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By Chris Hedges

Israel and the U.S. government will continue the genocide in Gaza for many months until the Palestinians are annihilated or driven from their homeland and Greater Israel is consolidated.

Joe Biden’s parting gift of $8 billion in weapons sales to the apartheid state of Israel acknowledges the gruesome reality of the genocide in Gaza. This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. This is a permanent, endless war designed not to destroy Hamas, or free Israeli hostages, but to eradicate, once and for all, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. It is the final push to create a Greater Israel, which will include not only Gaza and the West Bank, but chunks of Lebanon and Syria. It is the culmination of the Zionist dream. And it will be paid for with rivers of blood — Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security of Israel Avi Dichter was probably offering conservative estimates when he said “I think that we are going to stay in Gaza for a long time. I think most people understand that [Israel] will be years in some kind of West Bank situation where you go in and out and maybe you remain along Netzarim [corridor].”

Mass extermination takes time. It is also expensive. Fortunately for Israel, its lobby in the U.S. has a stranglehold on Congress, our electoral process and the media narrative. Americans, although 61 percent support ending weapons shipments to Israel, will pay for it. And those that express dissent will be frog-marched into Zionist black holes where their voices are silenced and their careers jeopardized or destroyed. Donald Trump and the Republicans have an open disdain for democracy, but so do the Democrats and Joe Biden.

The U.S. provided $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024, a substantial increase from the already $3.8 billion in military aid the U.S. gives Israel annually. This is a record for a single year. The State Department has informed Congress that it intends to approve another $8 billion in purchases of U.S.-made arms by Israel. This will provide Israel with more GPS guidance systems for bombs, more artillery shells, more missiles for fighter jets and helicopters, and more bombs, including 2,800 unguided MK-84 bombs, which Israel has a habit of dropping on densely packed tent encampments in Gaza. The pressure wave from the 2,000-pound MK-84 pulverizes buildings and exterminates life within a 400-yard radius. The blast, which ruptures lungs, rips apart limbs and bursts sinus cavities up to hundreds of yards away, leaves behind a 50-foot-wide and 36-foot-deep crater. Israel appears to have used this bomb to assassinate Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, in Beirut on September 27, 2024.

The genocide, and the decision to fuel it with billions of dollars, marks an ominous turning point. It is a public declaration by the U.S. and its allies in Europe that international and humanitarian law, although blatantly disregarded by the U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and a generation earlier in Vietnam, is meaningless. We will not even pay lip service to it. This will be a Hobbesian world where nations that have the most advanced industrial weapons make the rules. Those who are poor and vulnerable will kneel in subjugation. The genocide in Gaza is the template for the future. And those in the Global South know it.

The “wretched of the earth” who lack sophisticated weapons, who do not have modern armies, artillery units, missiles, navies, armored units and warplanes, will strike back with crude tools. They will match individual acts of terror against massive campaigns of state terror.

Are we surprised we are hated? Terror begets terror. We saw this in New Orleans where a man who was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) killed 14 people when he drove his pickup truck into a crowd on New Year’s Day. We will see more of it. But let’s be clear. We started it. The moral void of the suicide bomber is birthed from our moral void.

Israel’s frustration at the dogged resistance in Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen and Lebanon increases the bloodlust. Members of Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee sent a letter to Minister of Defense Israel Katz, calling on the government to intensify the siege of Gaza.

“Effective control of the territory and the population is the only means towards cleansing enemy lines from the strip, and naturally towards decisive victory, rather than treading [water] in a war of attrition, where the side that is most worn is Israel,” they write. “Therefore we end up inserting our soldiers again and again into neighborhoods and alleys that were already conquered by them many times.”

Israel, the letter reads, must carry out “remote elimination of all energy sources, that is fuel, solar panels and any relevant means (pipes, cables, generators etc.)” It should ensure the “elimination of all food sources including warehouses, water and all relevant means (water pumps etc.)” and it must facilitate the “remote elimination of anyone who moves in the area and does not exit with a white flag during the days of the effective siege.”

The letter concludes that “after these actions and the days of siege upon those who remain, [the] IDF must enter gradually and conduct a full cleansing of the enemy nests…. This should be done in the northern Gaza Strip, and similarly in any other territory: encirclement, evacuation of the population to a humanitarian zone, and effective siege until surrender or full elimination of the enemy. This is how every army acts, and so must the IDF act.”

In short, exterminate the brutes.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old U.S. military veteran who plowed his pick-up truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers in New Orleans killing 14 people and injuring 35 others, spoke to us in the language we use to speak to the Arab world. Indiscriminate death. The targeting of innocents. The callous indifference to life. The thirst for revenge. The demonization of others. The belief that fate or God or western civilization has decreed that we have a right to impose our vision of the world with violence. Jabbar, who posted videos online in which he professed his support for Islamic State, is our murderous doppelgänger. He will not be the last.

“When a society is dispossessed, when the injustices thrust upon it appear insoluble, when the ‘enemy’ is all-powerful, when one’s own people are bestialised as insects, cockroaches, ‘two-legged beasts,’ then the mind moves beyond reason,” Robert Fisk writes in The Great War for Civilization. “It becomes fascinated in two senses: with the idea of an afterlife and with the possibility that this belief will somehow provide a weapon of more than nuclear potential. When the United States was turning Beirut into a NATO base in 1983, and using its firepower against Muslim guerrillas in the mountains to the east, Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Baalbek were promising that God would rid Lebanon of the American presence. I wrote at the time — not entirely with my tongue in my cheek — that this was likely to be a titanic battle: U.S. technology versus God. Who would win? Then on 23 October 1983 a lone suicide bomber drove a truckload of explosives into the U.S. Marine compound at Beirut airport and killed 241 American servicemen in six seconds…I later interviewed one of the few surviving marines to have seen the bomber. ‘All I can remember,’ he told me, ‘is that the guy was smiling.’”

These acts of terrorism, or in the case of Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Yemen armed resistance, are used to justify endless mass killing. This Via Dolorosa leads to a global death spiral, especially as the climate crisis reconfigures the planet and international bodies, such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, become hollow appendages.

We are sowing the Middle East with dragon’s teeth and, as in the ancient Greek myth, these teeth are rising from the soil as enraged warriors determined to destroy us.

Chris Hedges, who graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, worked for nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, National Public Radio and other news organizations in Latin America, the Middle East and the Balkans.

7 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Ramzy Baroud

Over the past 14 months, I have received hundreds of messages from family members throughout the Gaza Strip. The nature of the messages often conveyed a sense of urgency and panic but, at times, contentment in God’s will.

Some of those who wrote these notes have been killed in Israeli strikes, like my sister, Dr. Soma Baroud; others lost children, siblings, cousins, neighbors and friends. It may seem strange that none of those who communicated with me throughout the war have ever questioned their faith, and have often, if not always, begun their messages by checking on me, and my children.

The samples of the messages below have been edited for length and clarity.

Ibrahim: 

“How are you? We are all fine. We had to leave Shati (refugee camp). The Israelis arrived at the camp yesterday. Our whole neighborhood has been destroyed. Our home, too, was destroyed. Alhamdulillah – praise be to God.”

Soma: 

“How are you? And how are the kids? Times like these make me realize that no material wealth matters. Only the love of one’s family and community matters most. We had to flee Qarara (east of Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza); the boys fled further south, and I am in Deir Al-Balah with my daughter and grandson. I don’t know what happened to H (her husband). The army bulldozers began destroying the neighborhood while we were still inside. We ran away in the middle of the night.”

A’esha: 

“E (her husband) was killed on the first day of the invasion. A (her son) disappeared after he learned that his father was killed. He said he wanted to avenge his father. I am worried. I don’t know what to do.”

Salwa: 

“Cousin, A’esha’s son, A, was killed (he was 19). He was fighting in Jabaliya. She is somewhere in Rafah with her surviving kids. Her newborn has a congenital heart defect. Do you know of any charity that can help her? She lives in a tent without food or water.”

Ibrahim: 

“We escaped to Al-Shifa (hospital in Gaza City). Then, the Israelis invaded. They took all the men outside and had us stand in line. They spared me. I don’t know why. All the men were executed. Nasser’s son (his nephew) was killed in front of me. We are still trapped at Al-Shifa.”

Soma: 

“My husband was killed, brother. That poor soul had no chance. His illness had prevented him from running away on time. Someone says he saw his body after he was shot by a drone. He was hit in the head. But when we went back to the place, we couldn’t find him. There was a massive heap of rubble and garbage. We dug and dug day and night, to no avail. I just want to give him a proper burial.”

A’esha: 

“Did Salwa message you about the charity? My baby is dying. I named her Wafa’ after her auntie (26, who was killed in the first few weeks of the war along with her son Zaid, 5 and husband, Mohammed in Gaza City). She can barely breathe. Some people are allowed to leave Gaza through Rafah. They say the UAE accepts some of the wounded and sick. Please help me.”

Walid: 

“Have you heard anything about the ceasefire? We ran away back to the center of Gaza, after we were forced to flee south. They (the Israeli army) said ‘Go to the safe zones.’ Then, they killed the displaced inside their tents. I saw my neighbors burning alive. I am too old (he is 75). Please tell me that the war is about to end.”

Ibrahim: 

“How are you, cousin? I just wanted to tell you that Nasser (his brother) was killed. He was standing in line waiting for a loaf of bread in Zeitoun. After the martyrdom of his sons, he became responsible for the grandchildren as well. They (the Israelis) bombed the crowd as they waited for the aid trucks. The explosion severed his arm. He bled to death.”

Soma: 

“I was in Nuseirat when the massacre happened. (278 people were killed and over 800 wounded on June 8). I walked through the area not knowing the extent of the bloodbath. I was on my way back to Qarara to check on the kids. Bodies were strewn everywhere. They were mostly mutilated, though some were still groaning, desperately grasping onto life. I wanted to help, but I could do nothing. I kept walking from one body to the next, holding hands and looking into dying eyes. I worked in the emergency room for many years. But at that moment I felt helpless. I felt that I, too, had died on that day.”

(Dr. Soma was killed in an Israeli strike targeting her car on October 9. She had just left the hospital, where she worked, to check on her sons.)

Ibrahim: 

“My condolences, cousin, for the martyrdom of your sister. She will always remain the pride of our family.”

A’esha: 

“Wafa’ died this morning in our tent in Al-Musawi. There was no medicine. No food. No milk. My only solace is that she is now an angel in Paradise.”

Walid: 

“How are you, cousin? We are okay. We lost everything, but we are still standing. Alhamdulillah. Do you know when the war will be over? Maybe another week, or two? I am just too old, and so, so tired.”

___________________________________________________

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

6 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Another Palestinian baby died Sunday from the extreme cold in Gaza, marking the eighth infant to freeze to death in recent nights, as the ongoing Israeli siege worsens the harsh winter conditions, making life uninhabitable.

Yousef Kaloub died of hypothermia in the so-called “humanitarian zone” in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, according to local sources.

“I am the mother of Yousef. I lost him. They didn’t give a single moment to feel happy with my baby,” the infant’s mother says in a video.

“He died because of the very cold weather. He slept next to me and in the morning I found him frozen and dead. I don’t know what to say,” she said.

“No one can feel my misery. No one in the world can understand our catastrophic situation. Yousef was fine. He was born healthy … I lost Yousef forever.”

His grieving father, seen at the hospital morgue, has lost two children to hypothermia this winter.

Seven Palestinian babies froze to death in the past few nights in Gaza in December, including three who died of hypothermia in al-Mawasi and twins from the al-Batran family, a displaced family from Beit Lahiya.

“There are no tents or shelters. May God hold accountable everyone who caused this catastrophe.. what was his fault for dying from the cold and freezing?” the twins’ father asks in one clip.

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said he has warned for months that “more than a million Palestinians lack shelter” for winter conditions.

“Now babies are freezing to death,” Rajagopal added, noting that this is another “achievement” of Israel’s so-called “most moral army in the world”.

Palestinian nurse Ahmed al-Zaharneh, who was among the crews working at the European Gaza Hospital, also died the same month because of “extreme” weather conditions, according to the Health Ministry.

The Ministry said, “His body was found inside his tent in al-Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.”

“This incident comes in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions that displaced citizens are experiencing, as the suffering of Gaza residents increases due to low temperatures and the lack of heating means in tents,” the Ministry added.

The deaths highlight the dire conditions in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crammed into makeshift tents, fleeing Israeli shelling from various parts of the strip.

Gaza’s Government Media Office stated that 110,000 out of 135,000 tents used by displaced Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip are now out of service and have “completely deteriorated”.

The Office accused the Israeli military of “causing a tragic humanitarian crisis” that is once again putting the lives of thousands of civilians at risk as the freezing winter sets in.

“This catastrophic humanitarian situation is a direct result of the genocide committed by the ‘Israeli’ occupation army, which has completely destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes of these citizens, forcing them to resort to living in tents that lack the minimum requirements for a decent life,” the statement said.

6 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Palestinian territory – The Israeli government bears full responsibility for the life of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, amid alarming indications of torture and ill-treatment since his detention in late December.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has received information that Dr. Abu Safiya’s health has deteriorated due to the torture he endured during his detention, particularly while being held at the Sde Teyman military base in southern Israel. Euro-Med Monitor warns of the grave risk to his life, following patterns of deliberate killings and deaths under torture previously suffered by other doctors and medical staff arrested from Gaza since October 2023.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has documented testimonies confirming that Israeli soldiers physically assaulted Dr. Abu Safiya immediately after he left the hospital on Friday, 27 December 2024. He was then directly targeted with sound bombs while attempting to evacuate the hospital in compliance with orders from the Israeli army.

According to testimonies gathered by Euro-Med Monitor, the Israeli army subsequently transferred Dr. Abu Safiya to a field interrogation site in the Al-Fakhura area of Jabalia Refugee Camp. There, he was forced to strip off his clothes and was subjected to severe beatings, including being whipped with a thick wire commonly used for street electrical wiring. Soldiers deliberately humiliated him in front of other detainees, including fellow medical staff. He was later taken to an undisclosed location before being transferred to the Sde Teyman military camp under Israeli army control.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has also received information from recently released detainees at the Sde Teyman military camp, confirming that Dr. Abu Safiya was subjected to severe torture, leading to a significant deterioration in his health. This occurred despite him already being injured by Israeli air strikes on the hospital, where he worked tirelessly until the facility was stormed and set ablaze by Israeli forces.

The Israeli army has attempted to mislead the public regarding Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention and torture. Pro-Israeli media outlets circulated a misleading promotional video portraying his treatment as humane, even though he was tortured and humiliated immediately after filming.

Euro-Med Monitor warns of the severe implications of Israel’s denial of Dr. Abu Safiya’s detention, describing this as a deeply troubling indicator of his fate and detention conditions. This denial also reflects a blatant disregard for binding legal standards.

Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI) submitted a request on behalf of Dr. Abu Safiya’s family to obtain information and facilitate a lawyer’s visit on 2 January 2024. However, the Israeli authorities claimed to have no record of his detention, stating they had no indication of his arrest.

Euro-Med Monitor expresses deep concern that Dr. Abu Safiya may face execution during his detention, similar to the fate of Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, head of the orthopaedics department at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, who was killed under torture at Ofer Detention Centre on 19 April 2024. Dr. Al-Bursh had been detained along with colleagues from Al-Awda Hospital in December 2023.

Likewise, Dr. Iyad Al-Rantisi, head of the obstetrics department at Kamal Adwan Hospital, was killed due to torture at an Israeli Shin Bet interrogation centre in Ashkelon, one week after his detention in November 2023. Israeli authorities concealed his death for more than seven months.

Dozens of doctors and medical staff remain subjected to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance in Israeli prisons and detention centres, where they face severe torture and solitary confinement, according to testimonies from former detainees.

The detention of Dr. Abu Safiya must be understood within the context of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has persisted for nearly 15 months. His arrest, torture, and potential execution form part of a broader strategy aimed at destroying the Palestinian people in Gaza—both physically and psychologically—and breaking their will.

This strategy includes not only the deliberate destruction of the health sector and the disruption of medical staff operations, particularly in northern Gaza, but also an attack on the symbolic and humanitarian role represented by Dr. Abu Safiya. Despite the grave crimes committed against Kamal Adwan Hospital, its staff, and patients, especially in the past two months, Dr. Abu Safiya remained unwavering in his dedication to providing essential medical care and fulfilling his medical duties.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor calls on all concerned states, international entities, and UN bodies to take immediate and effective measures to secure the unconditional release of Dr. Abu Safiya. His fundamental rights to life, physical safety, and dignity must be protected, shielding him from torture or any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Euro-Med Monitor also urges international and local human rights organisations to be granted full access to visit Dr. Abu Safiya, monitor his health condition, provide necessary medical treatment, and ensure he is free from human rights violations until his release.

Furthermore, Euro-Med Monitor reiterates its call for the United Nations to deploy an international investigative mission to examine the grave crimes and violations faced by Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. It calls for the immediate release of those detained arbitrarily, for international and local organisations to be granted visitation rights, and for detainees to have access to legal representation.

Euro-Med Monitor expresses regret over the continued inaction of Ms. Alice Jill Edwards, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, who has failed to address these atrocities. It condemns her bias and deliberate negligence in fulfilling her mandate and calls for her dismissal. A new Special Rapporteur who is neutral and committed to universal human rights principles must be appointed.

Additionally, Euro-Med Monitor urges the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to conduct immediate and thorough investigations into crimes committed by the Israeli military in Gaza. It calls for direct engagement with victims and families, as well as for reports to be submitted to pave the way for investigative committees, fact-finding missions, and international courts to prosecute Israeli crimes, hold perpetrators accountable, and compensate victims in line with international law.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor renews its call for relevant states and entities to fulfil their legal obligations to halt the genocide in Gaza. This includes imposing a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, holding it accountable for its crimes, and taking effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians. Immediate steps must also be taken to prevent forced displacement, ensure the return of residents, release arbitrarily detained Palestinians, and facilitate the urgent entry of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza without obstacles. Finally, Euro-Med Monitor demands the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the entire Gaza Strip.

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

4 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Ocupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Eight far-right Israeli lawmakers have called on Defense Minister Israel Katz to order the destruction of all sources of water, food, and energy in northern Gaza, as well as the killing of anyone “without a white flag.”

The members of the Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee called on the defense minister to order the destruction of all sources of water, food and energy in northern Gaza.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the eight coalition members said the Israeli military’s strategy was ineffective in defeating Hamas, demanding the army purge northern Gaza of residents by use of sieges and infrastructure destruction.

Their proposals include treating any man, woman and child remaining in the area without a white flag as a legitimate target to be killed. The lawmakers include figures from the ruling Likud party and its coalition allies Religious Zionism, Jewish Power and Shas.

They accused the military of not carrying out the forced expulsion of Palestinians “properly” from the besieged northern Gaza.

The lawmakers insisted that the Israeli army should impose a total blockade, destroy essential infrastructure and carry out what they described as a “complete cleansing” of the region.

They also suggested that such draconian tactics be applied across other parts of Gaza. “This must be done not only in the northern Gaza Strip, but also in every other region,” the letter said.

[https://twitter.com/EpshtainItay/status/1874845322259709981]

The group lambasted Israeli army officials for not providing clear explanations during committee sessions as to why such measures had not yet been adopted or what the army’s strategy entails.

The Israeli lawmakers’ demands simply echo the “Generals’ Plan”, which was conceived by retired Major-General Giora Eiland and aims to empty northern Gaza of its 400,000 residents to make way for a “closed military zone”.

The plan, which was launched in an Israeli TV campaign in September, called for the ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza, warning that those that remain will face starvation. Israel has implemented the plan despite condemnations from human rights organisations.

Northern Gaza has been under military siege and relentless assault since October 5. The health system has completely collapsed, residents are being forced to flee south and west under horrific conditions, and those who remain are being massacred and starved.

4 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Israel has confirmed the kidnapping of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza. The Israeli military told ABC News that Abu Safiya is being held over “terrorist activities” and is currently under investigation.

Dr. Abu Safiya is detained at Sde Teiman, an infamous detention camp in a military base in the occupied Negev Desert, according to Israeli media. The facility, established after October 7, has housed numerous detainees, including children and the elderly, amid reports of severe abuse and torture.

UN Special Rapporteurs Tlaleng Mofokeng and Francesca Albanese have called for Abu Safiya’s immediate release from his arbitrary detention. They condemned Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system as violations of international law and acts of genocide.

The UN experts highlighted that over 1,750 Palestinian medical professionals have been killed during the genocide, with many others detained.

Abu Safiya, a symbol of resilience in Gaza, has faced immense personal tragedy caused by the Israelis, including the killing of his son and his own injury while treating patients. Despite these hardships, he remained committed to his role, refusing to leave his hospital even as Israeli forces raided it last week.

The UN experts have urged Israel to halt its attacks on Gaza’s medical infrastructure and ensure accountability for war crimes. Mofokeng and Albanese also appealed to global medical organizations to pressure Israel by cutting ties.

As international criticism mounts, Abu Safiya’s kidnapping underscores the dire situation for Gaza’s healthcare workers under Israeli occupation.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnes Callamard, stated that the rights group is “extremely alarmed by the latest information” regarding the whereabouts of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital. She emphasized that he should be considered a victim of enforced disappearance.

4 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Ramzy Baroud

The latest news from the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) so-called “Protecting the Homeland” operation in the Jenin refugee camp paints a grim picture. Nine Palestinian lives have been claimed in this ongoing crackdown which began on December 5, including a young journalist, Shaza Al-Sabbagh.

The assault, as reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, has, expectedly, received a stamp of approval from the Israeli occupation army, which seems content with the PA’s performance. Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 14 confirmed that Israel has issued a clear deadline to the PA to finish the task—effectively eradicating what remains of resistance in Jenin, in the name of ending lawlessness and apprehending outlaws.

It is an irony that has become all too familiar: the Palestinian entity that was supposed to represent the will of the people and lead them toward freedom has become complicit in crushing resistance in one of the most marginalized and impoverished areas of the West Bank, all while serving the interests of Israel. This is the heart of the Palestinian paradox in the West Bank.

For years, the PA has demanded unflinching obedience from the Palestinian people in the name of preparing Palestine for sovereignty and statehood. Yet, as the years have passed, this pledge has slipped further and further away. In its place, the PA has become complicit in the expansion of Israel’s territorial control and the erosion of Palestinian rights. This might be a difficult conclusion to digest, but the killing of innocent Palestinians in Jenin at the hands of Palestinian security forces, while Israel and its settlers are cracking down on Palestinians elsewhere in the West Bank, should be all the proof needed to support the above claim.

Moreover, the PA’s strategy of appeasing Israel through ‘security coordination’ has done little to hinder Israel’s systematic land grab and the continued construction of illegal settlements. To the contrary, such ‘coordination’ has emboldened Israel and its unruly settlers.

What is perhaps more damning is the fact that the PA has often become an active participant in the Israeli oppression of Palestinians, as is the case in Jenin today. In its role as an enforcer of Israeli policies, the PA has become a tool of the Israeli occupation, tasked with quelling political dissent and silencing critics.

The latest operation in Jenin is a clear manifestation of how Israel uses the PA to carry out its dirty work. The Jenin refugee camp, an area of less than half a square kilometer, has always been a symbol of Palestinian resistance. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israel has raided Jenin 80 times in the last year alone, killing over 220 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more. Yet, Jenin remained unbowed. To now see the PA working in concert with the Israeli army to break the will of Jenin’s 23,000 inhabitants is a deeply painful reality for most Palestinians.

What complicates this crisis even further is the silence of many Palestinian intellectuals, both in the West Bank and the diaspora, who have failed to confront the PA with the same vigor with which they criticize the Israeli occupation. But why have so many prominent voices, intellectuals, and political analysts remained mute on the issue of the PA’s betrayal of the Palestinian struggle?

The answer lies in a complex mixture of fear, political pragmatism and historical inertia. For decades, the PA has maintained a stranglehold on the political landscape of Palestinian life. It controls the levers of power, and anyone who dares to challenge its authority risks being silenced—through arrests, imprisonment, or even torture. Palestinian intellectuals, particularly those in the West Bank, are all too aware of this reality.

Additionally, there is a deep sense of paralysis within the Palestinian intellectual community in the occupied West Bank, in part due to their leadership’s failure to confront Israel over the ongoing genocide in Gaza. But there is more to this ongoing paralysis.

For years, the PA has framed itself as the ‘sole legitimate representative’ of the Palestinian people. Many intellectuals who would normally criticize Israel’s occupation are unwilling to take on the PA for fear of further fragmenting the Palestinians. There is a deep-seated belief among some that a public confrontation with the PA would lead to greater disunity, which could play into Israel’s hands.

But this political pragmatism comes at a heavy cost. While many Palestinian intellectuals hesitate to criticize the PA, they are forced into a position of complicity with its actions. The PA’s betrayal of the Palestinian cause is no longer a matter of debate—it is a fact. Yet, by failing to confront this betrayal head-on, intellectuals and activists alike risk forfeiting their moral credibility.

In the face of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and unprecedentedly violent crackdowns on Palestinians in the West Bank, the betrayal of the PA has been laid bare for all to see. The PA’s willingness to assist in the subjugation of Palestinians in the West Bank, while pretending to represent them, has exposed the institution like never before.

But can the PA itself be saved? The answer may not even matter. What matters is whether the Palestinian people, in their collective will and resistance, can liberate themselves from Israel’s settler colonialism and the moral corruption of their self-proclaimed leadership. The events of the coming weeks and months will be decisive.

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

2 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Since October 7, 2023, the United States has spent over $22 billion in military aid for Israel. This includes assaults on Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reports that the US supplied 69% of Israel’s arms from 2019 to 2023. This share rose to 78% by the end of that period.

In December 2023, the US delivered over 10,000 tons of weapons worth $2.4 billion to Israel. By August 2024, this number increased to 50,000 tons, transported via hundreds of planes and ships.

The US has provided advanced military equipment to Israel. This includes Iron Dome missiles, precision-guided bombs, CH-53 helicopters, AH-64 Apache helicopters, 155mm artillery shells, bunker-busting munitions, and armored vehicles.

Since 1946, US military and economic aid to Israel has totaled over $310 billion, adjusted for inflation. A 10-year, $38 billion military aid deal signed in 2016 remains active, allocating $3.8 billion annually. Emergency packages in 2024 added billions more, including $14.1 billion approved in February and a $2.5 billion arms shipment in March.

US weapons used mainly against civilians have drawn condemnation. Critics point to limited Congressional oversight and ongoing scrutiny over the impact on Palestinians in Gaza.

Lawsuit against US State Department Over Military Aid

In December 2023, a group of Palestinians filed a lawsuit against the US State Department. The lawsuit accuses the department of bypassing US human rights laws to fund Israeli military units accused of committing atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank.

Filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit states that Secretary of State Antony Blinken ignored the Leahy Law. This law prohibits US military aid to units committing gross human rights violations without accountability.

One plaintiff, a teacher from Gaza, was displaced seven times during the genocide. He lost 20 family members in the genocide.

The lawsuit criticizes the US for supporting Israel amid escalating human rights abuses since the genocide began in October 2023.

Senate to Vote on Arms Sale Restrictions

The US Senate is set to vote on legislation to block specific arms sales to Israel. Senator Bernie Sanders, along with Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley and Peter Welch, introduced resolutions to prevent the sale of 120mm mortar shells and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs).

Another resolution, supported by Senator Brian Schatz, seeks to halt tank shell sales. JDAMs, manufactured by Boeing, convert unguided bombs into GPS-guided weapons.

Despite these efforts, bipartisan support for Israel makes it unlikely the resolutions will pass. Advocates argue that Israel has obstructed aid shipments desperately needed by Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Criticism of US military aid to Israel continues to grow as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens.

2 January 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Nabi Fai

Professor (Dr.) Imtiaz Khan, Kashmiri American scholar said that “On January 5, 1949, the United Nations passed a resolution regarding the Kashmir conflict, which became a significant milestone in the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan over the region of Jammu and Kashmir. The UN called for a plebiscite (a vote by the people) to determine the future of Jammu and Kashmir. The plebiscite was to be conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. The resolution was never implemented, and events and its aftermath have had a lasting impact on the political and diplomatic discourse surrounding the Kashmir dispute. The region surrounded by three nuclear powers, remains the most militarized zone in the world.  The potential of nuclear   conflagration that could engulf almost half of the world population remain reasonably high.

Dr. Khan added that the question that begs attention is “how long can the world and especially UN continue to exhibit criminal negligence towards this protracted issue that threatens the world peace?”. India continues to unleash tyrannical measures on the people of Kashmir and there is feeling that their sufferings go unnoticed around the world. We fervently appeal to world in general and UN in particular that it should be conveyed to Indian government that their atrocities, oppressive measures and total disregard for international guarantees cannot be further tolerated. It should be impressed upon them that the only choice before them is to come to negotiating table with Pakistan and genuine leadership of Kashmiri people so that acceptable solution to this longstanding problem is found. Is should be unequivocally stated that farcical elections conducted in the region cannot dupe international community.  A plebiscite under UN supervision is the only solution. Anything short of that will be injustice to people of Kashmir and non-resolution of the issue can prove to be unmitigated disaster for the region.

Dr. Ghulam N. Mir, President, World Kashmir Awareness Forum and Chairman, Kashmiri Diaspora Coalition said that peace in Jammu and Kashmir and along with it in entire South Asia will remain illusive and a distant dream as long as India refuses to accept its culpability in its mischievous role in defying the implementation of multiple UNSC -mandated resolutions for plebiscite.

Dr. Mir added that Kashmir is a historical entity just as India is despite its size and military might. Kashmiris have given more sacrifices for its relative size than Indians have. We have had the misfortune of being in a bad neighborhood since 1947 when India invaded it. Whenever the UN stops being a mere paper tiger and let be pushed around by bullies like India it can exert its power help Kashmir to exercise its right to a free and fair referendum. The world is going to change, and hegemons are going to have to see the writing on the wall. Kashmiris may be the last nation to end occupation and settler-colonialism. But the day will surely. Come

Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice said that part III of the resolution of  13 August 1948, adopted by the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) stipulates: “The Government of India and the Government of Pakistan reaffirm their wish that the future status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir shall be determined in accordance with the will of the people and to that end, upon acceptance of the truce agreement, both Governments agree to enter into consultations with the Commission to determine fair and equitable conditions whereby such free expression will be assured. And the January 5, 1949, resolution adopted by the UNCIP clearly mandated that all authorities within the State of Jammu and Kashmir collaborate with the Plebiscite Administrator to guarantee the basic conditions for free and informed voting by the people of Kashmir, including protection of fundamental political rights of expression and association”

Dr. Fai added that the denial of self-determination has brought death, destruction, and devastation to the people of Kashmir. Today, Kashmir is at the brink of genocide (Genocide Watch) and Kashmir has become the hell for the people of Kashmir as reported by the New York Times.

Therefore, Dr. Fai suggested the grave situation in Kashmir demands that it could be brought to the attention of the Security Council. Whether this could be done successfully depends on the attitude and policies of the permanent members, but they should be left in no doubt that any failure to resolve the problem could lead to serious disorders throughout the South Asian Subcontinent and possibly to yet another war between India and Pakistan, with incalculable consequences for the whole world, since both states now have nuclear capabilities.

Sardar Zarif Khan, Advisor to the President of Azad Kashmir said that the Kashmir issue is simply this: the people of a large territory which is not part of any existing sovereign state were assured by the entire international community represented by the United Nations that they would be enabled to decide their future by a free vote.  Until now, this assurance has not been honored.

 Sardar Shoaib Irshad, General Secretary, Kashmir American Welfare Association (KAWA) said that the people of Kashmir trust that Mr. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations will bring its influence to bear on both India and Pakistan to initiate peace process with which the United Nations as well as the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be associated so as to ensure that settlement arrived at will be based on the principle of justice.

Sardar Zubair Khan, leader of KAWA appealed to Antonio Gutters, the Secretary General of the United Nations to appoint a special envoy on Kashmir who could assess the situation in Jammu & Kashmir as well as in Azad Kashmir and report back to the Security Council about its findings.

Washington, D.C. January 5, 2025

Dr. Fai is also the Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness Forum.

He can be reached at: WhatsApp: 1-202-607-6435   or.  gnfai2003@yahoo.com

www.Kashmirawarenss.org

By Zeenat Khan

A tribute to Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore.

The translation of the song from the Geetabitan

Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941)

Parjaay: Puja (324)

Upa-parjaay: Aanondo

Taal: Jhaptaal

Raag: Lachhasaar-Bilabal

Anga: Dhrupad

Written on: Autumn 1897

Swarabitan: 22

Notation by: Kangalicharan Sen

বহে নিরন্তর অনন্ত আনন্দধারা ॥

বাজে অসীম নভোমাঝে অনাদি রব,

জাগে অগণ্য রবিচন্দ্রতারা ॥

একক অখণ্ড ব্রহ্মাণ্ডরাজ্যে

পরম-এক সেই রাজরাজেন্দ্র রাজে।

বিস্মিত নিমেষহত বিশ্ব চরণে বিনত,

লক্ষশত ভক্তচিত বাক্যহারা ॥

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“The Shower of Eternal Bliss Forever”

Ceaseless flows the limitless, eternal bliss.

Sings the eternal voice in the infinite sky,

Awakening countless suns, moons, and stars.

In the realm of the unique, undivided universe

Rules the King of Kings, Lord of the Lords.

The world, amazed, bows at your feet, Oh Lord,

Devotees, in millions, at a loss for words.

Video:

Bahe Nirantar | Subinoy Roy | Legends Best Of Tagore Songs | Rabindrasangeet Collection

“As we close out this year, let us remember that even amidst challenges, the human spirit is resilient, and hope remains a beacon guiding us towards a brighter future. Together, we can overcome adversity, build bridges of understanding, and work towards a world where compassion, unity, and sustainability thrive. May the new year bring renewed optimism, courage to face the unknown, and the unwavering belief that we can create a better tomorrow for all. Let’s embrace the possibilities that lie ahead and step into the New Year with hearts full of hope.”

May the New Year Bring Brighter Days!

Zeenat Khan writes from Maryland, USA

31 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org