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By Robert Reich

We cannot be silent in the face of Trump’s dictatorial move. Silence is acquiescence. We must be brave in resisting him. But we must not succumb to violence.

What is our moral responsibility as citizens of the United States when the President of the United States moves to deploy thousands of American soldiers against us?

President Donald Trump signed a memo late yesterday ordering 2,000 members of the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles County after federal immigration agents in riot gear squared off with hundreds of protesters for a second consecutive day.

Trump’s action is extreme although technically legal. California Gov. Gavin Newsom did not call in the Guard. Title 10 of the United States Code allows a president to federalize the National Guard units of states to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.” In a presidential memo, Trump said, “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

Why is he doing it, and why now?

Because Trump can’t stand to be humiliated—as he has been in the last two weeks. By Senate Republicans’ refusal to quickly enact his so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. By Chinese President Xi Jinping’s refusal to back down on trade (and restrict shipments of China’s rare earths, which American industry depends on). By Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to end the war in Ukraine. By the federal courts pushing back against his immigration policy. And, now, by insults and smears from the richest person in the world, who has a larger social media following than does Trump.

So what does Trump do when he’s humiliated? He deflects public attention. Like any bully, he tries to find another way to display his power—especially over people who are powerless, such as immigrants. Especially over people whom he doesn’t consider “his” people, such as Californians.

He has despised California since the 2016 election when the state overwhelmingly voted against him.

And what better Ground Zero for him to try out his police state than Los Angeles—a city teaming with immigrants, with Hollywood celebrities who demonize him, and wealthy moguls who despise him?

He is calling out the National Guard to provoke violence. As Gov. Newsom said, “that move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”

Trump wants to escalate tensions. He wants a replay of the violence that occurred in the wake of the George Floyd murder—riots, mayhem, and destruction that allow him to escalate his police state further—imposing curfews, closing down parts of Los Angeles, perhaps seeking to subdue the entire state. And beyond.

Please do not give him this. Don’t fall into his trap.

We cannot be silent in the face of Trump’s dictatorial move. Silence is acquiescence. We must be brave in resisting him. But we must not succumb to violence.

What is needed is peaceful civil disobedience. Americans locking arms to protect those who need protection. Americans sitting in the way of armored cars. Americans singing and chanting in the face of the Americans whom Trump is drafting into his handmade civil war.

Americans who do not attempt to strike back, but who do what many of us did during the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements—peacefully but unambiguously reject tyranny. To be brave and nonviolent in the face of tyranny, to be strong and restrained, to resist with our hearts filled with anger but not succumb to that anger—is difficult. But Martin Luther King Jr. taught us its importance, and John Lewis taught us how.

A humiliated Trump is the most dangerous Trump. He has manufactured this entire crisis. But he will overreach. He already has. And this overreach will ultimately be his undoing.

As long as we keep our heads.

May we look back on this hellish time and feel proud of what we did.

Be strong. Be safe. Hug your loved ones.

Robert Reich, is the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies.

9 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Madelene Kolab braved Israeli naval fire and poverty to feed her family from Gaza’s besieged coast. Now, a solidarity ship named Madelene sails in her honor to break the blockade.

The “Madelene” set out from Catania, Italy, on June 1, 2025, carrying humanitarian aid and international activists determined to break Israel’s 18-year blockade of Gaza.

But this isn’t just a voyage to deliver food and medicine. It’s a journey inspired by one Gazan girl who refused to sink under occupation and poverty—Madelene Kollab, Gaza’s youngest and only professional female fisher.

A Girl, A Net, A Mission

Born and raised in Al-Shati refugee camp, Madelene Kollab grew up on Gaza’s shore. She was just 13 when her father fell ill and she inherited his small fishing boat. There was no time for hesitation. With Gaza’s sea as her only horizon, Madelene became the breadwinner for her family.

“I didn’t choose the sea,” she said in a past interview. “The sea chose me.”

Faced with Israeli naval patrols, constant danger, and poverty, Madelene cast her nets into waters restricted by Israel. Israeli forces seized her boat in 2016. She didn’t give up. She rented a motor and returned to the sea.

“I am a child, but I had to become stronger than fear,” she said.

Every morning before sunrise, she set out into Gaza’s narrow fishing zone—barely 3 nautical miles wide—hoping to bring home enough to feed her family. She named her boat ‘Hasakta’ and learned how to mend nets, navigate currents, and stay calm when Israeli gunboats circled too close.

She taught her brother and sister to help. While others her age played or studied, Madelene fished.

“Madelene” Sets Sail

Now, a humanitarian ship bears her name. The Madelene is the latest mission by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a global movement challenging Israel’s siege nd genocide in Gaza.

The ship carries 12 international activists, including climate justice icon Greta Thunberg and French MEP Rima Hassan. Their goal is to reach Gaza’s shore with food, medicine, and a message: Gaza is not forgotten.

But the voyage is dangerous. Israel has already threatened to stop the Madelene by force. In the past, it attacked flotilla ships, including the deadly raid on the Mavi Marmara in 2010.

Despite the risks, the activists on board remain defiant.

Symbol of a Strangled Coast

In Gaza, Madelene’s story is not just about fishing—it’s about surviving under siege. With daily Israeli attacks, genocide, and hunger now declared “man-made famine” by the UN, even going to sea is a protest.

Her life mirrors the suffocation of an entire generation. And yet, she keeps going.

In an interview in 2010, she said she dreamed of studying fashion design. She studied at Gaza’s Church Alliance Institute when she returned from fishing.

“I love the sea like a friend,” she said. “It gives me peace, even when it is dangerous.”

Madelene is now a symbol. Not just for her family or her fellow fishers—but for a world struggling to understand what life in Gaza means.

The Madelene ship carries limited aid, but its cargo is heavier with meaning. It is sailing in the name of a young woman who refused to give up, who worked while shells fell, who chose nets instead of tears.

Whether the ship reaches Gaza or not, the story of Madelene Kollab already has.

She is, as the fishers of Gaza call her, the “Daughter of the Sea.”

And now, the sea carries her name.

9 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Israel has intercepted and seized a Gaza-bound aid ship carrying Greta Thunberg and other prominent activists, kidnapping those on board while describing the ship as a “selfie yacht” with “celebrities.”

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said the Israeli military had “attacked” and “unlawfully boarded” the Madleen, which was attempting to deliver aid to Gaza – where more than 600 days of Israeli genocide war, and an 11-week Israeli blockade of all aid, has pushed the enclave’s 2.1 million people deeper into a hunger crisis and warnings of a looming famine.

Climate activist Thunberg and Rima Hassan — a French member of the European Parliament — are among those on the “Madleen.”

“(The vessel) is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry claimed in a post on X on Monday.

The FFC had earlier said the ship had come “under assault in international waters,” in a Telegram post.

“Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white paint-like substance. Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,” the FFC said.

In a video live streamed from the boat, activist Yasmin Acar showed a white substance on the deck, saying it had been dropped on the vessel. Acar was later heard saying it was affecting her eyes.

The FFC group also posted a video on Telegram, showing members of the crew sitting inside the boat with their hands in the air and following an order to throw their phones into the sea.

[https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1931872075653980567]

After losing communication with the vessel, the FFC began posting pre-recorded video messages from Thunberg and others onboard.

“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel,” Thunberg said in her video.

[https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1931886800634818871/history]

In a statement, the FFC said Israel had acted with “total impunity” and that the vessel’s cargo, which included baby formula, food and medical supplies was “confiscated.”

“Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard the Madleen,” said Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organizer.

“This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the (International Court of Justice’s) binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.”

Israel had repeatedly vowed to stop the aid boat from reaching Gaza, and described the ship as a “selfie yacht” carrying “celebrities.”

“I have instructed the IDF to ensure that the ‘Madleen’ flotilla does not reach Gaza,” Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said on Sunday

The Madleen is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an organization that has campaigned against Israel’s blockade of Gaza and tried to break the siege by boat.

The crew, which had publicized the location of the ship with an online tracker, began preparing for the possibility of interception by the Israeli military. On Monday morning, the UK-flagged civilian vessel was north of Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea, slowly approaching the coast of Gaza, but the tracker has since appeared to have stopped.

“We know that it’s a very risky mission and we know that previous experiences with flotillas like this have resulted in attacks, violence and even cases of death,” Thunberg said on Saturday.

On March 2, Israel announced the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, according to reports by human rights organisations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinains.

An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report last month warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.

After more than 80 days of total blockade, starvation, and growing international outrage, limited aid has allegedly been distributed since May 27 by the GHF, a scandal-plagued organization backed by the US and Israel, created to bypass the UN’s established aid delivery infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Most humanitarian organisations, including the UN, have distanced themselves from GHF, arguing that the group violates humanitarian principles by restricting aid to south and central Gaza, requiring Palestinians to walk long distances to collect aid, and only providing limited aid, among other critiques.

Gaza-Bound Activists Urge Governments to Act for Their Release After Being Kidnapped by Israeli Forces

Pro-Palestine activists aboard the Madleen, a Gaza-bound aid ship, have called on their governments to take action to secure their release and to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This comes after Israeli forces seized the vessel on Monday and kidnapped the crew.

Among the crew are Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said the Israeli military had “attacked” and “unlawfully boarded” the Madleen, which was attempting to deliver aid to Gaza – where more than 600 days of Israeli genocide war, and an 11-week Israeli blockade of all aid, has pushed the enclave’s 2.1 million people deeper into a hunger crisis and warnings of a looming famine.

“(The vessel) is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry claimed in a post on X on Monday

The FFC has posted prerecorded videos by nearly all of the people on board the Madleen.

[https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1931888550162903357]

The videos were prepared in case Israel intercepted the Gaza-bound boat. They call on supporters to speak up and pressure governments to act to release the activists and to end Israel’s war on Gaza.

[https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1931886800634818871/history]

“My name is Greta Thunberg, and I am from Sweden,” Thunberg said in the video prerecorded on board the Madleen before being kidnapped.

“If you see this video, we are being intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel,” she said.

“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”

[https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1931886800634818871/history]

The FFC had earlier said the ship had come “under assault in international waters,” in a Telegram post.

“Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white paint-like substance. Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,” the FFC said.

In a video live streamed from the boat, activist Yasmin Acar showed a white substance on the deck, saying it had been dropped on the vessel. Acar was later heard saying it was affecting her eyes.

The FFC group also posted a video on Telegram, showing members of the crew sitting inside the boat with their hands in the air and following an order to throw their phones into the sea.

[https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1931872075653980567]

In a statement, the FFC said Israel had acted with “total impunity” and that the vessel’s cargo, which included baby formula, food and medical supplies was “confiscated.”

“Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard the Madleen,” said Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organizer.

“This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the (International Court of Justice’s) binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.”

Israel had repeatedly vowed to stop the aid boat from reaching Gaza, and described the ship as a “selfie yacht” carrying “celebrities.”

“I have instructed the IDF to ensure that the ‘Madleen’ flotilla does not reach Gaza,” Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said on Sunday

The Madleen is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an organization that has campaigned against Israel’s blockade of Gaza and tried to break the siege by boat.

The crew, which had publicized the location of the ship with an online tracker, began preparing for the possibility of interception by the Israeli military. On Monday morning, the UK-flagged civilian vessel was north of Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea, slowly approaching the coast of Gaza, but the tracker has since appeared to have stopped.

“We know that it’s a very risky mission and we know that previous experiences with flotillas like this have resulted in attacks, violence and even cases of death,” Thunberg said on Saturday.

On March 2, Israel announced the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, according to reports by human rights organisations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinains.

An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report last month warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.

After more than 80 days of total blockade, starvation, and growing international outrage, limited aid has allegedly been distributed since May 27 by the GHF, a scandal-plagued organization backed by the US and Israel, created to bypass the UN’s established aid delivery infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Most humanitarian organisations, including the UN, have distanced themselves from GHF, arguing that the group violates humanitarian principles by restricting aid to south and central Gaza, requiring Palestinians to walk long distances to collect aid, and only providing limited aid, among other critiques.

9 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Medea Benjamin

Recent reports say that US AID is considering giving $500 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—an “aid” initiative launched at Israel’s request. At first glance, that might sound like a generous effort to help desperate Palestinians in Gaza. But peel back even one layer, and you’ll find a deadly political scheme masquerading as humanitarian relief.

This is not about helping hungry people. It’s about controlling them, displacing them, and starving them into submission.

Let’s start with some basics. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is not a humanitarian organization. It’s a U.S.- and Israeli-backed scheme run by people with no track record in neutral aid work. Its first director Jake Wood, resigned on May 25, saying the organization failed to uphold humanitarian principles. Then the Boston Consulting Group, which had secretly helped design GHF’s aid operations, pulled out and apologized to staff who were furious about the firm’s complicity in a system that enabled forced displacement and sidelined trusted UN agencies. 

GHF brand new director is Johnnie Moore, an American evangelical PR executive best known for helping Donald Trump recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and push the U.S. embassy move there—a move that only fanned the flames of conflict.

GHF’s entire premise is rooted in deception. It was launched with Israeli government oversight, without transparency, without independence, and—critically—without the participation of the United Nations or any respected humanitarian agencies. In fact, the UN has refused to have anything to do with it. So have groups like Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, and the World Food Programme, whose leaders have warned in no uncertain terms that GHF’s model militarizes aid, violates humanitarian norms, and places Palestinian lives at even greater risk.

GHF has never been about delivering aid. It’s about using the illusion of aid to control the population of Gaza—and to give cover to war crimes.

People in Gaza are starving because Israel wants them to. There are thousands of aid trucks, many loaded with supplies from the United Nations, that—for months—have been blocked from entering Gaza. They contain food, water, medicine, shelter materials—the lifeblood of a besieged civilian population. But instead of letting them through, the U.S. and Israel are pushing their own version of aid: a privatized, militarized operation. Armed U.S. contractors working with the GHF are reportedly earning up to $1,100 per day, along with a $10,000 signing bonus.

The GHF plan is to make aid available only in the south, forcibly displacing people from the north—driving them toward the Egyptian border, where many fear a permanent expulsion is being engineered. 

From the very start of GHF’s operations, with the opening of two distribution sites in southern Gaza on May 26, the chaos turned deadly, with Israeli military shooting at hungry people seeking food. In its short time of operation, nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded. These are not tragic accidents—they are predictable outcomes of militarizing aid.

Let’s also address the fear-mongering claim that when the UN was in charge of aid delivery, food was being stolen by Hamas. There is no credible evidence of this and Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Programme, has publicly refuted this allegation, saying that trucks have been looted by hungry, desperate people. 

The real threat to aid integrity isn’t Hamas—it’s the blockade itself, which has created an artificial scarcity and fueled black markets, desperation, and chaos..

To truly help the people of Gaza, here’s what needs to happen:

• Shut down GHF and reject all militarized aid schemes.
• Restore full U.S. funding to UNRWA and the World Food Programme—trusted, experienced agencies that know how to do this work.
• Demand that Israel end the blockade. Let aid trucks in—UN trucks, Red Cross trucks, WFP trucks. Flood the strip with food, medicines, tents. 
• Demand an immediate ceasefire to stop the killing and create space for meaningful relief and political solutions.

The starvation in Gaza is not a logistical failure. It is Israel’s political choice. And GHF is not a lifeline. It is a lie. It is complicity. It is diabolical. And U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to fund it.

Medea Benjamin is the cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace, and the author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

8 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Gaza  (Quds News Network)- Israeli forces killed and injured dozens of starved Palestinians on Sunday near so-called ‘aid distribution centers’ in southern and central Gaza. The strikes targeted areas where civilians were trying to access food and relief supplies.

According to medical sources, four Palestinians were killed and 70 others injured near a US-run ‘aid center’ west of Rafah. In a separate attack near Deir al-Balah area, Israeli gunfire killed one person and injured several more near another ‘aid point’ reportedly linked to the same US-backed operation.

Since May 27, at least 110 starved Palestinians have been killed and 583 injured while attempting to collect food from so-called ‘aid centers’ supervised by the infamous Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The government media office also reported nine people are still missing.

The foundation, which operates under Israeli military protection, has come under fire from local and international organizations. Critics say GHF was imposed as a replacement for UNRWA, which was banned by Israeli authorities. Several Western countries and humanitarian institutions have already rejected GHF’s work model, citing lack of transparency and effectiveness.

On Saturday, GHF admitted it had failed to distribute food parcels in Gaza, blaming alleged threats from Hamas. In a statement on its Facebook page, the foundation claimed it was “unable to proceed with aid delivery” due to “direct threats” without providing evidence.  Hamas denied the accusation. A spokesperson told Reuters there were no such threats and accused GHF of spreading falsehoods.

The spokesperson also said that Hamas’s armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, would begin deploying snipers near UN-led aid convoys to stop looters and protect food shipments. This measure follows repeated attacks on civilians waiting for aid and the growing chaos around distribution points.

The Government Media Office stressed its full readiness to secure and manage humanitarian aid once it enters the territory. In a public statement, it urged residents to help protect aid convoys and ensure supplies reach the displaced and hungry families.

The statement also highlighted the death toll among civil workers. Since October, over 750 police officers and thousands of government and municipal employees have been killed while supporting relief operations.

The office criticized the US-Israeli aid mechanism led by GHF. It described it as a total failure, lacking legal legitimacy and moral standards. The statement emphasized that only the United Nations and its specialized agencies have the mandate and field capacity to manage humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Despite Israel allowing limited UN-led aid operations since May 19, following an 11-week blockade, the UN says these efforts remain vastly insufficient. “A teaspoon,” is how the UN describes the trickle of aid entering Gaza amid widespread famine.

The Gaza Government has called on the international community to pressure Israel to allow full and safe access for humanitarian convoys, restore UNRWA’s operations, and stop targeting civilians gathering at aid points.

8 June 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Mazin Qumsiyeh

Writing these blogs and acting on the ground—even under colonial boot from Bethlehem, Palestine, birthplace of the Prince of Peace—and receiving answers and actions is what gives us hope.

The Zionist regime attacked the aid ship Madleen and kidnapped the crew in international waters on the anniversary (June 8) of their deliberate attack on the USS Liberty, also in international waters.
(See: https://ussliberty.org/)
Watch: YouTube Live Stream
CNN Coverage: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/08/middleeast/freedom-flotilla-gaza-aid-ship-thunberg-intl-hnk
Who is Madleen, the woman for whom the hijacked aid ship was named?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od_NQ8RjQUc

[Write to your governments, media, and influencers to expose this apartheid, genocidal regime.]

Genocide and attacks on dissent and peaceful humanitarian activists are not signs of strength—but of failing regimes (whether Israel or the US). Oligarchic leadership is tearing down the last remnants of supposed Western democracies by even preventing free speech or criticism of genocide (calling it “anti-Semitic”). The fact that one can critique God but not racism/Zionism shows the absurdity of trying to sustain genocide policies. These actions only reveal how these states are fraying and on the verge of collapse—just look at demonstrations in major US cities. Supporting genocide is the straw that’s breaking the camel’s back.

European great powers (England, Germany, France) are now committing 5% of their GDP on weapons—to please Israel and the US. They continue supporting genocide even as it weakens their own economies. The people in these countries overwhelmingly demand a change in policy, but their so-called leaders fail to grasp the tectonic shift happening beneath them.

The epicenter—“Israel”—is also disintegrating before our eyes. Ori Goldberg stated:
“Israeli politics are imploding. Most parties, including the ultra orthodox ones considered wedded to Netanyahu, are leaving the sinking ship of his government. They are not humanitarians; they smell blood in the water. Time for an international coup de grâce.”

The attack on the Madleen ship reveals the paranoia and crumbling confidence of a regime lashing out.

All of this stems from the unsustainable idea of transforming a pluralistic Palestine into an ethnocentric, chauvinistic nation-state called “Israel,” a project the racists believe can be completed through ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Should the US shed the Zionist parasite and honestly address its history (slavery, Native genocide, Vietnam, etc.), there may still be hope for a functioning state. Should Europe develop a backbone to resist imperialism and Zionism and confront its own dark history, a new European renaissance might still be possible. Should more Jews reject Zionism/colonialism and embrace shared humanity, there may yet be hope to rescue Judaism itself.

Times are changing. The world is growing sick of Zionists and their racism. Empires do not last. Time is on our side. It is only horrific and tragic that the murder of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians—half of them children—is what it’s taking to end this charade.

Related links:
Robert Reich’s essay: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/a-time-for-non-violent-civil-disobedience
Scott Ritter interview: https://youtu.be/hexfCC0ABQg
(See also my previous posts including those by Jeffrey Sachs.)

Statement by the One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC)

The ODSC reiterates its principles in light of upcoming conferences and programs organized by others attempting to address future scenarios after this current wave of genocide. We emphasize that our principles and goals are clear, and they represent the only possible path forward to peace and justice—and thus to avoiding future conflict and violations of human rights.

The events of the last two years have shown that the Palestine problem is not just local—it is regional and global. The program we have articulated will lead to a prosperous future for all people in our region, and by extension, globally.

This program includes:

A single constitutional democracy

Implementation of the right of return

Restitution and reintegration of Palestinian refugees

Economic justice

Construction of a shared civil society committed to human rights, justice, and peace

We urge all people of good will, regardless of background, to join this campaign.

As we have previously stated:
“On a global level, the ODS Campaign views itself as part of the democratic and progressive forces striving for an alternative global order that is pluralistic, sustainable, just, egalitarian, humanistic, and free of exploitation, racism, intolerance, oppression, wars, colonialism, and imperialism.”

Join us: https://onestatecampaign.org/

Critique of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)

The “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” [GHF], a joint American-Israeli aid group, has been criticized for its Hunger-Games-style aid handouts—designed to sideline the UN as the primary food supplier in Gaza.

GHF Executive Director is the anti-Muslim “Reverend” Johnnie Moore, who publicly stated:
“We are committed to building a great wall of Christian Zionism. The UN needs to be held accountable as it has been hijacked by anti-Semites and Christian persecutors.”

Voices from Gaza

Gaza bloggers on Eid (Arabic – sad to watch):
https://youtu.be/3OqEglGDnKA

Jere, a 16-year-old fluent English speaker:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E8JHDy-trwA

Stay Humane and Keep Hope Alive

9 June 2025

Mazin Qumsiyeh
A Bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home
Professor, Founder, and (volunteer) Director
Palestine Museum of Natural History
Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability
Bethlehem University
Occupied Palestine
http://qumsiyeh.org

By Junaid S. Ahmad

More than a month has passed since the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, deep in the restive terrain of Indian-occupied Kashmir. Yet, the region has not exhaled. That attack was the spark; the explosion was narrowly averted—this time. Fighter jets scrambled, missiles were mobilized, and once again the world held its breath as two nuclear-armed rivals, each armed with doomsday in their back pocket, flirted with mutual annihilation.

While the episode may have slipped from international headlines, its implications remain radioactive. South Asia is not a playground, though its leaders often behave like unruly children with grenades. If the world needed a reminder that nuclear deterrence is not a fail-safe, rationally managed insurance policy but a glorified gamble with apocalyptic stakes—this was it.

This wasn’t officially a war. But it was close enough to provoke real questions about the sanity—or lack thereof—guiding the region’s leadership, and the broader geopolitics that embolden them.

No winners in a nuclear firestorm

Let us first dispense with the nationalist pageantry that follows every skirmish between India and Pakistan. There are no victors when nuclear states collide. This is not a cricket match where bragging rights are exchanged over biryani and Bollywood memes. It is a potential extinction-level event. The myth that one side can decisively “win” a war against the other is not just dangerous—it is delusional. In such a conflict, “victory” is synonymous with vaporisation.

Nuclear war is the only war where the “first strike” is also the “last mistake.” Both India and Pakistan have built narratives of strength around their capacity to deter one another, but those narratives assume their leaders are rational, stable, and immune to populist bloodlust. If recent history is any guide, that’s a deeply hazardous assumption.

Kashmir: The forgotten epicenter

Amid all the saber-rattling, missile-counting, and testosterone-soaked monologues from news anchors on both sides of the border, the most important reality—the brutalized lives of Kashmiris—vanishes into the fog of war games. It’s a remarkable trick of geopolitical distraction: the occupied become a footnote, the oppressed rendered invisible. Kashmir, the powder keg at the center of this madness, is not just a disputed territory—it is a living, bleeding reminder of unfulfilled promises and colonial leftovers. While Delhi and Islamabad perform their ritualistic chest-thumping, the people of Kashmir remain locked under surveillance, silenced by curfews, and suffocated by a military presence so pervasive it would make apartheid strategists blush. The right to self-determination, so casually championed in Western capitals when convenient, finds no champions here. Like the Palestinians, Kashmiris are expected to endure occupation quietly, their resistance mislabeled as ‘terrorism,’ their pain dismissed as background noise. In the nuclear theatre of South Asia, they are not even cast as actors—merely collateral set dressing for a show they never auditioned for.

India’s sub-imperial delusions

India, for all its economic swagger and Western endorsements, remains a sub-imperial power largely punching itself in the face. The notion that aligning with American hegemony has elevated its regional standing grows increasingly farcical. As a subservient junior partner in Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy, India plays sidekick to a declining empire, all while its internal fractures deepen.

Domestically, the country is a simmering pot of sectarianism and authoritarianism. Internationally, India has learned that buying Western military tech and mimicking Washington’s rhetoric doesn’t guarantee strategic supremacy. What good is a billion-dollar weapons cache if it cannot prevent a border incursion or a humiliating drone interception? Sub-imperialism may earn you applause in think tank panels, but on the battlefield, reality is a far less generous evaluator.

The Modi government’s chest-thumping in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, amplified by India’s hyper-nationalist media, was revealing. This wasn’t policy—it was performance art. A volatile cocktail of wounded pride and Hindutva paranoia turned the threat of war into spectacle. And spectacle into potential catastrophe.

Rational actors don’t start fires with gasoline

Following Pakistan’s successful deterrence and its calibrated military response, a comforting narrative began circulating: that deterrence had worked, that tensions would now cool, that the worst was over. This is the lullaby of rational-choice theorists who still believe men with nuclear buttons act like emotionless chess players—immune to ego, history, and political pressure.

But we’ve seen this movie before. And in South Asia, the villains never die—they just get re-elected.

India is a wounded tiger at present—its pride bruised, its media frenzied, and its ruling class under immense pressure to perform strength. That makes it more dangerous, not less. When regimes derive their legitimacy from dominance, any sign of parity becomes intolerable. The urge to “hit back harder” next time—to reassert superiority—lurks ominously in the background. This wasn’t an ending, merely an intermission.

Western arms, brown battlefields

Let us not forget the role of the great powers—the true puppet masters of this regional tragedy. For decades, South Asia has been a profitable theater for arms dealers, military contractors, and imperial strategists. Washington, in particular, has played both sides with a brazenness that would make a colonial viceroy blush. It preaches peace while selling India advanced military systems, lectures Pakistan about democracy while greenlighting Israeli spyware for New Delhi.

To the architects of global power, hundreds of millions of brown lives are nothing more than collateral calculus. Testing drones, radar jammers, and missile shields in Gaza was bad enough. But testing them in South Asia? Even better. Low-cost, high-reward. What better terrain to experiment in than among “superfluous” populations already deemed burdens on the global order?

The U.S. military-industrial complex doesn’t care whether Delhi or Islamabad survives. It only cares that both keep buying.

Chinese tech, Pakistani pride

One of the most consequential takeaways from this latest pseudo-conflict was the effectiveness of Chinese military technology. Under combat conditions, Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied radar and missile systems held their own, even outpacing some of India’s more expensive Western hardware.

This sent quiet shockwaves through Western capitals. For the first time, Chinese military exports weren’t just affordable—they were battle-tested. The implications are immense. It’s a shift not just in the Indo-Pak balance, but in the global arms market. A credible Chinese alternative is now firmly in the mix.

Predictably, Pakistan’s military elite rushed to take credit. Army Chief Asim Munir strutted like a peacock, casting himself as the mastermind behind Pakistan’s restraint and control. He even indulged in the farcical fantasy of self-appointing as “Field Marshal.” It would be amusing if it weren’t so tragic.

The reality is far less flattering. Pakistan’s deterrence held not because of Munir’s strategic genius, but thanks to the engineers—Pakistani and Chinese—who built dependable systems, and the disciplined air force officers who operated them. The generals, as ever, are more adept at plotting domestic coups than defending borders.

The phantom of Imran Khan

While the generals preened, one man remained locked in a prison cell: Imran Khan. The wildly popular former prime minister, incarcerated on ridiculous charges, still casts a long shadow over Pakistan’s political landscape. His absence is not merely political—it is symbolic.

The message to the public is clear: loyalty to the military trumps public mandate. The message to the rank-and-file within the armed forces is worse: your service means little unless it aligns with elite interests.

This contradiction is unsustainable. Many in the military, offended by Khan’s treatment and disgusted by elite corruption, now view the top brass with suspicion, if not outright disdain. The chasm between soldier and general is widening—and no number of medals can plaster over that decay.

Toward real liberation

The only real victory awaiting Indians and Pakistanis alike lies not in missiles or dogfights, but in dismantling the internal tyrannies that keep both nations locked in cycles of fear, war, and dependency.

For India, that means rejecting the fascist Hindutva project and building a genuinely pluralist democracy before authoritarianism becomes permanent. For Pakistan, it means breaking the totalitarian grip of the military and dynastic mafias masquerading as governance.

For both, it means finally completing the project that began in 1947: true decolonisation.

Decolonisation is not merely about lowering a foreign flag. It is about rejecting the imperial operating system—one that teaches you to fear your neighbor more than your overlords, to worship Western power while loathing your own, to exchange your sovereignty for IMF loans and American weapons.

True sovereignty lies not in nuclear arsenals but in justice, dignity, and democracy.

The final lesson

This latest near-war was more than a border incident—it was a historical tremor. It served as a warning, not only to Delhi and Islamabad but to all of South Asia. As long as India and Pakistan remain trapped in the logic of empire—one fueled by Hindutva exceptionalism, the other by military feudalism—the region will continue to be a loaded gun aimed at its own temple.

The only escape lies in mutual reckoning. Not through grandiose gestures or naïve utopianism, but through a ruthless confrontation with internal decay and external manipulation. Until then, every ceasefire is but an intermission, every de-escalation a pause in the countdown.

And in the shadows, the arms dealers keep smiling.

7 June 2025

Source: middleeastmonitor.com

Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai

Chairman

World Forum for Peace & Justice

June 8, 2025

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates in Article 18: “Everyone has the right of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.” And Article 18 of the International Covent of Civil and Political and Rights (ICCPR) establishes a non-derogable right of everyone to have or adopt a religion or belief of their choice, and to manifest their religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, and teaching. Paragraph 2 of the same article prohibits any coercion that would impair anyone’s freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of their choice.

Freedom of religion is also celebrated in a host of United Nations human rights covenants. On November 25, 1981, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed a Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.  Article 3 specifically avows that: “Discrimination between human beings on the grounds of religion or belief constitutes an affront to human dignity and a disavowal of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and shall be condemned as a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enunciated in detail in the International Covenants on Human Rights, and as an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations between nations.” 

Protection of religious liberty was enshrined in the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Bill of Rights.  It has served as a beacon for other human rights covenants or promises. In President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms Message to Congress on January 6, 1941, he declared that the second “is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world.”

In 1998, the United States Congress enacted the International Religious Freedom Act and found that, “The right to freedom of religion is under renewed and in some cases, increasing assault in many countries around the world.  More than one-half of the world’s population lives under regimes that severely restrict or prohibit the freedom of their citizens to study, believe, observe, and practice the religious faith of their choice. Religious believers suffer both government-sponsored and government-tolerated violations of their rights to religious freedom.” The Act establishes within the Department of State an Office on International Religious Freedom headed by an ambassador at Large appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

I do not wish to disparage the general utility of these pronouncements in protecting freedom of religion, but they are more like musical pitch than specific libretto, which serves as a reference point for tuning but allows for interpretation and variation.

All this is overtured to surveying freedom of religion in India, including Indian occupied Kashmir.  I would submit that the following to show clear violations

It is reported that on June 7, 2025, the restrictions were imposed by Indian Government on the Eidul Adha prayers at Jama Masjid and Eid Gah Srinagar and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief Imam of Kashmir was not allowed to lead the Salatul Eid at Jama Masjid. As we all know that Eid al-Adha is one of the two most important festivals in Islam. It is celebrated by Muslims around the world to commemorate the Prophet Ibrahim’s unwavering faith and willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, as an act of obedience to Allah. This marks the seventh consecutive year that Eid prayers were consistently prohibited at Jama Masjid, following the revocation of Article 370 & 35 A in 2019.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq wrote on X that “Eid Mubarak! Yet again, Kashmir wakes up to the sad reality: no Eid prayers at Eidgah, and Jama Masjid locked down — for the 7th straight year. I too have been detained at my home. In a Muslim-majority region, Muslims are deprived of their fundamental right to pray — even on their most important religious occasion celebrated across the world. What a shame on those who rule over us, and on those elected by the people who choose to remain silent as our rights are trampled over, again and again.”

APHC spokesperson Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement in Srinagar, strongly condemned the ban, calling it yet another violation of basic human rights by a regime that falsely claims to be the world’s largest democracy. He said India has not only stripped Kashmiris of their political freedoms but also trampled upon their religious liberties. Minhas stated that Kashmiris are being subjected to collective punishment simply for demanding their right to self-determination.

India aims to frustrate a full examination of religious persecution in Kashmir by denying unfettered access to the United Nations Thematic Rapporteurs and human rights organizations.

India’s record of religious persecution is ecumenical. Amnesty International has documented concerns about restrictions on religious activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Based on their reports, these restrictions include: Closure of mosques and banning of religious festivals: The Indian government has been accused of systematically closing mosques and banning religious festivals in Kashmir.
House arrest of religious leaders: Prominent religious figures, such as Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have been placed under house arrest. Kashmiri civilians, including political and religious figures, are routinely arrested under laws like the Public Safety Act (PSA), which allows for detention without trial. 

Amnesty International views these restrictions as part of a broader campaign to suppress Kashmiri Muslim identity and a violation of fundamental human rights, including the right to practice one’s religion freely. They have called on the global community to stand with the people of Kashmir and hold the Indian government accountable for these actions. 

Human rights violations in Kashmir are intentionally aggravated by the Indian oppressors. Consider rape. During crackdowns against the civilian Muslim population, men are separated from women in whole villages, and relatives of rape victims are compelled to witness the barbaric human rights crime for the sole purpose of humiliation. Muslims have been targeted for their religious creed.  Rapes by the Indian military are conspicuously absent in the separatist wars in Assam, Tamil Nadu and the Punjab.

To make the exercise of a fundamental human right a crime as India has done in Kashmir makes a mockery of the entire international human rights enterprise and should provoke universal condemnation by the democratic community of nations.

I believe India’s religious wars are too often overlooked because she is a nuclear power and a tempting economic market. India’s flaws are characteristically drowned out by the emollient slogan, “The world’s largest democracy,” and “The land of Gandhi.” 

The time has come to shine a bright light on India’s unrelenting persecution of Muslims in Kashmir and of other religions throughout its territory. There is only one word that fairly describes a human rights campaign on behalf of religious freedom that blinks when a nuclear power is scrutinized: bankrupt.

We would strongly urge Dr. Nazila Ghanea, Professor of International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief to to seek permission to make an on-site uncompromised investigation, not a staged visit to Potemkin villages.  A denial of free access by the Government of India would speak volumes about its persecutions. She should assess the situation  and report back to the forthcoming session of the United Nations Human Rights Council that begins on June 16, 2025, and ends July 9, 20205 in Geneva, Switzerland

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