Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War

[Sirus]

https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/article-826573

The IDF's military operation in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip came as a surprise to the terrorists in the area, the military said on Monday.

“The surprise for Hamas was complete. We trapped hundreds of terrorists inside the camp, including senior operatives," the IDF said, adding that the terror group had used the population as human shields for over a week and had shot at the legs of residents who attempted to escape.

[Rizotto]

Apparently, even Haaretz has a problem with the recent Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, however, (deleted). Unfortunately I can’t access the full article. The front page photo accompanying the article is quite telling. Take a look.

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024...b-d7ffd6900000

"Trump's Revolting Festival of Racism, Hatred, Ignorance and Venom at Madison Square Garden"

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Rizotto (here)
Apparently, even Haaretz has a problem with the recent Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, however, it seems to be about perceived ‘antisemitism’… Unfortunately I can’t access the full article. The front page photo accompanying the article is quite telling. Take a look.

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024...b-d7ffd6900000

"Trump's Revolting Festival of Racism, Hatred, Ignorance and Venom at Madison Square Garden"

Here's the full article. I feel it may be prudent not to comment about any of it. I'm just accurately copying what Haaretz published.

~~~

Trump's Revolting Festival of Racism, Hatred, Ignorance and Venom at Madison Square Garden

The crass, vitriolic and incendiary GOP rally in New York on Sunday was a deliberate echo of infamous 'America First' events from 1939 and 1941, but will it have any impact on November 5? In an election that will likely be won based on seven swing states, narrow margins could matter


Trump-supporting entrepreneur Grant Cardone making an offensive gesture while speaking at the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, New York, on Sunday.

Oct 29, 2024 5:04 pm IST

In 2004, acclaimed U.S. author Philip Roth published his novel "The Plot Against America." The book, later adapted into an HBO miniseries, focuses on Roth's Jewish family in early 1940s Newark, NJ, and describes a dystopian, alternative history of the United States (and, inevitably, World War II). The main theme is that Charles Lindbergh, campaigning on neutrality and isolationism but with pro-German inclinations, latent and then open antisemitism and an authoritarian police-state America, won the 1940 election against Franklin D. Roosevelt.

That is exactly what the Trump campaign evoked on Sunday, providing a glimpse into an America under a second Donald Trump term. Take his words and statements for it. It reflects a racist, white supremacist, angry, misogynistic, xenophobic, undemocratic and quasi-fascist United States. Even if he ends up losing the election next week, have no doubt that anywhere between 72 and 75 million Americans will vote for this dark vision and mutation of their country.

Not since February 1939 did Madison Square Garden, in the heart of New York City, witness a more crass, vitriolic and incendiary performance than the one the Trump campaign proudly exhibited on Sunday.

In 1939, the German American Bund, a branch of the Nazi Party, organized a "Support Germany" rally at MSG. Fritz Julius Kuhn, a Nazi activist and head of the Bund, spoke against the backdrop of a huge portrait of George Washington adorned with swastikas on either side. Kuhn was later imprisoned as a German agent, but Lindbergh's "America First" platform was fully embraced by Trump and his MAGA movement. In 1941, Lindbergh had a Madison Square Garden rally of his own, calling for an "America First" approach to World War II.


The crowd responding with a Hitler salute as uniformed members of a German-American Bund guard march at the 1939 gathering in Madison Square Garden.

The comparisons are reinforced by what actually transpired at Trump's rally. The procession of raging half-lunatics included a stand-up comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage" and commented that the Hispanic community is not good at using contraceptives. That elicited the ire of cultural luminaries of Puerto Rican descent such as rapper Bad Bunny, musician Marc Anthony, actress Jennifer Lopez, journalist Geraldo Rivera and others. For ethnic balance and fairness, Hinchcliffe also noted that Jews are cheap.

"Hatred is not a bug but a feature of Trump's campaign," Congressman Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, said in response on Monday.


U.S. comedian Tony Hinchcliffe speaking during the campaign rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.Credit:

Pennsylvania, perhaps the most critical of the seven swing states next week, is home to some 500,000 Puerto Rican Americans. So, in an election that may be decided by a few thousand votes in each of those states, the political debacle here is clear.

That was followed by old Trump friend David Rem, who described Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as "the Antichrist." Then came the self-described conservative intellectual Tucker Carlson, a Vladimir Putin sycophant, Benjamin Netanyahu groupie and Trump cheerleader. He said that Harris, a "Samoan-Malaysian," wants to be the first low-IQ California attorney general president. Harris is neither Malaysian nor Samoan, and even Putin reportedly called Carlson – fired by Fox News for remarks negatively affecting advertisers – "not a very smart person."


Donald Trump and Melania Trump listening to Lee Greenwood at the MSG campaign rally on Sunday.

Then came a pedigree bigot, Stephen Miller, a former Trump adviser on immigration in the White House and the most grotesque imitation of Joseph Goebbels a Jewish person is capable of. Yes, a grandchild of Jewish refugees from Belarus stood up and proclaimed that "America is for Americans and Americans only." Insert "Germany" where "America" was used and you'll get the gist of it.

MAGA merchandise was on sale outside MSG, including T-shirts with the oh-so-classy and clever text "Say no to the Hoe" (a misspelling of "ho"). In 2016, the Trump campaign sold T-shirts stating "Vote Trump not Tramp," directed at Hillary Clinton. In the meantime, the Jesus of Mar-a-Lago was found liable for sexual assault and paying off a porn star, so the use of the word "ho" should come as no surprise at these toxic, misogynistic rallies.

In the ast several months, Trump has upped the ante of his racist and derogatory remarks. But it's not just the blatant and crude racism. It's the adopted fascist terminology, centered around "they" – those who are different from us, those who are "enemies from within," as Trump often describes them. They are poisoning the blood of our country. They are eating the cats and dogs. They are murderous immigrants with bad genes. They are criminals purposely deported from their home countries. They tried to assassinate him.


Protesters rallying across the street from Madison Square Garden during the Trump rally on Sunday.

Nothing about the MSG rally was a coincidence. Choosing it as the venue was a defiant, attention-grabbing "in-your-face" move, meant to draw parallels to 1939 and 1941. Trump will not win New York; nor is New York City his official place of residence – Palm Beach, Florida, is.

After the horror show warm-up was over, an incoherent 78-year-old man rambled on for 78 minutes and doubled down on his plans: deport millions of immigrants; arrests journalists; use the military to go after political rivals who will surely "cheat and steal the election"; fire federal "deep state" workers and replace them with loyal cronies; deconstruct the checks and balances.

"We will use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798," exclaimed Trump, a known history buff. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, of which the Alien Enemies Act was part, was intended to deal with agents from countries that are at war with the United States. It was last used in 1941-1942 to place Japanese-American citizens in internment camps after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.


Supporters cheering as they watch a live transmission of Sunday's rally for Donald Trump, outside Madison Square Garden.

Just in the past week, Trump has explained (not for the first time) that he would have negotiated an accord between the Union and Confederacy, and that Abraham Lincoln was distraught after his son Tad died – except that Tad Lincoln died in 1871, six years after Lincoln was assassinated. He also said he wants to be a "whale psychiatrist," since wind farms are driving the "whales fricking crazy" – but that's another story.

The conventional wisdom in American politics since Trump's announcement in 2015 that he was running for president is that nothing he says, no amount of vitriol, racism, sexism or ludicrously false statements he spews, damages him politically. That is by and large true, given that Trumpism and MAGA have become a broad movement of grievances and anger that outgrew and will likely outlive Trump himself.

Many of Trump's voters are cult-like voters for whom he is Jesus suffering for their sins. They vote for him not despite of what he says, but exactly because of what and how he says things.

But in an election that will likely be won by small margins across five, six or seven states, margins matter immensely and the Madison Square Garden rally may have an effect on three groups of heterogeneous voters: middle-aged white men who trend Republican but are unhappy with Trump and would have found it hard to vote for a non-white woman; soft Trump voters who dislike him but are wary of Harris even more and may now stay home; and an increase in the Hispanic, particularly Puerto Rican, voter turnout.


A man holding a "Racist" sign during a "Resist Facism" protest as Donald Trump holds his campaign rally at Madison Square Garden.

Madison Square Garden, as a singular event, will not change the course of the election because it is all blended, baked and factored into intentions and polls. The one thing it may affect is Democratic voter turnout, and that is where this election will be won or lost.

[Rizotto]

Posted by Hermoor (here)

Posted by Tintin (here)
Yes, a definite must watch if only to gawp in amazement at the madness of Rudi, and I really think it is, madness.

It's chilling and disgusting and so much more. We can practically see the evil and insanity frothing out of him.


Source: https://www.bitchute.com/video/LOrpGLqnd7Wo/


Here's another similarly lost soul. Howard Lutnick, said to be the head of the Trump transition team?


Source: https://www.bitchute.com/video/2JpR714PpwRJ/


Considering what Giuliani and Lutnick experienced on 9/11 alone, it's obvious they are both totally compromised and amongst the worst of bad actors.

And here's what these bad actors always seem to have as a prominent common denominator.


Source: https://www.bitchute.com/video/4CIcKeg7Ggil/

__________________

Personal note: The growing public awareness of Israel’s role in 9/11 is probably at the basis of the unhinged behavior of US politicians on both sides.

Their perpetual show of support for Israel has got to sap a lot of energy out of these deep state politicians who got paid to look the other way while Americans were killed on 9/11, or even participated in the setup of the 9/11 false flag, as well as the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. It’s become increasingly difficult to reconcile irrational lies with factual reality, and the strain is now obvious. That’s the only way I could explain Giuliani’s (and others) speech at the recent Trump rally.

[Bill Ryan]

In a livestream that started just a few minutes ago, Chris Martenson covers exactly the same topic as the Haaretz article a couple of posts above tries to portray — depicting Trump as some kind of ruthless Fascist Nazi.

The truth, Martenson points out, is that Fascism isn't to be found in Trump and his policies: it's there in plain sight in the media and big tech, in close consort with the current White House administration.

Confession by Projection tips their Hand; More Violence on the Way

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=T4sEbVUfYSw

Edit to add:

This did very much hang on the back of the Haaretz article, but it's more about the US election (and gross manipulation in the US media) than about Israel. So —>

[shaberon]

I'm not sure if I have ever heard of the West Bank defending itself:

Nablus, Occupied West Bank – In a fierce confrontation, Palestinian resistance fighters from the al-Quds Brigades and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades forced Israeli occupation forces (IOF) to withdraw from the Ain Camp in Nablus, occupied West Bank, during the early hours of Tuesday.

The al-Quds Brigades – Jenin and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fiercely engaged the IOF as they stormed the Ain Camp, directly targeting and hitting the soldiers, forcing them to retreat. The al-Quds Brigades – Nablus also confirmed that their fighters, alongside other Palestinian freedom fighters, confronted the IOF raid across multiple fronts, showering the occupation forces with intense gunfire.

Meanwhile, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced that their fighters discovered and directly engaged a special Israeli occupation forces that had infiltrated the camp, using machine guns and scoring direct hits.

Field sources reported that the IOF had requested reinforcements in Nablus, completely besieging the camp. Fierce armed confrontations erupted after the special Israeli force was discovered, with the resistance fighters successfully repelling the IOF raid.

Additionally, IOF arrested a young Palestinian man after besieging and storming his home, before eventually withdrawing from the camp.

Meanwhile, the Russian position is becoming clear:

Vasily Nebenzya made the remarks on Monday at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the Israeli terrorist assault against Iran that killed five people, including four Army officers and a civilian, on Saturday.

"Had it not been for the successful operation of Iran’s air defense system, which was on high alert, the number of casualties and injuries, primarily among civilians, would have been entirely different," he said.

The Russian envoy also warned that the Israeli raid not only violates international law, but also destabilizes the already highly tense situation in West Asia.

In the early hours of Saturday, Israeli warplanes used US-controlled airspace over Iraq to fire missiles at military installations in Iran’s Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam provinces in flagrant breach of the country's national sovereignty.

How does the U. S. control Iraqi airspace? Would that happen to be by force?


...


The trial runs have shown that Iranian offensive and defensive capabilities are superior.

That's oblivious to its own air force, which, I am not sure is a great contender to dogfight the other one. That is, if they were to enter Iranian territory; that's usually not part of their plan, so, Iran has probably not focused that kind of defense.


Unfortunately, Iraq has a separatist element in Anbar:


For a number of Anbar tribal leaders, it doesn’t matter who their allies are, the Zionists, the Americans, or even Satan himself, the main thing is to realize their archaic dreams of creating their own Emirate.


Again, here, I'm not sure the modern country is much more than foreign map-making done to the Ottoman Empire, similar to Sykes-Picot. They arbitrarily stamp these Anbar people under the same government as the Kurds, who are defrayed by being cut by two of the boundaries of these new countries. Consequently, it is realistic that Israel does have influence in Iraq and some of the Kurds. I'm not sure it will do them a tremendous amount of further good, but there is some truth to it.

[Rizotto]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
In a livestream that started just a few minutes ago, Chris Martenson covers exactly the same topic as the Haaretz article a couple of posts above tries to portray — depicting Trump as some kind of ruthless Fascist Nazi.

The truth, Martenson points out, is that Fascism isn't to be found in Trump and his policies: it's there in plain sight in the media and big tech, in close consort with the current White House administration.

Confession by Projection tips their Hand; More Violence on the Way

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=T4sEbVUfYSw

Edit to add:

This did very much hang on the back of the Haaretz article, but it's more about the US election (and gross manipulation in the US media) than about Israel. So —>

Thank you Bill for pointing that out. Indeed, it appears to be media manipulation of the public by conflating events which are not even related.

When I posted above the title and link to Haaretz article, not having read it, I was under the impression that it discussed antisemitism at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden. In fact it doesn’t at all. The Haaretz article doesn’t even have anything to do with Israel.

It is curious that the Haaretz article does not refer at all to Rudi Giuliani’s extreme pro-Israel speech.

And it’s mind boggling that both the Haaretz & MSNBC articles bring up the same 1939 and 1941 Nazi rallies at Madison Square Garden in the context of the Trump rally, when in fact they’re completely unrelated.

I’m inclined to think that Haaretz and the MSNBC articles were somehow in collusion about deflecting the public’s attention from relevant issues, such as pro-Israel extremism and the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. I would expect that from MSNBC, but am disappointed with Haaretz.

[Rizotto]

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241029/ho...120718620.html

October 29, 2024

How Israel's Ban of UNRWA Could Worsen Already Acute Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

The Israeli parliament has barred the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and dramatically curtailed its activities in occupied Gaza.
UNRWA provided education, health care, relief and social services, infrastructure and camp improvement, microfinance and emergency response to Palestinians.
The Israeli laws targeting UNRWA have set a dangerous precedent and violate international law, the agency's commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini stated.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed that "there is no alternative to UNRWA."
Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain condemned Israel's legislation in a joint statement on Monday. The UK, Germany and the EU leadership expressed "grave concerns". US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US is "deeply" concerned. Turkiye stated that "Israel aims to destroy the two-state solution" by banning UNRWA.
The Gaza Strip has a population of approximately 2.1 million people, including 1.7 million Palestine Refugees. Gazans depend on educational, healthcare and other assistance provided by UNRWA during the war. Roughly 1.2 million Palestinians in Gaza depend on UNRWA's food aid.
Humanitarian aid comes to Gaza through crossings which are now under control of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel will no longer issue permits for UNRWA to enter the region. UNRWA is the main UN agency working in the strip.

According to the UN's October report, over 1.8 million people across Gaza are presently experiencing "high levels of acute food insecurity", including nearly 133,000 people facing "catastrophic food insecurity."
At least 1.9 million people across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced. Only 17 out of 35 medical facilities are partially functioning in Gaza, while others have been destroyed. The UNRWA ban will further exacerbate the Gaza humanitarian crisis, the UN warns.

[Rizotto]

https://sputnikglobe.com/20241028/ev...120697968.html

October 28, 2024

Evidence of Israel's Use of 'White Phosphorus' Sent to ICC - Palestinian Leader's Aide

KAZAN (Sputnik) - Israel's use of "white phosphorus" in the Gaza Strip has been documented, and the evidence has been transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mahmoud al-Habbash, an aide to the Palestine leader Mahmoud Abbas, told Sputnik.
"Documented evidence and information have been provided confirming Israel's actions and its involvement in violations, war crimes and genocide in the Gaza Strip, including the use of internationally prohibited weapons, including white phosphorus," al-Habbash said at the 16th BRICS summit in Kazan.
According to the official, "millions of people" have witnessed Israel's use of white phosphorus in numerous wars in the Gaza Strip, and the damage it caused has been "documented in accordance with international law and transferred to the International Court."
In May, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that he was filing an application with the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. In his statement, he noted that they were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the current military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which began in October 2023.
Israel denied these accusations and refused to cooperate with the ICC.

[Rizotto]

Very interesting to hear Col. Douglas Macgregor’s sobering words and calm logic.

First part is about Ukraine. Regarding NATO members’ insistence that there are Korean troops fighting with the Russians against Ukraine, Macgregor replies that this is not the case at all, however it could be a pretext used by NATO to provide Ukraine with long-range misslies against Russia.

Starting at 13:10 Iran-Palestine-Israel issues:
- Israel’s October 26 strikes against Iran
- Israel is in the fight to the finish
- The implication of US and Russia getting involved
- Is Iran a threst to US?
- Rudi Giuliani’s speech at Madison Square Garden
- Bernie Sanders’ opposition to the terrible war on Gaza
- US support to Isreal has destroyed its credibility.

COL. Douglas Macgregor : Is Israel In Retreat?

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=h-KTemd9DGM

[Rizotto]

Must watch! Here's the best response to Israel's habit of labelling all opposition as 'terrorists'.

Belgian Workers Party Belgian MP Nabil Boukili confronted the Israeli ambassador to Belgium, Idit Rosenzweig Abu, in a heated exchange in the Belgian parliament on 22 October.
The MP stated that the ambassador is attempting to “justify the unjustifiable”, and accused Israel of “committing genocide against the Palestinian people under the pretext of fighting terrorism”.
Boukili demanded accountability for Israel’s actions before stating that Israel is “a terrorist state” and called it a “disgrace” that there are no sanctions against Israel."

‘You are the real terrorists’: Belgian MP confronts Israeli ambassador

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uoMSK7gPigU

[ExomatrixTV]

• American Journalist Jailed In Israel Speaks! - Jeffrey Lofredo:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=kIjZKnqjLPQ

Earlier in October The Grayzone reporter Jeremy Loffredo traveled to Israel to report on the ongoing conflict between Israel and its neighbors in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Iran. In response to his reporting, Israeli authorities arrested Loffredo and placed him in solitary confinement for three days, during which he was subjected to grueling interrogation.

Guest hosts Russell Dobular and Keaton Weiss talk to Loffredo about his harrowing experience and just why Israel is so threatened by his reporting.

[Michel Leclerc]

Posted by Rizotto (here)
Must watch! Here's the best response to Israel's habit of labelling all opposition as 'terrorists'.

Belgian Workers Party Belgian MP Nabil Boukili confronted the Israeli ambassador to Belgium, Idit Rosenzweig Abu, in a heated exchange in the Belgian parliament on 22 October.
The MP stated that the ambassador is attempting to “justify the unjustifiable”, and accused Israel of “committing genocide against the Palestinian people under the pretext of fighting terrorism”.
Boukili demanded accountability for Israel’s actions before stating that Israel is “a terrorist state” and called it a “disgrace” that there are no sanctions against Israel."

‘You are the real terrorists’: Belgian MP confronts Israeli ambassador

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uoMSK7gPigU

Bravo. I was under the impression that the Partij van de Arbeid / Parti du Travail was mainly concerned by economic issues, defending the poor etc. But the latest elections (where they won many seats) have visibly allowed them to also show their courage and determination in the field of Belgian foreign policy. Zionism is particularly strong in Belgium. Antwerp, my town of birth, has always been one of if not thé world’s diamond trade capital. As I told elsewhere on PA, the community of traditional, pious Jews used to be anti-Zionist but that has changed at the latest since the millennium changeover and non-Zionist traditional Jews are now being shunned if not persecuted by the Zionist ones. Nabil Boukili’s speech is admirable both for its intellectual sharpness and its emotional sincerity.

[ExomatrixTV]

How many of the 9,5 million people living in ISRAHELL 🇮🇱 are dehumanizing a large group of people (Christians included) just because they follow the "script" sold by the mass propaganda machine? ... How are they any different to what happened in the past ... Being silent is being complicit is what they said to all German 🇩🇪 citizens in 1939-1945

[Rizotto]

"More than 3,000 Israelis have signed an open letter urging "global pressure on Israel to force an immediate ceasefire." The signatories say they are motivated by patriotic duty to stop the country's war crimes in Gaza and beyond, but say the lack of sanctions from other countries has allowed Israel to continue to pursue war, abandon the hostages still held in Gaza, ignore domestic opposition and persecute Palestinian citizens of Israel without real cost. "Unfortunately, the majority of Israelis support the continuation of the war and massacres, and a change from within is not currently feasible. The state of Israel is on a suicidal path and sows destruction and devastation that increase day by day," reads the letter. For more, we speak with Neve Gordon, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London, one of the signatories of the open letter, who says international powers including allies like the United States need to "put their leg down and say enough is enough." We also speak with him about Israel's well-documented history of using Palestinians as human shields, including in its current war on Gaza."

"Save Us From Ourselves": 3,000+ Israelis Call For Int'l Help to Pressure Israel to Back Ceasefire

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tls72ppto18

[Rizotto]

Interesting and long article, posting only the beginning portion. Full article at link below.

https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/2024...nited-nations/

October 30, 2024

The United Nations has never expelled any member state.
However, in 1974, an attempt was made to expel apartheid South Africa: a case that presents several analogies with today.
Now the cup is full.
The State of Israel can no longer be in the United Nations.
(by Former Deputy Secretary General of the UN Professor Pino Arlacchi)

It has become an outlaw state that breaks one after another the cornerstones of international law and that flaunts its impunity by being able to count on the political protection and unlimited military support of the United States.

If this were not the case, Netanyahu would never have dared to insult the UN, in full General Assembly, calling it “a swamp of anti-Semitic bile”, and he would not have had, during 2023 alone, 230 UNRWA employees killed during bombings, fires and attacks on schools, food depots, and UN-branded humanitarian aid convoys.

UNRWA is the agency created in 1949 by the General Assembly to assist the Palestinian refugees created by the “Nabka”, the catastrophe of 1948 that saw 700,000 Palestinians violently driven from their homes and their land by the Zionist militia that became Israel’s army.

All this while making a mockery of the settlement plans established by the UN, and inaugurating a long series of crimes and illegalities that continues to this day.
(continued)

[Rizotto]

https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/2024...pro-israel-mp/

What do you say to your pro-Israel MP?

By Stuart Littlewood – UK - October 29, 2024

I recently signed a letter drafted by Amnesty UK to MPs which included this message:

“The human rights violations taking place in Gaza have long been at catastrophic levels. Despite knowing this, the UK still hasn’t suspended all transfers of arms to Israel. Stopping some arms isn’t enough, there should be no loopholes and no UK arms to Israel

“The International Court of Justice has warned of a plausible risk of genocide against Palestinians by the Israeli authorities. Continuing to allow some arms transfers is not in line with international legal standards and demonstrates a dire need for accountability in arms transfers.”

Our newly-elected MP John Cooper, a Conservative, replied with the sort of pro-Israel froth we’ve heard many times before from his party. Here are some of his remarks, which presumably represent the ‘party line’, and my own responses….

JC began by saying: “Israel suffered the worst terror attack in its history at the hands of Hamas, and Palestinian civilians continue to face a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. My thoughts are with the families of those still held hostage.”

What Israel suffered on October 7 last year was nothing compared with the terror, illegal occupation and dispossession inflicted on Palestinian civilians by Israel’s brutal occupation forces for the last 76 years. In the 23 years leading up to October 7 Israelis were slaughtering Palestinians at the rate of 8:1 and children at the rate of 16:1. Actual figures: Palestinians killed by Israelis 10,651 including 2,270 children and 6,656 women; Israelis killed by Palestinians 1,330 including 145 children and 261 women (source: Israel’s B’Tselem).

You seem worried only for Israeli hostages held by Hamas rather than the 7,200 Palestinian hostages, including 88 women and 250 children, languishing in Israeli jails on the day before the attack. Over 1,200 were imprisoned under ‘administrative detention’ without charge or trial and denied ‘due process’.

Add the fact that Gaza had been under cruel military blockade for 17 years with Israel regularly “mowing the grass” (you surely know what that means), and October 7 was clearly a retaliation. Or do you think the Palestinians should have taken all that lying down?


JC: “I want to see the Gaza conflict brought to a sustainable end as quickly as possible…. Pauses can also help to create the conditions necessary to bring about a permanent and sustainable end to hostilities.”

How would pauses bring about a permanent end to hostilities? Under international law the correct way to deal with the threat posed by Hamas is by requiring Israel to immediately end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and theft of Palestinian resources. Wouldn’t that be a more sensible way forward?

JC: “In the longer term, I continue to support a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution of Israel and Palestine.”

The Israeli regime has said repeatedly that it will not permit or accept a Palestinian state.

The only credible pathway was mapped by international law decades ago but never followed because it doesn’t suit Western powers’ ambitions in the region. They prefer lopsided negotiations through dishonest brokers like the US (and unfortunately the UK). This ensures the problem drags on indefinitely while Israel continues annexing Palestinian land and creating irreversible ‘facts on the ground’.

There can be no peace without law and justice. Failure to understand that simple truth has brought us all to the present horrific crisis.

JC: “I support Israel’s right to defend itself, in line with international humanitarian law. Indeed, it is important that international humanitarian law be respected and civilians protected….”

The only credible pathway was mapped by international law decades ago but never followed because it doesn’t suit Western powers’ ambitions in the region. They prefer lopsided negotiations through dishonest brokers like the US (and unfortunately the UK). This ensures the problem drags on indefinitely while Israel continues annexing Palestinian land and creating irreversible ‘facts on the ground’.

There can be no peace without law and justice. Failure to understand that simple truth has brought us all to the present horrific crisis.

JC: “I support Israel’s right to defend itself, in line with international humanitarian law. Indeed, it is important that international humanitarian law be respected and civilians protected….”

Indeed it is. But Israel has no claim to self-defence against a threat from the territory it belligerently occupies. That has been made perfectly clear by the UN and many other authorities. It’s the Palestinians who have a cast-iron right to self-defence, using “armed struggle” if necessary, against Israel’s illegal military occupation and murderous oppression (UN Resolutions 37/43 and 3246). As China reminded everyone at the ICJ, “armed resistance against occupation is enshrined in international law and is not terrorism”.

It does no good to keep saying that Israel must abide by international humanitarian law. Israel has no intention of doing so, and everyone knows it. Israel wants to dominate the Holy Land and has advertised its evil intent very clearly for a very long time. As is well documented, it was a criminal enterprise from the start.

JC: “The UK’s position, which I support, is clear and longstanding. There should be a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, with Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states, and a fair and realistic settlement for refugees. The UK has consistently called – bilaterally and via the UN – for an immediate end to all actions that undermine the viability of the two-state solution.”

Longstanding is the word. So longstanding that you might ask why it hasn’t happened yet. It’s because Britain has played a leading part in blocking the two-state idea. We promised a Palestinian state back in 1915 in return for Arab help in defeating the Turks but repeatedly reneged on it – in 1917, in 1923, in 1948 – and continue to sidestep the issue. The UK position is anything but clear.

What would this “negotiated” two-state solution look like? Our Government can’t or won’t describe it. Why must Israel be “safe and secure” and Palestine only “viable”? One’s security is no more important than the other’s. The UK still stands in the way of Palestinian statehood while 140+ other nations have recognised it. At the same time the UK has done nothing to prevent Israel overstepping its 1947 UN Partition boundaries and seizing swathes of Palestinian land and key resources at gunpoint. And the UKGov (of both flavours) has been shamefully supportive of Israel’s year-long genocide and war of extermination which has sickened all decent-minded people.

In any case, why should Palestinians have to negotiate their freedom in their own homeland? Notice how keywords like law and justice are always missing in the UK’s position statements.


JC: “The Government’s decision to announce an arms embargo on the day that Israel was burying murdered hostages, and within weeks of British military personnel and arms defending Israel from Iranian attack, was difficult to swallow…. We must be clear that there is no moral equivalence between Hamas and the democratically elected Government of Israel.”

Yes indeed, there is no moral equivalence. Hamas were democratically elected under the scrutiny of international observers at the last election permitted in Palestine (2006). Israel is no Western-style democracy with Western values — it is an unpleasant ethnocracy which recently enacted discriminatory nation state laws to prove it.

‘Think Hamas, think terror’ is what UKGov and mainstream media teach us. Branding Hamas a terrorist organisation was a propaganda masterstroke. It has allowed Zionists and other pro-Israel elements within our Government to avoid having to explain Israel’s far greater terror record, and instead focus hatred on Hamas (and now Hezbollah).

But the inescapable fact is, the Israelis wrote the manual on terrorism long before Hamas (and Hezbollah) came into being. Read their Dalet Plan, or ‘Plan D’. This was the Zionists’ blueprint for the violent and bloody takeover of the Palestinian homeland drawn up in early 1948 by the Jewish underground militia, the Haganah, at the behest of David Ben-Gurion, then boss of the Jewish Agency. Plan D anticipated the British mandate government’s withdrawal and the Zionists’ declaration of Israeli statehood, and plotted the ethnic cleansing that was to follow. They have pursued it relentlessly ever since.

You mention British military personnel and arms defending Israel from Iranian counter-attack. Why weren’t they defending Palestinian women and children from Israeli genocide?

JC: “For many years, the UK has been very clear that Settlements are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and threaten the physical viability and delivery of a two-state solution. Settler violence and the demolition of Palestinian homes is intolerable, and I expect to see Ministers firmly raising these issues with the Israeli Government, and taking robust action where necessary.”

Agreed. But it’s pointless merely “raising” these issues with the Israeli Government. Settlements have been key to Israel’s expansionist ambitions since 1967. Pointless also sanctioning settler organisations. Many of the settlers are racist thugs on a terror mission. You need to sanction the criminals who send them into Palestinian territory, pay them and arm them – and that’s the Israeli Government itself.

Respected legal opinion (Ralph Wilde) puts it this way: “There is no right under international law to maintain the occupation pending a peace agreement, or for creating ‘facts on the ground’ that might give Israel advantages in relation to such an agreement, or as a means of coercing the Palestinian people into agreeing on a situation they would not accept otherwise.

“Implanting settlers in the hope of eventually acquiring territory is a violation of occupation law by Israel and a war crime on the part of the individuals involved. And it is a violation of Israel’s legal obligation to respect the sovereignty of another state and a violation of Israel’s legal obligation to respect the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people; also a violation of Israel’s obligations in the international law on the use of force. Ending these violations involves immediate removal of the settlers and the settlements from occupied land and an immediate end to Israel’s exercise of control, including its use of military force.…”


JC also mentioned “the planned new Free Trade Agreement with Israel”.

This is now is being championed by Jonathan Reynolds, the new Business Secretary. For him and the Starmer Government it’s business as usual with the apartheid regime while it conducts its non-stop genocide against the women and children of the Holy Land. No surprise there when you realise that Reynolds is a vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel which, it seems to me, puts him in breach of the Government’s Ministerial Code and Principles of Public Life which (see ‘Integrity’) state: “Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work….. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.” Like all the other Israel stooges embedded in Westminster he doesn’t.



Question 1 – Why is the UK so head-over-heels in love with a depraved, criminal regime like Israel?

It is certainly not because we the British people share the Israelis’ moral values (although some in leadership positions at Westminster apparently do). The answer is probably to be found in America’s QME doctrine. In 2008 Congress enacted legislation requiring that US arms sales to any country in the Middle East other than Israel must not adversely affect Israel’s “qualitative military edge” (QME). This ensures the apartheid state always has the upper hand over it neighbours. It is central to US Middle East policy and guaranteed to keep the region at or near boiling point and ripe for exploitation.

The UK seems to have superglued itself to America’s cynical partnership with Israel for security reasons and in the hope of profiting from the misery and unrest, though it would never admit this. But the world, and especially the Middle East, is changing. Our track record out there is abysmal and we’re increasingly disliked.

Question 2 – Why prolong the UK’s century of betrayal by still not recognising Palestinian statehood?

Freedom and self-determination are a basic right which doesn’t depend on anyone else, such as the US-UK-Israel axis, agreeing to it. The UK thinks otherwise when we should be among the vast majority of nations that have already recognised Palestinian statehood. When 138 of the world’s states at the UN General Assembly voted in 2012 to re-designate Palestine’s status from ‘non-member Entity’ to ‘non-member State’, it had the legal effect of establishing statehood. But the UK and other Western influencers who are dragging their feet need to finally accept it before statehood become effective on the world stage.

UKGov recognised Israeli statehood quickly enough in 1949 after Zionist gangs carried out countless atrocities including massacres at the King David Hotel, Deir Yassin, Lydda and elsewhere, trashed 500 Palestinian towns and villages, drove 700,000 civilians out of their national homeland, and made clear Israel’s ambition to dominate the entire Holy Land “from the river to the sea”.

It’s time our political leaders understood that the British public don’t want to be tainted by defending and protecting a so-called ally that’s bent on genocide and the wanton destruction of another people’s homeland and heritage, and has been contemptuous of human rights and norms of decency for as long as most of us can remember.

Kind regards, etc.

Stuart Littlewood
29 October 2024

[Rizotto]

"Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, presented her latest report to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 30 October 2024."

Francesca Albanese : "Gaza is now a wasteland of rubble, garbage and human remains"

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=jFDhwmsToqA

[Tintin]

Posted by Rizotto (here)
"Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, presented her latest report to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 30 October 2024."

Francesca Albanese : "Gaza is now a wasteland of rubble, garbage and human remains"

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=jFDhwmsToqA

Thanks

Her 32 page report titled:

Situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967: Genocide as colonial erasure

PDF: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/g...f/n2427968.pdf

---

Her summary:

In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, examines the unfolding horrors in the occupied Palestinian territory. While the wholesale destruction of Gaza continues unabated, other parts of the land have not been spared. The violence that Israel has unleashed against the Palestinians post-7 October is not happening in a vacuum, but is part of a long-term intentional, systematic, State organized forced displacement and replacement of the Palestinians. This trajectory risks causing irreparable prejudice to the very existence of the Palestinian people in Palestine. Member States must intervene now to prevent new atrocities that will further scar human history.

---

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
ADL’s PROJECT SHEMA: INDOCTRINATING HIGH SCHOOL KIDS

We all know about the Zionist attack on free speech on College Campuses but
@ADL
is now “training” High School (HS) staff to conflate antisemitism w/criticism of🇮🇱& support for🇵🇸

This is very alarming since HS students are not adults & do not have the same rights to oppose faculty & staff who infringe on their rights.

This new attack on free speech in high schools aligns with ADL’s & other Zionist Org’s long standing attack on speech on college campuses. Their goal is to incorporate the IHRA definition of antisemitism into law which makes criticism of Israel, antisemitic, hence, hate speech. Currently, there are 10+ IHRA bills in Congress with the Antisemitism Awareness Act having passed the House & in the Senate. Axios reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised Jewish Orgs that he will pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act after the election. If passed, this bill will force any institution receiving federal funding under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to adopt the IHRA definition & enforce strict rules to punish or expel students who reference some Bible passages as well as students who criticize Israel. This means all public schools & all universities in the U.S.

In the meantime, Zionist Orgs like the ADL are pushing ahead with indoctrination programs at universities and now high schools under the auspices of the IHRA Executive Order 13224 signed by Trump & continued by Biden.

https://x.com/GenXGirl1994/status/1851962566928429332

https://x.com/GenXGirl1994/status/1851966897039823174