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By Jessica Corbett

The family of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States now at risk of deportation because he helped lead pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last spring, on Friday released a video of his recent arrest by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents in New York City, which has sparked legal battles and protests.

“You’re watching the most terrifying moment of my life,” Khalil’s wife, Noor, said in a statement about the two-minute video. “This felt like a kidnapping because it was: Officers in plain clothes—who refused to show us a warrant, speak with our attorney, or even tell us their names—forced my husband into an unmarked car and took him away from me.”

“They threatened to take me too, even though we were calm and fully cooperating. For the next 38 hours after this video, neither I or our lawyers knew where Mahmoud was being held. Now, he’s over 1,000 miles from home, still being wrongfully detained by U.S. immigration,” said Noor, whose husband is detained at a facility in Jena, Louisiana.

Noor, who is eight months pregnant, noted that “Mahmoud has repeatedly warned of growing threats from Columbia University and the U.S. government unjustly targeting students who want to see an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Now, the Trump administration and DHS are targeting him, and other students too.”

“Mahmoud is clearly the first of many to be illegally repressed for their speech in support of Palestinian rights,” she added. “Everyone should be alarmed and urgently calling for the freedom of Mahmoud and all other students under attack for their advocacy for Palestinian human rights.”

[https://twitter.com/theCCR/status/1900653363353841795]

Khalil, who finished his graduate studies at Columbia in December, is an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent. He was living in the United States with a green card until his arrest on Saturday. In response to a filing by his legal team—which includes Amy Greer from Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project—a judge has temporarily blocked his deportation.

The ACLU and its New York arm have joined Khalil’s legal team, and his attorneys filed an amended petition and complaint on Thursday. NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said that with the new “filing, we are making it crystal clear that no president can arrest, detain, or deport anyone for disagreeing with the government. The Trump administration has selectively targeted Mr. Khalil, a student, husband, and father-to-be who has not been accused of a single crime, to send a message of just how far they will go to crack down on dissent.”

“But we at the NYCLU and ACLU won’t stand for it—under the Constitution, the Trump administration has no basis to continue this cruel weaponization of Mr. Khalil’s life,” Lieberman added. “The court must release Mr. Khalil immediately and let him go home to his family in New York, where he belongs. Ideas are not illegal, and dissent is not grounds for deportation.”

Samah Sisay of CCR reiterated those messages as the arrest video circulated on Friday, saying that “Mr. Khalil was taken by plainclothes DHS agents in front of his pregnant wife without any legal justification. Mr. Khalil must be freed because the government cannot use these coercive tactics to unlawfully suppress his First Amendment protected speech in support of Palestinian rights.”

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

15 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By V.A. Mohamad Ashrof

The Quran contains approximately fifty references to the Children of Israel, along with 137 references to Moses and 18 references to the Torah. Most of these references are positive, acknowledging the special status and divine favour bestowed upon the Israelites. For instance:

“O Children of Israel, remember My favour upon you and that I preferred you above all peoples.” (Quran 2:47)

“Indeed, We settled the Children of Israel in a suitable dwelling place and provided them with good things.” (Quran 10:93)

These verses affirm the honoured position of the Israelites and the blessings they received from God.

The Special Role of the Israelites in History

The Quran presents the Israelites as a people chosen for a special purpose:

1.       A Divinely Favoured Nation: The Quran acknowledges their chosen status in several passages. (1)

2.       Recipients of Numerous Prophets: Many prophets, including Moses, were raised among them to guide their society. (2)

3.       Covenantal Responsibility: The Quran emphasizes that the Israelites were entrusted with God’s covenant. (3)

4.       Moral Accountability: The Quran critiques the Israelites for repeatedly breaking their covenant and turning away from divine guidance. (4)

5.       Consequences of Transgression: The Quran attributes periods of hardship and oppression to these moral failings. (5)

Despite these critiques, the Quran’s intention is corrective rather than malicious. The emphasis is on moral accountability, applicable to all nations, rather than singling out one community for condemnation.

Historical Allusions in the Quran

The Quran references key historical events in Jewish tradition, such as:

The Israelites were constantly subjected to oppression because of their corruption. (6)

•        The Exodus: The Quran recounts the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt under Moses. (7)

•        The Babylonian Exile: The Quran briefly alludes to the Israelites’ exile in Babylon, a period of immense suffering and reflection. (8)

The Accusation of Anti-Semitism

Critics have claimed that the Quran promotes anti-Semitism due to its critique of certain behaviours within Jewish history. However, these criticisms fail to consider the Quran’s broader moral lessons, which apply to all humanity. The Quran’s references to negative traits — such as arrogance, corruption, or hypocrisy — are directed at specific behaviours, not an entire ethnic or religious group.

For example, the Quran highlights a claim attributed to some Israelites:

“And they say, ‘The Fire will not touch us except for a few days.’ Say, ‘Have you taken a covenant with God? For God will never break His covenant.’” (Quran 2:80) (9)

This belief is reflected in parts of the Talmud, where some interpretations suggest that Jews would face only brief punishment in the afterlife. (10) The Quran critiques this sense of false security, which is relevant to all who misuse religious doctrine for self-righteousness.

Accusations of Scriptural Corruption

The Quran presents the charge that some Israelites altered divine scripture:

“Do you covet [the hope] that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of God and then distort it after they had understood it.” (Quran 2:75) (11)

This critique aligns with references in the Old Testament that similarly acknowledge textual corruption:

“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? Behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” (Jeremiah 8:8) (12)

Criticism of Hypocrisy in Religious Leadership:

The Quran’s critique of Jewish scholars mirrors Jesus’ own rebuke of religious authorities. As recorded in the Gospels, Jesus condemned the Pharisees for prioritizing superficial rituals over deeper moral principles:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, but have disregarded the weightier matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faith.” (Matthew 23:23)

This parallel reinforces that the Quran’s criticisms echo the moral rebukes found in earlier scriptures.

The “Monkey” Allegation and Historical Context:

The Quran’s reference to a group of Israelites transformed into monkeys has faced strong criticism. However, this passage refers specifically to a community that violated the Sabbath:

“And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the Sabbath, and We said to them, ‘Be apes, despised.’” (Quran 2:65) (13)

This narrative is symbolic, indicating moral degeneration rather than literal transformation. Similar language appears in the Old Testament:

•        Ezekiel 20 describes Israel’s repeated disobedience and punishment.

•        Nehemiah 13 condemns Sabbath violations and demands strict accountability. (14)

The Quran’s references to the Israelites are not expressions of racial hatred or anti-Semitism. Rather, they reflect a broader moral critique that applies to all communities guilty of corruption, injustice, or arrogance. The Quran’s positive affirmations about the Israelites, combined with its call for justice and mercy, challenge the false notion that Islam promotes hostility toward Jews.

Quranic Critique of the Jewish Priesthood and Religious Elitism

The Quran critiques certain Jewish priests for exploiting the people through manipulative practices:

“O Messenger, do not grieve for those who hasten into disbelief — of those who say, ‘We believe’ with their mouths but their hearts believe not… They distort words from their proper usage… They consume unlawful gain…” (Quran 5:41-42) (15)

This criticism aligns with Jesus’ rebuke of the Jewish priesthood, where he condemned religious leaders for imposing heavy burdens on the common people without offering guidance or compassion:

“They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:4) (16)

Rejection of Exclusivism and Racial Superiority

The Quran strongly challenges the notion that salvation or divine favour is reserved exclusively for the Jews:

“And they say, ‘None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian.’ This is their wishful thinking. Say, ‘Produce your proof, if you should be truthful.’” (Quran 2:111) (17)

Jewish scholars themselves have acknowledged this exclusivist tendency in some interpretations of Jewish theology. For instance, prominent Jewish thinker Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) once remarked on the perception of Jewish uniqueness, asserting that Jews possess a distinct identity that separates them from others. (19)

The Quran counters this notion, describing such exclusivism as spiritual arrogance rather than divine truth. The Quran warns against the misguided belief that salvation is confined to one group:

“The Jews and the Christians say, ‘We are the children of God and His beloved ones.’ Say, ‘Then why does He punish you for your sins? No! You are but humans from among those He has created…’” (Quran 5:18) (25)

Islam rejects the concept of racial or ethnic superiority, affirming instead that spiritual excellence is determined by piety and moral conduct.

Criticism of Financial Corruption and Usury

The Quran critiques a faction of Jewish priests for manipulating religious teachings to permit usury, despite its clear prohibition in earlier scriptures:

“And for their taking of usury while they had been forbidden from it, and their consuming of people’s wealth unjustly — We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.” (Quran 4:161) (28)

This critique finds support in historical accounts. Certain Jewish authorities reinterpreted the Torah’s prohibition on usury, limiting it to transactions between Jews while allowing exploitative practices toward non-Jews. (29) Such distortions of religious ethics reflect a broader critique found in both the Quran and the Old Testament.

The Crucifixion of Jesus: Clarifying Historical Misconceptions

The Quran addresses the claim that the Jews were responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion, noting that while some claimed to have killed him, they had not succeeded:

“…And [for] their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of God.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them…” (Quran 4:157) (31)

This verse serves as a corrective narrative, not an accusation. While both the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 5:30) (30) and the Talmud contain references to Jewish involvement in Jesus’ death, the Quran ultimately absolves the Jewish community from collective responsibility for the crucifixion. In doing so, the Quran dismantles a major foundation of anti-Semitic rhetoric that has persisted in Western narratives. (32)

Defence of Jesus and Mary’s Sanctity

The Quran severely and blatantly condemns slander against Jesus and Mary, defending their holiness:

“And [We cursed them] for their disbelief and their saying against Mary a great slander.” (Quran 4:156) (33)

“And [mention] when the angels said, ‘O Mary, indeed God has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds.’” (Quran 3:42) (34)

This defence of Jesus and Mary underscores the Quran’s reverence for figures central to both Christian and Jewish traditions.

The Quran’s criticism of certain Jewish practices or beliefs is not an expression of anti-Semitism but rather part of a broader moral critique applicable to all communities that stray from ethical principles. The Quran both acknowledges the Israelites’ privileged status and holds them accountable for failing to uphold their covenant with God.

Those who accuse the Quran of anti-Semitism often overlook its praise of Jewish prophets, its acknowledgment of righteous Jews, and its shared ethical framework with earlier Abrahamic traditions. Such accusations are frequently rooted in misunderstanding or deliberate misrepresentation.

Jewish Criticism in the Bible: A Balanced Perspective

Criticism, when constructive and purposeful, serves as a tool for reflection and improvement. The Bible contains numerous instances of such criticism directed at the Israelites, emphasizing moral accountability rather than ethnic prejudice.

For example, the Bible recounts how many Hebrews rebelled against Moses, despite their profound reverence for him as a prophet and leader. (35) The Old Testament frequently highlights episodes where God’s displeasure was directed at the Israelites due to their transgressions and moral failings:

“But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.” (Isaiah 63:10) (36)

The Bible portrays God as impartial, punishing wrongdoers regardless of their background. In this spirit, God’s judgment is shown to have fallen not only upon the Israelites but also on other groups such as the people of Damascus, (37) Edom, (38) Ammon, (39) and Moab. (40)

Jesus himself warned the Israelites that their privileged status could be revoked if they failed to live righteously:

“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” (Matthew 21:43) (42)

Similarly, the book of Ezra criticizes some Israelites for neglecting their civic duties and creating social unrest:

“Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have come to Jerusalem; they are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city… They will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will suffer.” (Ezra 4:12-15)

Not All Jews Are Transgressors

Both the Quran and the Bible acknowledge the presence of righteous Jews who uphold moral values. The Quran affirms:

“They are not all the same; among the People of the Book is a community standing in obedience, reciting the verses of God during the night while they prostrate.” (Quran 3:113) (43)

The Quran encourages learning from the righteous among the Jewish people. (44) However, it advises against befriending those who promote hostility and injustice. (45)

Muslims are encouraged to coexist peacefully with Jews, fostering mutual respect and cooperation. The Quran even permits Muslim men to marry Jewish women (47) and allows Muslims to consume meat prepared by Jews. (48) These legal allowances reflect Islam’s commitment to social harmony and interfaith coexistence.

Historical Testimony of Muslim-Jewish Coexistence

The Medina Charter, established by Prophet Muhammad in 622 AD, is an important historical testament to Muslim-Jewish cooperation. This constitution, recognized as one of the earliest written social contracts, guaranteed religious freedom and equal citizenship to Jewish tribes in Medina.

During the Middle Ages, while Jews faced severe persecution in Europe, they found refuge and humane treatment in Muslim lands. Philosopher Bertrand Russell highlights this distinction, noting that Muslims upheld principles of tolerance and justice when others did not. (49)

Both the Quran and Jewish scriptures uphold justice as the ultimate moral standard. (50) The Quran calls for cooperation in goodness and peacebuilding:

“For every community, We have appointed a code of law and a path. If God had willed, He could have made you one nation; but He tests you in what He has given you. So race to do good…” (Quran 5:48)

“O People of the Book! Come to a common word between us and you: that we worship none but God, associate no partners with Him, and that none of us take others as lords besides God.” (Quran 3:64)

The Quran further highlights the shared sanctity of religious spaces — synagogues, churches, and mosques — underscoring Islam’s recognition of the spiritual value of all faith traditions:

“And were it not that God repels some people by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques — wherein God’s name is much remembered — would have been demolished.” (Quran 22:40)

A Vision of Unity and Justice

Both the Quran and the Bible contain critiques of certain Jewish behaviours, yet these critiques are ethical rather than racial. They serve as moral warnings, addressing social corruption, injustice, and spiritual neglect rather than condemning an ethnic or religious identity. The Quran’s acknowledgment of righteous Jews, its call for social cooperation, and its historical promotion of peaceful coexistence reflect Islam’s balanced and just stance.

The Quran envisions a world where mutual respect and cooperation between community’s foster truth, justice, and peace. By emphasizing moral conduct rather than racial superiority, the Quran promotes unity in diversity.

The Quran asserts that it offers clarity where the Children of Israel’s scriptures were marked by disputes and inconsistencies:

“Indeed, this Quran relates to the Children of Israel most of that over which they disagree.” (Quran 27:76)

The Quran also references the political and social fluctuations in the history of the Children of Israel. It foretells periods of power, corruption, and eventual restoration:

“And We conveyed to the Children of Israel in the Scripture: ‘You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice, and you will become tyrannically arrogant. When the first of the two warnings came to pass, We sent against you servants of Ours of great military might, and they probed [even] into the homes. And it was a warning fulfilled.’” (Quran 17:4-5)

The Quran highlights that the people of Israel will face continued challenges unless aided by God or supported by righteous conduct:

“They will be stricken with humiliation wherever they are found, except when under a covenant (of protection) with God or a covenant with the people. They have drawn upon themselves anger from God…” (Quran 3:112)

While some Israelites have faced hardship and humiliation, the Quran also emphasizes that a virtuous group within them remains steadfast:

“Yet they are not all alike: among the People of the Book are those who stand (for the right); they recite the verses of God during the night while they prostrate themselves (in prayer).” (Quran 3:113)

The Quran calls upon those who uphold moral values — whether from Jewish, Christian, or other backgrounds — to join forces in promoting justice and righteousness.

Remarkably, the Quran stands out as the only non-Jewish scripture that extensively praises the Children of Israel and acknowledges their prophetic legacy. (51) It declares that they too can attain salvation by returning to the essence of their own scripture and living righteously:

“If only the People of the Book had believed and been mindful (of God), We would have surely absolve them of their sins and admitted them into Gardens of Bliss.” (Quran 5:65) (52)

Far from being anti-Semitic, the Quran’s portrayal of the Israelites is deeply rooted in moral guidance and creative and constructive criticism. Its emphasis on justice, compassion, and shared spiritual values offers a noble vision for humanity. The Quran, like Torah, Injeel and Zabur, stands as a call to self-reflection, urging believers of all traditions to embrace righteousness, cooperation, justice and peace. (53)

Bibliography and Notes

1. Quran 44:32, 5:20, 2:47

2. Quran 44:32

3. Quran 5:20

4. Quran 2:100, 4:153, 5:12-13

5. Quran 7:167

6. Quran 17:4-5

7. Quran 5:21-26

8. Quran 17:6

9. Quran 2:80, 3:24

10. Hagigah 27a

11. Quran 2:79, 3:78, 4:46, 5:13, 5:41, 3:75, 5:64, 3:181

12. Jeremiah 8:8-9, 23:36, Isaiah 10:1

13. Quran 2:65, 5:60

14. Ezekiel 20:13-49, Nehemiah 13:17-18

15. Quran 9:34

16. Matthew 23:2-4

17. Quran 2:111-113

18. Israel Shahak, N. Mezvinsky, Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Pluto Press: London, 1999, p.58

19. E.Wiesel, Against Silence, Holocaust Library: New York, 1985, p.153

20. Quran 3:113-114, 3:199, 5:82, 2:62, 2:111, 2:113, 4:155-157

21. Quran 2:61, 3:181

22. Luke 11:50-51, Matthew 27:25, Matthew 23:30-31

23. Quran 5:64

24. Quran 9:30

25. Quran 49:13, 4:1

26. Exodus 6:4, Leviticus 20:26, 1 Chronicles 16:13, Psalms 105:6

27. Romans 8:16, 8:21, Galatians 3:26, Ephesians 1:5, 5:1

28. Quran 4:161, 6:146, 9:34

29. Quran 23:19-20, 4:161

30. Acts 5:30, 10:39

31. Quran 4:153-158

32. Quran 4:153-158

33. Quran 4:157, 4:156-159

34. Quran 21:91, 3:39, 4:170, 3:36-37

35. Exodus 16:19-20, 20:11-12, Deuteronomy 31:27, 9:21-24, Numbers 11:1-6, 14:1-4

36. Numbers 12:9-10, 14:10-34. For more Old Testament criticism of the Jews, see: 2 Kings 17:18, 23:27; Deuteronomy 9:6-11

37. Amos 1:9-10

38. Amos 1:11-12

39. Amos 1:13-14

40. Amos 2:1-3

41. Amos 2:4-8, 2:10-11, 9:9-10

42. See Quran 2:84-85

43. Quran 5:69, 2:62, 22:17, 3:113-115, 3:199

44. Quran 10:94, 16:43

45. Quran 5:57-59, 60:8

46. Quran 60:8, 4:135, 5:8, 3:64

47. Quran 5:5

48. Quran 5:5

49. Bertrand Russel, History of Western Philosophy, Routledge: London, 1946, p.324

50. Leviticus 9:15, Quran 5:8, 4:135

51. Quran 2:40, 2:47, 10:93, 44:30-32

52. Quran 2:62, 5:69, 22:17

53. Quran 42:13, 5:2, 5:8, 8:61, 30:21, 24:22, 49:13, 3:103, 17:70

V.A. Mohamad Ashrof is an independent Indian scholar specializing in Islamic humanism.

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Renée L. Quarterman

How a Tiny Island Defies U.S. Sanctions to Lead in Healthcare

In the heart of the Cuban capital, the Dr. Cosme Ordoñez Carceller Teaching Polyclinic stands as a testament to the nation’s unique approach to healthcare: universal, free of charge, accessible, regionalized, community-centered, and deeply rooted in preventive medicine. Unlike the profit-driven models that dominate much of the world, Cuba’s system prioritizes equitable access, public health education, and early intervention.

At the core of this approach is a commitment to health promotion through education, disease prevention through habit management, and the integration of medical care and rehabilitation. By emphasizing proactive healthcare rather than reactive treatment, the system ensures that communities receive continuous, comprehensive support to maintain overall well-being.

During a recent visit to the Dr. Cosme Ordoñez Carceller Teaching Polyclinic in Havana, the staff detailed how the system was developed and how it ensures that no Cuban, regardless of income, is left without medical care.

The Structure of Cuba’s Healthcare System

Cuba’s National Health System operates as a hierarchical, state-run model designed to ensure seamless coordination of care. At the top, the National Assembly oversees the Ministry of Public Health, which sets national policies and directs specialized health institutes that tackle broader public health concerns.

Below the Ministry, provincial governments, answering directly to the Assembly, oversee provincial health departments, which manage larger hospitals and specialized medical facilities. These provincial bodies, in turn, delegate responsibilities to municipal governments, which run the municipal health departments and smaller hospitals that serve local populations. At the community level, municipal health departments manage Cuba’s extensive polyclinic network, the cornerstone of the country’s healthcare system. These polyclinics not only provide specialized care, diagnostics, and emergency services, but they also coordinate closely with family doctor-and-nurse teams, who serve as the first point of contact for Cuban citizens.

These frontline providers play a crucial role beyond immediate treatment, emphasizing preventive care, home visits, and alternative therapies such as nutrition counseling, acupuncture, and plant-based medicine. Despite supply shortages exacerbated by U.S. sanctions, this integrated, top-down approach ensures that resources are distributed efficiently, maintaining consistent healthcare access nationwide.

Founded in 1974, the Dr. Ordoñez Carceller Polyclinic serves approximately 13,000 residents, offering care in medical specialties such as cardiology, orthopedics, fertility consultations, and genetic testing. The clinic is named after Dr. Cosme Ordoñez Carceller (1927–2019), an epidemiologist and pioneer of Community Medicine, who championed the polyclinic model that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. He played a key role in training young physicians in comprehensive general medicine and launched innovative programs like the Grandparents’ Circles, a senior care initiative so effective that it was replicated nationwide.

Unlike the profit-driven models that dominate much of the world, Cuba’s system prioritizes equitable access, public health education, and early intervention. The country’s healthcare approach is rooted in promoting health through education, preventing disease by managing habits, and ensuring comprehensive medical care and rehabilitation. Unlike the fragmented, for-profit U.S. healthcare model, Cuba’s integrated, community-based approach ensures better health outcomes and higher patient satisfaction. At polyclinics like Ordoñez Carceller, primary care is not just about treating illness but about education, prevention, and holistic well-being. This commitment to accessible, people-centered medicine reflects Cuba’s broader philosophy: that healthcare is not a privilege, but a fundamental human right.

Cuba’s Healthcare Achievements: A Global Leader in Public Health

Despite enduring over six decades of economic embargo, Cuba has achieved remarkable public health milestones. The following list highlights key accomplishments of both the Ordoñez Carceller Polyclinic and the Cuban healthcare system as a whole:

• AIDS: Cuba identified HIV in 1983 and quickly set up a system to track and treat it. By 2014, it eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, a milestone the U.S. has yet to reach.

• COVID Cuba developed two COVID vaccines, kept infections low, and even sent vaccines abroad.

• Diabetes The nation has developed an effective medication that treats diabetic ulcers (skin wounds that result from poor blood sugar control)

• Alzheimer’s Research: Cuba developed a drug that may help reverse Alzheimer’s effects.

• Maternal-fetal medicine 99% of Cuban children are vaccinated, and the country has a lower infant mortality rate than the U.S.

• Nutrition While obesity is not an issue in Cuba, malnutrition is an increasing concern due to shortages caused by the U.S. embargo

• Home health Doctors make house calls to care for the elderly and new mothers.

Profit vs. Public Health: How Medical Education and Healthcare Delivery Differ in Cuba and the U.S.

The paths to becoming a doctor in Cuba and the United States could not be more different. In the U.S., medical students take on crippling debt, often exceeding $200,000, before ever treating a patient. The pressure to repay loans steers many toward high-paying specialties, leaving primary care and rural communities underserved. The system is structured around financial incentives rather than public need, reinforcing the idea that medicine is a business first, a service second.

Cuba takes the opposite approach. Medical education is fully state-funded, allowing students to focus on patient care instead of profit. Training begins immediately after secondary school, with students placed in community clinics early in their careers. By the time they specialize, they have already served in primary care settings, ensuring that the system produces physicians committed to public health, not private wealth.

A Focus on Prevention, Not Just Treatment

Cuba’s prevention-first model stands in stark contrast to the reactive nature of U.S. healthcare. While American medicine often prioritizes treatment over lifestyle interventions, Cuban doctors routinely incorporate nutrition, exercise, and disease prevention strategies into care plans. The country’s polyclinic system ensures patients receive consistent, community-based healthcare rather than navigating a fragmented, for-profit system that often leaves them behind.

The U.S. Blockade: An Unjust Barrier to Health

The U.S. embargo continues to hinder Cuba’s healthcare system by restricting access to essential medicines, medical equipment, and scientific research. Pharmaceutical and shipping companies, fearing U.S. penalties, avoid business with Cuba—leading to severe shortages of everything from aspirin to cancer treatments.

Even medical journals and online resources are blocked due to U.S. restrictions, forcing Cuban researchers to work under constraints that most Western physicians never encounter.

Yet, rather than succumbing to these barriers, Cuba has turned to self-sufficiency, investing in biotechnology, vaccine development, and herbal medicine research to compensate for limited imports. If freed from economic sanctions, Cuba’s contributions to global healthcare innovation could expand exponentially.

For decades, Cuba has exported medical expertise worldwide, sending doctors to disaster-stricken and underserved regions. These global medical brigades have provided care to millions, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Yet, rather than supporting these humanitarian efforts, Washington has sought to dismantle them. In February 2025, the U.S. expanded sanctions on Cuba’s international medical program, further restricting its ability to send doctors abroad. The move reflects a deeper failure to understand Cuba’s model of solidarity-driven healthcare, a stark contrast to the U.S. system, where medicine is often dictated by profit rather than public service.

It is within this profit-driven framework that Cuba’s medical missions are misunderstood, labeled as “forced labor” by those who cannot imagine doctors choosing service over salary. The very idea of healthcare as a human right, rather than a commodity, challenges the U.S. worldview, leading to efforts to discredit and sanction those who practice it differently.

What Could Be If the Embargo Were Lifted

Cuba’s healthcare system is a model of resilience and innovation, but its full potential remains hindered by decades of U.S. sanctions. If given access to global resources and technology, Cuban researchers could expand medical advancements in infectious diseases, chronic illness treatment, and disaster response. For now, Cuban doctors continue their work—undaunted by external pressures, committed to the principle that healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

Renée L. Quarterman, MD, FACS, is a surgical breast specialist. She is the director of Delaware Breast Care, a part of US Oncology.

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Ranjan Solomon

Ukraine and the US recently proposed a ceasefire agreement, but Russia has rejected it and offered an alternative proposal. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that while he agrees with the idea of a temporary ceasefire, it should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of the war. Putin’s alternative proposal undermines the US and Ukraine’s goals, as it would grant Russia significant advantages. Russia would be allowed to continue military recruitment, production of military equipment, and receipt of military aid, while Ukraine would be restricted from doing so.

Russia’s rejection of the ceasefire proposal and its counteroffer suggest that Putin is holding the proposal hostage and attempting to extract concessions before formal negotiations begin. This move is consistent with Russia’s previous actions, as it has been accused of using negotiations as a delaying tactic to continue its military advances. The situation on the ground remains tense, with Russian forces continuing their offensive operations in eastern Ukraine. Despite some Ukrainian counterattacks, Russian forces have made marginal gains in the Kupyansk direction.

Russia’s demands in the Ukraine conflict are multifaceted and have evolved over time. At its core, Russia seeks to halt Ukraine’s integration with Western institutions, particularly NATO. Russia will not stop shot at demanding halting NATO expansion. Russia wants to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and has called for a ban on NATO military exercises in Ukraine.

As far as territorial control goes, Russia demands recognition of its annexation of Crimea and control over the Donbas region. Russia seeks to limit Ukraine’s sovereignty by designating it as a “neutral, non-aligned, and non-nuclear” state. Russia demands protection for Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine, which could be used as a pretext for future interference.

As yet another pre-condition, Russia wants to demilitarize Ukraine, which would significantly weaken its ability to defend itself. These demands are non-negotiable for Russia, and it has shown willingness to use military force to achieve its objectives.

Ukraine’s stance on negotiations with Russia has been shaped by the ongoing conflict and the country’s commitment to sovereignty. Ukraine’s non-negotiable dimensions are in sharp contrast in multiple ways. Ukraine insists on the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from its territory. Ukraine declines to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea or the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukraine is stubbornly committed to its goal of joining NATO and will not abandon its bid for membership. This factor alone makes the entire peace process a non-starter although even NATO countries and some European countries do not want Ukraine in NATO. Of these Hungary and Germany are votaries against Ukraine being in NATO. The USA has also asserted this position. These alone make a NATO membership complicated for Ukraine.

Hungary Hungary’s Concerns has expressed concerns about the treatment of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine, particularly in the Zakarpattia Oblast. Hungary wants to ensure that the rights of the Hungarian minority, including language and cultural rights are protected. There are also historical border disputes between Hungary and Ukraine, which have contributed to tensions between the two countries.

Germany has traditionally had close economic and energy ties with Russia, and has been cautious not to antagonize Russia further. Germany has emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine, rather than a military one. Some in Germany have also expressed concerns about NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe, and the potential for it to be seen as provocative by Russia. These concerns highlight the complexities of European politics and the need for careful diplomacy in addressing the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Russia views NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine, as a direct threat to its national security. Russia has historically sought to maintain a buffer zone between itself and NATO, and sees Ukraine as part of this buffer. On the flip side, Russia has also been accused of seeking to maintain its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, and views Ukraine’s NATO membership as a challenge to this influence.

Ukraine and its Western allies argue that Ukraine’s NATO membership is a matter of sovereignty, and that Russia has no right to dictate Ukraine’s foreign policy choices.

Ukraine and its allies also argue that NATO membership is necessary for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression, particularly in the wake of the 2014 annexation of Crimea. NATO membership is seen as a way to bring stability and security to the region, and to counter Russian efforts to destabilize Ukraine.

Some argue that Ukraine’s NATO membership is part of a broader containment strategy aimed at reigning in Russian aggression and expansionism.  NATO membership is seen as a way to deter Russian aggression, by making it clear that any attack on Ukraine would be met with a collective response from the alliance. By promoting stability and security in Ukraine, NATO membership is seen as a way to promote stability in the broader region, and to reduce the risk of Russian aggression.

Russia has consistently demanded that Ukraine must not join NATO and has sought guarantees that the alliance will not expand further eastward. Ukraine, on the other hand, has been adamant about its right to join NATO and has received support from several Western countries.

The issue of NATO membership is closely tied to the broader conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and any resolution to the conflict will likely need to address this issue. However, it’s unclear what compromises might be possible, as both sides have taken firm stances on the matter.

Russia will not likely accept the very light and vague “readiness to accept” a ceasefire unless the promise to “immediately begin negotiations toward an enduring peace that provides for Ukraine’s long-term security” also addresses some of Russia’s key concerns about their long-term security. Russia is unlikely to accept a 30-day ceasefire that could just end with resumption of fighting with rested and resupplied Ukrainian armed forces. And they are unlikely to accept the possibility of endless extensions that the agreement offers that would freeze the situation in a manner that addresses none of the concerns that Russia went to war for.

Russia might be willing to accept a ceasefire agreement that includes promises of relief from some sanctions. They will likely insist on possession of all or some of the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as well as constitutional guarantees of protection of the ethnic Russians in the regions that remain part of Ukraine and of permanent Ukrainian neutrality, including no membership in NATO.

In return, Russia might we willing to negotiate the return of some of the annexed territory, to use unfrozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine, and to abandon their demand for the demilitarization of Ukraine on condition that weapons supplied by the West be restricted to defensive weapons with no long range capacity to strike inside Russian territory. Much of this is possible, since the U.S. and Russia have said that the “Istanbul protocol agreement” will be used as a “framework” and “guidepost” in the negotiations.

And there is some evidence that the ceasefire is coming with some preconditions. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed, for example, that the Saudi Arabia talks with Ukraine included discussions about “territorial concessions.” Zelensky said the same day that Ukraine “will not recognize any occupied territories as Russia’s.” But the refusal to formally and legally “recognize” the loss of the territory does not preclude the de facto recognition of the reality that those territories will remain under Russian control unless they can be won back through diplomacy at a later date. Zelensky has previously conceded that “De facto, these territories are now controlled by the Russians. We don’t have the strength to bring them back,” while still insisting that Ukraine “cannot legally acknowledge any occupied territory of Ukraine as Russian.” The conundrum is that negotiations without those conditions could be unbearable for Putin, while negotiations with those conditions could be politically and domestically unbearable for Zelensky.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has baptized Putin as “manipulative” and said the Russian leader would either stall or try to kill the deal. US President Donald Trump once again signaled that Ukraine would have to make territorial concessions to Russia and that its desire to join the NATO alliance was a non-starter.

Trump described the negotiations as a “complicated” process of redrawing international boundaries: “You’re sort of creating the edge of a country.” A poll released from Reuters and Ipsos found that 56 percent of Americans felt Trump was “too closely aligned” with Russia. Peter Zalmayev, a political scientist in Kyiv and the executive director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative, has told Al Jazeera he would be wary of any peace deal that would sacrifice Ukrainian territory. Russia currently occupies 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, and Zalmayev said surrendering that area would have a “severe impact on international law”. But then? What exactly constitutes the 20 percent? And will that 20 percent all of a sudden balloon to, let’s say, 25 percent?”

Zalmayev observes: “Ukraine might actually be at peace with the idea of exchanging that loss for a promise of solid guarantees of security, investment, economic development. Russia may push to retain control of those areas as well, if territorial concessions are on the table. Ukraine would have to cede those cities like Kherson, which fought back and was recaptured from the Russians at the cost of thousands of lives of soldiers… “It could create significant discontent on the part of the returning soldiers, veterans, et cetera. And that in itself, I think, Vladimir Putin is very cognizant of and actually would not mind chaos in Ukraine.”

Occupied territory is a ‘bargaining chip’ for Putinaccording to experts.Territorial concessions are not the main goal of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“For Vladimir Putin, territory is not the main issue. The war is not for territory. The war is for the future security architecture in Russia, and I think Putin quite genuinely sees this war as existential for Russia.” The longer the war stretches on, the more Russia will gain the upper hand. TheRussians have been continuing their slow advance in Ukraine for many months – for over a year. This seems to be what is probably going to continue if no peace deal is achieved at the moment.

Putin figures that with every month of fighting continuing, Ukraine is losing, and the deal that is feasibly attainable by Ukraine is getting worse with each month Ukraine continues to remain in the battle. Putin is just waiting for Kyiv to admit that there is no way out from this war except negotiations.”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a significant asset in the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Specifically, it has become a key data analysis tool that helps operators and war fighters make sense of the growing volume and amount of information generated by numerous systems, weapons and soldiers in the field. As AI use continues to evolve, its application on the current Ukrainian and future battlefields will translate into more precise and capable responses to adversary forces, movements and actions. Ukraine’s application of this technology in combat is made possible by both government and private sector efforts. On balance, Ukraine seems to be gaining more from using this technology, although it’s too early to predict whether such a technological edge will translate into significant gains against entrenched Russian positions. So far, Ukraine has managed to maintain a human-centric approach toward AI use, with operators making the final decisions. In my view, Ukraine’s Western partners are embracing that approach, but their militaries still need to agree on how to use AI after its debut in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

An absolutely crucial aspect of this war is the rapid evolution of combat technologies and the adaptation of key tactics and concepts by both sides. In this war, Ukraine has benefited from allies and partners offering their artificial intelligence technologies and concepts, which are used in several key roles. A key role of AI in Ukraine’s service is the integration of target and object recognition with satellite imagery, prompting Western commentators to note that Ukraine has an edge in geospatial intelligence. According to public sources, neural networks are used to combine ground-level photos, video footage from numerous drones and UAVs, and satellite imagery to provide faster intelligence analysis and assessment to produce strategic and tactical intelligence advantages.

Putin gave a ‘sensible’ reply to ceasefire deal

An eminent political science academic Nicolai Petro, has praised Putin’s guarded response to the 30-day ceasefire proposal as a smart one in Al Jazeera. He warned that the devil is always in the details, and that’s what Moscow is waiting to see,” Petro told Al Jazeera. Putin is nobody’s fool.  Putin asserted he agreed in general to the prospect of peace, but not without factoring “the root causes of the crisis”. These include the the oppression of the Russian-speaking minority within Ukraine and the unbridled expansion of NATO eastward. The latter was in violation of the Minsk agreements. It was the notorious Clinton who cheekily and stealthily led the expansion into Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Then came more countries: Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland. Finally, in came Finland with citizens lying to themselves that they were at risk of nuclear war. Finland imagines that because its borders stretch nearly 1340 kilometers. It has its significance because of a complex history and diplomatic relations.

Western policymakers should study the lessons of the Minsk agreements – and drop any illusions about the ways in which Russia supposedly acts. As Marie Dumoulin, director of the Wider Europe programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations notes, “Russia has acted in and around past negotiations about Ukraine – the most prominent results of which were the Minsk agreements. These have long since become a byword for the West’s failure to deal with the post-2014 conflict in eastern Ukraine. In the debate relating to the Minsk agreements, they tend to either be branded a de facto capitulation to Russia or made out to be the main reason for Russia’s full-scale invasion of 2022, because of a supposed failure by Ukraine to implement these agreements (a view which echoes the Russian narrative, whether knowingly or not).

Gorbachev undid the Cold War under the condition that WARSAW would be wound up, and, in return, East and West Germany could be integrated. But, NATO held on claiming it was a mere defense alliance. It is now interventionist. It bombed Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and now Ukraine. It had no UN mandate for these wars and could be termed as a terrorist organization with a huge Military-Industrial Complex from which its host nations also gain. This is the hypocritical West. It has supported authoritarian regimes and enabled repression against Russia has its options. Alliances with China, Iran, Syria, will stave off threats from the post-colonial/still-colonial western bloc. It should work with allies in the Eastern bloc including Ukraine, Belarus, and Caucasus. At the economic level it must diversify so it becomes an economic power and overpower a compromised Europe devoid, as it is , of sterner stuff than some hand outs and no principles.

A robust BRICS can enable Russia to stave off western sanctions- in which area they are already cheating. Its exports must be prioritized to BRICS members like China and India. The New Development Bank (NDB) and the contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) are ways in BRICS can alter the dynamics of the way in which neo-colonial Europe plays its sullied political playoffs.

NATO can claim no credibility when it comes to democracy. Russia is right to reject any NATO presence in its borders. NATO leaders have lacked honesty and principle and are a violent militaristic bunch of allies.

Ranjan Solomon is a political commentator

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr. Ramzy Baroud

“The higher the monkey climbs, the more he shows his tail,” warns a timeless Chinese proverb. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, seems to neither heed the lessons of history nor the wisdom of such folk sayings.

By leading a vilification campaign against Egypt, the Israeli leader is further exposing his country’s vulnerabilities. This is yet another example of Israel’s inability to alter the political reality in Gaza, 17 months after it launched its devastating war on the Strip.

By targeting Egypt, Israel aims to project an image of prowess, and that it is unafraid to confront the most populous Arab nation. Yet, in doing so, it inadvertently exposes its own weaknesses. This behavior is wholly consistent with Netanyahu’s legacy of running away forward.

Long before the October 7, 2023, war, Netanyahu was riding a wave of political euphoria. At the time, his relentless climb to greater heights seemed justified. His Global South diplomacy was reversing decades of Israeli isolation, and his success in gaining international recognition without paying a significant political price earned him immense popularity at home.

In Israel, Netanyahu kept winning one election after another. His latest right-wing extremist coalition secured a comfortable majority in the Knesset facing little pushback. The extremists were poised to transform Israel from within, reconfigure the region, and, with the usual unconditional support from the United States, position Israel as a global power commanding respect and authority.

However, October 7 and Israel’s catastrophic failure on all fronts exposed Netanyahu’s tail as a failed leader. The crisis quickly manifested in global outrage as Israel carried out a genocidal war on the Palestinians, killing and wounding over 160,000 people in the course of 15 months. The Israeli tail was further exposed as the once-confident leader, who tirelessly promised to reshape the Middle East to fit Israel’s agenda, became a wanted criminal by the International Criminal Court on November 21, while his country faced investigations for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice.

Yet Netanyahu climbed even higher, doubling down on his approach. He insisted on continuing the war in Gaza, maintaining a military presence in Lebanon, and carrying out frequent and massive bombing campaigns in Syria.

Bravado aside, Netanyahu has still failed to achieve any of Israel’s stated objectives through the devastating war on Gaza—a war that has also cost Israel unprecedented losses and casualties. Meanwhile, the divisions among the political and military elites are deepening. The latest manifestation of this is the firing of many top military brass and the reordering of the army to align with Netanyahu’s political ambitions.

The more Israel’s vulnerabilities are exposed, the more Netanyahu and his allies intensify their threats—not only against Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria but also against Egypt. In fact, Egypt, which is not a party to the war and has been one of three mediators in ceasefire talks, has become the primary target of Israel’s new strategy aimed at ethnically cleansing Gaza’s population into the Sinai desert.

But how did this come about?

Egypt was hardly a factor in the Israeli war on Gaza. Yet, as the war on Gaza dragged on, with no possibility of a “total victory,” top Israeli officials began pointing fingers at Egypt.

The idea of taking over the Philadelphi Corridor, separating the city of Rafah in southern Gaza from the Egyptian border was first floated by extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Others, including Netanyahu himself, soon began parroting the same words.

In the media, the language took an even more foreboding turn, with some accusing Egypt of arming Hamas, or of not doing enough to stop the flow of weapons to the Palestinian resistance.

When Egypt rejected Israeli accusations and refused to accommodate Israel’s wish to ethnically cleanse Gaza, Israeli leaders began talking of an Egyptian military threat, alleging that Egypt was amassing troops at its border with Israel.

The original aim of roping Egypt into Israel’s failed war was meant to create a distraction from the battlefield. Eventually, however, the distraction turned into deflection: blaming Egypt for Israel’s inability to win the war or to displace the Gaza population.

To some extent, Netanyahu has succeeded in making Egypt part of the conversation on Gaza. With US President Donald Trump repeatedly proposing the displacement of Palestinians and the takeover of Gaza, the Israeli leader felt that, finally, he had a clear American commitment to export Israel’s problems elsewhere.

Even the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, used Egypt to distract from his own failure to mount a serious challenge to Netanyahu’s rule. On February 25, he proposed that Cairo oversee the Strip for a number of years at a conference in Washington.

While Palestinians, Arabs, and others reacted angrily to the Israel-US ethnic cleansing schemes, few paid attention to the fact that, historically, Israel has never sought permission to ethnically cleanse Palestinians. This was as true during the 1948 Nakba as it is today. Putting pressure on Arab countries to concede to Israel’s ethnic cleansing plans is the strongest sign yet of Israel’s weakness.

Tough talk and threats aside, Israel finds itself in a more vulnerable position than at any point in its history. It is clear that Israel is now using the Arabs to mask its own vulnerabilities. And though the monkey continues to climb, his tail has never been as exposed as it is today.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle.

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Geneva – Israel’s systematic sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians is widespread and amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to United Nations experts. Anew report released by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, also concludes that Israel has been responsible for acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

The long-standing impunity enjoyed by Israel, which has enabled it to continue its systematiccrimes against Palestinians, must end immediately due to the seriousness of the report’s contents.

In its report “‘More than a human can bear’: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since October 2023” released today (13 March 2025), the International Commission of Inquiry concludesthat the frequency, severity, and prevalence of sexual and gender-based crimes against Palestinian men and women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory show that Israel is increasingly and systematically employing sexual and gender-based violence as a deliberate strategy to destabilize Palestinian society, assert control, persecute its people, and contribute to their destruction.

According to the report, thousands of women have died in Gaza since 7 October 2023 as a result of Israeli military operations that have disproportionately affected civilians, especially Palestinian women and girls, many of whom were directly targeted.

The Commission of Inquiry asserts that Israel’s systematic violations of Palestinian women and girls have also resulted in severe gender-related harm, including death from pregnancy and childbirth complications, as well as serious physical and psychological harm. This is because of deliberate Israeli policies that have destroyed the Gaza Strip’s health system and preventedwomen and girls of reproductive age from accessing reproductive healthcare.

Israel specifically targeted facilities related to sexual and reproductive health, which had both immediate and long-term effects on women’s physical and mental well-being as well as their capacity to procreate. These effects will have a lasting impact on the fertility of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a whole. All phases of reproduction—from pregnancy and childbirth to postpartum recuperation and breastfeeding—have been negatively impacted by Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war, blocking of humanitarian aid, and forced displacement of Palestinians in the Strip.

The Commission of Inquiry documented systematic patterns of gender-based and sexual violence against Palestinians, including crimessuch as rape, forced nudity, sexual humiliation, sexual torture, genital-targeted violence, and degrading treatment. As part of Israeli tactics meant to degrade and terrorize Palestinians, these infractions were photographed or recordedand shared online on social media platforms.

The report also noted that Palestinian men, women, and children have been subjected to sexual and gender-based violence across the occupied Palestinian territory, whether during arrest, in interrogation centers and prisons, or amid forced displacement in Gaza. These violations were systematically committed by Israeli security forces, as well as by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

The Commission determined that the sexual and reproductive crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories since October 7, 2023, constitute war crimes and/or crimes against humanity. It further concluded that some of these acts amount to genocide under the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention and The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The Commission confirmed that Israel has systematically targeted the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza through the deliberate destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities, including maternity hospitals and in-vitro fertilization centers, significantly undermining childbirth within the Palestinian community. Additionally, Israel imposed a comprehensive siege, preventing access to essential humanitarian aid, including food, water, and critical medications and equipment necessary for safe pregnancies, deliveries, and neonatal care. These actions have resulted in irreversible long-term effects on the mental health, physical well-being, and reproductive and fertility prospects of Palestinians in Gaza as a group.

Furthermore, Israel used starvation as a method of warfare and systematically denied exit permits for patients, particularly women suffering from serious illnesses such as gynecological cancer, exacerbating their suffering and putting their lives at grave risk. The Commission concluded that these combined policies amount to the deliberate imposition of living conditions intended to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians, in whole or in part—an act explicitly classified as genocide under Article 6 of the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention.

The report of the UN committee is entirely in line with the documentation of human rights organisations, including Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, during the last 17 months in the Gaza Strip. Despite the fact that Israeli crimes against civilians in the Strip have unquestionably included elements of genocide, most members of the international community have shamefully done nothing to stop the crime or hold Israel and its allies responsible for it.

Euro-Med Monitor has previously documented Israel’s systematic use of sexual violence, including rape and other forms of sexual crimes. These violations are a clear part of a larger Israeli campaign of genocidal violence against the Palestinian people, and Israel should therefore be added to the list of organisations that engage in sexual violence during times of conflict.

In October 2024, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor published a report documenting the various elements of the crime of genocide, including the imposition of measures aimed at preventing childbirth within the Palestinian community. The report found that Israeli occupation forces have acted with prior and specific intent through deliberate measures to prevent births in Gaza as part of the crime of genocide. These measures include expanding the killing of individuals of reproductive age, forcibly displacing and separating Palestinian families, destroying embryo preservation laboratories, dismantling the healthcare system, and imposing harsh living conditions through starvation and the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid.

The International Commission’s report ought to be a wake-up call for all pertinent states and organisations to take immediate action to fulfil their responsibilities under the Genocide Convention, rather than just sitting on paper. The continued inaction of these states and entities regarding Israeli crimes has directly or indirectly contributed to the ongoing crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, and is thus legally and morally indefensible.

Many people of conscience have lost faith in the international system and the principles of justice and equality. This loss is justified, given the international community’s persistent disdain for the reports and recommendations of competent independent entities, as well as its preference for political interests and considerations over moral and legal obligations. This also creates the necessary conditions for tensions and conflicts to continue and escalate.

In line with their international commitments, states must enact economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions to force Israel to stop its crimes, in light of the overwhelming evidence that it has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip. The financial assets of officials implicated in crimes against Palestinians must be frozen, trade privileges and bilateral agreements suspended, arms exports and purchases from Israel prohibited, and military cooperation with Israel suspended. States must also refrain from interfering with the International Criminal Court’s work in any manner and assist it in its continuing investigations into the situation in Palestine.

To be in compliance with international law, the international community must take immediate action to ensure the Palestinian people’s right to live in freedom and dignity, support their right to self-determination, and eradicate the underlying causes of their suffering and continuous oppression over the past 76 years, i.e. occupation and ethnic cleansing. They must also seek to lift Israel’s illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip, ensure accountability for Israeli perpetrators, guarantee the right of Palestinian victims to redress and compensation, end the illegal Israeli occupation and violent settler colonialism imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and demolish the system of isolation and apartheid imposed by Israel and its allies against Palestinians.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a Geneva-based independent organization with regional offices across the MENA region and Europe

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Phil Pasquini

Emboldened by Donald Trump’s war on words and “woke” phrases, Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-GA) a member of the House – Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on March 3 introduced bill H.R. 1744 to eliminate Black Lives Matter Plaza (BLM).

The racist overtones in erasing this important symbolic part of DC and American history are not lost on anyone.

The purported purpose of the congressman’s bill is “To amend title 23, United States Code, to withhold certain apportionment funds from the District of Columbia unless the Mayor of the District of Columbia removes the phrase Black Lives Matter from the street, symbolically designated as Black Lives Matter Plaza, redesignates such street as Liberty Plaza, and removes such phrase from each website, document, and other material under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia.” It is a wonder, too, why the good congressman did not demand that his bill be numbered 1776 to maintain his patriotic theme.

Rep. Clyde, a gun store owner, fired the first shot to erase the five-year-old two-block plaza that was designated BLM Plaza in 2020. The plaza was created in reaction to the killing of George Floyd by police in whose wake civil unrest and protests broke out across the country calling for racial justice.

Feeling the pressure if the proposed bill were to be passed, rather than remain intransient, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered the removal of all BLM Plaza vestiges in paving the way for the creation of the new proposed “Liberty Plaza.” That demolition work began on March 10 and is proceeding at a rapid pace.

Bowser downplayed her decision earlier this week in recognizing the change as an “evolution” and said that “We can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference. The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern. Our focus should be on economic, public safety and supporting our residents affected by these cuts.” Case closed.

Since its inception from an early simply painted tribute, it has gone through at least three iterations as traffic slowly wore down the original painted letters and the street was reopened to traffic. Its final design in 2021 that was promoted as a “permanent installation,” the plaza underwent an extensive and professionally designed remodel with the installation of an expensive cobblestone and cement paved street bed, new yellow heat applied lettering and the delineation of two traffic lanes separated by a pedestrian zone contained within modern illuminated bollards.

In its first iteration, citizen volunteers painted BLACK LIVES MATTER in bold yellow lettering across the black asphalt pavement from curb to curb on the street closed to traffic. During it existence it has gone from a symbol of racial justice, activism and resistance in America to an outliner offensive to Trump and the MAGA crowd in need of immediate removal.

Soon after it was created, the plaza became a part of a growing tourist attraction and downtown community space that saw the former busy street facing the White House used for numerous community activities and events.

The transformation now to a new and unknown design for a “Liberty Plaza” with the associated costs of demolishing BLM, and reconstruction, should be the stuff of DOGE nightmares. For a “cost conscious” entity flippant in firing hard working civil servants at a frantic pace tasked by Trump and Musk with removing government waste and excess, one has to wonder how they justify the millions of dollars spent on flying Trump to Florida every weekend to play golf.

Added to this is the extensive list of forbidden words and phrases just published in the New York Times that must be purged from all government documents, and how DOGE justifies the diversion of resources and salaries to pay for highly trained cartographic staff to change the names Gulf of Mexico and Denali on maps and all government documents and publications.

It makes no sense, but as of January 20th, America has made little sense to anyone paying attention…

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

13 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Marwan Asmar

One couldn’t help but feel a tinge of pleasure in Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian lashing out at Donald Trump. Without mincing his words, and certainly not sticking to diplomatic niceties, no doubt taking his cue from the new boss at the White House, Pezeshkian told the US president a few home truths.

Depending on the translation into English from Persian, he basically told the US president to “go to hell”. This is a phrase that is making great headlines all over the world for its intensity and meaning.

On its part, the social media is having a field day at Pezeshkian, to say the least “forthright” speech at the Iran Entrepreneurs Forum in which he lambasted Trump for the way he is called on Tehran to heed and either go back to the nuclear deal or face the mighty military of the United States.

He didn’t at all like how Trump framed his appeal for Iran to get back to the negotiations table  when he spoke nonchalantly that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily or make a deal.”

In turn,  Pezeshkian and the Iranian leadership starting from Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi became particularly angry at this approach as Trump is now seeking to revive the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal which he muzzled out of in 2018 during his first administration as one of the latest pieces of the US global, foreign and security policies.

Though denied by Iran, Trump said he sent a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei in which he told them to agree to a deal or face the military wrath of the United States with extended crippling sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, its exports and the shutting off of its global financing.

The subsequent utterings on the international media about Trump and his latest obsession in “controlling” the nuclear file of Iran has created a knee-jerk reaction among the country’s leadership which saw what Trump was doing was “coersive diktates” and imposition of maximalists pressure which today, they are in no mood to pay heed to because of so many factors including its ballistic missile attacks on Israel last October where up to 250 missiles landed on different sites of the country.

Pezeshkian, dubbed as a reformist president and one who is willing to listen, was startlingly critical at the way Trump invited, more like dictating, to get back to the nuclear deal under vastly different and stringent negotiating terms, and ones that would strip Iran of its nuclear aspirations and impose an additional and an even tougher monitoring and observation regime than the previously deal allowed for which Pezeshkian and other leaders rejected.

In plain, straight talking, again no doubt like Trump’s abrasive approach Pezeshkian leading a country on the threshold of becoming a nuclear power as many analysts suggest with more than 60 percent uranium enrichment capacity, said Iran would not negotiate with Washington while while being threatened. He essentially delivered the ultimate stab that the US president can “do whatever the hell you want”, as reported by the Iranian state media, Tuesday.

”It is unacceptable for us that they [the U.S.] give orders and make threats. I won’t even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want”, Pezeshkian repeated at the behest of a country long standing up to the United States and to maintain cold and freezing relations with the United States.

Further, and to say the least, this was the ultimate snub delivered by the Iranian president who was in no mood to listen to the antics of the new US president wishing to wield his rhetorical stick around the world and was not afraid of telling him so.

Pezeshkian was especially irked him by the way Trump met the Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House recently calling it disgraceful and shameful and Iran would not listen to such talk as a way of moving the negotiations forward.

It was Trump, who initially pulled out of the Iran deal officially called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed by the then Barack Obama administration with international backing of five major UN powers including Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany in 2015.

Then Trump said the deal was a bad one and wanted to re-negotiate. But since taking the USA out of the deal, Tehran no longer found it necessary to continue to observe the strict regime imposed by JCPOA on Iranian nuclear facilities which slowly started to top up its uranium enrichment levels to where it is today.

As well, Pezeshkian was echoing the words of Ayatollah Khamenei who earlier rejected the prospects of direct talks, calling them neither “smart, wise nor honorable” while saying that Iran will not be bullied into negotiations.

This was seconded by Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi who made it perfectly clear on his X account that “we will NOT negotiate under pressure and negotiation, We will NOT even consider it, no matter what the subject might be, whilst emphasizing that dialogue must be rooted in mutual respect, not threats.”

For all the outward talk however, Iranian officials have stressed as they did so in the past that the country’s nuclear program has been always for peaceful purposes and is open about the country’s nuclear reactors and plants as proved in its current consultation with the different world powers of the United Nations Security Council.

Marwan Asmar is an Amman-based writer and chief editor of the crossfirearabia.com website.

13 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Heather Stroud

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), an organisation funded by the public, yet controlled by the government and influential lobby groups, finds itself at the centre of a storm. This time it is not about presenting biased news, or half lies that feed the narrative of their most favoured influential lobby groups, it is about airing a documentary that simply presents a view of life through the eyes of children in Gaza.

The documentary, at the centre of the storm is, ‘How to survive a War Zone’. The Campaign Against Antisemitism ‘CAA’, took out full page advertisements in The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday’, calling for the suspension of licence fees for BBC. The claims made against BBC centre around Abdullah, a thirteen year old Gazan boy, fluent in English, who was hired by BBC as a narrator to introduce children who were finding ways to survive the Israeli war on Gaza. Abdullah, who worked for nine months during the making of the documentary, was allocated $1000 for personal expenses. The money was paid into his sister’s account. The claim made is that in paying out these expenses, BBC were funding Hamas. Like most of these claims there is no evidence to suggest that any of the money paid out in expenses was used in an actual war crime against any Israelis. For a British group that has been set up to challenge incidents of antisemitism ( racism) their disregard for the life threatening danger they have placed this child in, is alarming to say the least.

Courageous and industrious as these Palestinian children are, Israel does not regard their lives as worthy of concern. This has been well documented by evidence presented to the International Court of Justice and the numerous posts on social media of settlers referring to children as potential terrorists and the babies of Palestinians as little snakes. Israeli politicians have also called for the annihilation of all Palestinians, including children. Foreign doctors, working in Gaza, have spoken out about children being targeted, by Israeli snipers, as they struggle to flee the aftermath of a bombing raid. CAA may just as well have painted a huge red target sign on Abdullah’s back.

Israel accused Palestinian workers of UNWRA, the internationally funded organisation that runs food and social programmes for Palestinians, both inside and outside of Gaza, of working for Hamas. As a consequence several of Israel’s close allies instantly withheld funding to UNWRA, exacerbating the existing crisis and leaving many Gazans to starve — babies and children being the most vulnerable. Doctors, journalists and aid workers have all been targeted along with deadly attacks on Gaza’s hospitals, schools and residential buildings. These attacks are all based on the claim that they were legitimate military targets because they harboured Hamas fighters or were in some way connected with them.

Hamas are the elected government in Gaza. They won the Palestinian legislative elections overwhelmingly in 2006, hence anyone working for them in a civil capacity, works for Hamas. However, Israel makes no distinction between someone working for Hamas in a civil capacity and someone who is actively engaged in armed resistance against them. In the U.K. British journalists have been arrested under the terrorist act for presenting factual evidence of Israel’s war crimes. British activists have likewise been arrested under the terrorist act for trying to prevent Israeli companies (based in the UK, such as Elbit Systems), from shipping parts for arms to Israel during Israel’s genocide on the Gazan people. Under International Law any kind of resistance is considered, not only legitimate, but obligatory for those who are aware and who are in a position to prevent further genocide. For Israel Labelling those who oppose their occupation and military objectives as ‘terrorist’, is strategically advantageous. Getting your closest allies, to label those who speak of or challenge their military objectives, as terrorist, is doubly advantageous.

BBC is trapped. When serious journalists, working within the BBC, attempt to present facts favourable to the Palestinian cause, they are likely to have their work banned or severely edited to conform with  government and powerful lobbyist editorial policy. Nine years ago BBC presented  a serious documentary which explored Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty, ‘Dead in the Water’. Until the current documentary, ‘How to Survive a War Zone’, (now withdrawn from viewership), I’m not aware that BBC has attempted to present anything that close to documenting Israel’s war crimes. BBC has long been criticised for its bias towards Israel so to see this campaign organised by CAA, creates an ironic twist as might be read in one of Kafka’s novels. The very people who rely on the BBC to push the Israeli narrative could end up being the ones responsible for bringing it down.

The link to the BBC documentary; ‘How to Survive in a War Zone’.

https://rumble.com/v6nm6n9-bbc-gaza-how-to-survive-a-warzone.html

The BBC documentary on the USS Liberty, ‘Dead in the Water’ is available on YouTube

Heather Stroud is an activist

13 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitoris

Palestinian Territory – Israel has killed 150 Palestinians—an average of three people every 24 hours—since the ceasefire on 19 January 2025. The Euro-Med Monitor field team has documented Israeli sniper and drone attacks since the ceasefire went into effect, as well as the continued use of the blockade as a weapon of slow death by starvation in the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing killings by the Israeli army are carried out by snipers and drones, including quadcopter aircraft, which target Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. The deadly attacks frequently occur when residents attempt to return and inspect their damaged homes near the so-called “buffer zone” imposed by Israel along the Strip’s northern and eastern borders.

An Israeli drone strike on Monday 10 March killed Abdullah Ali al-Shaer and injured another person in the east of Rafah, despite the victims being in a designated “safe zone”. Just hours earlier, a separate drone attack killed three siblings—Mahmoud, Mohammed, and Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed—northeast of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Rafah Governorate has faced the most Israeli targeting since the ceasefire. Fifty-three-year-old Abdel Moneim Ali Qishta was killed inside his home by Israeli forces stationed along the Egyptian border opposite the al-Salam neighbourhood in the southern part of the city, on the morning of Saturday 8 March. That same day, an Israeli drone strike killed two young men, Mahmoud Hussein Farhan al-Hissi, 37, and Mahdi Abdullah Nadi Jarghoun, 39, in the town of al-Shawka, east of Rafah City.

Euro-Med Monitor has also documented the Israeli army’s ongoing killings of Palestinians in repeated attacks on the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, and the town of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, since the beginning of March. Since the ceasefire, Israel has killed 150 Palestinians—an average of six people every two days—and injured 605 others, at a rate of 11.8 individuals per day. This pattern underscores Israel’s systematic and ongoing targeting of Palestinians in the Strip, carried out with no military justification and in blatant disregard of the ceasefire and international law.

Israel has engaged in widespread killing and destruction in the besieged enclave for over 15 months and has intensified its genocidal policies by imposing deadly living conditions on Palestinians that result in their slow, systematic killing. Through a complete, illegal siege, Israel is preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and essential supplies while blocking the repair of critical infrastructure and services necessary for survival—all amid an absence of effective international intervention.

Euro-Med Monitor warns of a worsening humanitarian crisis if the blockade persists, with markets now being rapidly depleted of goods. Additionally, numerous relief and food distribution centres have halted operations due to the ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip’s border crossings and Israel’s refusal to allow supplies to enter since 2 March. This has significantly worsened the suffering of civilians, pushing them closer towards famine without the swift intervention of the international community.

Famine is not the only threat that should prompt the international community to act, and waiting for it to occur before responding is unacceptable. Depriving the enclave’s vulnerable population, particularly children, of proper nutrition will lead to severe malnutrition, resulting in long-term health damage and potentially irreversible physical and psychological disabilities depending on the individual’s age. Euro-Med Monitor asserts that severe malnutrition during critical growth stages weakens the immune system, heightens the risk of fatal diseases, and causes significant delays in cognitive and motor development, leaving a person with permanent health consequences that cannot be remedied, even if conditions improve in the future.

This is not merely a temporary humanitarian crisis, but a deliberate, systematic policy aimed at eradicating entire Palestinian generations. It constitutes a direct act of genocide, as outlined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which explicitly prohibits the creation of conditions that lead to the destruction of a group, in whole or in part. The continued implementation of this policy, without decisive international intervention, not only reflects a failure in humanitarian response but also amounts to complicity in the documented crime of genocide.

Euro-Med Monitor reiterates that Israel’s renewed starvation of Palestinians will exacerbate the existing humanitarian crisis and thus serves as a clear indicator of genocidal intent, and that this crime aligns with the broader, US-proposed ethnic cleansing policy. Humanitarian aid is a fundamental right of civilians under international humanitarian law, with no exceptions, and there is no legal justification for Israel to deny Palestinians access to essential aid. Israel is not only using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip for political and military gain but is also deliberately enforcing a policy of systematic starvation, creating life-threatening conditions designed to make survival in the Gaza Strip impossible.

Israel’s repeated statements announcing its full coordination with the United States administration, which has explicitly stated its intention to displace the Strip’s entire population, confirm that the crimes of starvation and blocking of humanitarian aid are not isolated incidents or negotiating tools. Instead, they are part of a deliberate plan aligned with the US strategy to forcefully displace and depopulate the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s policy continues to perpetuate genocide, even after the ceasefire. By depriving the Palestinian population of their most basic needs as part of a long-term plan that threatens their physical survival as a national group, Israel has maintained deadly conditions designed to gradually eliminate them. The international community can no longer afford to dismiss the illegal blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, which stands as one of the most prominent tools of Israel’s genocide.

All relevant countries and entities must fulfil their legal responsibilities and take immediate action to halt the genocide in the Gaza Strip. This includes pressuring Israel to lift the blockade entirely, allowing the unrestricted movement of individuals and goods into and out of the enclave, unconditionally opening all border crossings, and implementing effective measures to protect Palestinians from the ongoing policies of slow killing and forced displacement. Furthermore, an urgent response committee should be activated to address the population’s immediate needs, including temporary and adequate housing.

The international community must impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel in response to its systematic and severe violations of international law, including a ban on arms trade and military cooperation, as well as freezing the financial assets of officials involved in crimes against the Palestinian people.

To pressure Israel to halt its crimes against the Palestinians, Euro-Med Monitor also calls for the suspension of any trade privileges and bilateral agreements that provide Israel with economic benefits.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor urges the international community to uphold its legal and humanitarian responsibilities by implementing the International Court of Justice’s order from 28 March 2024. This includes the precautionary measures requiring Israel to take necessary and effective actions, in cooperation with the United Nations, to ensure the unhindered and timely entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, in compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention.

The International Criminal Court must expedite its investigations and issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials implicated in international crimes in the Gaza Strip. Euro-Med Monitor reminds the member states of the Rome Statute of their legal obligations to fully cooperate with the Court, ensure the enforcement of arrest warrants, and prevent impunity for those responsible.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitoris a Geneva-based independent organization with regional offices across the MENA region and Europe

13 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org