Israel

From Kishinev to Gaza

Ideologically committed Zionists used to treat pogrom victims of over a century ago and survivors of the Nazi genocide with shame and disdain. They were blamed for lacking the courage to fight, for “going as sheep to the slaughter”. Haim Nahman Bialik,

As the Diaspora Jew was a coward, so the Zionist Jew — the New Hebrew, the Israeli Jew — must be a warrior.

Moreover, political compromises with the Palestinians appear suspect and dangerous. Israeli Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin who tried to reach such a compromise was assassinated, effectively putting an end to the idea of a Palestinian state next to Israel.

The state of Israel tends also to dehumanize the Palestinians to vindicate what many experts qualify as genocide. An Israeli high school history teacher was put in solitary confinement  for making Facebook posts showing the names and faces of a few of the 18,000 Palestinians killed during Israel’s assault on Gaza. The Zionist state apparently considers humanizing the Palestinians an existential threat.

Source: From Kishinev to Gaza

Israel

Israel’s War on Gaza Is a Campaign of State Terrorism to Crush the Palestinian People

Image

The Palestine land grab 500,000 Jews gifted citizenship and  land and homes in illegally occupied  West Bank

It is farcical for US politicians to suggest that Israel is trying to avoid killing civilians in Gaza. Mass destruction and intentional killing is an integral part of the Israeli campaign, intended to break Palestinian resistance to occupation and apartheid.

Source: Israel’s War on Gaza Is a Campaign of State Terrorism to Crush the Palestinian People

Israel

Death and destruction in Gaza – Pearls and Irritations

Rafah, Gaza. 12th Dec, 2023. Palestinians gather following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. At least 22 people have been reportedly killed, including seven children, in the bombing by Israel in Rafah on Tuesday. Global calls for a ceasefire have been ignored by Israel and the United States, as humanitarian aid operations have collapsed warning of starvation and disease amongst the Gaza population. Image: Alamy/ Ismael Mohamad/UPI Credit: UPI/Alamy Live News

First, Israel is purposely massacring huge number of civilians, roughly 70 percent of whom are children and women. The claim that Israel is going to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties is belied by statements from high level Israeli officials. For example, the IDF spokesman said on 10 October 2023 that “the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy.” That same day, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced: “I have lowered all the restraints – we will kill everyone we fight against; we will use every means.”

Source: Death and destruction in Gaza – Pearls and Irritations

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Old Dog Thought- We are simply not American yet

Illustration by John Shakespeare

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Israel

“It is vital for us not to look away”: Louise Adler on the place of politics in the arts – Pearls and Irritations

Black and white Keffiyeh isolated on white background. Image:iStock

“The world looked away during the World War, and Jews, 6 million of our people, were murdered in that looking away… It is incumbent upon humanity to look at what is happening in Gaza now and to say we will not accept this. We will say no. Not in our name.” – Louise Adler

Source: “It is vital for us not to look away”: Louise Adler on the place of politics in the arts – Pearls and Irritations

Informed Opinion

Caitlin Johnstone: I Will Not Look Away

I will not look away, because these lives matter and I have a duty to honor them.

I will not look away, because that would be giving the bastards what they want.

I will not look away, because even in my powerlessness to help I still have the power to bear witness.

I will not look away, for the same reason that when my parents are dying I will hold their hand and stay by their bedside until they are gone.

Even if we can’t stop this, at the very least we can give them our seeing.

At the very least we owe them that.

Source: Caitlin Johnstone: I Will Not Look Away

Informed Comment

Opinion | Want to Understand Israel-Palestine? Consume Noam Chomsky, Not Corporate Media | Common Dreams

Noam Chomsky

Over the decades and with few exceptions, in major U.S. media—notably unlike major media in most of the rest of the world—Chomsky has been persona non grata.

Source: Opinion | Want to Understand Israel-Palestine? Consume Noam Chomsky, Not Corporate Media | Common Dreams

Israel

Israel admits to “immense” amount of “friendly fire” on 7 October | The Electronic Intifada

Destroyed cars in a field

Should we be surprised?

Citing new data released by the Israeli military, Zeitun wrote that: “Casualties fell as a result of friendly fire on October 7, but the IDF [Israeli military] believes that … it would not be morally sound to investigate” them.

The Ynet article also reported that “at least” one fifth of the Israeli army deaths in Gaza since the ground invasion began were also due to “friendly fire” incidents.

Israel does indeed appear to be covering up a lot of the evidence

Since that day, there has been a steadily growing mountain of evidence that many – if not most – Israelis killed that day were killed by Israel itself.

Colonel Nof Erez also said that 7 October was a “mass Hannibal” event – a reference to a controversial Israeli military doctrine.

Named after an ancient Carthaginian general who poisoned himself rather than be captured alive, the Hannibal Directive allows Israeli forces to take any means necessary to stop Israelis being captured alive – even at the cost of killing the captives.

Source: Israel admits to “immense” amount of “friendly fire” on 7 October | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

This Far-Right Israeli Soccer Fan Club Provides a Window Into Israel’s Evolving Extremism

“La Familia” is a group of fans that supports Beitar Jerusalem, one of Israel’s most popular football clubs. The quasi-criminal, virulently anti-Arab group has fashioned themselves into political street fighters for the Israeli far right.

Source: This Far-Right Israeli Soccer Fan Club Provides a Window Into Israel’s Evolving Extremism

Israel Crimes

The Forcible Transfer of 85% of Palestinians in Gaza Is a Crime Against Humanity – ScheerPost

The biased chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court condemns Hamas but ignores Israel’s atrocious crimes.

Forcible Transfer Is Crime Against Humanity, War Crime and Genocide

The Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court (ICC) lists the forcible transfer of population as a crime against humanity “when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.” Israeli forces have mounted a widespread and systematic attack against the civilians in Gaza.

Forcible transfer under the Rome Statute “means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law.” There is no legal or moral justification for Israel to forcibly displace 85 percent of the population of Gaza.

The Rome Statute also classifies the “transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory” as a war crime.

Numerous statements by Israeli officials have demonstrated their intent to commit genocide by ethnically cleansing all or part of the population of Gaza. They have vowed to “eliminate everything in Gaza” and turn it into “a city of tents.”

Source: The Forcible Transfer of 85% of Palestinians in Gaza Is a Crime Against Humanity – ScheerPost

Israel

Gaza: Israeli Barbarism With US Support – CounterPunch.org

As for the fanatical Israeli government and the IDF chiefs that are carrying out the slaughter, they are beyond rational engagement. These men, and from what I can see that are all men, are driven by one thing only, its not revenge or some perverted sense of justice, it’s hate. Hate so dense that no light, no compassion and certainly no love can penetrate. Hate so dark it cuts the perpetrator off from their own humanity and allows them to commit unimaginable atrocities again and again and again.

Source: Gaza: Israeli Barbarism With US Support – CounterPunch.org

Israel

The view from Washington: Let the killing in Gaza continue

BLOODLETTING as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it?

Source: The view from Washington: Let the killing in Gaza continue

Climate Change

East Africa’s floods decimate almost entire rainy season harvest leaving over four million people with no food or income – » The Australian Independent Media Network

“At this year’s COP28, rich polluting nations – largely responsible for the climate crisis – must honour their obligation to provide climate finance for adaptation and loss and damage, so that East African countries can free up resources to support impacted communities adapt, recover and rebuild their lives,” added N’zi-Hassane.

Source: East Africa’s floods decimate almost entire rainy season harvest leaving over four million people with no food or income – » The Australian Independent Media Network

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Old Dog Thought- Israel says Hamas is Genocidal, Israel is not. But they chant “Kill Them All”

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Australia's Shame

Cleveland Dodd’s fate is Australia’s national shame

How is it that those who fabricated welfare checks have not been charged? How is it those who locked him in a cell endlessly for months and in which his eyes’ last sight dwindled to fading light and into endless darkness, those who cruelled hopeless fate have not been held to account?

How is it that the people who designed and approved the inhumane Unit 18 have not been named and brought to account? Atonement calls. Family and others say it is an evil place where hopelessness destroys mortal life. Charges? And the guards who ticked off welfare checks at the beginning of their shifts — 60 days later, since a child’s eyes closed in that cell, never to open again, how have there been no charges? Fated a child’s death in that dank, dark dungeon.

Source: Cleveland Dodd’s fate is Australia’s national shame

Asylum Seekers

Nowhere to go. Refugees stranded in Indonesia while the world looks away. – Michael West

In 2002, fifty nations – including Australia – set up the Bali Process to sort out the tragedy of boat people. Since then, hundreds of asylum seekers have drowned trying to reach Australia and Indonesia. The boats have stopped, but the refugees are still coming. Duncan Graham reports from Aceh, ground zero for people smugglers.

Source: Nowhere to go. Refugees stranded in Indonesia while the world looks away. – Michael West

Israel

Kill them all – Pearls and Irritations

Central London 9 December 2023 Thousands of Pro Palestine, gathered in central London by Whitehall and Trafalgar Square to demand an immediate cease of fire in Gaza. Image: Alamy/Paul Quezafa-Neiman/Alamy Live News

Tel Aviv, 2016 a banner said, No matter how many Palestinians the Israeli Occupation Forces kill, the cry will always be ‘Kill them all’.

This is a direct quote from a banner that was paraded in Tel Aviv in 2016 in support of the Israeli soldier, Elor Azaria who shot, at point blank range, a Palestinian teenager, Abdel Fattah al-Sharif two years earlier. No matter how many Palestinians the Israeli Occupation Forces kill, the cry will always be ‘Kill them all’.

That same cry was repeated last month, by a Floridian USA law-maker, Michelle Salzman, during a debate on the possible call for cease fire, when her colleague, Florida State representative, Angie Nixon said “We’re at 10,000 dead Palestinians. How many will be enough?”

“All of them,” replied Salzman.

This method and this message for dealing with us has always been the same. For the last 120 years.

Kill them all.

Ze’ev Jabotinsky, David Ben Gurion, Menachem Begin, Yizhak Shamir, Golda Meir, Yizhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ariel Sharon, Ben Gvr, Bezalel Smotrich, Rafael Eitan, Moshe Dayan, Chaim Weizmann, et al – have all made it very clear that there is no room in Palestine for Palestinians. Get rid of them.

Kill them all.

Source: Kill them all – Pearls and Irritations

Informed Comment

Antony Loewenstein and Chris Hedges
Israel

Not “Surrounded by Enemies:” Regional Powers Egypt and Turkey retain Ties with Israel during Gaza Conflict despite Critical Rhetoric

Having been gifted the State of Israel in 1948 it was never going to be enough.  The Ashkenazi Zionists, European Jews, have always wanted the whole of Palestine. Today 500,000 colonists have invaded the West Bank and yes they want it all. They were drawn to the promise of “free land” and full Israeli citizenship and the money Netanyahu intended to give them. Genocide has been on Israel’s agenda since 1948 whether to “kill them all” a slogan unashamedly heard or by total dispossession and the final Nakba. Palestinians have no place according to the Israeli mindset in their land between the river and the sea. Is it any wonder 66% of Jews don’t live in Israel and 2 out of 3  don’t want to?

To conclude, despite a checkered relationship between Israel and the two regional powers of Turkey and Egypt, Israel’s claim that it is pitted in the Middle East alone against a swarm of enemies is unfounded and misleading. While enemies of the Israeli state unmistakably exist, opposition to Israeli policies and their mistreatment of Palestinians does not equate to a call for Israel’s destruction. The change in both Türkiye and Egypt’s rhetoric toward Israel constitutes a critique of in Israel’s policies. The biggest and best-armed countries in the region other than Israel itself have remained uneasy economic and security partners for Tel Aviv throughout this crisis.

Source: Not “Surrounded by Enemies:” Regional Powers Egypt and Turkey retain Ties with Israel during Gaza Conflict despite Critical Rhetoric

Israel, Israel Crimes

The Forcible Transfer of 85% of Palestinians in Gaza Is a Crime Against Humanity | The Smirking Chimp

Once again, the U.S. has provided Israel with political and diplomatic cover for its war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. However they claim to be “concerned”

Source: The Forcible Transfer of 85% of Palestinians in Gaza Is a Crime Against Humanity | The Smirking Chimp

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel Hamas: Maghazi refugee camp buiding flattened, hospitals hit

Shells that appear to be white phosphorus from Israeli artillery explode over Dahaira, a Lebanese border village with Israel, on October 16.

America reputedly the best Intelligence Agency in the world is “concerned” about the reported use of white phosphorus. This is the ally that reportedly claims to have our backs.

US concerned about Israel’s reported use of white phosphorus

An Israeli airstrike flattened a residential building where some 80 people were staying in the Maghazi refugee camp. A neighbour said only six made it out.

Source: Israel Hamas: Maghazi refugee camp buiding flattened, hospitals hit

Uncategorized

Israel committing “horrific crimes” against starving civilians in Gaza | The Electronic Intifada

The Israeli military is committing “horrific crimes” against civilians in Gaza, a human rights group said on Sunday.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called for an “urgent international investigation” into field executions, torture and threats of rape against Palestinians by Israeli ground forces in Gaza.

Source: Israel committing “horrific crimes” against starving civilians in Gaza | The Electronic Intifada

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Old Dog Thought- No details required promoters and delay strategists welcome

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ALP Government,

The scam within a scam. US, UK officials are flying high on the AUKUS teat. – Michael West

Flying High

In October, MWM revealed that the Australian Submarine Agency had spent $15.2 million taxpayer dollars on travel over two years. But wait, there’s more to that story. Much more.

Source: The scam within a scam. US, UK officials are flying high on the AUKUS teat. – Michael West

Truth in Humor

Marxists, Liberals, Socialists And Education Are A Poor Mix… – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Is a Marxist, a socialist? And If the Nazis were the National Socialists does that mean that they were left wing because they had the word “socialist” in their name? And if the Nazis are socialists, does that mean that US Republicans should despise the Liberal Party because of the word “Liberal” in their name and we all know that liberals are responsible for evils like women’s rights and books in libraries? And should we consider that Nationals suspiciously because they share at least part of their name with the National Socialist Party or Nazis?

Source: Marxists, Liberals, Socialists And Education Are A Poor Mix… – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Trump

Vermin – CounterPunch.org

Sue Coe’s drawing, published here for the first time, exposes the internal contradictions of the word “vermin” as applied to either humans or animals. It shows the former president squatting on a toadstool, throwing a tantrum, observed by thoughtful and sensitive animals (so-called vermin!) in a forest clearing. The rats, mice, rabbit, snail, and moth (holding a lantern) watch the performance with a combination of amusement and alarm. They know that the only creature acting like a beast – like vermin — is the bawling human. The phantom above who sternly presides over the scene is Hitler.

Source: Vermin – CounterPunch.org

Israel

The View from Washington: Let the Killing in Gaza Continue – » The Australian Independent Media Network

As this farcical theatre of constipated morality unfolded, the Biden administration was happy to beef up the Israeli war machine by asking Congress to urgently approve the sale of 45,000 shells for the IDF’s Merkava tanks to aid its offensive in Gaza. The sale, worth around $500 million, does not form part of Biden’s $110.5 billion supplemental request that covers funding for both Ukraine and Israel.

In pursuing such a course of action, be it defending Israel’s policies in the Security Council, or via armaments, the US is effectively colluding in the perpetration of crimes against humanity. This was certainly the view of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said in a statement released by his office that “the American position is aggressive and immoral, a flagrant violation of all humanitarian principles and values, and holds the United States responsible for the bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and elderly people in the Gaza Strip.”

Source: The View from Washington: Let the Killing in Gaza Continue – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Israel

Half of Palestinians in Gaza are now Starving; Depriving Civilians of Food is a War Crime

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United Nations warned on Saturday that half the population of Gaza is now starving. The World Food Programme (WFP) had reported at the end of November that in the north of Gaza, about half of the people were suffering ‘severe levels of hunger.’ Meanwhile, nearly everyone had inadequate levels of food consumption, i.e. they were getting less than the recommended calories per day. While a couple of weeks ago 37% of the people in the south of Gaza were were experiencing severe levels of hunger, the relatively better condition of people in the south

Source: Half of Palestinians in Gaza are now Starving; Depriving Civilians of Food is a War Crime

India

Secret Indian Memo Ordered “Concrete Measures” Against Hardeep Singh Nijjar Two Months Before His Assassination in Canada – The Intercept

Canada Surrey Shooting

A document obtained by The Intercept shows India was targeting Sikh separatists with a “sophisticated crackdown scheme” in the West.

Source: Secret Indian Memo Ordered “Concrete Measures” Against Hardeep Singh Nijjar Two Months Before His Assassination in Canada – The Intercept

Trump

Mary Trump Issues Dire Prediction About Second Donald Trump Term

Donald Trump

“It would be the end of American democracy. America would become a leading autocratic nation in the world and we would be, therefore, emboldening countries like some of those you mentioned earlier, North Korea, China, but also the pro-autocratic tendencies of countries that haven’t entirely lost their way, but are well on their way to, like Hungary and Turkey,” she said.

Source: Mary Trump Issues Dire Prediction About Second Donald Trump Term

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Old Dog Thought- MAGA is the military arm of the Republican Party. The IRA the arm of Sein Fein. Hamas is the military arm of a Democratically elected Palestinian government. Only one never allowed to exist

May be a graphic of text that says 'LATEST GAZA TOLL: 17,177 KILLED 7,700 MISSING 46,000 WOUNDED 194 MOSQUES WERE DAMAGED, OF WHICH 104 WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED 253,000 HOUSING UNITS WERE DAMAGED 52,000 HOUSING UNITS WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED'

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ALP Government,

Labor losers – Pearls and Irritations

Governor General Swearing in Albanese Government 2022

The emptiness of modern Labor is now on full display: maligning refugees, promoting fossil fuels, tinkering around the edge of social crisis, pandering to the wealthy, condoning mass murder, adopting policies of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison.

Source: Labor losers – Pearls and Irritations

Climate Change

Nations clash over COP28 fossil fuels phase-out

COP28 delegates are still negotiating the agreed language around moving away from fossil fuels.

Observers in the negotiations said Saudi Arabia and Russia were among several countries insisting that the conference in Dubai focus only on reducing climate pollution — and not on targeting the fossil fuels causing it.

Source: Nations clash over COP28 fossil fuels phase-out

Neoliberalism

Choosing Justice, Peace, and Decency over Anti-Social Neoliberalism – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Choosing justice, peace, and decency over neoliberalism is essential for creating a better world. It is up to all of us to work towards a society that values the well-being of all its members, and that recognizes the interconnectedness of all life on Earth. By promoting these values, we can build a world that is just, peaceful, and sustainable for generations to come.

Source: Choosing Justice, Peace, and Decency over Anti-Social Neoliberalism – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Israel

Refaat Alareer was assassinated by Israel | The Electronic Intifada

A man dressed in a graduation gown seated among others dressed the same way

This was not the first time the writer, poet and educator was bombed.

“Everything is intentional”

A recent investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call exposed how the Israeli army is using artificial intelligence to generate more targets to hit in Gaza.

Citing intelligence sources, the report said that “the Israeli army has files on the vast majority of potential targets in Gaza — including homes — which stipulate the number of civilians who are likely to be killed in an attack on a particular target.”

“Nothing happens by accident,” one source said.

“When a 3-year-old girl is killed in a home in Gaza, it’s because someone in the army decided it wasn’t a big deal for her to be killed — that it was a price worth paying in order to hit [another] target,” the source added.

“We are not Hamas. These are not random rockets. Everything is intentional. We know exactly how much collateral damage there is in every home.”

The fact that the home of Refaat’s sister was the only apartment attacked in the building that evening contributes to the conclusion that he was deliberately targeted.

Source: Refaat Alareer was assassinated by Israel | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Israel’s AI can produce 100 bombing targets a day in Gaza. Is this the future of war?

Last week, reports emerged that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are using an artificial intelligence (AI) system called Habsora (Hebrew for “The Gospel”) to select targets in the war on Hamas in Gaza. The system has reportedly been used to find more targets for bombing, to link locations to Hamas operatives, and to estimate likely numbers of civilian deaths in advance.

Source: Israel’s AI can produce 100 bombing targets a day in Gaza. Is this the future of war?

Israel

On How Israeli/US War Crimes in Gaza are orders of Magnitude Worse than those of Russia in Ukraine

The Biden administration has spent most of its diplomatic energy since the February 24, 2022, Russian invasion of Ukraine marshaling the world to punish the Russian Federation, to boycott its petroleum and gas, to seize assets even of private citizens in Europe and North America, and to make Russia a pariah. Russia certainly violated the UN Charter in attacking Ukraine and formally occupying part of that country, and it has extensively violated International Humanitarian Law with its indiscriminate bombings and drone attacks. So please don’t misunderstand me. Let me repeat that Russia has violated international

Proportionally, Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza is many, many times that of Russia in Ukraine, and this would be true even if Russia has killed ten times as many civilians as the UN estimates.

As for children, the Israeli killing of minors is so far off the charts compared to Russia in Ukraine that you’d have to move to Mars to do the math.

All this figuring is not intended to in any way diminish the seriousness of Russian war crimes. It is to underline the weirdly monstrous death toll being imposed on noncombatants in Gaza by Israel.

If Blinken is right that “Bucha is not normal. Mariupol is not normal. Irpin is not normal. Bombing schools and hospitals and apartment buildings to rubble is not normal,” then neither are Jabaliya, Gaza City, or Khan Younis normal. Bombing schools and apartment buildings in Gaza is not normal.

 

Source: On How Israeli/US War Crimes in Gaza are orders of Magnitude Worse than those of Russia in Ukraine

Uncategorized

White House Says No Deadline for Israel to End Gaza Onslaught – ScheerPost

Biden fails to explain why?

US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said Thursday that the Biden administration has not set a deadline on Israel’s war in Gaza and reiterated US opposition to a ceasefire.

Source: White House Says No Deadline for Israel to End Gaza Onslaught – ScheerPost

Israel

Biden administration uses emergency authority to sell tank shells to Israel | Biden administration | The Guardian

Israeli Defense Forces' Merkava tanks lined up with soldiers atop.

Biden administration uses emergency authority to sell tank shells to Israel The state department used an emergency declaration to sell $106.5m worth of ammo for Israel’s Merkava tanks Reuters Sun 10 Dec 2023 06.10 AEDT The Biden administration has used an emergency authority to allow the sale of about 14,000 tank shells to Israel without congressional review, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

The state department on Friday used an Arms Export Control Act emergency declaration for the tank rounds worth $106.5m for immediate delivery to Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The shells are part of a bigger sale that was first reported by Reuters on Friday that the Biden administration is asking the US Congress to approve. The larger package is worth more than $500m and includes 45,000 shells for Israel’s Merkava tanks, regularly deployed in its offensive in Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians.

Source: Biden administration uses emergency authority to sell tank shells to Israel | Biden administration | The Guardian

Informed Comment, Israel

Chris Hedges: The Evil Israel Does is the Evil Israel Gets – ScheerPost

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council voted 13-1 for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and unconditional release of all hostages. The U.S. voted against the resolution. The U.K. abstained. The draft resolution was not adopted due to the U.S. veto.

Source: Chris Hedges: The Evil Israel Does is the Evil Israel Gets – ScheerPost

Trump

Donald Trump’s dream team looks like an American nightmare | Salon.com

Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, Melania Trump and Tucker Carlson (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

For vice president, Trump is considering Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, MAGA superstar Kari Lake, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Byron Donalds, R-Fl., is also on the list as is fellow Floridian Matt Gaetz. Melania Trump is reportedly pushing for Tucker Carlson. Seriously. (Nobody thinks he would be a good fit, however, because “he can’t be controlled,” which is hilarious.)

Carlson and Trump are on the horn regularly, however, and he is apparently advocating for the odious Stephen Miller, the mastermind of Trump’s heinous immigration program, for, wait for it, attorney general because he’s “a serious person.” It’s not a bad guess that this is being considered since Miller is currently working on the recruitment of an army of right-wing lawyers to staff a MAGA-dominated executive branch.

Source: Donald Trump’s dream team looks like an American nightmare | Salon.com

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Old Dog Thought- The Anglosphere,Settler Colonials All Support Israel UK, US, Australia, Canada, NZ. All derivatives of the British East India Company that gave birth to Corporate Capitalism

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Israel

‘Disastrous’: US Vetoes Cease-Fire Resolution at UN Security Council

A Palestinian man covered in dust holds the hand of a weeping child

As the United Nations humanitarian chief warned that aid workers in Gaza are “hanging on by our fingertips” as they try to mitigate an “untenable” disaster, and with Americans’ support for Israel’s U.S-backed bombardment of the enclave eroding, the United States on Friday vetoed a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire at the U.N. Security Council.

Source: ‘Disastrous’: US Vetoes Cease-Fire Resolution at UN Security Council

Colonialism

Explaining the Gaza genocide: Settler colonialism in Palestine – Pearls and Irritations

Palestinian Loss of Land 1947 to Present. israel vs Palestinian war. israel-Palestinian map

In a settler colonial state, the indigenous population has to be physically erased because they are an ongoing reminder of the violence and injustice that occurred at the foundation of the political community. Their continuing existence constitutes a legal and political challenge to the state’s legitimacy.

Noam Chomsky argues,

The movement that developed (ie the Jewish settlement of Israel) … is a settler-colonial society. Like the USA, Australia, the Anglosphere. Israel is one of them. It’s not a small point. If you take a look at the international support for Israel’s policies, it’s of course primarily the USA, but secondarily it’s the Anglosphere. Australia, Canada … I suspect there is a kind of intuitive feeling on the part of the population. Look, we did it, it must be right. So they are doing it, so it must be right. The settler-colonial societies have a different kind of mentality. We did exterminate or expel the indigenous population so there has to be something justified about it – superior civilisation or other ideas…. Israel has had the problem that it’s a twentieth-century version of a seventeenth – through nineteenth-century colonialism. That’s the problem.

 

Source: Explaining the Gaza genocide: Settler colonialism in Palestine – Pearls and Irritations

Informed Comment

Finkelstein and Cornel West
ALP Government,

Carbon Captured: Santos emails reveal gas giant orchestrated “Environment Protection” laws – Michael West

Barossa, Santos, Sea Dumping Bill, fossil fuels, gas

In the shadows COP28 Climate Summit and mega-merger news from Woodside and Santos, Santos made a secret deal with government to extend emissions

Roll on emissions

The problem with all of this is that the CCS technology that is intended to store carbon emissions from the Barossa Field into the depleted Bayu-Undan field in Timor-Leste waters doesn’t actually work. Gallagher’s letter says as much.

Santos will proceed with the project, not dealing with their emissions. They’ll dangle CCS technology around as a future emissions solution and they’ll also use it to delay expenditure on remediating Bayu-Undan.

And they’ve got the Government captured – hook, line, and sinker.  

Prime Minister Albanese has taken great pains to assure Tokyo that Australia would continue as “a reliable supplier of energy for Japan.” It is, he says, “a very good relationship.”

At the COP28 climate talks in Dubai meanwhile, Minister Bowen is in lockstep with the Japanese spruiking “abatement,” which is code for CCS, as the miracle tool that will allow massive carbon emissions to continue in an overheating world.  

That Australian Government commitment sets up Santos CEO Gallagher nicely for his merger discussions with Woodside. 

Meanwhile, the Earth burns … and carbon capture and storage still don’t work.

Source: Carbon Captured: Santos emails reveal gas giant orchestrated “Environment Protection” laws – Michael West

Informed Comment

As I get older, change becomes both a nightmare and a necessity – » The Australian Independent Media Network

A philosopher once said:

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy on not fighting the old, but on building the future.”

Source: As I get older, change becomes both a nightmare and a necessity – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Neoliberalism

The Transformation of Australian Society: A Neoliberal Perspective – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Neoliberalism is a disguise for what has existed throughout the 19th Century in Australia when people living here were defined as deserving and undeserving. The deserving rich were granted Indigenous land leases the poor were allowed charity as long as they were white and Christian exceptions were even made for some Jews, Muslims, Irish and Catholics but never for blacks. It was a perspective not radically different today.

Neoliberal policies have led to a shift in the Australian welfare state policy agenda favouring the free market, small government, and reduced social expenditure. These policies have resulted in the retrenchment of the welfare state, with the introduction of forms of conditional welfare that require participants to conform to behavioural or attitudinal tests to keep eligibility for certain payments. Consequently, even individuals with a university degree now struggle to secure full-time employment.

Source: The Transformation of Australian Society: A Neoliberal Perspective – » The Australian Independent Media Network

ALP Government,

Nothing to see here. Albo’s vows of transparency vanish in a veil of secrecy – Michael West

Veil of Secrecy

The Senate has handed down its report into the operation of Commonwealth Freedom of Information laws, and Labor reports ‘nothing to see here’. Transparency warrior Rex Patrick looks at the inquiry’s findings.

‘Nothing to see’ is indeed an accurate reflection of the state of the FOI regime, because that’s how most FOI requests are returned … with nothing.

The majority view expressed in the report by the Greens and the Liberals was that it is a completely broken system, but the Labor view is that it is sitting pretty much where the Government wants it.

Source: Nothing to see here. Albo’s vows of transparency vanish in a veil of secrecy – Michael West

Enviroment

Thousands of tonnes of dead fish wash ashore in Japan

Sardines and mackerel on a beach in Hakodate, Hokkaido.

“We don’t know for sure under what circumstances these fish were washed up, so I do not recommend” eating them, Fujioka said.

Source: Thousands of tonnes of dead fish wash ashore in Japan