: The Washington Post’s Attack on The Grayzone – ScheerPost

After erroneously stating that The Grayzone was funded by Iranian media, the Washington Post had to issue a retraction. The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal explains how and why it happened.

Source: Max Blumenthal: The Washington Post’s Attack on The Grayzone – ScheerPost

Israel

Truth is the key – Pearls and Irritations

Palestinian Territory - Palestinians hold keys symbolising keys to houses left by Palestinians in 1948. Palestinians take part in a mass demonstration in front of UN headquarters of UNESCO marking Nakba when Palestinians were forced to leave their homes, after I. May 14, 2012 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip,

The problem lies with Zionist political Ideology little over a century old the foundation on which Settler Colonialism is based and the Supremacist Zionising of the Israeli Education System

For the children of Palestine and Israel to reach their potential, we must end the military occupation of Palestine, once and for all. The Australian government must show it is doing everything possible to create a genuinely safe and fair future.

Source: Truth is the key – Pearls and Irritations

Peter Dutton

Dutton’s nuclear vapourware – » The Australian Independent Media Network

So we have an aging fleet of coal fired power stations that are getting increasingly unreliable and an Opposition Leader that has a solution that is optimistically available in the 2040s. Regardless of Paris commitments, climate wars and anything else – what does Peter Dutton think is going to produce power in years between the demise of old coal fired power stations and the nuclear future? It wouldn’t be renewables by any chance?

It’s a pity someone hasn’t asked the question.

Source: Dutton’s nuclear vapourware – » The Australian Independent Media Network

ALP Government,

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus exposed telling more lies to justify NACC secret hearings to protect corrupt politiciansKangaroo Court of Australia

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is again cooking the books and telling journalists lies to justify secret hearings at the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

Source: Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus exposed telling more lies to justify NACC secret hearings to protect corrupt politiciansKangaroo Court of Australia

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Informed Comment

‘Scandalous’: G7 Nations Spend 62 Times More on Military Than Humanitarian Aid | Common Dreams

U.S. warplanes on an aircraft carrier deck

Source: ‘Scandalous’: G7 Nations Spend 62 Times More on Military Than Humanitarian Aid | Common Dreams

Israel

Family Survived Rafah “Tent Massacre” but Died 2 Days Later in Another Attack

gettyimages-2154359249-e1718301183400

“I felt helpless watching my family dying and not able to help them. It is a nightmare that I will never wake up from.”

In a final desperate bid, they moved to al-Muwasi, a nearby desolate plot of land on the coast. As it once had for Rafah, Israel designated al-Muwasi a humanitarian area for evacuees and, like Rafah, it has been hit with airstrikes and shelling.

“The only safe place is where my family is now,” Al-Absi said. “They were killed for the sake of safety. I envy them.”

Source: Family Survived Rafah “Tent Massacre” but Died 2 Days Later in Another Attack

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel Killed Hundreds of Civilians to Save Four of Its Own

Last Saturday, Israel massacred hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an operation to rescue four Israeli hostages. American commentators rushed to justify the brutal operation.

Source: Israel Killed Hundreds of Civilians to Save Four of Its Own

Israel

Why the fight for Palestine is the fight against U.S. imperialism in the region – Mondoweiss

A Palestinian boy looks out at U.S. Navy ships anchoring off the coast of Gaza to operate the U.S.-built floating pier, May 16, 2024. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)

Israel’s ability to maintain a permanent state of war, occupation, and oppression would be deeply imperiled without continuous American backing.

U.S. strategy in the Middle East came to rest upon two core pillars: Israel and the Gulf monarchies. These two pillars remain the crux of American power in the region today.

Source: Why the fight for Palestine is the fight against U.S. imperialism in the region – Mondoweiss

Israel

UN finds at least 14 Israelis likely intentionally killed by own army on 7 October | Middle East Eye

Israeli army tanks deploy in an area of Israel's southern boundary with the Gaza Strip on 5 June (Jack Guez/AFP)

Add to that the numbers killed after Oct 7th and it begins to approach two Dozen. One thing is, for sure, those who witnessed it and have spoken up have since been silenced

At least 14 Israelis were likely intentionally killed by the Israeli army on 7 October as part of a protocol aimed at preventing capture, a new United Nations report has found.

Source: UN finds at least 14 Israelis likely intentionally killed by own army on 7 October | Middle East Eye

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel joins ISIL, Taliban, Sudan on UN Blacklist of Violators of Children, Killing or Maiming 20,000 last Year

Israel joins ISIL, Taliban, Sudan on UN Blacklist of Violators of Children, Killing or Maiming 20,000 last Year

Source: Israel joins ISIL, Taliban, Sudan on UN Blacklist of Violators of Children, Killing or Maiming 20,000 last Year

Australia

Why bet on a loser? Australia’s dangerous gamble on the US – » The Australian Independent Media Network

China is quite adept at utilising sentiments such as these. Major Franz J. Gayl, a retired Marine Corps infantry officer has regularly written for Chinese online news outlet Global Times. Last year, a number of his contributed articles to GT were published as a book, “The United States Will Lose the Coming War with China” which is available on Amazon.

Australia’s Liberal-Labor pro-US coalition has placed a $368 billion bet on the ability of the US to prevent the expansion of Chinese influence in the South Pacific or its recovery of the island province of Taiwan.

It is an expensive way to be taught the African proverb that when the elephants dance, it is the grass that suffers.

Source: Why bet on a loser? Australia’s dangerous gamble on the US – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Tony Abbott

“Hungary is our Israel”: Tony Abbott and Orbán’s Danube Institute – » The Australian Independent Media Network

A frame from Tony Abbott's own website of the lower half of his face including ears.

It was announced in late in 2023 that Tony Abbott was to be a “visiting fellow” for Viktor Orbán’s Danube Institute, a hub of ultra reactionary thought that gathers anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-feminist, anti-LGBTQIA+ speakers who celebrate the Christian Nationalist project. Or, as Abbott describes it, “a point of light to Conservatives around the world.”

We must watch Abbott and his friends at their elusive gatherings because they watch us. They are demonising us as “cultural marxists” and believe it is only by enforcing our compliance with their values that they can “conserve” their mythical narrative of the past.

Source: “Hungary is our Israel”: Tony Abbott and Orbán’s Danube Institute – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Truth in Humor

The Potential Labor Landslide… – » The Australian Independent Media Network

I once wrote that the Liberals would be releasing their policies closer to the election and, by closer, I mean a few weeks AFTER the election.

Source: The Potential Labor Landslide… – » The Australian Independent Media Network

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Israel

Diamonds and Cold Dust: Slaughter at Nuseirat – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The ashes had barely settled on a Rafah tent camp incinerated by an Israeli airstrike before the next, gorged massacre presented itself for posterity’s gloomy archive. It was intended as a golden operation and had been months in the making. The rescue of four Israeli hostages, the killing of three others (bound to happen for the expertly inclined), and the massacre of over 274 Palestinians at the Nuseirat refugee camp were the end result.

The sanguinary episode at Nuseirat is hard to stomach, even by Biden’s rubbery standards. It stands to reason. The entire operation had the buttressing of what the New York Times reported to be “intelligence and other logistical support” from the United States. Two Israeli intelligence officials also confirmed that “American military officials in Israel provided some of the intelligence about the hostages rescued Saturday.” And let us not forget murderous military hardware, readily supplied from US defence companies. It follows that the lives of Israeli hostages, dubbed “diamonds” by their rescuers, are invaluable, the precious stones of Israeli-US policy. The Palestinians, on the other hand, are mere coal dust.

Source: Diamonds and Cold Dust: Slaughter at Nuseirat – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Israel

Gaza is a Children’s Cemetery – CounterPunch.org

Recently, after an UNrwa (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) school at Nuseirat was bombed by Israeli forces leaving 33 dead, including 12 women and children, Sam Rose, the director of planning for the agency declared, “In previous conflicts, single incidents like this would cause shock and outrage and would be remembered forever. Whereas it seems in this conflict it will be this one will be replaced by another in a few days’ time unless it all comes to an end. So, it almost becomes commonplace and mundane that these things are happening. We have normalized horror.” Despite the horrors facing the children of Gaza, it is not too late for the warring factions to protect those children who remain.

Source: Gaza is a Children’s Cemetery – CounterPunch.org

Israel

The Enduring, Racist Trope of Palestinian Rejectionism

Since the beginning of the Zionist project in Palestine, large efforts have been exerted to paint all resistance to its colonial endeavors as irrational and at odds with progress and modernity.

“In a notable feat of historical revisionism, Israeli leadership uses Palestinian opposition to the Balfour declaration as one of the first examples of Palestinian rejection of coexistence and rights for all.” 

“The myth of Palestinian intransigence was weaponized and used to argue that Palestinians could not be reasoned with, and that peace would continue to be rejected no matter how generous their settler counterparts were.” 

“By repeatedly peddling the false connection between the myth of Palestinian rejectionism, the rise of ‘extremism,’ and the current assault on Gaza, blame is implicitly placed on Palestinians themselves for the genocide being waged.”

Source: The Enduring, Racist Trope of Palestinian Rejectionism

Uncategorized

Medical Aid Worker Describes the Bloody Aftermath of Israel’s Hostage Rescue

intercepted_nuseiratSource: Medical Aid Worker Describes the Bloody Aftermath of Israel’s Hostage Rescue

Israel

US Involved in Israeli Massacre of 274 Palestinians

 

The U.S. only managed to reconnect the floating pier to Gaza on June 7, less than a day before the Israeli military operation. This has sparked speculation about the true intended nature of the pier, as it is only operable in conditions with waves smaller than 1.25 meters and has delivered minimal aid for such a costly project.

Source: US Involved in Israeli Massacre of 274 Palestinians

Israel

Trauma’s grip tightens amid genocide | The Electronic Intifada

An injured child screams in pain on the floor of a hospital

Source: Trauma’s grip tightens amid genocide | The Electronic Intifada

Uncategorized

Israel at war with Israel about ending the war

Palestinian Diplomat: Gaza Ceasefire Only Possible Once Israel Commits to Ending the War

Israel

How Western Tourism Giants Illegally Enrich Israeli Settlements on Stolen Land – ScheerPost

Before booking your summer vacation, be aware that major western tourism operators willfully fund and legitimize illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, actively contributing to human rights violations and war crimes.

Source: How Western Tourism Giants Illegally Enrich Israeli Settlements on Stolen Land – ScheerPost

Israel

House Votes to Block U.S. Funding to Rebuild Gaza – The Intercept

gettyimages-2156643500-e1718224649773

Source: House Votes to Block U.S. Funding to Rebuild Gaza – The Intercept

Israel

The elephant in the Zionist classroom

WHAT IS IT about the Australian Jewish community, Australian Jewish “faith” schools and Israel?

Michael Brull spent 13 years at Moriah College, and he outlined in 2013 his experience as a fish out of water. The Jewish school system’s attachment to Israel appears deeply embedded. In particular, camps, both in Australia and Israel, involve soldier training simulations that feed, whether directly through recruitment or in sympathy, into Israel’s militarised society and killing machine.

An unqualified attachment by the Jewish school system to a pariah state sits uneasily with the system’s other “core values” that emphasise critical thinking and Jewish ethics.

Is this school system the nursery for the Israel lobby in Australia?

Source: The elephant in the Zionist classroom

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Israel, Israel Crimes

War Crimes

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel issued a report on Wednesday in […]

UN Commission of Inquiry: Israel guilty of Crimes against Humanity, Hamas Guilty of War Crimes

Juan Cole

Israel

As Israel Rejects UN Ceasefire, 3,000 Palestinian Children in S. Gaza in Danger of Starving before their Parents’ Eyes

At a joint Egyptian-Jordanian conference on the Dead Sea, Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator, underlined the pressing need for an immediate ceasefire: “There was a unanimous horror at the vast toll of death, injury[,] destruction, displacement, serial displacement, trauma and deprivation suffered by the people of Gaza in just nine months, as well as the horrendous toll on humanitarian, and including United Nations, workers, of course, from UNRWA in particular, which exceeded the death toll across the whole world in the past 12 years combined.”

How to avert further catastrophes? He said that the working group in which he participated “stressed the need for these immediate measures to facilitate the delivery of aid: number one, a functioning mechanism for operational coordination and notification; number two, full access for basic equipment for safety and security of humanitarian staff; number three, passable roads and clearance of explosive ordnance; number four, unimpeded passage to distribute aid and access communities across Gaza; and finally, sufficient and predictable flows of fuel and prioritized aid, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Source: As Israel Rejects UN Ceasefire, 3,000 Palestinian Children in S. Gaza in Danger of Starving before their Parents’ Eyes

Israel, Israel Crimes

When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’ – ScheerPost

The creation of Israel was tragic mistake but never an accident

As Israel’s atrocities continue to mount in Gaza, the LA Progressive (6/7/24) wrote that though Biden claimed to care about the loss of civilian life in Gaza, and that an Israeli attacked on Rafah would be a “red line,” “events of the past weeks have demonstrated that none of these claims are in fact true.” It added that a month ago, Hamas agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement “that looked a lot like the ceasefire agreement now being promoted by the Biden administration,” but Israel responded by rejecting that agreement as well.

In addition, Israel closed off the border area between Israel and Egypt, cutting off any aid or supplies from coming into famine-ravaged Gaza. The authors concluded, “What has transpired is a horrifying series of massacres against civilians, which the Biden administration continues to try to downplay, excuse and explain away.”

Over the last eight months, US establishment media have helped Biden “explain away” such  atrocities. They have not stopped repeating Israel’s propaganda, and have acted as willing conduits for Israeli disinformation. It is past time they stopped doing so, and started reporting on what is actually happening on the ground in Gaza, not through the eyes of the IDF.

Source: When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’ – ScheerPost

Israel

PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Afterlives of Lies

Image

Unambiguous Rebuttal 

Answering the question posed in the headline atop their piece, Philps and Weiniger reply with an unambiguous “No”: there is no sound evidence whatsoever that Hamas militias, and others that crossed into southern Israel with them last Oct. 7, engaged in systematic, officially planned sexual violence against Israelis, women and men, during their attacks on various kibbutzim just across the Gaza–Israel border.

Source: PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Afterlives of Lies

Israel

Hamas & ‘Human Shields’

The American and Israeli excuse. If true how is it that the people of Gaza haven’t been supplying all the intel Israel and America can’t seem to get. How is it there are Jews for Peace and Israel is so divided and Gazans aren’t? They are united in their suffering and not at the hands of Hamas. 270 + were killed by Israel and yet again women and children in large numbers

“The Palestinian people are going through sheer hell in this conflict because Hamas is operating in a way that puts them in the crossfire, that holds hostages right in the heart of crowded civilian areas.”

Source: Hamas & ‘Human Shields’

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel’s New Air War in the West Bank: Nearly Half of the Dead are Children

west-bank-air-strikes-banner

Nearly 20 years after the Second Intifada, the Israeli military has resumed airstrikes in the West Bank — and killed 24 children.

Source: Israel’s New Air War in the West Bank: Nearly Half of the Dead are Children

Israel, Israel Crimes

Opinion | Despite Mainstream Headlines, Israel’s Tents Massacre Was Not a ‘Tragic Mistake’ | Common Dreams

Palestinians observe the destruction caused by the Israeli military's bombing

This was intentional. You don’t accidentally kill massive amounts of children and their families over and over again and get to say, “It was a mistake.” Genocidal maniac Netanyahu told us he wants to ethnically cleanse Palestinians.

Source: Opinion | Despite Mainstream Headlines, Israel’s Tents Massacre Was Not a ‘Tragic Mistake’ | Common Dreams

USA

Intruder at Large: The United States in the Middle East – CounterPunch.org

American policymakers have regarded command of the Persian Gulf a foreign policy imperative since it emerged as the world’s economic and military power following the Second World War.   Because of its location and rich resources, it is, in the words of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-61), the “most strategically important area in the world.”

The U.S. doctrine of dominance that began in the 1940s and has kept the Middle East divided, chaotic and dependent must come to an end so that transformation can begin. Radical and profound change of the region’s social, political and economic order can only come about if the United States departs, Zionism ends and Palestinians return to a free Palestine. Anything less will fail.

Source: Intruder at Large: The United States in the Middle East – CounterPunch.org

Israel

Joe Biden Still Won’t Say No to Israel

For Israel, there are no clear consequences if it rejects the plan. Biden has not said he would cut off any form of aid. (Ceasefire Resolution)

Players on all sides have been shocked by the approach of the Biden administration. The Israeli government has been surprised by what a long tether it has been given.

Source: Joe Biden Still Won’t Say No to Israel

Israel

Britain is complicit in Israel’s barbarism | The Electronic Intifada

According to Sunak, the UK would “stand unequivocally” with Israel. He assured Netanyahu of British “diplomatic, intelligence or security” support.

Sunak’s commitment was echoed by then Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on 9 October, when he said the UK would continue to support Israel’s military operation in Gaza. When asked if it was “proportionate” for Israel to cut off water, electricity, food and fuel, Cleverly said “Israel has a right to defend itself against attack,” seemingly unaware that occupying forces have no such right under international law.

Cleverly’s comments came on the same day that Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant infamously described the people of Gaza as “human animals.”

“I have ordered a complete siege in Gaza,” Gallant had pronounced. “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed.”

Source: Britain is complicit in Israel’s barbarism | The Electronic Intifada

Media

Australia’s old media companies are rapidly dying reports Australia’s old mediaKangaroo Court of Australia

Kerry Stokes, Rupert Murdoch and Peter Costello

Australia’s old media companies are rapidly dying and the reason we know that is because the old media are the ones reporting it.

Source: Australia’s old media companies are rapidly dying reports Australia’s old mediaKangaroo Court of Australia

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Israel

World Food Programme Pauses Use of US Aid Pier in Gaza Due to Israeli Attacks – ScheerPost

The human rights group also condemned the U.S. for allowing U.S. “hostage cell” officials — intelligence officials who have been providing aid to Israeli forces on the ground in Israel since October — to be involved in the massacre and blood-soaked hostage recovery mission, as multiple outlets like The Washington Post and Axios have reported.

“The rules of international humanitarian law state that it is illegal to gain the trust of an adversary through actions that lead them to believe they are entitled to protection or must provide it, with the intent to betray that confidence, resulting in their death or injury,” EuroMed Monitor wrote in a statement. “This includes simulation of civilian status, using civilian transportation or vehicles designated for humanitarian aid, or wearing civilian attire or attire of humanitarian relief workers as cover.”

Source: World Food Programme Pauses Use of US Aid Pier in Gaza Due to Israeli Attacks – ScheerPost

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel’s desert torture camp faces legal challenge | The Electronic Intifada

Source: Israel’s desert torture camp faces legal challenge | The Electronic Intifada

Israel, Israel Crimes

Palestinian prisoners starved, abused and mistreated – Pearls and Irritations

Flags of Israel and Palestine behind the barbed wire.

Since October 7th last year more than 9,500 Palestinians including 635 minors from the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem have been held in Israeli jails. More than 3,400 Palestinian detainees, including women and children, have also been placed in administrative detention under the pretext of secret evidence. All prisoners and detainees have been subjected to systematic physical and psychological torture, deprivation of basic needs of human life and minimum levels of treatment.

Barghouti was one of the authors of the 2006 Palestinian Prisoners’ Document. The document called for the establishment of two states with resistance to Israeli occupation limited to military targets within the territory seized by Israel in the 1967 war. It was significant in that it recognised Israel and had broad political support among the various Palestinian factions. Should the time come and he were released Marwan Barghouti could well be the Palestinian leader needed to be a partner for a much needed peace in Palestine and Israel.

Source: Palestinian prisoners starved, abused and mistreated – Pearls and Irritations

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel Has Carried Out Another Civilian Massacre in Gaza

The Quds News Network claimed that US soldiers were involved in the Israeli assault, sharing footage supposedly showing that US forces used the US-built humanitarian pier in Gaza to sneak American soldiers into the camp. An Israeli source claimed that US soldiers were wounded in the assault.

According to media reports, Israeli forces used two civilian cars carrying humanitarian aid. Survivors related that Special Forces assaulted civilians while disguised as aid workers and displaced persons. “They were in a truck carrying clothes and cooking pans,” a wounded eyewitness described the Israeli forces. “The United States actively coordinated, planned, and supported Israel in deceiving starving Palestinians and carrying out the slaughter of hundreds,” wrote one Palestinian journalist.

Following the assault on Nuseirat, the UN World Food Program halted its aid operations in Gaza through the US-built pier, saying that two of its warehouses were bombed during the attack. Videos of a helicopter leaving the US-built pier on Saturday have also raised questions over the US direct military involvement in Gaza under the guise of humanitarian aid.

The massacre suggests that the Biden administration’s “aid pier” may be something rather different. The $320-million pier, which Palestinians call the “occupation port,” may have been quietly morphing into a military base, as footage from May showed the US

Source: Israel Has Carried Out Another Civilian Massacre in Gaza

Israel, Israel Crimes

UN Human Rights Office Says IDF’s Deadly Nuseirat Raid May Amount to War Crime | Common Dreams

A Palestinian man carries a child to receive medical treatment

But the OHCHR, Laurence said, is “profoundly shocked at the impact on civilians of the Israeli forces’ operation,” which killed at least 274 Palestinians, including 64 children and 57 women, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

Source: UN Human Rights Office Says IDF’s Deadly Nuseirat Raid May Amount to War Crime | Common Dreams

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israeli Fiction and Purpose
Israel

Australia and the Israeli-Hamas War – Pearls and Irritations

Waving flag of Israel and Australia.Image:iStock

The Australian Government should:

  • Pause all approvals for the export of defence-related materiel, including items which arrive in Israel via third-parties. The Australian Government maintains it does not export “weapons” to Israel. That appears to be an exercise in semantics. A 2023 media release from the Victorian Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions advised that more than 700 “highly technical parts” for the F-35 fighter jet, used in Gaza by the Israeli Airforce, are manufactured in Victoria. The department said “the critical assembly role” undertaken in Australia ensured the F-35 was “mission-ready, anytime, anywhere”.
  • Provide visas for Palestinians seeking either permanent refugee status or temporary stay in Australia, for as long as the conflict continues (a similar approach was used for Ukrainians after the Russian invasion of Ukraine).
  • Sanction individual Israelis. Israel’s current Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a self-described “fascist homophobe,” has derided Palestinians as an invention. Israel’s current National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, claimed in 2023 that his rights in the occupied West Bank were more important than those of Palestinians, earning him a rebuke from the US State Department. The US has also condemned suggestions by both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir that the Gaza war offered an opportunity to “encourage” Palestinians to leave the territory.
  • Make clear Australia’s readiness to comply with the rulings of the ICJ and the ICC. We note that Australia’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has included sanctions on more than 1200 individuals and entities. Despite Israel ignoring persistent calls for restraint, including from the UN, the ICJ, and Israel’s own friends, Australia does not appear to have sanctioned a single Israeli.
  • Recall Australia’s Ambassador to Israel for consultations. This would signal the Australian Government’s frustration with Israel’s constant ignoring of appeals for restraint and also provide an opportunity to consider the “day after” for Gaza. Issues to explore include to what extent Australia might be involved in any future “peace process”; the level of Australia’s humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians (currently well below the amount of humanitarian aid provided to Ukraine); who will take on the task of peace-keeping and reconstruction in Gaza? (Here, we note recent comments by Indonesian President-elect Prabowo that Indonesia is prepared to contribute a substantial peace-keeping contingent in a post-war situation).

We call for urgent Government action on these matters.

Source: Australia and the Israeli-Hamas War – Pearls and Irritations