Just International

The Campaign to Free Assange: Reflections on Night Falls

By Dr Binoy Kampmark

The town hall meeting is the last throbbing reminder of the authentic demos.  People gather; debates held.  Views converge; others diverge.  Speakers are invited to stir the invitees, provoke the grey cells.  Till artificial intelligence banishes such gatherings, and the digital cosmos swallows us whole, cherish these events.

And there was much to cherish about Night Falls in the Evening Lands: The Assange Epic, part of a global movement to publicise the importance of freeing WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, who remains in the forbidding confines of Belmarsh Prison in London.  Held on March 9 in Melbourne’s Storey Hall, it was a salutatory minder that the publisher’s plight has become one of immediate concern.  Worn down by judicial process and jailed by a US surrogate power, he faces a vicious political indictment of 17 charges focused on the Espionage Act of 1917 and one on computer intrusion.  A UK High Court appeal on the matter of extradition hangs in the balance.

The thematic nature of such events can be challenging.  One should never be too gloomy – and in Assange’s case, be it in terms of health, torture, injustice and pondered attempts by US intelligence officials to take his life or kidnap him – there is much to be gloomy about.  Bleakness should be allowed, but only in modest, stiff doses.  Try, as far as you can, to inject a note of encouraging humour into proceedings.  Humour unsettles the tyrannically inclined, punctures the ideologue’s confidence.  Then reflect, broadly, on the astonishing legacy on the subject and ask that vital question: Where to now?

The sessions, superbly steered through by Mary Kostakidis (“Try to avoid lengthy preambles to your questions, please”), covered a fanned out universe: the nature of “imperial law” and extra-territorial jurisdiction; the stirring role of WikiLeaks in exposing state atrocities; the regenerative tonic Assange had given to an ungrateful, envious Fourth Estate; the healthy emergence of non-mainstream media; and the tactics necessary to convince politicians that the publisher’s release was urgently warranted.

Two speakers were spear-sharp on both the legacy of Assange and what had to be done to secure his release.  The Greek former finance minister and rabble-rousing economist, Yanis Varoufakis, was encouraging on both scores.  A picture of pugilistic health, Varoufakis pondered “what Julian had taught” him.  People forget, Varoufakis reminded his audience, Assange’s genius as one of the original cypherpunks, able to build a website that has managed to weather hacking storms and stay afloat in treacherous digital waters.  Whistleblowers and leakers could be assured of anonymous contributions to the WikiLeaks website.

He was also impressed by the man’s towering, almost holy integrity.  As much as they disagreed, he recalled, “and as much as I wanted to throttle the man”, he brimmed with intellectual self-worth and value.  On the subject of revealing his sources, quite contrary to the spirit and substance of the US indictment, Assange was scrupulous to a fault.  To betray any would endanger them.

Most movingly, Varoufakis reflected on his own intellectual awakening when reading Assange’s meditations on the internet; how it might, just might, fracture the imperium of information guarded so closely by powerful interests.  Finally, the common citizenry would have at their disposal the means of returning the serve on spying and surveillance.  The digital mirror would enable us to see what they – the state operatives, their goons and their lickspittle adjutants – could see about us.  This was as significant to Varoufakis as George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, books he read with some anxiety during the days of Greece’s military junta.

On the nature of power – in this case, the menace posed by the US imperium – Australia had to be break free and embrace non-alignment.  With characteristic flavour, Varoufakis characterised Washington’s exertion of influence over its satellite states as that of a mafia gang: “They manufacture insecurity in order to sell protection.”  It was a brilliant formulation and goes to the centre of that infantile desire of Australian policy makers to endorse AUKUS, a dangerous military compact with the US and the UK that will mortgage the country to the sum of A$368 billion.

Even assuming that this arrangement would remain in place, those in the nation’s capital, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, had to ask the fundamental question on Assange.  “Make it a condition of AUKUS that Assange returns to Australia,” insisted Varoufakis.  “And the powerful will respect you even if you disagree with them.”  To date, the PM had been a sore disappointment and hardly likely to be respected, even by the near comatose US President Joe Biden.

Virility, however, may be returning.  That theme was evidenced in the sharp address from Greg Barns, a seasoned barrister and campaign strategist who has been involved in the WikiLeaks journey since 2012.  While drawing attention to the outrageous assertion of extra-territorial jurisdiction by Washington to target Assange, he saw much promise in the political dawn in Canberra.  A few years ago, he would never have envisaged being in a room where the Australian Greens leader, Adam Bandt, would be seated next to a fossil fuel advocate and Nationals senator, Matthew Cannavan.  “Beside Mr Green sat Mr Coal.”  Their common purpose: Assange’s release and the termination of a state of affairs so unacceptable it is no longer the talk of academic common rooms and specialist fora.

For the audience and budding activists, Barns had sound advice.  Pester local political representatives.  Arrange meetings, preferably in groups, with the local member.  Remind them of the significance of the issue.  “Make it an alliance issue.”  There is nothing more worrying to a backbencher than concerned “traffic” through the electoral office that suggests a shift in voter sentiment.  “I will bet good odds that the treatment of Assange has made it into party room discussions,” declared Barns with certitude.

In closing, Assange’s tireless father, John Shipton, washed his audience with gentle, meditative thoughts.  Much like a calming shaman, he journeyed through some of the day’s themes, prodding with questions.  Was AUKUS a bribe?  A tribute?  A payment for knowledge?  But with optimism, Shipton could feel hope about his son: “Specks of gold” had formed to stir consciousness in the executive.  Those in power were at long last listening.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.

10 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

‘Surreal, Dystopic’ is How Susan Abulhawa Describes Her Rafah Visit

By Dr Marwan Asmar

Top American-Palestinian novelist Susan Abulhawa talks about her harrowing recent two-week trip to Rafah and the southern part of Gaza. Besides her activism, Abulhawa has written three acclaimed novels, the first being Mornings in Jenin which was translated into 32 languages and sold over a million copies. She also writes poetry and is a director of the Playgrounds For Palestine. She recently talked about her visit to war-torn Gaza to Democracy Now. Excerpts of her slightly edited interview follow about the catastrophic situation she experienced and saw.

Intentional starvation

“…trying to venture into the north [of Gaza] is a suicide mission, [Israeli] tanks and snipers [are] positioned [there] and anyone trying to get there is basically killed…aid trucks are not getting in either, they are intentionally stopped, and it’s an intentional starvation… I was in south Gaza, in Rafah, I was able to go to Khan Younis, to Nuseirat [Camp] and few other places…but that became increasingly more dangerous.

I want to say the reality on the ground is infinitely worse than the worst videos and photos we are seeing in the West. There is as you know, a beyond, people buried alive en masse, in their homes, their bodies shredded to pieces…there is this massive daily degradation of life…a total denigration of a whole society that was once high-functioning and proud and has been reduced to the most primal of ambitions like being able to get enough water for the day or flour to bake bread.

And this is even in Rafah, and the people [here] will tell you they feel privileged because they are not starving to death like their families in the north, the ones they can reach because Israel [has] basically cut off 99 percent of communications – what remains there, are basic communications by people who set up some ingenious ways to keep the internet [going].

‘Total darkness’

But most people in the north have no idea of what is happening. As a matter of fact, at one point, [Gaza blogger] Bissan Odeh explained to me – as she often goes up to the border between Khan Younis and the middle area of the north where you can’t go beyond – an aid truck that sort of pushed its way through but was eventually fired upon had people coming up to it, thinking the war is over and people were returning to the north. So, most in the north are in total darkness and hunger and really have no way of communicating, no way of figuring out where to get food from.

What we are hearing on the ground is surreal, dystopic, what I witnessed personally in Rafah and some of the middle areas is incomprehensible, and I will call it a Holocaust, and I don’t use that word lightly but it is absolutely that.

I mean that’s how much people have been reduced to…the ceiling of their hope at this point, is for the bombs to stop. Everybody wants to go back. They talk about pitching a tent on their homes and figuring things out. But a lot of people are trying to leave. There is a brain drain, those who can afford it, those who can raise the money, or those who are able to get jobs elsewhere and who have professional skills, are trying to leave, they have children, all the schools have been destroyed, college students have nowhere to go.

Total denigration

What is happening to people isn’t just death, dismemberment and hunger, it is a total denigration of their personhood, of their whole society. There are no universities left, Israel intentionally bombed schools and blew them up, presumably to ensure that rebuilding them couldn’t take place, that reestablishing a society can’t take place without the infrastructure of education, of healthcare and basic foundational structures for buildings.

One of the things Israel has been keen to do in Gaza is to erase remanence of people’s lives. So, you have on an individual level homes complete with memories and photos and all the things of living. I am sure you know, Palestinians typically live in multi-generational homes, [now] these homes have several generations of the same family completely wiped out.

Israeli barbarity

On a societal level, Israel targeted places of worship like mosques, ancient churches, ancient mosques, they have targeted museums, cultural centers, libraries, any place that has records of peoples’ lives, has remanence and traces, their roots in the land, have been intentionally wiped away.

It’s really frustrating for us to read western media talk about Israel is targeting Hamas…This is not the case. When you are on the ground you, understand this has always been about displacing Palestinians, taking their place and wiping them off the map. That has been Israel’s stated goal, even in this instance and before in 1948. It has always been their aim to destroy us, remove us, kill us and take our place and that’s what’s happening now in Gaza. Its what happened in 1948, in 1967 and every new Nakba is greater than the one before, and here we now arrive at the moment of genocide and holocaust because the world has allowed Israel to act with such barbarity and impunity.”

Marwan Asmar is a writer based in Amman, Jordan and writes on Middle East Affairs

10 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

State of the Union: War and Genocide Are Still the American Way

By Melissa Garriga

President Biden’s State of the Union address made one thing clear: war, genocide, and militarism remains the Amercian way. From Gaza to Ukraine, from the Middle East to the borders of our own nation, the toll of violence from militarism is immeasurable. Will we ever see an end to the cycle of destruction fueled by capitalism and U.S. imperialism?

Firstly, let’s address the white elephant in the war. Before the speech started, Democratic women leaders were shown wearing white in honor of women and feminism. But let’s be very clear, whether it’s women sending bombs or men, the result remains the same: women and children are being murdered, communities shattered, and futures erased. There’s no feminism in complicity with war and genocide, nor is there honor in turning a blind eye to the cries of the oppressed who are very loudly asking us to quit sending the bombs that are murdering their people.

Biden started the speech with an appeal for more money to fund the War in Ukraine. Yet in the two years since Russia invaded Ukraine with over a hundred billion dollars spent and countless lives lost Ukrainians are no closer to peace. Peace cannot be found in the endless military packages but in the corridors of diplomacy and peace talks, where dialogue and negotiation pave the way for lasting solutions.

He then moved on to taunt the need to protect democracy yet the White House and Congress continuously ignore the majority of the country who want an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, specifically Biden’s own voter base. A true democracy happens not just at the ballot box but beyond it. Yet, Biden chooses to ignore the very people who put him in office.

Along with “protecting democracy,” Biden also vowed to protect the environment. However, the contribution to militarism cannot be ignored. The U.S. military ranks as one of the largest consumers of oil globally, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of investing in renewable energy and supporting a just transition, precious resources are squandered to war and conflicts that ravage the planet and accelerate climate change.

President Biden’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza and occupation of Palestine is a stain on the moral fabric of our nation. And he leaned into that support in his address. Using lies and unsubstantiated claims he attempted to legitimize Israel’s genocidal response to Oct. 7. However no matter how he tries to spin it – the death and destruction that innocent people are enduring on a daily basis, mostly women and children, cannot be justified in the name of political alliances or strategic interests. Nothing, absolutely justifies genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Biden’s latest response to Israel’s countless war crimes is to build a “temporary” port off the shores of Gaza to allow for humanitarian aid to enter the besieged land. But a temporary port does nothing to stop the permanent death and destruction from U.S. made bombs. It’s time to halt the flow of weapons to Israel or quit pretending to care about the lives of Palestinians.

Biden made it clear that war, genocide, and militarism are all still on top of the U.S. agenda. This will cost us all dearly. He must heed the demands of the public: stop the bombs, stop the militarization of our borders, stop the inhumane blockades that are starving people to death. The media will paint Biden’s speech as strong and positive but make no mistake – a  country that relies on the death and destruction of others is a weak one. We desperately need leaders who will prioritize diplomacy over destruction, compassion over conflict, and humanity over hubris. Only then can we truly claim to be a nation committed to justice, equality, and the pursuit of peace for all. Until then, we will continue to be a country committed to war and genocide and never find lasting peace.

Melissa Garriga is media relations manager of Code Pink

9 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

US will deploy 1,000 troops off Gaza shore in plan to build floating dock

By Andre Damon

The United States will deploy 1,000 troops off the coast of Gaza for the nominal purpose of building a floating pier for humanitarian aid, the Pentagon said Friday.

President Joe Biden announced the construction of the pier during his State of the Union address on Thursday. “I’m directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” Biden said, adding, “No US boots will be on the ground.”

The claim that the construction of the floating pier is motivated by humanitarian concerns is a transparent pretext. The entire population of Gaza could be fed within a matter of days if not for Israel’s blockade of food into the besieged enclave. While US officials declare that Israel should “do more” to allow food into Gaza, the US is enabling Israel’s genocidal policy of starving the Palestinian people by continuing to surge weapons and funding to Israel.

This week, US press reports indicated that the Biden administration has sent over 100 separate arms shipments to Israel since October 7, breaking them up into smaller tranches to avoid congressional oversight.

At best, the building of the floating dock is a massive public relations exercise, designed to distract attention from the United States’ ongoing support for the Gaza genocide. Moreover, the dock will not be operational for two months, during which time 2 million Gazans will continue to starve.

But it has other, more ominous connotations as well. One thousand US troops will be deployed in Gaza in all but name, increasing the level of participation of the US military in the war. The Pentagon sees the genocidal war as a chance to rehearse its amphibious landing and logistics capabilities, which it plans to put to use in future wars throughout the region and the wider world.

To date, US airdrops of food into Gaza have been a pittance, with Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder saying that approximately 11,000 meals are being delivered per day—to feed a starving population of over 2 million. On Friday, three more children died of malnutrition at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, bringing the confirmed death toll from the famine to 23.

In his State of the Union address on Thursday, which took the form of a warmongering diatribe against Russia, Iran and China, Biden endorsed Israel’s actions in its onslaught against Gaza. He declared that “Israel has a right to go after Hamas” and that the conflict should end with the total capitulation of the resistance to Israel. “Hamas could end the conflict by surrendering,” he said.

Biden absolved Israel of targeting the civilian population by saying that “Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population like cowards, under hospitals, daycare centers and all the like.” Israeli officials have made it clear that they intend to launch a full-scale attack on Rafah before the start of Ramadan, which begins in less than a week. With negotiations over a ceasefire having broken down, Biden said Friday that it was “looking tough” to reach to a ceasefire agreement before Ramadan—effectively admitting that an invasion of Rafah will take place.

As Israel enforces famine conditions on Gaza, the meager aid that does get through often turns deadly. Five children were killed when a parachute malfunctioned during an airdrop of humanitarian aid on Friday, while Israeli forces once again opened fire on people at a food distribution center in Gaza City the same day. Last month, Israeli forces fired on people lining up to receive flour, killing over 100 people in what came to be known as the “flour massacre.”

In a briefing, Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, told reporters in Geneva that the US airdrops of food and plans to build a floating port were “absurd” and “cynical.” He said they “will do very little to alleviate hunger, malnutrition, and do nothing to slow down famine.”

He added, “The time when countries use airdrops and these maritime piers is usually, if not always, in situations when you want to deliver humanitarian aid into enemy territory.” But Gaza is completely besieged by Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the region and its largest recipient of military aid.

The director of communications for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Juliette Touma, said:

There is an easier and cheaper way to bring much-needed supplies into the Gaza Strip. … That is via the road, including sending more trucks from Israel into the Gaza Strip. … It shouldn’t be this difficult. There are several crossing points that connect Israel to the Gaza Strip, and this is what we used before the war started.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) told Al Jazeera, “A temporary pier that could take weeks to construct or airdrops is not a solution.” Instead, it called on Israel to lift “its siege of Gaza, [reopen] its crossings, including the Karni (Al-Muntar) and Erez (Beit Hanoon) crossings in the north, and [allow] the safe and unimpeded movement of humanitarian workers and aid—including fuel, food and medical supplies.”

Palestinians quoted in the US media condemned the plan. “Instead of telling us they will build a port to help us, stop [providing] the weapons they fire at us,” Hassan Maslah, a displaced Gazan sheltering in Rafah, told Reuters.

9 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

New “Kibbutz” at Israeli Embassy

By Phil Pasquini

For the past ten days at the Israeli Embassy, peaceful human rights activists have erected and maintained a presence 24/7 outside of the compound bedecked with numerous Palestinian flags, signs, banners and a memorial dedicated to Aaron Bushnell who last month immolated himself in protest over the war in Gaza whose last words were “Free Palestine.”

Calling their presence “Kibbutz Israel” along with a subtitle, “Since they think settlements are cool,” the activists have refused to leave knowing that if they do, the embassy will remove their “Kibbutz” along with the memorial. Standing by are several uniformed Secret Service officers to keep the peace in the area to eliminate any violence between the two sides.

Visuals employed along two sides of the embassy compound’s sidewalk “Kibbutz” stand in front of and obstruct the original display of large Israeli flags, portraits of kidnapped victims and smaller flags in memory of those killed in Israel on the October 7th incursion.

The most horrific visuals displayed are those of children wounded and killed in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Under one such photo titled “Israel Starves Children” the emaciated skeletal body of ten-year-old Yazan Kafarna is shown, which is reminiscent of a WWII Holocaust victim. The image begets the question of how and why any child should be subjected to such a horrific and inhumane death and why so many children must be made to suffer.

The resolute activists have also utilized a settler’s tactic in making life for those inside the embassy difficult by employing twelve megaphones aimed at the building while set on siren mode at full volume. The annoying shrill sound occurring at different intervals, results in a nerve-wracking and discordant acoustical annoyance for all those within hearing distance. This obnoxious clangor can be heard inside other nearby embassies and for a short distance across the adjoining area calling attention to the protest to all passersby.

The group also periodically employs chanting and music to keep things dramatic and always shifting. While at night the sound is turned off, the unwavering activists have maintained their presence steadfastly regardless of what Washington’s everchanging and unstable weather sends their way and have avowed to maintain their presence.

Report and photo by Phil Pasquini

8 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

US Philosopher Judith Butler Refuses to Label 7th October as Terrorism Act

By Dr Marwan Asmar

https://t.me/s/QudsNen/97965

The recent comments on 7th October made by American philosopher Judith Butler may now be landing her in “hot water” among the Israelis and White House.

In an open platform in France and carried on the social media, she refused to label the 7th October attack as an of terrorism. On the contrary, she said it was an act of armed resistance that had nothing to do with antisemitism.

“We can have different views about Hamas as a political party. We can have different views about armed resistance,” she told a French TV political program.

“I think, it is more honest, and historically correct, to say the uprising of October 7th was an act of armed resistance…not a terrorist attack and it’s not an anti-Semitic attack, she said.

She clarified however, although she considered the attack on Israelis as “anguishing” and “terrible” which she made public, she added “I would be very foolish if I then decided the only violence in the scene was the violence done to Israeli people she said on Paroles D’Honneur in Paris.

Armed resistance 

The violence done to Palestinians has been happening for decades,” she emphasized.

Dr Butler termed October 7 as “an uprising that comes out from a state of subjugation and against a violent state apparatus,” saying in reference to the Israeli state and its occupation of Palestinian lands.

“…you can be for or against armed resistance. You can be for or against Hamas but let us at least call it armed resistance, and then we can have a debate about whether we think it’s right or whether they did the right thing, or whether there were different strategies” that could have been followed she told the French program on immigration issues and post-colonialism.

“But the problem is if you call it armed resistance, you are immediately thought to be in favor of armed resistance and in favor of that armed resistance and that tactic,” whilst concluding this is an open debate open for discussion.

Marwan Asmar is a journalist from Amman specializing on Middle East affairs.

8 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

Netanyahu reaffirms support for Rafah ground onslaught amid growth of starvation across Gaza

By Jordan Shilton

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated Thursday the intention of his fascistic government to unleash a bloody onslaught of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are enduring horrendous conditions. As Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians enters its sixth month, the impending ground invasion will further deepen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation for the enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants, with widespread starvation and deaths from preventable diseases a daily reality.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will operate against “all of Hamas’ battalions throughout the Strip,” Netanyahu told a graduation ceremony for army cadets. “Whoever tells us not to operate in Rafah is telling us to lose the war—and that will not happen,” he added ominously. Threatening to instigate a wider regional conflict, he continued, “At the same time, we will take vigorous action in the other sectors, against whoever seeks to destroy us, including on the northern front. Whoever has not yet been convinced by our strength would do well to look at what is happening to the enemy strongholds in Gaza.”

Underscoring his threats, Netanyahu’s remarks came the same day as several Israeli air strikes hit targets in southern Lebanon and Syria. Meanwhile, the grinding slaughter continued in Gaza, with the Health Ministry reporting another 83 deaths from IDF attacks in the previous 24 hours.

Netanyahu’s aggressive remarks came on the heels of a visit by War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz to Washington, where he held consultations with Vice President Kamala Harris, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this week. While media coverage of his trip was dominated by Netanyahu’s opposition to it, above all due to their domestic political rivalry, readouts of the meetings make clear that discussions focused on Israel’s planned onslaught. Just over two weeks ago, Gantz warned that a ground invasion would be launched at the beginning of Ramadan on 10 March if the remaining hostages under Hamas’ control were not released.

The White House stated after a meeting between Harris and Gantz Monday that the Vice President “reiterated US support for Israel’s right to defend itself in the face of ongoing Hamas terrorist threats and underscored our unwavering commitment to Israel’s security.” The following day, Politico reported, based on the comments of three US officials, “The Biden administration is not planning to punish Israel if it launches a military campaign in Rafah without ensuring civilian safety.”

No doubt emboldened by these unconditional assurances of support, Netanyahu’s government confirmed the approval Wednesday of 3,500 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians have been terrorised by IDF raids and vigilante violence by far-right settlers.

Reports Thursday indicated that negotiations mediated by Egypt and Qatar to secure a six-week “ceasefire” in exchange for the release by Hamas of 40 hostages have broken down. The Hamas delegation left Cairo and declared in a statement that they would resume talks next week after consulting with their organisation’s leadership. Washington has claimed publicly that it believes an agreement in the coming days remains possible.

CIA Director William Burns is travelling to the region, where he will visit Cairo and Israel for consultations with the Netanyahu government, according to Israel’s Channel 12. His visit is ostensibly aimed at finalizing the agreement, but the preparations for the IDF’s assault on Rafah will undoubtedly be discussed.

The Biden administration has been deeply implicated in every stage of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians. Netanyahu, Ganz and the IDF leadership have felt able to proceed so ruthlessly and in flagrant violation of international law because they know that they enjoy the unrestrained support of Washington and its European allies.

The imperialists have seized on the Gaza genocide as an opportunity to put long-standing plans for the restructuring of the entire Middle East into practice by targeting Iran and its allies throughout the region. American imperialism is determined to consolidate its dominance over the energy-rich Middle East against its rivals, above all, China and Russia. All methods, genocide included, are considered legitimate by the ruling class in pursuit of this agenda.

The prospect of a further intensification of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians looms as the humanitarian disaster across the enclave deepens. Over a quarter of Gaza’s population is “one step” away from famine, according to the United Nations. Just six out of 24 planned aid convoys for the northern Gaza Strip in February were approved by Israel.

UNICEF reports that one in six children in the north of the Strip is acutely malnourished, which poses both an imminent risk of death and long-term health issues for those who survive. As Omar Abdel-Mannon, co-founder of the Health Workers for Palestine organisation, told al-Jazeera, periods of starvation for young children in particular can result in permanent and irreversible damage to organs, including the heart, liver and kidneys.

Israel’s systematic and deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war is well documented. Netanyahu’s far-right government has massively restricted the flow of aid into Gaza to a fraction of what it was prior to 7 October. Less than 100 trucks have reached Gaza on a daily basis, compared to 500 prior to Israel’s onslaught. Israeli officials have openly discussed the benefits of restricting food aid and allowing disease to spread to facilitate Israel’s ultimate goal of ethnically cleansing Gaza to set the stage for Israeli settlements.

UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Paula Gaviria Betancur, issued Wednesday a searing critique of Israel’s total disregard of the rights of civilians since the bombardment began, noting, “Israel’s evacuation orders have not made the people of Gaza safer; on the contrary, they have been used to forcibly transfer and confine the civilian population in unliveable conditions…

“Although Rafah has already come under periodic attack by Israeli forces, a full-scale ground assault would lead to unimaginable suffering. Any evacuation order imposed on Rafah under the current conditions, with the rest of Gaza lying in ruins, would be in flagrant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, forcing people to flee to conditions of certain death—deprived of food, water, healthcare and shelter.”

Citing the “flour massacre” in Gaza City, in which at least 115 Palestinians died after IDF soldiers opened fire on a crowd waiting for aid, she concluded, “I am horrified by the depravity of killing civilians while they are at their most vulnerable and seeking basic assistance. These constitute atrocity crimes of the highest order.”

The aid organisation Refugees International reported that Israel has “consistently and groundlessly” blocked aid into Gaza, while conducting “persistent attacks on Gaza’s humanitarian, health, food, power, and other critical infrastructure.”

Jean-Pierre Delomier, deputy director of Handicap International—Humanity & Inclusion, criticised the hypocrisy of the much publicised air drops of tiny amounts of aid into northern Gaza by US aircraft, which carried out the second drop in a week Thursday. “I saw kilometres of trucks queueing on four lanes, all waiting to get into Gaza,” he commented after an eight-day mission to the enclave. “Planes fly over to drop a few pallets, whereas just behind [the border fence] there are kilometres of pallets waiting that could just be let in.”

In a widely reported development Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union address that the US will construct a temporary port on the Gaza coast to allow ships with humanitarian aid to dock. Compared to the numerous shiploads and planeloads of high-powered weaponry that have made their way from Washington to Israel since October, this gesture amounts to nothing more than a slap in the face for Gaza’s desperate population. Moreover, reports indicate that it will take several weeks to make the facility operational, by which time many more preventible deaths will have occurred and Israel will likely have launched its onslaught on Rafah.

One of the ways Israel has sought to cover up its brutal massacre and starvation of the Palestinians in Gaza has been through the targeted killing of journalists and media workers, well over 100 of whom have been slaughtered since October. In a report released Thursday into Israel’s 13 October killing of a Reuters journalist on the Israel-Lebanon border, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research observed, “It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists.”

AFP’s Global News Director Phil Chetwynd stated in response, “If reports of sustained machine gun fire are confirmed, this would add more weight to the theory this was a targeted and deliberate attack.”

8 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

Police attack anti-Netanyahu protesters as disillusionment with Gaza offensive grows

By Jean Shaoul

Israeli police arrested 21 protesters, including two organisers, in Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Square Saturday night. Thousands had taken to the streets in towns and cities across Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, demanding early elections and a deal to release the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Police claimed the protest was an “illegal gathering” in Democracy Square, near the Israeli military’s headquarters.

Far from dispersing the demonstration, police action brought more people out as news of the arrests spread on social media. Police then used water cannon in a bid to disperse the protesters, many carrying posters of their loved ones still held captive in Gaza and torches, not anti-government slogans, while mounted police attacked the crowds.

Among those drenched by the police was a hostage freed from Gaza, while an elderly man collapsed and had to be taken to hospital after being struck on the head by a mounted police officer with his reins. Several protesters were injured and required medical attention. The following day the police issued a statement saying the protesters had ignored officers’ warnings, blocked roads, and clashed with police “despite repeated negotiation efforts.”

In Jerusalem, there was a march of about 1,000 people to Paris Square. There were also demonstrations in the southern city of Beer Sheva, the northern port city of Haifa and Caesarea, outside Netanyahu’s private residence. Speaking in Haifa, Yaakov Godu, father of one of the victims of the October 7 attack, said that Netanyahu “and his deranged messianic envoys are turning the families of the hostages into enemies.”

It was the first time since the start of Israel’s genocidal war ended nine-months of protests against Netanyahu’s plans to give his fascist government dictatorial powers that the police used water cannon in Kaplan Square. It was used more extensively than during those demonstrations.

The Zionist organisers of the anti-government demonstrations called off the weekly rallies in the wake of the October 7 war as the former generals, intelligence chiefs and politicians who had all served under Netanyahu at one time or another, called for wartime unity.

Former military chiefs of staff Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet in return for his suspending all non-emergency legislation, including the controversial judicial “reforms,” while other leaders took prominent roles in the civilian relief effort. This was vital for Netanyahu as polls show that support for the government plummeted after October 7, with the overwhelming majority holding him personally responsible for the supposed military-intelligence failure that led to the attack on the southern kibbutzim and Supernova music festival.

Polls have still shown widespread support for the war, despite the global mass protests against Israel’s genocidal war. Last week’s survey by the Israel Democracy Institute indicated that the majority of Jewish Israelis oppose a detailed political agreement to end the war and two-thirds oppose humanitarian aid to Gaza. Nevertheless, opposition to Netanyahu is growing, with all the polls showing that his right-wing bloc would lose an election if held now. Netanyahu, on trial for corruption, is seeking to delay giving evidence when he is set to face embarrassing questions in a corruption trial.

According to a poll by the Institute for National Security Studies, only a bare majority now think Israel can achieve all or most of its war aims, while a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute earlier this month found that only 39 percent think there is a high or very high likelihood of the “absolute victory” promised by Netanyahu.

Dissent and discontent have fed into the weekly protests by Israelis, with some opposing the government’s refusal to prioritise the hostages’ release, many of whom are feared dead, and calling for a deal with Hamas to secure this, while an expanding and vocal anti-government opposition is calling for fresh elections to the Knesset.

There is as yet only a small group protesting against the war itself, supporting a ceasefire and opposing Israel’s occupation, although there are signs this is growing. Sofia Orr has served notice that she has refused to report for mandatory military service in protest against the war on Gaza. The 18-year-old is likely to become the first woman to be jailed for refusing military service. She has refused to give in despite facing threats on social media and being called a traitor.

Last December, Tal Mitnick became the first conscientious objector, when he refused his mandatory draft to join the IDF, for which he was sentenced to 30 days in custody, a sentence that has since been renewed twice.

That the police turned on the hostages’ families and attacked a peaceful protest that was not significantly larger than previous Saturday evening protests and was not against the war per se—indicates that Netanyahu and his gang of fascists are determined to crackdown on all dissent as the declared March 10 deadline for a ground offensive on Rafah approaches. Netanyahu is also determined to show he is in charge and fend off any challenge from his Zionist opponents.

In January, Tel Aviv police refused to allow an Arab-Jewish protest to take place in the city, claiming that it could lead to violence. It followed other bans on anti-war demonstrations in Israel’s predominantly Palestinian towns and cities. The police ban came after the High Court barred National Security Minister and Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, notorious for repeatedly pushing police to act aggressively against last year’s anti-government protesters, from giving police orders regarding their conduct during protests. Saturday’s events illustrate his determination to use the police in pursuit of his and the government’s broader political objective: Jewish Supremacy over the entire area from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.

At the weekend, Netanyahu went on CBS News’ Face the Nation to pledge an assault on Rafah, whether or not there is progress in negotiations with Gaza’s authorities. He said that Israel will only see a “total victory” once the IDF begins its invasion of Rafah, the last refuge of some 1.4 million Palestinians forced south from their homes in the north of the Strip. “If we have a deal, it will be delayed somewhat, but it will happen,” he said. “If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway.”

It was Gantz, Netanyahu’s rival and partner in war crimes, who first announced the March 10 deadline. For the war to take this deadly turn during Ramadan is a provocation which Netanyahu et al calculate is guaranteed to set the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem alight—providing the opportunity to open up a second front. Secure in the support of Washington and the major European powers, Netanyahu is positioning himself as Israel’s wartime strongman, above the law, and not answerable to anyone. He recently declared in a televised address that the war would continue regardless of the decisions the International Court of Justice reached on charges of genocide moved by South Africa. “No one will stop us—not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else. It is possible and necessary to continue until victory and we will do it.”

Netanyahu’s dictatorial course could not be successfully challenged under the leadership of his Zionist rivals before the war began. Now that it has, at the cost of tens of thousands of lives and unimaginable suffering for the Palestinians Israeli workers and youth are also paying a price.

Originally published in WSWS.ORG

27 February 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

Why Would Anyone Kill Themselves to Stop a War?

By Ann Wright

In the past three months, two people in the United States have taken or risked taking their own lives in an attempt to change U.S. policies on Palestine and call for a cease-fire.

Six years ago in 2018, after returning from a Veterans For Peace trip to Vietnam, I wrote an article called “Why Would Anyone Kill One’s Self In an Attempt to Stop A War?

Now, six years later, in the past three months, two people in the United States have taken or risked taking their own lives in an attempt to change U.S. policies on Palestine and call for a cease-fire and stop U.S. funding to the State of Israel that would be used to kill in the Israeli genocide of Gaza. An yet unidentified woman, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, set herself on fire in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 1, 2023. Three months later authorities have yet to release the name of the woman. Her condition was unknown as of mid-December.

This week, on Sunday, February 25, 2024, active duty U.S. Air Force member Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., while he was stating “Free Palestine and stop the genocide.” Bushnell died from his injuries.

Content WarningViewers may find the following video disturbing. It shows the moments leading up to and including Bushnell’s final act. The moment of self-immolation itself has been blurred.

As I mentioned in the article in 2018, many in U.S. admire young men and women who join the military and profess to be willing to give up their lives for whatever the U.S. politicians or government decide is best for another country—“freedom and democracy” for those who don’t have the U.S. version of it, or overthrowing self-rule that is not compatible with the U.S. administration’s view. Actual U.S. national security seldom has anything to do with U.S. invasions and occupations of other countries.

But, what about a private citizen giving up his or her life to try to stop the politicians or government from deciding what is best for other countries? Could a “mere” citizen be so concerned about politicians’ or government actions that she or he is willing to die to bring public attention to those actions?

One well-known and several little-known actions of private citizens from five decades ago provide us with the answers.

While on a Veterans for Peace trip to Vietnam in 2014 and while on another VFP delegation in March 2018, our delegation saw the iconic photo of a well-known Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc who set himself on fire in June1963 on a busy street in Saigon to protest the Diem regime’s crackdown on Buddhists during the early days of the American war on Vietnam. That photo is seared into our collective memories.

The photos show hundreds of monks surrounding the square to keep the police out so that Quang Duc could complete his sacrifice. The self-immolation became a turning point in the Buddhist crisis and a pivotal act in the collapse of the Diem regime in the early days of the American war on Vietnam.

But, did you know that several Americans also set themselves on fire to attempt to end U.S. military actions during those turbulent war years in the 1960s?

I didn’t, until our VFP delegation saw the portraits displayed of five Americans who gave their lives to protest the American war on Vietnam, among other international persons who are revered in Vietnamese history, at the Vietnam-USA Friendship Society in Hanoi. Though these American peace persons have fallen into oblivion in their own nation, they are well-known martyrs in Vietnam, 50 years later.

Our 2014 delegation of 17—six Vietnam veterans, three Vietnam-era vets, one Iraq-era vet, and seven civilian peace activists—with four Veterans for Peace members who live in Vietnam, met with members of the Vietnam-USA Friendship Society at their headquarters in Hanoi. I returned to Vietnam in March 2018 with another Veterans for Peace delegation. After seeing one particular portrait again—that of Norman Morrison—I decided to write about these Americans who were willing to end their own lives in an attempt to stop the American war on the Vietnamese people.

What distinguished these Americans to the Vietnamese was that, as American soldiers were killing Vietnamese, there were American citizens who ended their own lives in order to try to bring the terror of invasion and occupation for Vietnamese citizens to the American public through the horror of their own deaths.

The first person in the United States to die of self-immolation in opposition to the war on Vietnam was 82-year-old Quaker Alice Herz who lived in Detroit, Michigan. She set herself on fire on a Detroit street on March 16, 1965. Before she died of her burns 10 days later, Alice said she set herself on fire to protest “the arms race and a president using his high office to wipe out small nations.”

Six months later on November 2, 1965, Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker from Baltimore, a father of three young children, died of self-immolation at the Pentagon. Morrison felt that traditional protests against the war had done little to end the war and decided that setting himself on fire at the Pentagon might mobilize enough people to force the United States government to abandon its involvement in Vietnam. Morrison’s choice to self-immolate was particularly symbolic in that it followed President Lyndon Johnson’s controversial decision to authorize the use of napalm in Vietnam, a burning gel that sticks to the skin and melts the flesh.

Apparently, unbeknownst to Morrison, he chose to set himself on fire beneath the Pentagon window of then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

Thirty years later in his 1995 memoir, In Retrospect: The Tragedy in Lessons of Vietnam, McNamara remembered Morrison’s death:

Antiwar protests had been sporadic and limited up to this time and had not compelled attention. Then came the afternoon of November 2, 1965. At twilight that day, a young Quaker named Norman R. Morrison, father of three and an officer of the Stony Run Friends Meeting in Baltimore, burned himself to death within 40 feet of my Pentagon window. Morrison’s death was a tragedy not only for his family but also for me in the country. It was an outcry against the killing that was destroying the lives of so many Vietnamese and American youth.

I reacted to the horror of his action by bottling up my emotions and avoided talking about them with anyone—even with my family. I knew (his wife) Marge and our three children shared many of Morrison’s feelings about the war. And I believed I understood and shared some of his thoughts. The episode created tension at home that only deepened as the criticism of the war continued to grow.

Before his memoir In Retrospect was published, in a 1992 article in Newsweek, McNamara had listed people or events that had had an impact on his questioning of the war. One of those events,McNamara identified as “the death of a young Quaker.”

One week after Norman Morrison’s death, Roger LaPorte, 22, a Catholic Worker, became the third war protester to take his own life. He died of burns suffered through self-immolation on November 9, 1965 on the United Nations Plaza in New York City. He left a note that read, “I am against war, all wars. I did this as a religious act.”

The three protest deaths in 1965 mobilized the anti-war community to begin weekly vigils at the White House and Congress. And every week, Quakers were arrested on the steps of the Capitol as they read the names of the American dead, according to David Hartsough, one of the delegates on our 2014 VFP trip.

Hartsough, who participated in anti-war vigils 50 years earlier, described how they convinced some members of Congress to join them. Rep. George Brown (D-Calif.) became the first member of Congress to do so. After the Quakers were arrested and jailed for reading the names of the war dead, Brown would continue to read the names, enjoying congressional immunity from arrest.qz

Two years later, on October 15, 1967, Florence Beaumont, a 56-year-old Unitarian mother of two, set herself on fire in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles. Her husband George later said, “Florence had a deep feeling against the slaughter in Vietnam… She was a perfectly normal, dedicated person, and felt she had to do this just like those who burned themselves in Vietnam. The barbarous napalm that burns the bodies of the Vietnamese children has seared the souls of all who, like Florence Beaumont, do not have ice water for blood, stones for hearts. The match that Florence used to touch off her gasoline-soaked clothing has lighted a fire that will not go out—ever—a fire under us complacent, smug fat cats so damned secure in our ivory towers 9,000 miles from exploding napalm, and THAT, we are sure, is the purpose of her act.”

Three years later, on May 10, 1970, 23-year-old George Winne, Jr., son of a Navy captain and a student at the University of California, San Diego, set himself on fire on the university’s Revelle Plaza next to a sign that said “In God’s name, end this war.”

Winne’s death came just six days after the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University student protesters, killing four and wounding nine, during the largest wave of protests in the history of American higher education.

At our 2014 meeting at the Vietnam-USA Friendship Society office in Hanoi, David Hartsough presented Held in the Light, a book written by Ann Morrison, the widow of Norman Morrison, to Ambassador Chin, a retired Vietnamese ambassador to the United Nations and now an official of the Society. Hartsough also read a letter from Ann Morrison to the people of Vietnam.

Ambassador Chin responded by telling the group that the acts of Norman Morrison and other Americans in ending their lives are well remembered by the people of Vietnam. He added that every Vietnamese school child learns a song and poem written by Vietnamese poet Tố Hữu called “Emily, My Child” dedicated to the young daughter that Morrison was holding only moments before he set himself on fire at the Pentagon. The poem reminds Emily that her father died because he felt he had to object in the most visible way to the deaths of Vietnamese children at the hands of the United States government.

Sparking Revolutions

In other parts of the world, people have ended their lives to bring attention to special issues. The Arab Spring began on December 17, 2010 with a 26-year-old street Tunisian vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi setting himself on fire after a policewoman confiscated his food street vending cart. He was the only breadwinner for his family and had to frequently bribe police in order to operate his cart.

His death sparked citizens throughout the Middle East to challenge their repressive governments. Some administrations were forced from power by the citizens, including Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled with an iron fist for 23 years.

Or Being Ignored as Irrational Acts

In the United States, acts of conscience such as taking one’s own life for an issue of extraordinary importance to the individual are viewed as irrational and the government and media minimize their importance.

For this generation, while thousands of U.S. citizens are arrested and many serve time in county jails or federal prisons for protesting U.S. government policies, in April, 2015, young Leo Thornton joined a small but important number of women and men who have chosen to publicly end their lives in hopes of bringing the attention of the American public to change specific U.S policies.

On April 13, 2015, Leo Thornton, 22 years old, committed suicide by gun on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. He had tied to his wrist a placard that read “Tax the 1%.” Did his act of conscience have any effect on Washington—the White House or the U.S. Congress? Unfortunately, not.

The following week, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed legislation that would eliminate the estate tax applying only to the top 1% of estates. And no mention of Leo Thornton, and his decision to end his life over inequitable taxation, appeared in the media to remind us that he ended his life in opposition to another piece of favorable legislation for the rich.

Then years ago, in October 2013, 64-year-old Vietnam veteran John Constantino set himself on fire on the Washington, D.C. National Mall—again for something he believed in. An eyewitness to Constantino’s death said Constantino spoke about “voter rights” or “voting rights.” Another witness said he gave a “sharp salute” toward the Capitol before he lit himself on fire. A neighbor who was contacted by a local reporter said Constantino believed the government “doesn’t look out for us and they don’t care about anything but their own pockets.”

The media didn’t investigate any further into the rationale for Constantino’s taking his own life in a public place in the nation’s capital.

Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

27 February 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

Opposing genocide in Gaza, US Air Force soldier live-streams self-immolation in front of Israeli embassy

By Jacob Crosse

In a fatal Sunday afternoon protest, livestreamed and conducted in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C., Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old active duty Air Force member, declared his opposition to participating in the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza. He then proceeded to douse himself in an accelerant and light himself on fire. His last words were “Free Palestine.”

Video of Bushnell’s deadly protest quickly spread on social media. In the just over three-minute video, Bushnell, wearing his combat fatigues, begins by introducing himself and declaring, “I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force, and I will no longer be complicit in genocide.” As he continues to walk in his uniform, he calmly explains, “I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it is not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”

Bushnell, with a container of liquid in his left hand, continued to walk for about 30 seconds until he reached the front of the Israeli embassy. After placing his camera down—with it facing towards the front of the embassy—Bushnell walked up to the gate and drenched himself with a liquid, declaring, “Free Palestine!” He then pulled out a lighter and attempted to ignite himself.

Off-camera, a man’s voice is heard asking, “Can I help you, sir?” For approximately 15 seconds, Bushnell was not able to light the accelerant, yet the voice off-camera made no attempt to get the lighter from Bushnell. Once the fire did catch, Bushnell was quickly drenched in flames. As the fire consumed Bushnell, he screamed repeatedly, “Free Palestine!”

As Bushnell was burning, several voices were heard off-camera. One person yelled, “Man on fire!” while another was heard repeatedly yelling, “Get on the ground!” As sirens blared and tires screeched, Bushnell eventually collapsed on the ground. Nearly a minute after ignition, a police officer is observed using a fire extinguisher on Bushnell’s now charred and immobile body.

Despite the fact that Bushnell obviously presented no threat to anyone but himself, an armed agent is observed on the tape pointing a gun at Bushnell as he continued to burn on the ground for the remainder of the video. The police agent (it is unclear as of this writing if he is with the Israeli embassy or the US Secret Service) continued to point his weapon at Bushnell even as one the police officers is heard yelling, “I don’t need guns, I need fire extinguishers.”

In his last social media post, Bushnell wrote, “Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’ The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”

On his LinkedIn account, Bushnell listed that he had been full-time with the US Air Force since May 2020, with his last assignment being a “DevOps Engineer” in San Antonio, Texas. Bushnell wrote that he was looking to “transition out of the US Air Force into software engineering.”

In January, the Intercept reported that since November of 2023, the US Air Force had deployed officers specializing in “targeting intelligence” specifically for airstrikes and long-range artillery weapons to Israel. While it is unclear as of this writing if Bushnell received orders to deploy, there is no question that he was deeply troubled by the US military’s role in the ongoing slaughter.

Bushnell was influenced by anarchist politics. On the day of his self-immolation, the young man emailed anarchist publications, such as crimethinc, alerting them that he planned to “engage in an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people.” He provided links to the livestream and recorded footage of the “event” and asked that the “footage is preserved and reported on.”

In a statement issued on Monday, Serve The People Akron, based out of Akron, Ohio, released a statement confirming that Aaron “was a valued member of our organization and the community who immediately jumping to help the unhoused and any project that came up. He was dependable and persistent and the mutual aid work he did in a city that still new to him. We will be forever grateful for the effort he put in to make Akron a better place.”

Several memorials and vigils have already been planned and held in honor of Bushnell. On Monday outside of the Israeli embassy in the same place the young man set himself on fire, dozens of protesters held a memorial service. On a large canvas, attendees wrote phrases in English and Arabic in support of Bushnell. One message read, “Dear Aaron, We are sorry the world has failed you, just like it has failed the people of Gaza. May you rest in peace.”

Bushnell’s death is a tragic event and an indictment of all the governments and political tendencies responsible for the slaughter. Chief among them are the Israeli and US governments, followed by their NATO allies. However, a special place is reserved for those that continue to proffer illusions in the perpetrators and facilitators of genocide. In the United States, this includes the Democratic Socialists of America, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the forces behind the “Uncommitted” charade, who continue to prop up the Biden administration and the Democratic Party.

Despite widespread opposition to the mass murder and starvation of Palestinians, major media outlets, including the New York Times, NPR, Reuters, CNN and Washington Post, did not report on the protest for several hours and when they did, the headlines were deliberately vague in order to mask the political content of Bushnell’s devastating demonstration.

“Airman Dies After Setting Himself On Fire Outside Israeli Embassy in Washington” was the headline in the New York Times. “U.S. airman dies after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy” read the NPR headline. The Post similarly declared, “Airman dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in D.C.” CNN and Reuters both went with the equally useless, “US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington.”

This self-censorship by the capitalist press is of a piece of their conduct since the outset of the US-backed Israeli slaughter in Gaza. Since the first week in October, American press outlets have blasted out Israeli propaganda, while blacking out daily protests against US involvement in the war. At the same time, the Biden administration and the entire US political establishment slanders tens of thousands of students and demonstrators as “antisemitic” for exercising their First Amendment rights to oppose genocide.

Continuing their filthy role, major media outlets that have begun to report on the incident are using the catch-all term of “mental illness” in order to cover up the political content of Bushnell’s extreme protest and portray it as the product of defects in his psyche, not the sickness of American society and the mass revulsion produced by the foreign policy of American imperialism.

But from all accounts, Bushnell was not suffering from any mental illness, and he is not even the first American to self-immolate in response to the ongoing slaughter in Gaza. On December 1, 2023 a woman protester, whom Atlanta police have refused to identify, drenched herself in gasoline and lit herself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, Georgia. The woman was carrying a Palestinian flag at the time.

These extreme protests are a reaction to the barbaric violence that US society inflicts on workers and their families around the world. Decades of endless war have brutalized American society. Attempts by the population to effect change through the ballot box are denied as the big business parties, with the media in tow, do everything in their power to ban socialist and left-wing viewpoints. For decades the two parties have funneled society’s resources away from social programs and into war, including over $1 trillion last year.

Decades of imperialist war in the Middle East, Africa and Asia have led to over 40 million refugees and nearly 10 million deaths. US imperialist violence does not stay outside its borders, no matter how many rolls of concertina wire are deployed along the US-Mexico border. It pervades every aspect of US society, from a soldier suffering from PTSD massacring adults and children at a bowling alley in Maine, to daily police killings that have topped over 1,000 a year in the US for over a decade.

The lives and bodies of workers and young people, whether Palestinian or American, are worth nothing to the ruling class unless they can be turned into soldiers or profit. The bipartisan embrace of genocide in Gaza, which has been supported by the political establishments of the US, Israel and other imperialist countries, is the end of the line for capitalist politics in America.

Originally published in WSWS.ORG

27 February 2024

Source: countercurrents.org