Tag: Food

Why has the Australian Parliament failed to debate the tragedy of Gaza? – Pearls and Irritations

Parliament House 2 Landscape panorama

Australian parliamentarians are responsible for the wellbeing of Australia’s multicultural society but in the last eight months the majority have failed to understand the reaction of those citizens who have experienced colonisation, occupation and war. These Australians are more likely to identify with oppressed people, so they expect their parliamentarians to articulate commitment to international humanitarian law. And of course, as we know many Australians are opposed to militarism as a means to resolve conflict. It is important to recognise those few political representatives who have tried to initiate difficult debate about how Australia should respond when a hitherto trusted ally ignores international law to engage in ethnic cleansing? Australians want to see their representatives and senators engage in informed consideration of complex issues that require sensitivity and courage. Time is running out for many parliamentarians to fulfil their obligations and Australians are watching and waiting for greater responsibility .

Source: Why has the Australian Parliament failed to debate the tragedy of Gaza? – Pearls and Irritations

L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, From Los Angeles to Iran – CounterPunch.org

L’chaim’s opposition to state murder is grounded in the fact that  many at L’chaim like myself – one of its co-founders – are direct descendants of Holocaust survivors. L’chaim carries the torch of one such survivor, Poet Laureate Elie Wiesel, who famously said of capital punishment: “Death is not the answer.”  L’chaim also follows in the footsteps of renowned Jewish theologian Martin Buber, and other Jewish human rights luminaries who opposed the execution of the Nazi mass murderer Adolf Eichmann. Members of L’chaim are keenly aware that the USA continues to carry on the Nazi legacy that is lethal injection, and to erect more and more gas chambers, including those that propose use of Zyklon B, of Auschwitz infamy. L’chaim stands with its partners in Louisiana – the Jews Against Gassing Coalition, chanting loudly together that Jews will “never forget!” As Wiesel said: “With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.”

Source: L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, From Los Angeles to Iran – CounterPunch.org

Aid Agencies Are Running Out of Food as Israel Expands Assault on Rafah – ScheerPost

On Monday, the IDF seized control of the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza near Rafah. That crossing has been used to bring most aid into Gaza since October 7. Since Israel gained control of the Rafah crossing, aid trucks have been unable to deliver food and other lifesaving assistance into Gaza.

Source: Aid Agencies Are Running Out of Food as Israel Expands Assault on Rafah – ScheerPost

Blackout Imposed on Israeli Military Aircraft in U.K.

The British government has imposed a block on all information about Israeli military planes landing in the U.K.

Amidst speculation that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is set to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers, the new blackout could be intended to protect British ministers from possible prosecution for complicity in war crimes, including defence secretary Grant Shapps.

Kenny MacAskill, Alba MP for East Lothian, asked last week how many Israeli Air Force (IAF) planes had landed and taken off from Britain since Oct. 7.

Shapp’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) responded: “For operational security reasons and as a matter of policy, the MoD does not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military aircraft movements or operations.”

However, this is a new policy. MacAskill had asked the same question in February and the MoD revealed that nine IAF planes had visited the U.K. over the previous four months.

Source: Blackout Imposed on Israeli Military Aircraft in U.K.

UN Staffer Among Dozens Killed, Injured by Israeli Attack on Rafah Food Center

A Palestinian medic treats a man injured in an Israeli attack

“The United Nations, its personnel, premises, and assets must be protected at all times,” stressed the head of UNRWA—which says that 400 Palestinian aid-seekers have been killed since last month’s Flour Massacre.

Source: UN Staffer Among Dozens Killed, Injured by Israeli Attack on Rafah Food Center

How to Create an Unlivable Hellscape in Gaza | The Smirking Chimp

Weapons Of Mass Destruction were originally designed and promised to be a defensive deterrent never to be used. We invaded Iraq on a suspicion that proved to be a lie and not just a myth that they were going to use them. We know Israel has them. We are witness to the fact that they are prepared to use them. They are currently demonstrating it with their illegal use of white phosphorus and the tonnage being dropped on the postage stamp known as Gaza. Bush invaded Iraq and now the worm has turned and Biden says it’s all OK why? Oil, oil tankers, and that Gas field off the coast of Gaza are far more important than any Palestinians

The violence inflicted on Palestinians by an Israel backed so strikingly by President Biden and his foreign policy team is unlike anything we had previously witnessed in more or less real-time in the media and on social media. Gaza, its people, and the lands that have sustained them for centuries are being desecrated and transformed into an all too unlivable hellscape, the impact of which will be felt — it’s a guarantee — for generations to come.

Source: How to Create an Unlivable Hellscape in Gaza | The Smirking Chimp

Israel uses Starvation as a Weapon of War in Gaza

While Goebellian Propagandists like Dr. Eli David brag about Israel’s generosity for allowing hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza the drivers report they are being shot at by the Israelis. Fewer trucks enter daily for the 2.3M people than did before this war and back then they were only delivering the calorific minimum. Gazans had to supplement their own food sterilize their own water and queued for 12 hours to seek permission for medical help. Often simply refused and turned back.

The hospitals are now destroyed nothing grows and the civilians are totally imprisoned and living in tents or scavenged plastic. They are being killed,shot like fish in a barrel by 2000-pound American bomb, tanks, snipers, and conscripted troops on the ground. Meanwhile, The Supreme Court of Israel isn’t cheering as loudly as the Netanyahu Government would want and troops are being pulled out. Will the ICJ let this genocidal activity pass?

The use of mass starvation as a weapon of war echoes a historical barbarity that humanity should have long transcended. This egregious strategy, reminiscent of past sieges where starvation was deliberately employed as a tool of warfare, highlights the dire consequences of collective punishment on innocent civilians.

In Gaza, Israel has been deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and other essentials to the besieged enclave’s 2.2 million people.

Source: Israel uses Starvation as a Weapon of War in Gaza

Gaza is deliberately being made uninhabitable – Pearls and Irritations

Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on the El-Remal aera in Gaza City on October 9, 2023. Israel continued to battle Hamas fighters on October 10 and massed tens of thousands of troops and heavy armour around the Gaza Strip after vowing a massive blow over the Palestinian militants' surprise attack. Photo by Naaman Omar apaimages

When people talk about genocide in Gaza, they’re not just talking about the thousands of civilians who’ve been killed in Israeli airstrikes. The policies Israel has been deliberately putting in place have the potential to kill many, many more people than that in the coming months, and if Netanyahu and his goons get their way, that’s exactly what will happen.

Source: Gaza is deliberately being made uninhabitable – Pearls and Irritations

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

Environment: How to feed 10 billion and predict the next Covid

Planet earth and blue human eye -

Capitalism certainly won’t do it

The global population is now 8 billion but the vast majority make little contribution to global warming. The search is on for ways to feed 10 billion sustainably in 2050.

Source: Environment: How to feed 10 billion and predict the next Covid

Next: The Climate Crisis is Coming for Your Food

https://www.juancole.com/images/2019/08/landuse.png

via Next: The Climate Crisis is Coming for Your Food

Trump cuts Palestinians off at Knees, Ending $5 bn in US AID Support

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced that all operations in the West Bank and Gaza will close by early 2019. Half of the agency’s staff are expected to be let go in the coming weeks.

USAID is one of the largest aid organizations in the region, supplying around US$5.5 billion to the occupied Palestinian territories for infrastructure, medical and social services, and humanitarian aid. There is currently no alternative in sight.

Some US$215 million that the United States was to invest in humanitarian aid and development in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip has been withheld, according to an analysis for the U.S. Congress. U.S. financing for UNRWA has also been blocked as part of President Trump’s blackmail tactics against the Palestinians.

via Trump cuts Palestinians off at Knees, Ending $5 bn in US AID Support

Sundrop Farms pioneering solar-powered greenhouse to grow food without fresh water – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A groundbreaking greenhouse that relies on sunlight and sea water to grow tomatoes officially opens next week, 300 kilometres north of Adelaide.

Source: Sundrop Farms pioneering solar-powered greenhouse to grow food without fresh water – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Mass migration is no ‘crisis’: it’s the new normal as the climate changes | Ellie Mae O’Hagan | Comment is free | The Guardian

Migrants from Pakistan rest in a field on the Greek island of Kos

Mass migration is no ‘crisis’: it’s the new normal as the climate changes | Ellie Mae O’Hagan | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Few people realize the food they eat makes up 2/3 of our total water footprint. Credit: Behance Read More: http://www.trueactivist.com/how-much-water-do-you-eat-interesting-infographic-breaks-it-down/

Credit: Behance

How Much Water Do You Eat? Interesting Infographic Breaks It Down

Credit: GRACE Communications