Fighting Fake News with REAL, 24/4/24, Lobbyists, Lehrmann, UNRWA, Collective Punishment,
Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back attacks on civilian areas in Gaza, or risk a barrage of empty statements, the likes of which have never been seen before.
U.S. law prohibits “arms transfers that risk facilitating or otherwise contributing to violations of human rights or international humanitarian law,” according to a White House memo issued in February.
The U.S. State Department has said repeatedly that it has not found Israel to be in violation of international law, a position that runs directly counter to the findings of leading humanitarian organizations and United Nations experts.
Source: IDF Kills 18 Kids Hours After House Votes Billions to Israel
Unless a ceasefire is called, it appears certain that Gaza’s hospitals and medical workers will be subjected to further attacks, that disease will spread and that more people will die from conditions that are both preventable and curable.
Source: No protection from illness in Gaza | The Electronic Intifada
$26 B Israel aid, $14.5 B Military $11.5 B free to do as they want Vs Gaza and Bidn threatening nonsense
The blanket suspension of student protesters casts “serious doubt on the University’s respect for the rule-of-law values that we teach,” 54 law professors wrote.
Source: Columbia Law School Faculty Condemn Administration for Mass Arrests
International law today remains incomplete and in need of drastic structural changes, e.g., a reform of the UNSC membership and power structure, a revisiting of the adjudication power of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) and its ‘compulsory’ jurisdiction, the World Trade’s provisions for labor and environmental protection, and a serious re-commitment to empower UN and its functional agencies with necessary resources. The United States unconditional support for Israel and its lack of attention to the welfare of peoples in the MENA region, as well as elsewhere in the developing world, in pursuit of peace, human security, and good governance, is detrimental to the universal compliance and voluntary adherence to the norms and rules of international law.
Source: Is Washington’s Defense of Israel’s War destroying the Edifice of the Liberal International Order?
Israel has yet to provide evidence for its accusations that hundreds of staff with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) are members of terrorist groups, according to a review of the agency’s neutrality that could prompt some donor countries to review funding freezes.
UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The review said UNRWA shares staff lists annually with the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
On Monday, the review said Israel had not raised any concerns with UNRWA, based on those staff lists, since 2011. Then in March 2024, “Israel made public claims that a significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organisations.”
“Israeli authorities have to date not provided any supporting evidence nor responded to letters from UNRWA in March, and again in April, requesting the names and supporting evidence that would enable UNRWA to open an investigation.”
The groups are the Swedish Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, the Norwegian Chr Michelsen Institute, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
The Australian public has bought a big-long gas pipeline from foreign tax cheats – but there’s no gas. It’s a white elephant! Jemena and sleepy regulators AEMC are the culprits. Energy consumers and taxpayers the victims.
Even the most relative right-wing elements in the ALP should be relatively Left on the broader spectrum. We all need to see ourselves as part of a ‘broad Left’, and in this sense having common cause. Once we agree on this perhaps we can truly ‘move forward together’.
Source: The ALP – Arguing for a Minimum Program – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Even in times of low official unemployment levels, the latest polling from the Freshwater Group (AFR 15 April 2024) shows that Labor’s primary vote has dropped to 31 per cent after just two years in government.
This is a crucial loss of 1.8 per cent in Labor’s support base or 2 per cent after preferences. Only Peter Dutton’s flat preferred prime ministerial ratings are keeping Labor two-party preferred vote at 50 per cent within the usual margin of error in all responsible polling.
Palestinian rescue workers said they found hundreds of bodies, some with their hands bound and others with their skin, organs, or heads removed.
Source: ‘Obvious Evidence of Genocide’: Mass Grave Discovered in Gaza’s Nasser Hospital | Common Dreams
Israel leads the Right-wing push against Refugeeism. Yet can’t exist without American aid
This is a time of seismic change in the Middle East. At the heart of this region, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees – UNRWA – is a stabilising force. Today, an insidious campaign to end UNRWA’s operations is underway, with serious implications for international peace and security, says Philippe Lazzarini.
Throughout history, military empires have reduced their victims, their subjugated, and their abducted to a state of “The Others.”The political and mass media institutions usually follow suit by supporting their empire’s predatory policies with slanted coverage.
Such is the case with the U.S. global and the Israeli regional empires. The U.S. federal government and the mainstream media often move in lockstep.
Source: Ralph Nader: Palestinians as “The Others” – ScheerPost
Iran’s attack on Israel was lawful self-defence carried out in compliance with international humanitarian law.
Source: Under UN Charter, Iran’s Attack Was a Legal Response to Israel’s Illegal Attack – ScheerPost
Perceptively, Said warned of weaponizing antisemitism and the plight of Jews in Europe as a means to suppress and vilify Palestinians, and to justify Israel’s oppression of its victims.
Source: Opinion | Edward Said Warned Against Anti-Palestinian McCarthyism | Common Dreams
Take Gaza, for instance. Its once-fertile farmland now lies barren, its water sources poisoned by conflict and neglect. The grim statistics speak volumes: 97 percent of Gaza’s water is unfit for human consumption, leading to a staggering 26 percent of illnesses, particularly among vulnerable children.
Israel’s decades-long colonial settler project and ethnic cleansing of Palestine have caused irrefutable damage to the land, air and water, consequently contributing to the climate crisis.
In fact, in the first two months of the current genocide campaign in Gaza, Israel’s murderous bombardment, which has killed nearly 35,000 people, has also generated more planet-warming emissions than the annual carbon footprint of the world’s top 20 climate-vulnerable nations.
Source: War & Genocide on Earth Day
The US House of Representatives voted $26 billion for Israel on Saturday to reward it for its ongoing war crimes against Palestinians. Some 58 members voted against the measure, including 37 Democrats. It was the House of Representatives’ most decisive vote of confidence in genocide since the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
The US national debt is $34.5 trillion, up $2 trillion since last summer, against a gross domestic product of $27 trillion. For the debt to run so far ahead of GDP could cause the US economy to crash. That is, the US Congress does not have $26 billion to give to Israel in the first place.
The silencing of pro-Palestine voices is not a matter of over-sensitivity or hurt feelings, but rather a concerted effort by the establishment and the right wing to suppress dissent and maintain the status quo on Israel-Palestine. By exploiting accusations of anti-Semitism and the language used by marginalised groups to defend themselves against social injustices, they seek to censor and de-platform those who challenge Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights. It is our responsibility to resist this silencing, stand up for free speech and amplify the voices of those who are being suppressed.
Source: The Irony: Israel’s Supporters use “anti-Woke” Playbook to censor Palestinian Voices
The destruction of Gaza proves the entire mainstream western worldview is bullshit, because if the mainstream western worldview was accurate, the destruction of Gaza would not be happening.
Source: If the mainstream worldview was accurate, Gaza wouldn’t be burning – Pearls and Irritations
Remember when the US paid and supported Saddam & Osama and they turned on them just like Netanyahu is doing now, except Biden keeps paying
Netanyahu (that’s the name of the guy above) is a bit of crook, rather corrupt, rather pompous and proud of it, and one who likes to throw his weight around. Did we really need more guys like that? Didn’t we have plenty of assholes right here at home.
do MSM and assorted other piss ant Saudi sheiks and princes who gave that $2 billion to Jared Kushner think that squares them with us on all the money and help they gave Osama bin Laden to help him and his thugs as they were about to strike the Great Satan more than two decades ago? Two billion to that slimy little crook is a drop in the bucket for what that terrorist episode cost us, not only on the day the towers came down, but every damn day since, from the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan right up to now.
Source: With Friends Like These, Do We Need Enemies? Questions for a Sunday | The Smirking Chimp
Protest Israel and you might be liable for their actions
The impact is feared to mean that even counterprotestors – such as Neo Nazis – would be included in the ambit of people for whose actions protest organisers could be held liable.
Now in Egypt, no matter how hard I try to immerse myself in my new life, the memories of my past in Gaza remain raw. The specter of the past six months of war haunts me relentlessly, reminding me of the family I left behind to face the perils of war. The thought of my friends and loved ones brings crippling guilt. I am terrified every time news comes in of a bombing in Gaza. I rush to check on my family, but they cannot always call because of the lack of electricity, and so sometimes I wait hours, even days, for their reply. Physically, I have survived. But emotionally, I am still trapped in the war.
“Workers have recovered 180 bodies so far from a mass grave found after Israeli forces withdrew from the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.”
Mass graves containing Palestinian bodies found in multiple Gaza locations; released Gazan prisoners report abuse by Israeli forces; humanitarians face “hostile” environment, Israel breaking promise to increase aid; “unprecedented” levels of contamination in northern Gaza; Israel announces tents to be built ahead of attack on Rafah; Israel obstructing UN probe, Israelis obstructing aid; Israel and Iran violated int’l law; West Bank deaths as Israeli settlers and military team up, more
Source: Mass Graves In Gaza Reveal Mass Executions | – IMEMC News
Israel’s ‘war’ on Gaza, which has deep roots not only in the European colonial past but in religious mythology and a Zionist ideology that is rigid, chauvinistic and exclusive. All three factors underscore the belief that Jews alone have a right to historic Palestine.
From street protests to the vote uncommitted movement to Aaron Bushnell’s tragic self-immolation, millions of Americans have been voicing outrage over Israel’s assault on Gaza. Government unresponsiveness threatens to worsen our epidemic of political despair.
Source: Americans Are Outraged About the War on Gaza. Will Elites Listen?
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Today we’ll look at the repression of pro-Palestinian voices on campuses across the United States. In a moment we’ll look at Wednesday’s congressional hearings where the president of Columbia University was grilled for hours about accusations of antisemitism on campus. But we begin with the University of Southern California, which continues to be rocked by controversy after canceling the commencement speech of its valedictorian for what it claimed were “safety” reasons after she became the subject of an online anti-Palestinian hate campaign.
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/18/asna_tabassum_censored?jwsource=cl
But this, in fact, is what actual war looks like these days: Sometimes it’s a volley of 300 missiles and drones, and sometimes it is lean, targeted, and carried out covertly. Gone are the days of vast conquering armies and conventional military confrontations between two parties. So long as experts, the government, and the media worry only about a kind of war that is obsolete, it cannot see the war right in front of our faces.
Source: Israel Attack on Iran Is What World War III Looks Like
Rupert Murdoch is now a shadow director of the ABC, and has been for quite a while, with the proof being his propagandists are on most, if not all, ABC news and current affairs shows pushing his lies for his own financial benefit.
The process is almost complete. The Australian Defence Force’s integration into the US military to serve the needs of Washington has been announced, albeit without announcement, this week.
Source: Washington Syndrome: Australia’s sovereignty sell-out hidden in plain sight – Michael West
Peter Singer a hated Jew by Zionists wrote Animal Liberation
Even as the Biden administration vetoes Palestinian statehood, several European states are moving toward full recognition. Their dissent is a welcome crack in the West’s pro-Israel line — but they should back it up with sanctions to punish Israeli apartheid.
Source: Recognize Palestine — and Impose Sanctions on Israel
Armed Israeli settlers raided more than a dozen Palestinian communities under the army’s guard, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.
According to the human rights group Yesh Din, Israeli settlers attacked 11 Palestinian villages and towns on Saturday alone. They threw stones, set fire to more than 100 vehicles, damaged scores of homes and businesses, and slaughtered hundreds of livestock. In the village of Beitin, near Ramallah, settlers shot dead 17-year-old Omar Hamed. In Al-Mughayyir, slightly further north, 25-year-old Jihad Abu Aliya was killed in circumstances that are still somewhat unclear: settlers were attacking the village at the time, but the Israeli army stated that Abu Aliya was killed by their fire. Another incident captured on a security camera shows Israeli soldiers standing guard while settlers set fire to a car in the town of Deir Dibwan, also near Ramallah.
Source: Pogroms surge across West Bank
the ball may now be in the court of the General Assembly, and the International Court of Justice, the advisory opinion of which may greatly strengthen the case against the US/Israeli entity: refer in this regard to my earlier article: International law and Israel’s occupation: Understanding the ICJ advisory opinion case, March 7. What is clearly required is for Palestine to be welcomed as a UN member state, thereby implementing the two-state solution, and leading to peace, justice, and security for both Israel and Palestine.
One can only hope that this negative development will not deter the Australian government from carrying through with its recently expressed consideration of recognition of Palestine as an independent act by Australia.
While Israel tries to focus on the campus “torture of Jews” the real torture goes on behind the mainstream media print
Israel is abusing UNRWA employees detained in Gaza in order to extract forced confessions against the agency, with detainees describing being subjected to acts of torture.
Source: Israel subjects UN workers to torture | The Electronic Intifada
But with military campaigns waged by the U.S. and its allies, media’s humanitarian concerns tend to fade. The uneven deployment of “brutal” seems like a clear case of Western media not just shielding a U.S. ally from justifiable criticism, but actively inciting public hatreds of Palestinians by portraying their violence as exceptionally inhumane despite paling in comparison to that of their colonial oppressor.
Source: Opinion | For Mainstream Media, the Extreme Gore in Gaza Isn’t ‘Brutal’ | Common Dreams
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less’. ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things’. ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all’. – Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass.
we do know that, after October 7, Israel’s leaders intended to inflict terror on Palestinians and commit genocide.
Source: Terrorism is what I say it is – Pearls and Irritations
An Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank has caused some of the “worst destruction in decades”, according to Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi. Residents there say this escalation confirms what they fear most, that after Gaza, the occupied West Bank is Israel’s next target.
Source: Israeli raids cause ‘worst destruction in decades’ in Tulkarem | Israel War on Gaza | Al Jazeera
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to deploy RAF warplanes to shoot down Iranian drones heading for Israel raises serious questions about international law and the spectre of Britain’s involvement in a widening conflict in the Middle East.
Source: RAF’s Support for Israel Stretches Concept of Self Defence
If all goes well for investors the Australian public will end up breaking the corporate code of ‘markets rule’ by keeping unprofitable business functioning and jobs going. That’s the cost of being ‘Made in Australia’.
The moral of this tale? Boards and lenders should treat government predictions as scribble pads and do their own deep-down, on-ground research.
Source: Future Made in Australia? China and Indonesia are listening, nickel and dime – Michael West
In 2013, I wrote a piece titled, “Climate Change: A Layperson’s Dilemma” in which I pointed out the debunked theories of people like Andrew Bolt, Prof Ian Plimer, Tony Abbott, Alan Jones, Barnaby Joyce, Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Roberts, and others who insisted that climate change did not exist.
Science won the day, proving beyond doubt that it indeed did.
Source: Nuclear Energy: A Layperson’s Dilemma – » The Australian Independent Media Network
As we go forward, it is worthwhile to recall a truism about struggle often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: First they ignore you; then they laugh at you; then they fight you; then you win. We have reached Stage 3. They are fighting us. As unpleasant as it is, remember this: The vehemence of the vituperation aimed at us is directly related to how close we are to winning.
Source: Why They Hate Us: Anti-Zionism in the Jewish Community – CounterPunch.org
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