Just International

Dear World: This is What Palestinian Unity Looks Like

By Ramzy Baroud

Even those of us who have long emphasized the importance of the Palestinian people’s voice, experience, and collective action in Palestinian history must have been shocked by the cultural revolution resulting from the Israeli war on Gaza.

By cultural revolution, I mean the defiant and rebellious narrative evolving in Gaza, where people see themselves as active participants in the popular resistance, not just mere victims of the Israeli war machine.

When the ceasefire was announced on the 471st day of the Israeli genocide, Gazans rushed to the streets in celebration. Media outlets reported that they were celebrating the ceasefire, but judging by their chants, songs, and symbolisms, they were celebrating their collective victory, steadfastness (sumud), and resilience against the powerful Israeli army, supported by the US and other Western countries.

Using basic means, they rushed to clean their streets, clearing debris to allow the displaced to search for homes. Though their homes were destroyed – (90% of Gaza’s housing units, according to the United Nations) – they were still happy, even to sit on the wreckage. Some prayed atop concrete slabs, some sang in large, growing crowds, and others cried but insisted no power could ever uproot them from Palestine again.

Social media was flooded with Gazans expressing a mix of emotions, though they were mostly defiant, expressing their resolve not just in political terms but in other ways, including humor.

Of course, the bodybuilders returned to their gyms to find them mostly destroyed. Rather than lament their losses, they salvaged machines and resumed training amid collapsed walls and ceilings punctured by Israeli missiles.

There was also the father and son who composed a song in the ahazej style, a traditional Levantine vocalization. The son, overjoyed to find his father alive, was reassured by his father that they would never abandon their homeland.

As for the children – 14,500 of whom were killed, according to UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) – they resumed their childhood. They claimed destroyed Israeli tanks in Rafah, Beit Hanoun, and elsewhere as their new playgrounds.

One teenager, pretending to be a scrap metal salesman, yelled, “An Israeli Merkava tank for sale,” as his friends filmed and laughed. He finished by saying, “Make sure you send this video to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu,” before moving on, unfazed.

This does not mean Gaza is free of unimaginable pain, which is difficult for the rest of the world to fully comprehend. The emotional and psychological scars of the war will last a lifetime, and many will never recover fully from the trauma. But Gazans know they cannot afford to grieve in the usual way. So, they emphasize their identity, unity, and defiance as ways to overcome grief.

Parallel to its military assault on Gaza since October 7, 2023, Israel has invested heavily in dividing the Palestinian people and shattering their spirit.

In Gaza, it dropped millions of flyers from warplanes on starving refugees, urging them to rebel against Palestinian factions by providing Israel with names of “troublemakers.” The Israeli army offered large rewards for information, but little was achieved.

These flyers also called for tribal leaders to take control of their areas in exchange for food and protection. To punish those who resisted, Israel systematically killed clan representatives and councilors who tried to distribute aid throughout Gaza, especially in the north where famine was devastating.

Against overwhelming odds, Palestinians remained united. When the ceasefire was declared, they celebrated as one nation. With Gaza destroyed, Israel’s actions obliterated Gaza’s class, regional, ideological, and political divisions. Everyone in Gaza became a refugee; the rich, poor, Muslim, Christian, city dwellers and refugee camp residents were all equally affected.

The unity that remains in Gaza, after one of the most horrific genocides in modern history, should serve as a wake-up call. The narrative that Palestinians are divided and need to “find common ground” has proven false.

With the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank aiding Israel’s war on Jenin and other refugee camps, the old notion of political unity through a merger of the PA and various Palestinian factions is no longer viable. The reality is that the fragmentation of the Palestinian political landscape cannot be solved through mere political agreements or negotiations between factions.

However, a different kind of unity has already taken root in Gaza and, by extension, across Palestinian communities in occupied Palestine and the rest of the world. This unity is visible in the millions of Palestinians who have demonstrated against the war, chanted for Gaza, cried for Gaza, and developed a new political discourse around it.

This unity does not rely on talking heads on Arabic satellite channels or secret meetings in expensive hotels. It needs no diplomatic talks. Years of endless discussions, “unity documents,” and fiery speeches only led to disappointment.

The true unity has already been achieved, felt in the voices of ordinary Gazans who no longer identify as members of factions. They are Gazzawiyya. Palestinians from Gaza, and nothing else.

This is the true unity that must now form the foundation of a new discourse.

Ramzy Baroud is a US-Palestinian journalist, media consultant, an author, internationally-syndicated columnist, Editor of Palestine Chronicle (1999-present), former Managing Editor of London-based Middle East Eye, former Editor-in-Chief of The Brunei Times and former Deputy Managing Editor of Al Jazeera online.

31 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

“They Will Do It:” Trump Insists Jordan, Egypt Will Accept Displaced Gazans

By Quds News Network

Washington (Quds News Network)- US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that Egypt and Jordan would accept displaced Palestinians, despite both countries rejecting his proposal to “clean out” war-torn Gaza by displacing 1.5 million Palestinians.

Trump’s comments came a day after Egyptian President and Jordan’s King rejected any forced displacement of Gazans.

“They will do it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked for his response to the Egyptian and Jordanian refusal, and whether he would consider imposing tariffs on either country to push them.

“They’re going to do it. We do a lot for them, and they’re going to do it.”

On his larger vision for Gaza, Trump said he had called earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan and would speak Sunday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.

“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”

Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king, “I’d love for you to take on more, cause I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”

Trump added the part of the world that encompasses Gaza, has “had many, many conflicts” over centuries. He said resettling “could be temporary or long term.”

“Something has to happen,” Trump said. “But it’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there.”

He added: “So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”

On Monday, Trump doubled down on his proposal, insisting that Egypt and Jordan would agree to it.

Asked about his comments, Trump told reporters on Air Force One he would “like to get them living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence so much.”

“When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s b
Xoeeen hell for so many years,” Trump said. “There have been various civilizations on that strip. It didn’t start here. It started thousands of years before, and there’s always been violence associated with it. You could get people living in areas that are a lot safer and maybe a lot better and maybe a lot more comfortable.”

Asked how the Egyptian leader received the idea, Trump said Sissi’s “response [was] that he’d like to see peace in the Middle East.”

“I’d like to see peace in the Middle East,” Trump added.

Pressed further, Trump insisted that both the Egyptian and Jordanian leaders would come around.

“I’d love to do that,” he said. “I wish [Sissi] would take some. We helped them a lot, and I’m sure he’d help us. He’s a friend of mine. He’s in… a rough neighborhood. But I think he would do it, and I think the king of Jordan would do it too,” Trump added.

However, Egyptian state-linked media quickly reported on Tuesday that such a call never happened, citing a senior government source, after Israeli media, including the Jerusalem Post and Ynet, reported that the two presidents spoke by phone and that Sissi did not object to the idea.

Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan all strongly condemned Trump’s remarks.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said the plan “constitutes a blatant violation of the red lines we have consistently warned against”.

“We emphasise that the Palestinian people will never abandon their land or their holy sites, and we will not allow the repetition of the catastrophes (Nakba) of 1948 and 1967. Our people will remain steadfast and will not leave their homeland,” it said.

Hamas said the US administration must abandon such proposals that align with Israeli “schemes” and conflict with the rights of the Palestinian people, who have already been resisting “the most heinous acts of genocide” and displacement since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.

“Our principles are clear, and Jordan’s steadfast position to uphold the Palestinians’ presence on their land remains unchanged and will never change,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a joint press conference in Amman.

“The solution to the Palestinian issue lies in Palestine; Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians,” he added.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also affirmed “Egypt’s continued support for the resilience of the Palestinian people on their land and their commitment to their legitimate rights in their homeland, in accordance with international law and international humanitarian law.”

Egypt “cannot be part of any solution involving the transfer of Palestinians into the Sinai,” the Egyptian Embassy in Washington said, citing an opinion piece published by Ambassador Motaz Zahran on the US website The Hill in October 2023.

On Wednesday, Egypt’s Sissi said in his first public response to Trump’s comments that displacing “the Palestinian people from their land is an injustice that we cannot take part in.”

Jordan’s King Abdullah II separately stressed his country’s “firm position on the need to keep the Palestinians on their land.”

White House envoy Steve Witkoff recently visited Gaza, marking the first US visit to the region in 15 years. In an interview with Axios, Witkoff painted a grim picture of the destruction in Gaza, describing the area as “uninhabitable” following the Israeli genocide and estimating that rebuilding could take 10 to 15 years.

Last week, Trump said during a 20-minute question-and-answer session with reporters aboard the Air Force that he would like Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab nations to increase the number of Palestinian refugees they accept from Gaza.

31 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Eulogy for a Home: I’m Not Homeless, I Have the Keys

By Enas W Qeshta

As the world wonders what the first thing Palestinians in Gaza might do after the ceasefire, I know the answer shared by so many here: we’re left with the haunting reality of sleeping each night fearing bombings at any moment. I’ve lost several family members, but I’m grateful that my mother, father, and siblings are still with me.

As soon as the ceasefire agreement came into effect, my mother, father, and two brothers rushed to check on our home. I was on edge, just waiting for a call: “Our home is still standing.” Everyone was eagerly waiting.

Everything turned upside down, and I couldn’t hold back my tears when I received a call from my brother, Mohammed. His voice was filled with anguish as he said, “Thank God, Ya Habibti.” I asked, “AlHamdulillah, our home is still standing?” But his reply shattered my heart: “Nothing, nothing, no building is still standing here, my sister, AlHamdulillah.” In that moment, everything changed for me; the hope I clung to crumbled into ashes. I found myself waiting for the ceasefire deal, eagerly anticipating our return home, but that brought a haunting question: What is the purpose of life when home is no longer there?

I just want to go home, even though it’s hard to call it that anymore. Our house has turned into rubble. I can’t understand how a place filled with countless memories could be reduced to ruins. How could the Israeli occupation dare to bomb it? Who allowed them to wipe out our entire block?

The footage revealing the massive destruction doesn’t represent even 1% of the devastating reality. It feels as if an earthquake has struck, obliterating everything.

I’ve lost everything that mattered to me. I long to return home—to kiss every corner, to hug the walls, to lie on my bed, and to tidy my room. I miss my room so much. I once had shoes to fill a store and clothes far beyond what one shop could hold. Now, I’m left with just one pair of shoes and two pieces of clothing.

I’ve kept my university books, despite my mother urging me to part with some. I cherish them and hope they’re still there under the rubble, though I wonder who can retrieve them for me. I truly want them back.

I just want to go back home—only to home. Words can’t capture the overwhelming feelings I’m experiencing right now. I feel an urge to cry for everything happening around me, struggling to accept that I’ve lost my home, and with it, I feel I have nothing left to lose.

My father, my hero, has worked tirelessly since my birth to ensure our future. Now at 60, he should be enjoying rest, yet his hard work feels in vain after losing everything—including our family’s home of five apartments, our second home, and our businesses. We are left homeless.

My mother, the soul of my soul, has always been my support. She carried burdens that felt heavier than mountains, enduring struggles throughout her life to stand beside us. With great care and thought, she selected each piece to adorn our home, choosing rare decorations, beautiful carpets, and precious furniture. In the blink of an eye, the Israeli occupation turned our three-floor building into rubble and ashes.

My dear sister Ansam persists in completing her education. Israel has denied her the opportunity to complete her secondary schooling, known as “Tawjihi” in Palestine. She prepared diligently, gathering all her books, sticky notes, pens, stickers, and everything related to her studies. It breaks my heart to see her dreams crushed under the weight of despair. With tears in her eyes and a heavy heart, she told me, “I need my stuff back; I will go there and dig with my own hands to retrieve them all.” Ansam’s dream remains simple: to continue her education for a better future.

My 3-year-old nephew, Yazan, has never failed to take my heart. He survived 15 months of the Israeli genocide. I cherished taking photos of him on our sofa, just to see his innocent smile light up. It’s heartbreaking to think that I may never capture those moments again after the Israeli army decided to crush our home.

Even though there is no real meaning to the ceasefire without having a home, at least the daily Israeli bloodshed of Palestinians has stopped, and for now, I can take to the streets to walk without the fear of being targeted—that a missile could strike me at any moment.

The Israeli war criminal Netanyahu thinks he breaks our will by destroying our home, but I refuse to lose hope and become homeless because I still have the keys.

25 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

What does Trump’s return to the White House mean for the US?

By Dimitris Eleas

The world was shaken by Donald Trump’s inauguration speech and the phrase, “our Golden Age has just begun” is like kidding.

There are many reasons why such a man, with such a big “Ego” was re-elected President of the USA. It is the hundred million Americans who have been impoverished. The rift from decades of economic inequality. Both major parties are to blame, but one party, the Democratic Party, is the one that represented the poor and those without degrees, supposedly, but forgot them along the way. And the Right, which knows how to preserve itself, would not miss such an opportunity.

The inauguration was attended by everyone, from the CEOs of the most powerful companies in the best seats, to the man with the chainsaw (President Miley of Argentina). All the elite of “the shores of America” united, along with the former presidents, and all the elite now supports Trump. Openly, without pretense and it’s not just the tax breaks. Dystopia! Did he make anyone go away with the nonsense he was saying?

Trump’s speech had a Wild West fantasy of “America will expand” and imperialism – to take back the Panama Canal, to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America – and elements of hyperbole as always. It is the style of extravagance and spectacle! This with the two sexes is the work of science and not politics. He spoke plainly about immigration and tariffs. This about “freedom of speech” is also the First Amendment to the American Constitution, it is the only logical thing one heard. This is also logical with Mars, because in the near future Humanity will be “forced” to expand elsewhere.

Melania made a big impression with the “vicar’s wide hat” she was wearing, and Trump’s kisses on her were seen as being in the air. She also looked like the heroine of a French novel at a funeral. What did Shakespeare miss, I thought, who was born in the wrong century and never wrote about how a scheming ruler can win over an entire kingdom by telling lies. The American people in the past felt decadence and betrayal. However, this people is not stupid, with the election of Trump it shakes everyone and everything, inside and outside, and especially the great powers, Russia and China, should not rush to take America’s place in the world. America does not leave the chair. In fact, one of the chair’s feet, in my estimation, is already firmly placed in Greenland.

It’s the next four years, enough time for the Democrats to find the ball again, and they will if they listen to a wise “old man” from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, but also Michael Sandel and Thomas Piketty and especially what the two important thinkers discussed in Paris some time ago. These gentlemen – the former a political philosopher at Harvard and the latter an economist – explain perfectly why Trump prevailed, why everywhere the Right is raising its head, and what can change now. Their book, “Equality: What it means and why it matters,” will be released soon.

At the same time, the Trump Administration, for all its comedy and tragedy, will be Shakespearean in scope – and undeniably entertaining for all Americans and more. The decrees issued already are the beginning…

Dimitris Eleas is a New York-based political scientist, researcher, writer, and activist.

24 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

The Choice Is Ours

By Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh

Both Netanyahu and Trump have visions of building empires and discarding the remnants of international law and the UN. Will they succeed to lead us to a World War or will we have peace? Trump immediately acted with executive orders to dismantle the US’s connection to the world with a triumphalist inaugural speech full of classic colonialist language of manifest destiny, frontiers, pioneers and so on. But this is only more open empire building that was happening under his predecessors. His fascist billionaire supporters are pardoned or even give Nazi Salute (lie Elon Musk) while common people (including Jews) who speak for Palestinian human rights are dubbed “anti-semitic” by Zionist groups like the ADL. The US is completing its second largest so-called “embassy” (in Beirut, the first in Baghdad). Each accommodates tens of thousands of personnel and the world is bullied to submission. See https://x.com/sahouraxo/status/1880757780958924938.

The neoconservative zionist plan of toppling seven countries in the Arab world has materialized albeit was delayed a bit because of the resistance. Trump is only verbally more crude as than other “presidents” so he insulted people around the world from Alaskan natives to the Dutch (over Greenland) to Panamanians (wants to take Panama Canal) etc. Even his nearest neighbors (Canada and Mexico) and closest allies in Europe all are in his crosshairs.

The world all looks at this stronger push to expand the big genocidal empire (USA) and the small genocidal empire (Israel) with trepidations. But the reaction has been an expansion of the BRICS group of nations and the lineup for a global war is becoming clearer. We in the global South were never in doubt that imperialism is deep state and that the only difference between Genocide Joe and lunatic Trump is style of bluster of character.

But since the 1962 assassination of John Kennedy, the transfer power in the USA was from one Zionist puppet to another Zionist puppet. The US system of federal elections has slowly and methodically been consumed by moneyed interests of the billionaires. The democrats and republicans become two sides of the same coin which is a Public Relations campaign to give the illusion of democracy while dragging the world to the abyss in service of moneys interests. Different faces but the essence is the same: making the rich richer and the poor poorer and pardoning criminals wearing different masks. Money flows whether from Edelson and Musk to republicans or Saban, Soros and Streyer to democrats (https://www.timesofisrael.com/meet-the-leading-jewish-political-donors-in-this-us-election-cycle/).

In all cases indigenous people and people of color are sacrificed on the altar the new Golden calves (and the chief being the Zionist sacred cow). Here in the occupied Palestinian territories, pogroms by Jewish colonial settlers and soldiers accelerated after the “ceasefire” agreements in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. (see https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/live-wave-israeli-settler-attacks-injure-palestinians-destroy-property-west-bank-villages).

The apartheid regime only intensified: lockdown of the cantons/bantustans that we are restricted in. Home demolitions and confiscation of more Palestinian lands, and increase in Jewish colonial settler buildings (squatters on our land).Torching vehicles and homes is now almost a daily occurence supported by the fascist Netanyahu government (a government of settlers). Without going into a detailed analysis, the trends are clear and could lead to catastrophic outcomes (global war combined with climate change). To reverse this direction requires a global uprising, a global unity of all affected people. What the global imperialist elites want us to think is that our interests and causes are separate or even contradictory.

But the struggles of immigrants in the US, of Alaskans, of Californians, of Panamanians, of Syrians, of Palestinians of hundreds of other people are all one struggle against those elites profiting from their hegemony whether they are called Biden, Trump, Modi, or Neneyahu. By realizing the unity of our struggle can we defeat the greed that causes millions misery and that leads us to mass extinction. For all with eyes to see and brains to examine, the data is now available and the choice is clear. We either allow them to destroy humanity and the environment or we reclaim our humanity and our earth. The choice is ours.

Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh is founder and volunteer director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability, Bethlehem University (palestinenature.org).

24 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Veterans For Peace Celebrates the Gaza Ceasefire and Pledges to Defend It

Veterans For Peace joins the people of Gaza in rejoicing at the Ceasefire that has brought a halt to Israel’s bombardment of Palestinian children, women and men, and their churches, their mosques, their schools and hospitals. At least 50,000 have been killed in a cold-blooded massacre and over 100,000 injured, many losing their limbs. But the huge smiles on the faces of the children of Gaza and their shouts of joy since the ceasefire went into effect were a deeply profound thing to witness.

But just how real is the Gaza ceasefire?  How enduring will it be?  Many close observers of Israel are skeptical.  In his recent article, The Ceasefire CharadeChris Hedges, renowned war correspondent and VFP Advisory Board member writes:

“Israel, going back decades, has played a duplicitous game. It signs a deal with the Palestinians that is to be implemented in phases. The first phase gives Israel what it wants — in this case the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza — but Israel habitually fails to implement subsequent phases that would lead to a just and equitable peace. It eventually provokes the Palestinians with indiscriminate armed assaults to retaliate, defines a Palestinian response as a provocation and abrogates the ceasefire deal to reignite the slaughter. If this latest three-phase ceasefire deal is ratified it will, I expect, be little more than a presidential inauguration bombing pause. Israel has no intention of halting its merry-go-round of death.”

While we rejoice at the pause in the US/Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people, we recognize that the following underpinnings of the genocide remain unchanged:

1. U.S. provision of weapons and services for those weapons to Israel in violation of a variety of U.S. laws, including the Leahy Law;

2. U.S. deployment of military personnel in support of the genocide through servicing weapons provided to Israel, flying air attacks against Yemeni and Syrian people; flying MQ-9 Reaper drone surveillance missions to aid Israeli air attacks against Palestinians, Yemenis and, likely, Lebanese;

3. Repression by US colleges and universities against students and faculty who have acted so courageously and effectively to educate the US public about the US/Israeli genocide and have led in calling for divestment from Israel and from US weapons makers who have been making billions in supporting the genocide;

4. The silence of US hospital systems about the genocide and repression of their staff members who are speaking out in solidarity with their sister and brother Palestinian medical workers who have been killed, jailed, humiliated and whose hospitals have been destroyed and deprived of fuel, medicine, food and safety. Evidence of this silence is the formation and growing popularity of Doctors Against Genocide; and

5. The cooperation of major US press organizations with genocide in failing to report fully on the suffering of the Palestinian people and accepting without significant critique the narrative of the Israeli government.

6. The constitutionally-protected ability of weapons makers and other corporations to exercise dangerous influence in every segment of society and public opinion by lobbying legislators at every level of government, writing legislation, advertising, plying educational institutions with desperately needed funding, contributing to community events, keeping information hidden from the public and investing in electoral campaigns.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is not rejoicing at the ceasefire agreement.  He immediately declared that Biden and Trump both told him he will have their support whenever he decides to resume the Gaza onslaught.

Fueling concerns about the durability of the Gaza ceasefire are Israel’s escalating attacks on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, its daily violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon, and its continuing efforts to draw the US into a war against Iran.

Ominously, on his first day in office, President Trump removed the sanctions on West Bank settlers who have attacked Palestinian civilians, and reversed Biden’s “pause” of sending 2,000 lb. bombs to Israel. And then there are these recent statements from Trump’s inner circle:

During his confirmation hearing for U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio strongly defended Israel’s conduct in Gaza while sharply condemning the International Criminal Court (ICC). As a Senator, Rubio was a strong supporter of the criminal actions of Israel against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
During her confirmation hearing on January 22, 2025, Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Elise Stefanik that while Palestinian people deserve human rights, Israel has a biblical right to the West Bank. She would not answer whether the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination.

“I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas,” testified Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, at his Senate confirmation hearing.  And Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz declared that he is committed to the complete defeat of Hamas. That sounds very much like the failed logic of the Biden Administration and Israel’s war on Gaza. When will they ever learn?

Despite its uncertain fate, the Gaza ceasefire is nonetheless a precious victory for the Palestinian people, and must be defended. Just look again at the joyous faces of the Palestinian children. This is another stage in the Palestinian struggle for liberation from colonial oppression and genocide. Peace-loving people everywhere must therefore remain vigilant. We must push for successful completion of all three phases of the ceasefire agreement. We must remove conditions within the U.S. that have enabled the genocide.

Veterans For Peace has consistently called on the US government to stop sending US bombs and war materials to Israel. We have encouraged legal action against the Biden administration for violating US and international laws when it sends weapons to a country that is committing gross human rights violations. We believe that the quickest, most effective way to stop the genocide in Gaza – and to preserve the ceasefire — is to cut off the flow of US weapons to Israel.

Furthermore, we stand ready to give our full support to U.S. military personnel who choose not to be party to genocideWe will continue to support students, teachers, medical workers and others who are compelled by their consciences to take stands against genocide and for freedom for the Palestinian people. We call on all reporters and editors to report fully on the experience of the Palestinian people.

We demand that the Trump administration and the Israeli government respect the hard-won Gaza ceasefire, that they permanently end the carnage in Gaza and the West Bank, that they cease the occupation of Palestinian land, and that they end the oppression of the Palestinian people. We call on all peace-loving people to join us in defending the righteous struggle of the Palestinian people for their freedom and sovereignty.

Never Again Genocide!  Free, Free Palestine!

24 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

‘A Pattern of Genocide’: Report Details Israel’s Systematic Destruction of Gaza Health System

By Jessica Corbett

The Palestinian group Al-Haq outlined the “targeting of hospitals and health centers, the denial of adequate medical provisions into and around the Gaza Strip, and the abduction, torture, and killing of medical personnel.”

Less than a week into a fragile cease-fire between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq on Thursday released a report detailing how “Israel has systematically targeted and attacked the healthcare system to the point of its collapse in a campaign of genocide.”

The new report—titled The Systematic Destruction of Gaza’s Healthcare System: A Pattern of Genocide—builds on previous publications, including from United Nations entities, and testimonies from medical professionals who have worked in Gaza since Israel launched its U.S.-backed assault in retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.

“The Israeli occupying forces’ (IOF) targeting of hospitals and health centers, the denial of adequate medical provisions into and around the Gaza Strip, and the abduction, torture, and killing of medical personnel is evidence of Israel’s genocidal intent to: (i) inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and (ii) impose measures intended to prevent Palestinian births in the Gaza Strip,” states the 116-page report.

“The concerted policy to destroy the healthcare system in Gaza is directly and causally linked to statements made by Israeli officials,” the document continues, offering various examples and highlighting how it wasn’t just hospitals—Israel also attacked “civilian residences, schools, shelters, mosques, churches, and other protected areas under international humanitarian law.”

The report argues that “Israel’s systematic campaign against Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure as a whole is exemplified by the targeted destruction of al-Shifa Hospital,” which is the largest hospital in the occupied Palestinian territory and “older than Israel.” The document also addresses Israel’s attacks on Adwan, al-Amal, al-Aqsa, al-Awda, Indonesian, Kamal, and Nasser hospitals.

[https://twitter.com/alhaq_org/status/1882494195069251799]

Along with offering a summary of facts and legal analysis of “Israel’s systematic attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system as acts of genocide,” war crimes, and violations of international humanitarian law, the publication features recommendations for other countries and blocs, international tribunals, U.N. experts, companies, and healthcare professionals.

Al-Haq called on the international community to “name and condemn Israel’s ongoing genocide,” impose an arms embargo, support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and demand the release of Palestinian political prisoners and those who have been arbitrarily detained by Israel, including healthcare workers.

The report was published as the death toll in Gaza continues to grow, as displaced residents of the Palestinian enclave return to the remnants of their homes and communities decimated by more than 15 months of Israeli bombings and raids.

The Gaza Ministry of Health said Thursday that the official death toll rose to 47,283, after 120 bodies “were recovered from under the rubble” in the past 24 hours, and 111,472 people have been injured. Global experts warn the true death toll is likely far higher.

Israel faces a genocide case led by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its military assault and restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.

Al-Haq’s report notes both the ICC warrants and the ICJ case, urging other governments to formally support the latter effort.

Throughout the 15-month assault on Gaza, Israeli settlers and troops also targeted Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank—where Al-Haq is based. However, since the cease-fire took effect Sunday, attacks in the West Bank have sparked fresh alarm.

In addition to pushing for the investigation of Israel’s assault on Gaza, the new report urges a U.N. commission to probe “genocidal acts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including but not limited to killings of Palestinians, causing serious bodily or mental harm to Palestinians, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian people.”

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

24 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Everything You Need to Know About Israel’s Ongoing Deadly Assault on Jenin

By Quds News Networ

Occupied West Bank (Quds News Network)- On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced the launch of a military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, amid forced displacement, mass arrests, reports of field executions by Israeli forces, and a siege on the Jenin refugee camp that has caused widespread destruction to infrastructure. The assault is now in its fourth day.

What Happened on Tuesday?

Local sources said Israeli soldiers stormed the city on Tuesday morning from the Jalameh military checkpoint, after a special Israeli force infiltrated the al-Jabariyat neighborhood.

The raid coincided with Israeli drones bombing an empty vehicle near al-Zahraa School in the vicinity of Jenin refugee camp, without any injuries being reported, while Apache helicopters fired into the skies of the camp.

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“Iron Wall”

The Israeli military claimed it was conducting a “counterterrorism” operation, without providing details.

Israeli media, citing a military source, reports the Israeli military’s ongoing raid in Jenin is expected to go on for at least several days, mobilising extensive troops, special forces and intelligence personnel.

The operation is codenamed “The Iron Wall”, said Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the operation, saying, “Under the guidance of the Security Cabinet, the IDF, Shin Bet, and the Israel Police launched today a wide-ranging and significant military operation to combat terrorism in Jenin – “Iron Wall.””

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Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel’s ongoing raid in Jenin is designed to “change the security situation” in the occupied West Bank.

The military raid “will be an intense and ongoing operation”, said Smotrich in a post on X.

He added it would target “terror elements and their enablers” in order to protect Israeli “settlers” and “settlements”, which he described as a “security buffer” for Israel.

Palestinians Killed, Injured

At least 13 Palestinians have been killed so far since the start of the assault and about 50 others injured, according to local and medical sources.

Among the victims was a 16-year-old teenager.

Invasion of Jenin Camp

According to local sources, Israeli forces have imposed a complete siege on the Jenin refugee camp, deploying special units, drones and biometric and facial recognition systems to monitor and control the area.

Palestinians have been forcibly expelled from their homes as Israeli forces order them out via loudspeakers and air-dropped leaflets.

Local residents described the terrifying scene as drones circled above their homes while Israeli troops, using loudspeakers, demanded that people leave.

They mentioned that only one crossing was opened for them to flee, while they were subjected to biometric recognition technology, which was used to target young men for further interrogation and arrest, often without clear suspicion. They also added that those who were arrested were taken to unknown destinations, with no knowledge of what happened to them.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) confirmed that Israeli forces have carried out field executions during the campaign, as a form of “collective punishment” to undermine any form of resistance.

Meanwhile, medical staff attempting to treat the wounded continue to face extreme restrictions by Israeli forces.

The movement of ambulances has been heavily controlled by Israeli forces, and medical personnel are being searched and interrogated before being allowed to bring aid.

Local reports added that residents of the camp have been subjected to mass arrests, strip searches and interrogations.
News coverage of the assault has been severely hampered.

Palestine TV reported that an Israeli soldier forced its crew to shut down live broadcasts, confiscated cameras and phones, and threatened to storm the building where the TV office is located.

Correspondent Amna Bilalo stated that the soldiers pursued them, even after they tried to retreat, making it clear that their reporting was unwelcome.

“We expect our office to be stormed at any moment,” she added.

Meanwhile, there has been widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure in the city. Many homes have been vandalised, and the area has suffered significant damage with the electricity to the camp being cut off.

Yesterday, we did not want to leave, we were at home,” 16-year-old Hussam Saadi told Reuters. “Today, they sent down a drone to our neighbourhood, telling us to leave the camp and that they will blow it up.”

“Relatively Similar:” Israeli Minister Says Forces Applying Gaza Lessons in Occupied West Bank

Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said on Wednesday that forces were applying lessons learned from Gaza as a deadly assault continued in Jenin for the fourth consecutive day, during which people were forcibly displaced, killed, mass arrested, and subjected to field executions.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced the launch of a military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, amid forced displacement, mass arrests, reports of field executions by Israeli forces, and a siege on the Jenin refugee camp that has caused widespread destruction to infrastructure. The assault is now in its fourth day.

Katz said the Jenin assault marked a shift in the military’s security plan in the West Bank and was “the first lesson from the method of repeated raids in Gaza.”

The military has claimed it has refined its urban warfare tactics in light of its offensive in Gaza.

According to Reuters, a military spokesperson declined to give details but said the operation was “relatively similar” to but in a smaller area than one last August, in which hundreds of Israeli troops backed by drones and helicopters raided Jenin and other flashpoint cities in the occupied West Bank.

It was the third major incursion by the Israeli forces in less than two years into Jenin.

Palestinian Authority Attacks

Before the Israeli assault, the Palestinian Authority had been conducting a weeks-long operation, claiming the aim was to reassert control of the city as well as the refugee camp.

The large-scale campaign in Jenin involved besieging the city, shooting at unarmed civilians and clashing with local fighters.

PA forces killed several Palestinians and injured many more for over a month before Israel’s raid began on Tuesday.

24 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Gaza Ceasefire at Last: How Israel’s ‘First Defeat’ Will Shape the Country’s Future

By Ramzy Baroud

The headline in the Times of Israel says it all: “For the First Time, Israel Just Lost a War.”

Regardless of the reasoning behind this statement, which the article divides into fourteen points, it suggests a shattering and unprecedented event in the 76-year history of the State of Israel. The consequences of this realization will have far-reaching effects on Israelis, impacting both this generation and the next. These repercussions will penetrate all sectors of Israeli society, from the political elite to the collective identity of ordinary Israelis.

Interestingly, and tellingly, the article attributes Israel’s defeat solely to the outcome of the Gaza war, confined to the geographical area of the Gaza Strip. Not a single point addresses the ongoing crisis within Israel itself. Nor does it explore the psychological impact of what is being labeled as Israel’s first-ever defeat.

Unlike previous military campaigns in Gaza—on a much smaller scale compared to the current genocidal war—there is no significant strand of Israeli society claiming victory. The familiar rhetoric of “mowing the lawn”, which Israel often uses to describe its wars, is notably absent. Instead, there is a semi-consensus within Israel that the ceasefire deal was unequivocally bad, even disastrous for the country.

The word “bad” carries broad implications. For Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, it represents a “complete surrender”. For the equally extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, it is a “dangerous deal” that compromises Israel’s “national security”.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog refrained from offering political specifics but addressed the deal in equally strong terms: “Let there be no illusions. This deal—when signed, approved and implemented—will bring with it deeply painful, challenging and harrowing moments.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, along with other Israeli officials, tried to justify the deal by framing Israel’s ultimate goal as the freeing of captives. “If we postpone the decision, who knows how many will remain alive?” he said.

However, many in Israel, along with an increasing number of analysts, are now questioning the government’s narrative. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously rejected similar ceasefire agreements in May and July, impeding any possibility of negotiation.

In the time between those rejections and the eventual acceptance of the deal, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed or wounded. While these tragedies have been entirely disregarded or dismissed in Israel, many Israeli captives were also killed, mostly in Israeli military strikes.

Had Netanyahu accepted the deal earlier, many of these captives would likely still be alive. This fact will linger over whatever remains of Netanyahu’s political career, further defining his already controversial and corruption-riddled legacy.

Ultimately, Netanyahu has failed on multiple fronts. Initially, he wanted to prevent his right-wing, extremist coalition from collapsing, even at the expense of most Israelis. As early as May 2024, many prioritized the return of captives over the continuation of war. Netanyahu’s eventual concession was not driven by internal pressure, but by the stark realization that he could no longer win.

The political crisis that had been brewing in Israel reached a breaking point as Netanyahu’s administration scrambled to navigate the growing discontent. In an article published soon after the ceasefire announcement, Yedioth Ahronoth declared Netanyahu politically defeated, while his Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, was blamed for military failure.

In reality, Netanyahu has failed on both fronts. Military generals repeatedly urged him to end the war, believing Israel had achieved tactical victories in Gaza. During the war, Israel’s political and social crises deepened.

Netanyahu, at the helm, resorted to his old tactics. Instead of demonstrating true leadership, he engaged in political manipulation, lied when it suited him, threatened those who refused to follow his rules and deflected personal responsibility. Meanwhile, the Israeli public became increasingly disillusioned with the war’s direction and frustrated with Netanyahu and his coalition.

In the end, the entire Kafkaesque structure of Israeli governance collapsed. The failure to manage both the political crisis and the military strategy left Israel’s leadership weakened and increasingly isolated from the public.

Of course, Netanyahu will not give up easily. He will likely attempt to satisfy Ben-Gvir by insisting that Israel retains the right to return to war at any time. He will likely enable Smotrich to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank and may try to redeem the military’s reputation by escalating operations there.

These actions may buy Netanyahu some time, but they will not last. The majority of Israelis now seek new elections. While previous elections have ignored Palestinians, the next election will be almost entirely defined by the Gaza war and its aftermath.

Israel is now facing the reality of a political and military failure on a scale previously unimaginable. Netanyahu’s handling of the situation will be remembered as a key moment in the country’s history, and its consequences will continue to affect Israeli society for years to come.

Netanyahu’s departure from the political stage seems inevitable—whether because of the war’s outcome, the next elections or simply due to illness and old age. However, the material and psychological impacts of the Gaza war on Israeli society will remain, and they are likely to have irreversible consequences. These effects could potentially threaten the survival of Israel itself.

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

23 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Israel tightens its grip on Jenin and the wider West Bank

By Thomas Scripps

Israel is using the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza as an opportunity to step up its war on the West Bank.

Given the green light by the Trump administration, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and security forces have launched a massive operation centred on Jenin which Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared “will mark a shift in the IDF’s security strategy in Judea and Samaria [the Biblical name used by far-right Zionists to refer to the West Bank].”

Making clear the government’s intentions, fascist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “After Gaza and Lebanon, today, with God’s help, we have begun to change the security concept in Judea and Samaria”.

Several reports suggest Smotrich secured a commitment to include “security” in the West Bank as one of Israel’s official war goals in exchange for his backing the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese warned bluntly, “As the long awaited ceasefire in Gaza took place, Israel’s death machinery escalated its firing in the West Bank…

“If it is not forced to stop, Israel’s genocide of Palestinians will not be confined to Gaza. Mark my words.”

The fear was echoed by UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, who coupled unfounded optimism for the ceasefire with the observation, “The other possibility is for Israel feeling emboldened by the military successes that it has had to think this is the moment to do the annexation of the West Bank and to keep Gaza in a kind of limbo situation.”

At least 10 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin, and 40 wounded. The numbers could be much higher, with ambulances blocked from reaching the wounded. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, told reporters, “No one can break the siege on the refugee camp and the surrounding area.” The organisation said it was “deeply concerned” about the wellbeing of Jenin’s residents.

Repeating the tactics used in its criminal war of genocide in Gaza, Israeli forces have surrounded the Khalil Suleiman governmental hospital. In charge of the facility, Wissam Bakr told reporters, “The current situation is awful. Israeli forces destroyed the roads in front of the hospital. They put the rubble from the destroyed streets in front of hospital exits to prevent ambulances from entering or leaving.”

Two nurses and three doctors had been shot on the main road leading up to the building on Tuesday, he explained, adding that 600 staff and patients were now sheltering as best they could inside.

Bakr’s account was confirmed by Adel Besher, who told Al Jazeera, “I slept … in the yard of the hospital. Even though my house is 200 metres away from here, I couldn’t reach it.

“There were many injured people. Four from al-Amal Hospital were wounded, among them doctors, nurses and patients. There were also three or four people injured near my house and no one was able to rescue them.”

He added that “Israeli forces shot at whoever got near them. Two were injured while trying to rescue them.”

According to the Wafa news agency, residents in several Jenin neighbourhoods were ordered to leave their homes, and the city, by loudspeaker. Exact numbers have been difficult to count under siege conditions. Scores of people have been arrested and detained.

Roland Friedrich, the Director of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) Affairs for the West Bank described the camp as “nearly uninhabitable, with some 2,000 families displaced since mid-December. UNRWA has been unable to provide full services to the camp in this time.” He added that the operation “using advanced weaponry and warfare methods including airstrikes… is expected to last days.”

Friedrich noted that the Israeli operation “follows more than a month of armed clashes inside Jenin Camp between PSF [Palestinian State Forces, commanded by the Palestinian Authority] and Palestinian armed actors.”

According to Middle East Eye, “PA security forces stormed al-Razi hospital in Jenin on Wednesday and arrested a wounded man believed to be a member of the Jenin Battalion and wanted by the Israeli army.

“The PA raid appeared to be the first time Palestinian forces publicly participated in an Israeli military assault in the West Bank.”

There are fears that Jenin’s fate awaits other cities in the West Bank, with Israeli forces massively increasing the number of military checkpoints and gates—to nearly 900 throughout the territory—sealing off entry and exit to major population centres. The Aida refugee camp was stormed on Wednesday, and raids carried out in Tulkarem and towns around Ramallah and el-Bireh.

Medical Aid for Palestinians member Aseel Baidoun, based in Ramallah, told the Guardian, “For two days we have been experiencing an extensive military lockdown. The Israeli army has placed hundreds of new checkpoints that are making the movement between towns and cities almost impossible…

“It’s an open-air prison; we feel we cannot move around. If you want to go from Ramallah to Jericho it’s impossible, and it’s almost impossible to even reach nearby villages. There’s not only restrictions on movement but insane attacks from settlers.”

Dozens of masked settlers attacked the villages of Jinsafut and al-Funduq near Jerusalem on Monday night, bringing materials to set buildings and cars on fire, and attacking three houses, a nursery and a carpentry shop. They also threw stones and fired shots. Similar attacks have since taken place in the villages of Sinjil, Ein Siniya, Turmus Aya and Khirbet Aqwiwis. At least 21 Palestinians have been injured and hospitalised, including elderly people and three children.

Meanwhile, the residents of Gaza continue to sift through the 50 million tons of rubble that is all that remains of their levelled cities, with 80 percent of the buildings in northern Gaza destroyed, leaving 300,000 homeless.

Relatives and civil agencies are searching for an estimated 10,000 bodies trapped underneath the wreckage. More than 200 have been found since the ceasefire came into effect four days ago. Frequently all that can be found are bones.

The work is slow going, in part because the IDF has killed roughly 100 staff members of the civil defence agency and destroyed many of its vehicles. It also takes place under fire. On Wednesday, 28-year-old Akram Atef Zanoun was shot and killed, and four others wounded, by an Israeli quadcopter while removing rubble from their mostly destroyed homes in Rafah city’s Shaboura camp.

The smooth passage of 2,400 aid trucks into Gaza since the ceasefire was signed, a vast increase, confirms that Israel deliberately restricted the flow of these vital supplies—using starvation and disease as a weapon of war—for over a year.

British Dr. James Smith, who volunteered at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital, told Al Jazeera, “One of the most important things to remember is a genocide doesn’t end with a ceasefire, particularly a ceasefire as fragile as this.”

“It’s simply ongoing now by other means,” he said, pointing to the Strip’s ruined healthcare system.

A correspondent for the news agency, Hind Khoudary, reported, “You can’t imagine how destroyed the infrastructure across the Gaza Strip is. Sewage is filling the streets.

“In some places, there’s a lack of water. Desalination plants are not working any more. The infrastructure has completely collapsed.”

The looming deadline for Israel’s ban on UNRWA threatens to plunge the region deeper into catastrophe, with over two million Gazans relying on the agency—plus many hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank.

A report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo, “Consequences of the Israeli UNRWA Ban”, warned of the dire impact the ban on the organisation would have. Co-author Jorgen Jensehaugen explained, “In less than one week’s time, its collapse in Israeli-controlled areas could cripple the humanitarian operation in Gaza”.

23 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org