Archives: Articles

By Leandro Melito

Palestinian lawyer Rula Shadeed, who filed the complaint against Israel at the Tribunal, spoke about the need to increase international pressure against the Zionist state.

16 Nov 2024 – Israel was convicted of genocide against the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip yesterday. The ruling was made by the People’s Tribunal, which brought together jurists, lawyers, and activists at the Fundição Progresso in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) to judge the crimes of capitalism.

“In the case of the genocide of peoples, the evidence in the case file reveals that the people of Palestine, particularly in Gaza, have been subjected to colonialism for 76 years and have been suffering genocide for 409 days, openly practiced by the State of Israel with the complicity of the United States, Germany and other European and Western countries,” says the sentence read out by judge Simone Dalila Nacif, from the Brazilian Association of Jurists for Democracy (ABJD), who presided over the session.

“The inhumanity we are seeing in Gaza has exceeded our imagination. Turning hospitals into torture chambers, bombing and burning shelters where people should seek safety, UN facilities, schools, is unbelievable,” Rula Shadeed, a Palestinian lawyer who presented the case for genocide at the G20 Social People’s Court, told Brasil de Fato.

The director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD), a Palestinian civil society organization based in Ramallah, considers this condemnation a “very important symbolic action” in the efforts to stop Israel’s military offensive in the region.

“There are prominent people from all over the world. It’s a way of showing how there are different systems and, despite the fact that the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have already taken action, we are still seeing genocide against my people in Gaza and the West Bank, and also against people in Lebanon, people in the Syrian region and elsewhere.”

A special committee of the United Nations (UN) declared on Thursday, November 14 that the methods of warfare used by Israel in the Gaza Strip “correspond to the characteristics of genocide” and that the Israeli authorities “have publicly supported policies that deprive Palestinians of the most basic vital needs”, including food, water and fuel. Despite the increasingly forceful stances taken by international organizations, Shadeed believes that the genocide in Gaza reveals the need for changes in the entire human rights system.

“There are no more human rights, we can’t say that the legal framework of human rights is really working. Therefore, tribunals like this and many others that are being prepared around the world are necessary, because we need other paths and we need to see some kind of accountability, which can lead to de facto formalization in the bureaucratic courts, in order to take a step forward.”

Israel’s military offensive in the region, she points out, is maintained mainly due to the financial and military support the country receives from its main allies, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, countries with veto power in the UN Security Council that prevent more incisive decisions against its ally in West Asia or even the establishment of a ceasefire in the region.

“The time has come to move away from the regular bureaucratic, patriarchal and authoritarian system that is based on the veto. You have five states in the world that are betraying any decision that could lead to some kind of responsibility, security or stability. I don’t even understand how we can let this system continue for so long.”

The fact that Israel’s aggressions go unpunished by the international legal system creates a precedent for its military might to turn against other peoples, Shadeed points out.

“There have been previous warnings in other situations and struggles, such as in Sudan, Somalia and elsewhere. When the oppressors realize that there is no accountability, the next attack or aggression will be even greater, because there is nothing to stop them. We’ve seen the war in Iraq since the US invasion. We saw the attack on Afghanistan. No accountability. So this is very regrettable and has a huge cost for our people.”

“I hope Brazil surprises me”

The massacre committed by Israel against the Palestinian population represents the main challenge for Brazil’s conduct of the G20 presidency, which is taking place on Monday, November 18 and Tuesday, November 19 in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). The condemnation of this crime by the People’s Court increases the pressure on the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to take concrete positions against Netanyahu’s government.

“I hope Brazil surprises us, but I’m not sure it will. So we call on the unions, the workers and the Black movement, the Indigenous movements, and others who are also facing oppression which, by the way, is very much fueled by Israeli brutality. Israeli colonial forces export violence to many countries around the world and this is exactly what is being used, also in Brazil, against various underprivileged people and groups,” says the Palestinian lawyer.

Despite having already classified the military offensive led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as genocide, the Brazilian government can be considered an accomplice to this crime, says Shadeed.

In August, a survey commissioned by the non-profit organization Oil Change International revealed that Brazil is responsible for 9% of the total crude oil supplied to Israel and points out that an oil embargo would help promote a ceasefire in the region.

On Wednesday, November 13, a coalition led by Palestinian organizations presented at COP29 – the UN Climate Conference – a request to Brazil, South Africa and Turkey to stop supplying gas and energy to Israel, as the Colombian government has done.

“I really hope that the Brazilian people, through the movements, the unions and the people, will push for a change that benefits the Palestinian people from this terrible genocide, and that also benefits their own people. In the last five weeks, we have seen the siege, the unbelievable situation and the end of any humanitarian aid to the northern part of Gaza, and this is because countries like Brazil and Turkey, which are very clear about the genocide, have not taken action.”

_____________________________

This article was first published in Portuguese by Brasil de Fato.

18 November 2024

Source: transcend.org

By Maung Zarni

7 Nov 2024 – Empires do NOT reform. Resilience is the term associated with the Oppressed, not the Oppressor.  (Try imagine being enslaved or colonized for 300 years).  With elite delusions and a popular sense of “being special/exceptional/unique/superior),  Empires get toxic at home and abroad, decay, get overpowered/crushed or simply collapse.  USA is no exception, except it has the capacity to bring humanity at large with it, to Hell.  I do not hate Americans as a people – just another population of fellow humans, who deserve life, not more or less than any other population.

But, with every cell in my body, I absolutely loath Empires and Imperialisms, whatever their names.  Some of the mightiest  imperial entities – Asoka’s India and what it left behind, the Maureans of N. India with its crowning intellectual edifice of Nalanda University – (if you think everything rational and intellectual was rooted in or developed out of the European Enlightenment,  you have not seen even ruins of Nalanda and what it gifted humanity), the Moguls of the latter day Indian subcontinent, the China of the Great Wall,  the Angkor, the Ottoman, the Mayans, and many others.    We know some of them lasted for 500 years. History has, in due course, humbled them all.

But there is this signature historical ignorance of the imperalist elite – which my dear friend Gayatri  Spivak termed “sanctioned ignorance”.  They are typically drunk with their own cool-aid.     My street in this English countryside is littered with Oxbridge types.  I can only talk to them about the weather, dogs and gardens: their very elite education did not include a single lesson on the crimes against humanity serially perpetrated by Britain during its relatively short reign vis-a-vis other empires that came, and went before the British Empire.

Historical time is not human biological life span.    Whatever is unfolding before our eyes, I for one do NOT despair.  I ask myself were a young African on a slaveship passing through the Middle Passage,  what would I have done?    Certainly, i would not have known that the Evil of Europe would go on to be institutionalized for another 400 years, but the question really is would I have jumped off the ship that was carrying me to the living Hell of Plantations far away, or would I have resisted the attempts to shackle me and my loved ones to eternity.  Of course, this is all academic.  For I was not there.

But I am here, living in the most wretched and horrid era of the United States taking off its mass-murderous gloves, and giving the rest of humanity the middle finger.   Teddy Roosevelt was at least wiser in that he advised his power elite, to carry a big stick but speaks softly.

But the American elites have been talking crude and crass while running 750 military bases around the world and openly threatening any institution or individuals that seek to uphold international law and norms (ICC, UN, ICJ).

I have long adopted the long historical perspective – that Braudel called “long durations”.     I left the United States for good – against my own interests 20 years ago, because i could no longer bear the deep pain of cognitive dissonance – benefiting from being in the belly of the beast while knowing how sick the whole place is.   Yesterday, my 25-years old daughter texted me, “it’s not just Trump, Dad.  All across the board.   Awful country.”   I knew this when she was barely 5.

I keep the faith.   This Evil Empire too has its own expiry date.   Take the long view, if you feel dejected by the Second Coming of Trump.    Genocide Joe and thick-headed and unprincipled Kamala Harris, who also went to the same elementary school as my daughter, are also not good for humanity.   Ask the Palestinians.

Have a great day!

A Buddhist humanist from Burma (Myanmar), Maung Zarni, nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment, former Visiting Lecturer with Harvard Medical School, specializing in racism and violence in Burma and Sri Lanka, and Non-resident Scholar in Genocide Studies with Documentation Center – Cambodia.

18 November 2024

Source: transcend.org

By Shakeel Mohammed P A

There is a prevalent view that Islam considers all other religions as fake, their scriptures as fabricated, and their holy men as charlatans. Is there any truth to this?

It will only be prudent to start with the faith of Islam itself. The simplest definition of Islam is “submission to the will of God.” This is what the Qur’an says,

“Say: Surely the guidance of Allah, that is the (true) guidance, and we are commanded that we should submit to the Lord of the worlds.” – Holy Quran 6:71

The first question that comes to one’s mind on hearing this will be “to which God?”. Is Allah a unique God exclusive to Muslims? The word “Allah” is a combination of Arabic words “Al” and “Illah,” which translate into “the” and “God.” In other words, Allah simply means “the God.” The Arabic Bible uses the word Allah to denote God. Allah is not a God exclusive to a community but the one true God, the Lord of the worlds, Who is mentioned in all monoesthic belief systems.

“Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “He is Allah—One ˹and Indivisible˺;

Allah—the Sustainer ˹needed by all˺.

He has never had offspring, nor was He born.

And there is none comparable to Him.” “- Holy Qur’an Chapter 12

“God is the Creator and Guardian of all things” – Holy Qur’an 39:62

In the 12th chapter holy Qur’an describes Allah as one and only God who has no partners. Everyone and everything is dependent on Him, but He is dependent on none. The Holy Book also states that God was not born to anyone, nor did He father anyone. The chapter ends by declaring that God is not comparable to anyone or anything; He is unique. He is unique because He created everything; the universe and everything in it are His creations. Obviously, the Creator cannot be compared to any of His creations. This in a nutshell is the concept of God in Islam.

The next question obviously will be, How do people know what God’s will is? Islam’s answer to that question is Prophets of God. Prophets are the chosen people of God who receive divine revelations that they communicate to ordinary humans. These revelations are guidance from the Almighty that enable people to submit themselves to God.

“To every nation We sent a Messenger who told its people, “Worship God and stay away from satan.” Some of them were guided by God and others were doomed to go astray. Travel through the land and see how terrible was the end for those who rejected the truth! “- Holy Qur’an 16:36

This verse makes it clear that prophets have been sent to every nation of this world. That is, men of God have come to every country on this earth. All those teachers, revered religious figures invariably found in every nation’s history , may have been prophets of God.

“The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between any of His messengers; and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course.”- Holy Qur’an 2:285

In this verse, God explains that believers don’t get to pick and choose which prophet to believe in and which prophet not to believe in. A Muslim has to believe that every prophet sent to every country of this world carried God’s message and hence has to be accepted without any reservation.

“All the Messengers that We sent spoke the language of their people so that they could explain (their message to them). God guides or causes to go astray whomever He wants. He is Majestic and All-wise. “- Holy Qur’an 14:4

Prophets are not sent to just deliver the message. They have the responsibility to explain the message to the masses and also represent the message by living as per the revealed message. The Holy Quran says,

“The Messenger of God is certainly a good example for those of you who have hope in God and in the Day of Judgment and who remember God very often.” – Holy Qur’an 33:21

Prophets have to deliver the divine message, explain the same to the people by rightly interpreting it, and live according to the message received. Here God says that for people to understand His message, He has sent it down in the languages of the people addressed. Each prophet was given the divine guidance in his and his people’s mother tongue. In other words, divine revelations have come to this world in the languages of every nation.

The belief that Islam started with Mohammed (PBUH) is a misconception. In fact, he is the last prophet; the long line of prophets starting with Adam ended with Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). The Holy Qur’an describes him as the seal of the prophets, meaning there is not going to be another prophet after him.

“Muhammad is not the father of any one of your men, but the Messenger of God, and the Seal of the Prophets; God has knowledge of everything.” – Holy Quran 33:40

What this implies is that all the tens of thousands of prophets who received divine guidance over the years in different parts of the world were prophets of Islam, and what they preached was submission to the will of Almighty God.

The Holy Qur’an is the revelation Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) received from God. But the Qur’an is not the only divine guidance that mankind has received. In the beginning of the second chapter of the Qur’an, God specifies who benefits from the Holy Qur’an. One of the qualities that God specifies as belonging to people who benefit from the Holy Qur’an and thus are successful is their firm belief in all His revelations.

“And who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and they are sure of the hereafter.” – Holy Qur’an 2:4

From this verse, it’s amply clear that it’s incumbent on every Muslim to believe in every revelation of God, not just the Qur’an. In short, Islam calls on it’s followers to accept all the prophets assigned to different nations of the world and believe in every scripture that God has sent down in the various languages of the world.

In fact some of the prophets mentioned in the holy books of Jews and Christians are mentioned by name in Qur’an.

“(Muslims), say, “We believe in God and what He has revealed to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and their descendants, and what was revealed to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction among them and to God we have submitted ourselves.”” – Holy Qur’an 2:136

Another popularly held view is that Islam encourages its followers to convert non-Muslims by any means possible. How true is this?

“If it had been thy Lord’s will, they would all have believed,- all who are on earth! wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe!”- Holy Quran 10:99

This verse is enough to dispel this misconception. Here God is asking the prophet, Why would he compel people to accept faith when God could have made them believers if He so desired? The point is that acceptance of Islam should be by choice.

Surely God does ask Muslims to spread his word, but they shouldn’t compel anyone to accept His message.

“Messenger, preach what is revealed to you from your Lord. If you will not preach, it would be as though you have not conveyed My message. God protects you from men. He does not guide the unbelieving people.”- Holy Qur’an 5:67

“Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance.”- Holy Qur’an 16:125

“There is no compulsion in religion. Certainly, right has become clearly distinct from wrong. Whoever rejects the devil and believes in God has firmly taken hold of a strong handle that never breaks. God is All-hearing and knowing.”- Holy Qur’an 2:256

These verses irrefutably state that spreading God’s word is the responsibility of believers, but they cannot force anyone to accept their faith; if ever someone accepts Islam, it has to be a voluntary decision. The responsibility of Muslims is to convey the message intelligently and graciously and not to force anyone to convert to their faith.

“Surely you cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He pleases, and He knows best the followers of the right way.”- Holy Qur’an 28:56

God here reveals another fact: nobody will accept God’s guidance unless God wills so. Even though the acceptance of faith is a choice, even that choice is subject to Almighty’s consent. As far as believers are concerned, their duty is to convey the message and leave the rest to God Almighty.

Another point to be noted is that it is the duty of every Muslim to proclaim his faith by properly representing the same, that’s by living like a true Muslim. They are also expected to use public platforms to convey their message, but a believer is personally bound to convey God’s message only to people who are receptive to the message or are at least interested in such matters.

“Therefore give admonition in case the admonition profits (the hearer).”- Holy Qur’an 87:9

One is not expected to go from door to door and pester people with provocative proselytisation activities.

This article cannot be complete without mentioning the verse of the Holy Quran that asks Muslims to not insult the dieties others consider as God or Gods.

“And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah , lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do. “- Holy Qur’an 6:108

To sum up, Islam is not a religion that began with the prophethood of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). While the Qur’an is the last revelation of God, Muslims are told to respect all the revelations of God and accept all prophets of God. Islam accepts the fact that men of God have come to every nation and God’s message has been revealed to these nations in that particular nation’s mother tongue. Further believers are not to compel anyone to accept Islam, as acceptance of faith should be of free will. God also tells His followers in no uncertain terms that they are not to insult or abuse the dieties others pray to.

Shakeel Mohammed P A is a social activist based in Kochi. Email : shakeelmpa@gmail.com

18 November 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr. Ramzy Baroud

Francesca Albanese did not mince her words. In a strongly worded speech at the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee on October 29, the UN Special Rapporteur deviated from the typical line of other UN officials. She directed her statements to those in attendance.

“Is it possible that after 42,000 people killed, you cannot empathize with the Palestinians?” Albanese said in her statement about the need to “recognize (Israel’s war on Gaza) as a genocide”. “Those of you who have not uttered a word about what is happening in Gaza demonstrate that empathy has evaporated from this room,” she added.

Was Albanese too idealistic when she chose to appeal to empathy, which, in her words, represents “the glue that makes us stand united as humanity”?

The answer largely depends on how we wish to define the role being played by the UN and its various institutions; whether its global platform was established as a guarantor of peace, or as a political club for those with military might and political power to impose their agendas on the rest of the world?

Albanese is not the first person to express deep frustration with the institutional, let alone the moral collapse of the UN, or the inability of the institution to affect any kind of tangible change, especially during times of great crises.

The UN’s own Secretary-General Antonio Guterres himself had accused the executive branch of the UN, the Security Council, of being “outdated”, “unfair” and an “ineffective system”.

“The truth is that the Security Council has systematically failed in relation to the capacity to put an end to the most dramatic conflicts that we face today,” he said, referring to “Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine”. Also, although noting that “The UN is not the Security Council”, Guterres acknowledged that all UN bodies “suffer from the fact that the people look at them and think, ‘Well, but the Security Council has failed us.’”

Some UN officials, however, are mainly concerned about how the UN’s failure is compromising the standing of the international system, thus whatever remains of their own credibility. But some, like Albanese, are indeed driven by an overriding sense of humanity.

On October 28, 2023, mere weeks after the start of the war, the director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights left his post because he could no longer find any room to reconcile between the failure to stop the war in Gaza and the credibility of the institution.

“This will be my last communication to you,” Craig Mokhiber wrote to the UN high commissioner in Geneva, Volker Turk. “Once again we are seeing a genocide unfolding before our eyes and the organization we serve appears powerless to stop it,” Mokhiber added.

The phrase “once again” may explain why the UN official made his decision to leave shortly after the start of the war. He felt that history was repeating itself, in all its gory details, while the international community remained divided between powerlessness and apathy.

The problem is multilayered, complicated by the fact that UN officials and employees do not have the power to alter the very skewed structure of the world’s largest political institution. That power lies in the hands of those who wield political, military, financial and veto power.

Within that context, countries like Israel can do whatever they want, including outlawing the very UN organizations that have been commissioned to uphold international law, as the Israeli Knesset did on October 28 when it passed a law banning UNRWA from conducting “any activity” or providing services in Israel and the occupied territories.

But is there a way out?

Many, especially in the global south, believe that the UN has outlived its usefulness or needs serious reforms.

These assessments are valid, based on this simple maxim: The UN was established in 1945 with the main objectives of the “maintenance of international peace and security, the promotion of the well-being of the peoples of the world, and international cooperation to these ends.”

Very little of the above commitment has been achieved. In fact, not only has the UN failed at that primary mission, but it has become a manifestation of the unequaled distribution of power among its members.

Though the UN was formed following the atrocities of WWII, now it stands largely useless in its inability to stop similar atrocities in Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan and elsewhere.

In her speech, Albanese pointed out that if the UN’s failures continue, its mandate will become even “more and more irrelevant to the rest of the world”, especially during these times of turmoil.

Albanese is right, of course, but considering the irreversible damage that has already taken place, one can hardly find a moral, let alone rational justification of why the UN, at least in its current form, should continue to exist.

Now that the Global South is finally rising with its own political, economic and legal initiatives, it is time for these new bodies to either offer a complete alternative to the UN or push for serious and irreversible reforms in the organization.

Either that or the international system will continue to be defined by nothing but apathy and self-interest.

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

18 November 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Israeli forces set a school-turned-shelter in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza on fire, hours after aid trucks arrived at the school following over 40 days of relentless Israeli attacks and military siege.

Footage circulating on social media showed the Mahdiya al-Shawa school engulfed by flames and smoke after being set on fire by the Israeli forces.

[https://twitter.com/tamerqdh/status/1857331503341944962]

According to local journalists, the attack took place on Monday, hours after aid trucks arrived at the school – following over 40 days during which an Israeli siege of the northern half of the Gaza strip left Palestinians with scarce food supplies.

The displaced people sheltering in the school were once again forced to flee and find another shelter.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, witnesses said soldiers forced civilians away from the area, preventing them from collecting aid from the first convoy to reach the area in over a month. The aid was later destroyed by the fire. Reports also said civilians had been killed at the site.

The soldiers involved belonged to the Rotem Battalion in the Givati Brigade, the reports said.

Staff from the UN World Food Program, which sent the aid, as well as other international sources, said Gazans did not even have time to collect the aid. They said the military launched an attack in the area and soldiers had surrounded the building before the food was distributed.

18 November 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Gaza City (Quds News Network) – Israeli military officials have confirmed that the northern part of Gaza will remain uninhabitable following Israel’s brutal attacks on the region.

Division Commander Itzik Cohen, leading Division 162 operating in northern Gaza, told reporters, according to Haaretz, that his orders are clear: “No one is returning to the northern part… We received very clear orders. My task is to create a cleansing of the area.”

This statement comes amid growing reports of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza. Reports indicate that Israel has forced the displacement of nearly all residents from areas like Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya.

The forced evacuations, achieved through a combination of aerial bombings, starvation, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, have left tens of thousands without homes or access to basic necessities.

Systematic Displacement

According to the report, Israel has deliberately targeted residential buildings, schools, and shelters where displaced Palestinians sought refuge.

The destruction has driven a mass exodus of civilians from northern Gaza, with the Israeli military making it clear that no residents will be allowed to return. These actions align with a premeditated strategy of ethnic cleansing as part of the “Generals’ Plan“.

Brigadier General Elad Goren, head of the so-called “humanitarian effort” in Gaza, further exacerbated these concerns by stating that those remaining in Jabalia have “enough aid” from previous supplies, while asserting that Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya are now devoid of inhabitants.

His remarks suggest a calculated approach to starving and displacing civilians, directly contradicting claims of humanitarian efforts.

The Israeli army repeatedly denied adopting the “Generals’ Plan,” which calls for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City and its surroundings under starvation and bombings.

Last week, the Biden administration decided to maintain its military aid to Israel, despite mounting evidence of Israel’s systematic starvation campaign against Gaza, claiming that Israel has not breached American laws on blocking aid supplies.

Earlier on the same day, Israel’s Defence Ministry confirmed that it has no immediate plans to send aid to the besieged northern Gaza Strip.

18 November 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

As President-elect Donald Trump shapes his administration, his cabinet picks have raised eyebrows, especially among those concerned about US foreign policy and long history of wars.

A significant number of his nominees hold deep ties to the zionist lobby and advocate strongly for pro-Israel stances. With individuals such as Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and Mike Waltz among the key figures in Trump’s cabinet, these appointments signal a continuation of the hardline, pro-Israel policies that defined the United States’ foreign policy.

Marco Rubio: Secretary of State

Senator Marco Rubio, a long-time proponent of Israel, is set to take on the role of Secretary of State. Rubio’s connections to the zionist lobby are well-documented, with his political career bolstered by figures such as Norman Braman, a prominent zionist businessman.

Rubio’s advocacy for the occupation state is clear in his public statements, including his support for Israeli military assaults and his calls for unlimited support for Israel so that it finishes what it started in Gaza.

Marco Rubio told anti-genocide protesters that he did not want a ceasefire in Gaza and that Israel should “destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on.”

His close relationship with the zionist lobby, especially in Florida, has helped him gain traction among pro-genocide Americans.

Pete Hegseth: Secretary of Defense

A Fox News host with a strong pro-Israel record, Pete Hegseth is tapped for the role of Secretary of Defense. Known for his support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Hegseth has become a vocal advocate for the occupation state. His experience in the US Army further shapes his views, and his time in Israel has only solidified his position as a supporter of Israel as a colonial project.

Hegseth’s hawkish views on Iran, particularly his calls for military intervention, align with Trump’s stance of maximum pressure on Tehran.

Through his media platform, Hegseth has consistently promoted Israel’s narrative that its defense is critical, making him a key figure in any discussions regarding US support for Israel. Also, he dubbed the two-state solution a “lip service”.

As an evangelical Christian, he views the colonizing of Palestine through a biblical lens.

“This is not some mystical land that can be dismissed. It’s the story of God’s chosen people. That story didn’t end in 1776 or in 1948 or with the founding of the UN. All of these things still resonate and matter today,” Hegseth said in a 2016 interview with the Jewish Press.

Mike Waltz: National Security Adviser

As a former Green Beret and staunch advocate for Israel, Mike Waltz’s appointment to National Security Adviser reinforces Trump’s commitment to strengthening ties with the occupation state.

Waltz has long supported Israeli war crimes, including those against Lebanon and Iran and encouraged Israel to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. His aligns with the Trump administration’s foreign policy, particularly regarding Iran. Waltz has also played a pivotal role in the expansion of the normalization agreements between Israel and the UAE.

Waltz called Israel “the greatest ally we’ve ever known.”

“The next administration should, as Mr. Trump argued, ‘let Israel finish the job’ and ‘get it over with fast’ against Hamas. They should put a credible military option on the table to make clear to the Iranians that America would stop them building nuclear weapons, and reinstate a diplomatic and economic pressure campaign to stop them and to constrain their support for terror proxies,” he wrote in an Economist essay.

Elise Stefanik: US Ambassador to the UN

Elise Stefanik’s appointment as US Ambassador to the United Nations carries significant weight in the context of US support for the occupation state. Known for her aggressive style, Stefanik has consistently advocated for Israel at the UN, particularly when Iran or Palestinians’ rights are mentioned.

She has been known for her efforts to oppose anti-genocide efforts, such as standing against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA).

In May, amid Israel’s genocide in Rafah, southern Gaza, she addressed a caucus in the Israeli Knesset, urging the US to provide “the state of Israel with whatever it needs, whenever it needs it, unconditionally, to secure total victory against evil.”

Representative Stefanik drew international attention during congressional hearings last spring, where she accused the presidents of several prominent US universities of being “anti-Semitic” for permitting student protests against Israel’s crimes in Gaza.

Mike Huckabee: US Ambassador to Israel

Mike Huckabee’s appointment as Ambassador to Israel is one of the most notable picks in Trump’s second-term cabinet. A longtime supporter of the occupation state and a close confidante of Benjamin Netanyahu, Huckabee’s evangelical background and deep ties to the occupation state make him a strategic choice.

With more than 100 trips to Israel under his belt, Huckabee is seen as a strong advocate for Israel’s annexation ambitions, including his endorsement of the annexation of the West Bank.

Huckabee has called Palestine “historically” Jewish and described himself as an “unapologetic, unreformed Zionist.”

“The title deed was given by God to Abraham and to his heirs,” he said, signaling his belief in a one-state solution that rejects Palestinian sovereignty in favor of exclusive Israeli control over the entire land of historic Palestine.

“There is no such thing as the West Bank – it’s Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as settlements – they’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There is no such thing as an occupation,” Huckabee said in 2017.

He has even denied the existence of the Palestinian people, claiming that “there really isn’t such a thing” as Palestinians, calling it “a term that was co-opted by Yasser Arafat,” the late Palestinian president.

Steven Witkoff: Special Envoy to the Middle East

A real estate businessman with no diplomatic experience, Steven Witkoff’s appointment as Special Envoy to the Middle East is seen as another example of Trump’s reliance on zionists.

Witkoff, who worked closely with Jared Kushner on the Trump normalization plan, is supposed to bring a deal-making approach to Middle East diplomacy.

His support for Israel, especially the genocide, further aligns him with Trump’s pro-Israel stance. Witkoff has also close ties to Netanyahu.

In an interview with Fox News, Witkoff described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress as “strong” and noted that it was “epic” to be in the room. He also criticized those who chose to boycott the speech.

Other Notable Appointments

Several other appointments further emphasize Trump’s pro-Israel and pro-genocide agenda. John Ratcliffe, former Director of National Intelligence, is known for his staunch support of Israel. He has even criticized the Biden administration’s handling of Israel.

Stephen Miller, a key architect of Trump’s immigration policies, is another zionist figure within the administration.

Trump’s second-term cabinet selections reveal a clear agenda that prioritizes unwavering support for Israel, even as it continues its genocide in Gaza and threatens neighboring countries.

From bolstering Israeli war crimes to tacitly endorsing its territorial ambitions across the region, Trump’s choices show a blatant disregard for Palestinians’ lives.

As these key figures take their positions, it is evident that Trump’s pro-Israel bias will remain a dominant feature of his foreign policy. This approach risks further alienating across the world and could escalate tensions and confirm the US involvement in the genocide against the Palestinian people.

17 November 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Palestinian Territory –Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor documented dozens of deliberate killings and new field executions carried out by Israeli occupation forces against numerous civilians in northern Gaza.

These actions are part of the ongoing escalation and the broader framework of genocide perpetrated against Palestinians for over 13 months.

For the past 43 days, the Israeli army has been conducting its third incursion and military offensive against northern Gaza and its residents, committing heinous atrocities. These include killing and terrorising civilians, forcibly evicting them from their homes, and displacing them outside northern Gaza province. This constitutes one of the largest cases of forced displacement in modern history.

Among the numerous atrocities committed by Israeli forces—ranging from bombing homes with residents inside, to mass killings of displaced civilians in shelters, and the targeting of gatherings and vehicles—Euro-Med Monitor’s field team documented harrowing incidents of direct killings and extrajudicial executions of civilians by Israeli soldiers, carried out with no justification whatsoever.

Euro-Med Monitor’s field team documented the killing of Khaled Mustafa Ismail Al-Shafai (58) and his eldest son Ibrahim (21) by Israeli forces. They were shot inside their home in Beit Lahia in front of their family on Wednesday, 13 November 2024.

Tamam Abdel Maqadmeh (61), a resident of Beit Lahia, shared the harrowing details of the crime with the Euro-Med Monitor team.

“Conditions worsened in Al-Shemaa Street, Beit Lahia, due to heavy artillery and aerial bombardment. As a result, we moved from our home near Al-Shemaa Clinic to the Abbas Kilani area in the middle of Al-Shemaa Street. I went to my sister’s house, who is married to a member of the Omar family, as did my sister Haifa, her husband Khaled Al-Shafai, and their nine children. We gathered in the two-story house; my sister married to the Al-Shafai family, her husband, and children stayed on the ground floor, while I stayed with my family and my sister married to the Omar family on the first floor,” Maqadmeh recounted.

“On Wednesday, Israeli occupation forces began advancing into the area where we were sheltering. We stayed trapped in the house, and less than two hours later, the forces blew open the door and stormed the building. I stayed upstairs with my family, while my sister Haifa, her husband Khaled Mustafa Ismail Al-Shafai (58), and their children remained on the ground floor. We heard gunfire but were too afraid to look and stayed huddled together in a single room upstairs. Within minutes, the soldiers entered and ordered us to evacuate quickly towards the eastern area near Beit Lahia Stadium and Abu Tammam School.”

Maqadmeh continued: “When we descended to the ground floor, I found my brother-in-law Khaled lying dead with two gunshots to his abdomen, blood streaming from him. His eldest son, Ibrahim (21), had been shot in the head. I stood in shock for moments before a soldier threatened me to move or be shot. We were about 26 people in total. My sister Hiyafa was collapsed over her husband and son, begging to say goodbye to them, but the 12 soldiers present refused. We tried to pull her away as she kept saying, ‘They executed them in front of me. We rushed out of the house as a quadcopter drone hovered above us, with approximately 15 soldiers stationed around the house. My sister kept repeating, ‘They executed them in front of me.’ On our way out, my sister recounted that as soon as the soldiers blew open the door and stormed in, they immediately shot her husband and son while they stood at the side of the room. They killed them without them moving a muscle.”

The wife of the victim said: “They ordered us to leave quickly. I tried to pull my husband and son, but they refused to let anyone near them, threatening us with guns to leave. This happened in front of the small children—four boys and four girls—who witnessed their father and brother executed before their eyes.”

The Euro-Med Monitor team noted that Haifa and her children continue to suffer from severe psychological trauma, with Haifa refusing to speak to anyone.

At the time of documenting this testimony, the bodies of the man and his son remain at the site of their execution, as the family and rescue teams have been unable to retrieve them.

Thousands of other Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza suffer from hunger and fear.

Those injured are often unable to receive treatment or even be transported to medical facilities, leading many to die slowly due to the lack of life-saving medical care.

Euro-Med Monitor documented dozens of victims who perished under the rubble after their homes were bombed, as Israeli forces have prevented humanitarian teams from working for 25 consecutive days.

A.J. (54 years old) – whose name Euro-Med Monitor has withheld for his safety as he remains in a high-risk area – provided testimony about the siege, starvation tactics, and field executions carried out by the Israeli military in Beit Lahia: “For the past 10 days, Beit Lahia has been under an extensive Israeli campaign, forcing people from their homes into specific gathering points designated by the military. The Israeli army raids homes, detains some residents, and orders others to move to the eastern part of the town near Abu Tammam School. Currently, the residents of Beit Lahia are concentrated in three adjacent shelters near the Beit Lahia Municipal Stadium: Abu Tammam School, Beit Lahia Preparatory School, and Beit Lahia Secondary School,” he said.

“I sleep in the entrance of Abu Tammam School because of overcrowding in the shelter. My wife, who was seriously injured earlier, suffers from a severe deterioration in her condition. She is bedridden but is forced to lie on the floor due to the lack of a bed, despite her dire need for one as she is paralyzed. Any resident attempting to return to their home to sleep is targeted; their house is bombed, and artillery shells are fired to force them out. Currently, there is no food available for the approximately 5,000 people sheltering in the three locations. To secure food, displaced people risk venturing out to their homes to retrieve any remaining supplies. Dozens who attempted to do so have not returned, as they were executed in the streets.”

Euro-Med Monitor also highlighted the testimony of a Palestinian from the Hamouda family who managed to reach his home near the western roundabout and retrieve a bag of flour. On his way back, he recounted: “While returning, I saw dogs mauling the corpses of five young men lying on the roadside—people I knew from the Zayed and Rajab families”

He added: “Beside one of the victims, there was a bag of flour. It seems he had successfully retrieved it from his home, but the Israeli army shot him as he was returning to the shelter. The food situation in the three shelters is extremely dire. Any food we manage to secure from nearby homes is distributed primarily to children, followed by the elderly in smaller portions. Young adults receive, at best, a single loaf of bread per day.”

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reaffirms that the international community’s reluctance to take decisive action against Israel’s massacres in the Gaza Strip, particularly in northern Gaza, makes it complicit in these crimes and grants Israel a green light to escalate its genocide. This also reflects a shocking disregard for the lives and dignity of Palestinians.

The international system, including the International Criminal Court, the European Union, and various United Nations bodies, has collectively failed to achieve the fundamental goals and principles upon which they were founded.

Over the past 13 months, they have demonstrated a disgraceful failure to protect civilians and halt the genocide Israel is perpetrating against Palestinians in Gaza, a duty that lies at the core of their mission and existence.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor calls on the United Nations and the international community to immediately intervene to save hundreds of thousands of residents in northern Gaza, stop Israel’s ongoing genocide for the second consecutive year, impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, hold it accountable for all its crimes, and take all practical measures to protect Palestinian civilians in the strip.

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

17 November 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Vijay Prashad

Across the Pacific, Indigenous communities lead a growing wave of sovereignty against ongoing legacies of Western colonialism in the region, from the assault on Māori rights in Aotearoa to the US and French military presence in wider Oceania.

For the past few weeks I have been on the road in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Australia at the invitation of groups such as Te Kuaka, Red Ant, and the Communist Party of Australia. Both countries were shaped by British colonialism, marked by the violent displacement of native communities and theft of their lands. Today, as they become part of the US-led militarisation of the Pacific, their native populations have fought to defend their lands and way of life.

On 6 February 1840, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) was signed by representatives of the British Crown and the Māori groups of Aotearoa. The treaty (which has no point of comparison in Australia) claimed that it would ‘actively protect Māori in the use of their lands, fisheries, forests, and other treasured possessions’ and ‘ensure that both parties to [the treaty] would live together peacefully and develop New Zealand together in partnership’. While I was in Aotearoa, I learned that the new coalition government seeks to ‘reinterpret’ the Treaty of Waitangi in order to roll back protections for Māori families. This includes shrinking initiatives such as the Māori Health Authority (Te Aka Whai Ora) and programmes that promote the use of the Māori language (Te Reo Maori) in public institutions. The fight against these cutbacks has galvanised not only the Māori communities, but large sections of the population who do not want to live in a society that violates its treaties. When Aboriginal Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe disrupted the British monarch Charles’s visit to the country’s parliament last month, she echoed a sentiment that spreads across the Pacific, yelling, as she was dragged out by security: ‘You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back! Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. … We want a treaty in this country. … You are not my king. You are not our king’.

Walangkura Napanangka (Pintupi), Johnny Yungut’s Wife, Tjintjintjin, 2007.

With or without a treaty, both Aotearoa and Australia have seen a groundswell of sentiment for increased sovereignty across the islands of the Pacific, building on a centuries-long legacy. This wave of sovereignty has now begun to turn towards the shores of the massive US military build-up in the Pacific Ocean, which has its sights set on an illusionary threat from China. US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, speaking at a September 2024 Air & Space Forces Association convention on China and the Indo-Pacific, represented this position well when he said ‘China is not a future threat. China is a threat today’. The evidence for this, Kendall said, is that China is building up its operational capacities to prevent the United States from projecting its power into the western Pacific Ocean region. For Kendall, the problem is not that China was a threat to other countries in East Asia and the South Pacific, but that it is preventing the US from playing a leading role in the region and surrounding waters – including those just outside of China’s territorial limits, where the US has conducted joint ‘freedom of navigation’ exercises with its allies. ‘I am not saying war in the Pacific is imminent or inevitable’, Kendall continued. ‘It is not. But I am saying that the likelihood is increasing and will continue to do so’.

George Parata Kiwara (Ngāti Porou and Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki), Jacinda’s Plan, 2021.

In 1951, in the midst of the Chinese Revolution (1949) and the US war on Korea (1950–1953), senior US foreign policy advisor and later Secretary of State John Foster Dulles helped formulate several key treaties, such as the 1951 Australia, New Zealand, and United States Security (ANZUS) Treaty, which brought Australia and New Zealand firmly out of British influence and into the US’s war plans, and the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, which ended the formal US occupation of Japan. These deals – part of the US’s aggressive strategy in the region – came alongside the US occupation of several island nations in the Pacific where the US had already established military facilities, including ports and airfields: Hawaii (since 1898), Guam (since 1898), and Samoa (since 1900). Out of this reality, which swept from Japan to Aotearoa, Dulles developed the ‘island chain strategy’, a so-called containment strategy that would establish a military presence on three ‘island chains’ extending outward from China to act as an aggressive perimeter and prevent any power other than the US from commanding the Pacific Ocean.

Over time, these three island chains became hardened strongholds for the projection of US power, with about four hundred bases in the region established to maintain US military assets from Alaska to southern Australia. Despite signing various treaties to demilitarise the region (such as the South Pacific Nuclear Free Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Rarotonga in 1986), the US has moved lethal military assets, including nuclear weapons, through the region for threat projection against China, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam (at different times and with different intensity). This ‘island chain strategy’ includes military installations in French colonial outposts such as Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, and French Polynesia. The US also has military arrangements with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau.

Christine Napanangka Michaels (Nyirripi), Lappi Lappi Jukurrpa (Lappi Lappi Dreaming), 2019.

While some of these Pacific Island nations are used as bases for US and French power projection against China, others have been used as nuclear test sites. Between 1946 and 1958, the US conducted sixty-seven nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. One of them, conducted in Bikini Atoll, detonated a thermonuclear weapon a thousand times more powerful than the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Darlene Keju Johnson, who was only three years old at the time of the Bikini Atoll detonation and was one of the first Marshallese women to speak publicly about the nuclear testing in the islands, encapsulated the sentiment of the islanders in one of her speeches: ‘We don’t want our islands to be used to kill people. The bottom line is we want to live in peace’.

Jef Cablog (Cordillera), Stern II, 2021.

Yet, despite the resistance of people like Keju Johnson (who went on to become a director in the Marshall Islands Ministry of Health), the US has been ramping up its military activity in the Pacific over the past fifteen years, such as by refusing to close bases, opening new ones, and expanding others to increase their military capacity. In Australia – without any real public debate – the government decided to supplement US funding to expand the runway on Tindal Air Base in Darwin so that it could house US B-52 and B-1 bombers with nuclear capacity. It also decided to expand submarine facilities from Garden Island to Rockingham and build a new high-tech radar facility for deep-space communications in Exmouth. These expansions came on the heels of the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) partnership in 2021, which has allowed the US and the UK to fully coordinate their strategies. The partnership also sidelined the French manufacturers that until then had supplied Australia with diesel-powered submarines and ensured that it would instead buy nuclear-powered submarines from the UK and US. Eventually, Australia will provide its own submarines for the missions the US and UK are conducting in the waters around China.

Over the past few years, the US has also sought to draw Canada, France, and Germany into the US Pacific project through the US Pacific Partnership Strategy for the Pacific Islands (2022) and the Partnership for the Blue Pacific (2022). In 2021, at the France-Oceania Summit, there was a commitment to reengage with the Pacific, with France bringing new military assets into New Caledonia and French Polynesia. The US and France have also opened a dialogue about coordinating their military activities against China in the Pacific.

Yvette Bouquet (Kanak), Profil art, 1996.

Yet these partnerships are only part of the US ambitions in the region. The US is also opening new bases in the northern islands of the Philippines – the first such expansion in the country since the early 1990s – while intensifying its arm sales with Taiwan, to whom it is providing lethal military technology (including missile defence and tank systems intended to deter a Chinese military assault). Meanwhile the US has improved its coordination with Japan’s military by deciding to establish joint force headquarters, which means that the command structure for US troops in Japan and South Korea will be autonomously controlled by the US command structure in these two Asian countries (not by orders from Washington).

However, the US-European war project is not going as smoothly as anticipated. Protest movements in the Solomon Islands (2021) and New Caledonia (2024), led by communities who are no longer willing to be subjected to neocolonialism, have come as a shock to the US and its allies. It will not be easy for them to build their island chain in the Pacific.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter.

16 November 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By John Burton

On November 12, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, returned a unanimous verdict for Abu Ghraib torture victims Salah Al-Ejaili, Suhail Al Shimari and Asa’ad Al-Zuba’e, awarding each $3 million in compensation and another $11 million for punitive damages against CACI Premier Technology, Inc., a publicly traded defense contractor with annual revenues approaching $3 billion.

The eight jurors found unanimously that late in 2003 CACI interrogators conspired “with military personnel to inflict torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment on detainees in the Abu Ghraib hard site that resulted in [each of the three men] being tortured or subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.”

Following US imperialism’s illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq based on lies about complicity in the 9/11 attacks and “weapons of mass destruction,” in April 2004, CBS News’ “60 Minutes” published graphic photos of Iraqis rounded up by the US military and incarcerated in Abu Ghraib Prison outside Bhagdad being tortured by electric shocks, held in stress positions, threatened with dogs and humiliated sexually. Many photos depict gloating US soldiers posing with victims.

Denials by the administration of George W. Bush that the photographs represented US policy were exposed as fraudulent after the leak of three “torture memos” drafted by Department of Justice attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee. Using convoluted pseudo-legalisms, the memos created a paper trail declaring that “enhanced interrogation techniques,” including “cruel, inhuman, or degrading” treatment, do not constitute “torture” prohibited by US law.

To quell outrage over the photos, 11 low-level soldiers were eventually court-martialed, with nine given significant sentences. None of their superiors were disciplined, however, and to date the US government has not compensated the torture victims themselves, who cannot sue the military because of governmental immunities.

Attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed suit on behalf of the three plaintiffs in 2008 against CACI, asserting that those immunities do not protect private contractors. The complaint alleged that CACI was paid $31 million to supply interrogators at Abu Ghraib, who advised the military guards on how to “soften up” detainees before questioning.

After 16 years of litigation, including multiple reviews in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, a jury empaneled last April was unable to reach a verdict. After a mistrial was declared, several jurors reported that the majority wanted to find against CACI. This time, the jury reached a unanimous verdict in the exact amounts CCR attorneys requested, and judgment has been entered.

The trial and subsequent retrial are the only times a US jury has heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib torture victims.

The three plaintiffs were not depicted in any of the notorious photographs, but each described being subjected to similar treatment.

Al Shimari, a middle-school principal, and Al-Zuba’e, a fruit vendor, both appeared at the trial by video. Al-Ejaili, a journalist, traveled from Iraq to testify in person at both trials.

Each described being beaten, deprived of sleep, isolated, stripped, shaved, forced to wear women’s underwear, subjected to extreme temperatures, sexually assaulted, including forced masturbation, and threatened with firearms and dogs. Al-Ejaili told the jury about being held in a stress position until he vomited black liquid. A photograph exists of him standing in the vomit.

Other evidence at trial included reports from two retired US Army generals, who documented the widespread abuse in the facility and concluded that CACI interrogators encouraged the mistreatment, including at least one who lied to investigators about it.

CACI did not deny the abuse occurred, but claimed the interrogators had minimal interaction with the three plaintiffs, and under the “borrowed servants” doctrine the company cannot be held responsible for misdeeds by employees committed while under the control of the US military.

After the verdict, Al-Ejaili released a written statement. “This victory isn’t only for the three plaintiffs in this case against a corporation,” he said. “This victory is a shining light for everyone who has been oppressed and a strong warning to any company or contractor practicing different forms of torture and abuse.”

CCR attorney Baher Azmy praised the three victims for their resilience, “especially in the face of all the obstacles CACI threw their way.” CCR attorney Katherine Gallagher added, “Private military and security contractors are put on notice that they can and will be held accountable when they breach the most fundamental international law protections—like the prohibition against torture.”

Time will tell whether the verdict stands. While the verdict is a significant milestone, the case is far from over. CACI has vowed to appeal and ultimately the reactionary Supreme Court supermajority will have the last word.

16 November 2024

Source: countercurrents.org