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By Dr Ram Puniyani

After the mandate of recent Lok sabha elections (2024), the parliament has become a real ground where the voice of opposition also has a space. In the debate following the President’s Address, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of opposition responded by outlining the various problems facing the country. One part of his speech, which probably has been expunged from the proceedings related to the nature of Hinduism. As per him Hinduism is based on truth and non violence. “India is a country of non-violence, and not of fear. All our great men have spoken about non-violence and overcoming fear.” Gesturing towards the benches of BJP MPs, Gandhi added: “Those who call themselves Hindus speak all day about violence, hate and untruth.”

Since then many protests by Sadhus have taken place against Rahul’s statement. In Ahmedabad Congress office was attacked. RSS Combine is spreading that Rahul has called all Hindus violent etc. On the other side Rahul has elaborated that what he means by Hinduism is based on truth, non violence and love. RSS ideologues are taking a sweep that Nehru to Rahul Gandhi’s ideology is out of touch with reality. As per them they have restricted only to minority questions to preserve their vote bank.

As such from the INDIA block many have stood with Rahul’s elaboration of the humanistic view of Hinduism. There is some overlap between the use of the word Hinduism and Hindutva currently. As Uddhav Thackeray said that his views on Hindutva are the same as Rahul elaborated (about Hinduism). RSS ideologues also criticize Nehru for starting his work of Sampradayikata Virodhi Abhiyan (Campaign against communalism) as being directed against RSS! They also take Nehru on for opposing President Rajendra Prasad’s inaugurating the Somanth temple. They claim that RSS hindutva derives from Dayanand Sarswati, Swami Vivekanand, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Shyama Prasad Mukerjee. As such RSS ideology does not have much to do with ideologies of Dayanand Sarswati and Swami Vivekanand, except using their names to cover their ideology.

As Hinduism is not a prophet based religion many interpretations of the same have been used. The very word Hindu is missing in the Holy Hindu scriptures, Vedas, Upnishad, Gita or Manu smriti. The word was coined by those coming from West of Sindhu, for whom the word S was used in a restricted manner and for S they used to pronounce H. Sindhu became Hindu and the word initially denoted the area spread from Sindhu river to sea. The earlier religious tendencies prevalent here were Vedic religion (which also can be labeled as Brahmanism), Ajivikas, Tantra, Nath, Shaiva, Buddhism and Jainism in the main.

Later the word Hindu became a conglomerate of different tendencies (barring Buddhism and Jainism) prevailing here. Except Brahmanism the other tendencies were called Shramans. The main difference between Brahmanism and Shramanism was the presence of caste and gender hierarchy in Brahmanism. The construction of the term Hinduism has been well explained by historian D. N. Jha in his Presidential address of Indian History Congress 2006. He points out “Of Course the Word (Hindu, added) was in use in pre colonial India, but it was not before late eighteen or early 19^th Century that it was appropriated by British scholars.” Since then it has found wider use. From here on the term was used for all in the subcontinent except for those who were Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians.

As there were no rigid boundaries, the Brahmanical stream projected Vedas and Manusmriti as sacred scriptures. The major understandings of Hinduism also varied. For Ambedkar Hinduism is dominated by Brahmanism, caste system. That’s what led him to burn Manusmiriti. Mahatma Gandhi had on other hand called himself a Sanatani Hindu and wrote in Young India on 6^th October 1921 “Hinduism tells everyone to worship God according to his own faith or Dharma, and so it lives at peace with all the religions.” A unique concept for interfaith relations and pluralism! Now Rahul Gandhi while talking about Hinduism harps on truth, love and non violence as being the core of Hinduism.

The word Hinduta was coined by Chandranath Basu in 1892 and linked it with the idealism of attaining spiritual heights. At the political level of this word Hindutva was introduced and defined by Savarkar in his book ‘Essentials of Hindutva’. (1923) His Hindutva is based on Aryan race, this Holy land (from Sindhu to Seas) and Culture (Brahmanical). Savarkar was very critical of Buddhism’s non violence and attributed India’s weakness to non violence propagated by Buddhism. This is a totally warped up understanding of our History. There was no country in the modern sense, and even if we grant Kingdoms equal to country we need to remember Emperor Asoka adopted Buddhism and his empire was the largest in Ancient India. He defined Hindu as one who regarded this land as his fatherland and Holy land.

RSS takes off from Savarkar and regards Islam and Christianity as foreign religions and upholds the ancient Holy Scriptures (Manu Smriti e.g.). RSS has made violence as part of its creed and its head office has an exhibition of various armaments, which are worshipped on the Dussera day. RSS shakhas have spread Hate by demonizing Muslim kings like Khilji, Babar, Aurangzeb and glorified Hindu Kings like Rana Pratap, Shivaji and Prithviraj Chauhan. It had also been critical of the national movement as people of all religions participated in it. It claims to represent the Hindus, as it takes up the emotive issues like temple destructions, Cow beef, and forcible conversions. The Hate spread by RSS was pointed out by none other than Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel after banning RSS in 1948, “All their speeches were full of communal poison, as a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji.”

While leaders like Mahatma Gandhi to Rahul Gandhi have expanded and enhanced the humane aspect of Hinduism, the Savarkar-RSS have treaded the path of hate and consequent violence. While Ambedkar stands to oppose the Brahmanical domination of Hindu practice, Mahatma Gandhi to Rahul are giving an inclusive and non violent meaning to Hinduism.

11 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

The dishonour board is long.  Advisors from Australia, account chasing electoral strategists, former Australian cabinet ministers happy to draw earnings in British pounds.  British Conservative politicians keen to mimic their cruel advice, notably on such acid topics as immigration and the fear of porous borders.

Ghastly terminology used in Australian elections rhetorically repurposed for the British voter: “Turning the Back Boats”, the “Rwanda Solution”.  Grisly figures such as Boris Johnson, Priti Patel, Suella Braverman, Rishi Sunak, showing an atavistic indifference to human rights.  The cruelty and the cockups, the failures and the foul-ups.  Mock the judges, mock the courts.  Soil human dignity.

All this, to culminate in the end of the Rwanda Solution, declared by the new Labour Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, as “dead and buried before it even started”.  Yet it was a sadistic policy of beastly proportion, offering no prospect of genuine discouragement or deterrence to new arrivals, stillborn in execution and engineered to indulge a nasty streak in the electorate.

In April 2022, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced the Asylum Partnership Arrangement with Rwanda, ostensibly designed “to contribute to the prevention and combating of illegally facilitated and unlawful cross border migration by establishing a bilateral asylum partnership”.

Mysteriously, British officials suddenly found Rwanda an appropriate destination for processing asylum claims and resettling refugees, despite Kigali doing its bit to swell the ranks of potential refugees.  In June 2023, the UK Court of Appeal noted the risks presented to asylum seekers, notably from ill-treatment and torture, arguing that the British government would be in breach of the European Convention on Human rights in sending them into Kigali’s clutches.  In November that year, the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion.

These legal rulings did not deter the government of Rishi Sunak.  With lexical sophistry bordering on the criminal, the Safety of Rwanda bill was drafted to repudiate what the UK courts had found by denying officials and the judiciary any reference to the European Convention of Human Rights and the UK’s own Human Rights Act 1998 when considering asylum claims.

The bookkeeping aspect of the endeavour was also astonishing.  It envisaged the payment of some half a billion pounds to Kigali in exchange for asylum seekers.  The breakdown of costs, not to mention the very plan itself, beggared belief.  The Home Office would initially pay £370 million under the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund, followed by a further £20,000 for every relocated individual.  Once the risibly magic number of 300 people had been reached, a further £120 million would follow.

Operational costs for each individual kept in Rwanda would amount to £150,874 over the course of five years, ceasing in the event a person wished to leave Rwanda, in which case the Home Office would pay £10,000 to assist in the move.

With biting irony, the UK government had demonstrated to Rwanda that it could replace the supposedly vile market of people smuggling in Europe with a lucrative market effectively monetising asylum seekers and refugees in exchange of pledges of development.

By February 2024, according to the National Audit Office, the UK had paid £220 million to Rwanda, with a promise of another £50 million each year over three years.  It was a superb return for Kigali, given that no asylum seekers from the UK had set foot in the country.  When asked at the time why he was hungrily gobbling up the finance, Paul Kagame feigned serenity.  “It’s only going to be used if those people will come.  If they don’t come, we can return the money.”

With an airy contemptuousness, the Kagame government has refused to return any of the monies received in anticipation of the policy’s full execution.  Doris Uwicyeza Picard, the central figure coordinating the migration partnership with the UK, was blunt: “We are under no obligation to provide any refund.  We will remain in constant discussions.  However, it is understood that there is no obligation on either side to request or receive a refund.”

In another statement, this time from deputy spokesman for the Rwandan government, Alain Mukuralinda, the sentiment bordered on the philosophical: “The British decided to request cooperation for a long time, resulting in an agreement between the two countries that became a treaty.  Now, if you come and ask for cooperation and then withdraw, that’s your decision.”

In an official note from Kigali, the government haughtily declared that the partnership had been initiated by the UK to address irregular migration, “a problem of the UK, not Rwanda.”  Rwanda, for its part, had “fully upheld its side of the agreement, including with regard to finances”.  Redundantly, and incredulously, the note goes on to claim that Kigali remained “committed to finding solutions to the global migration crisis, including providing safety, dignity and opportunity to refugees and migrants who come to our country.”

The less than subtle message in all of this: Rwanda is ready to keep cashing in on Europe’s unwanted asylum seekers, whatever its own record and however successful the agreement is. Kagame has no doubt not lost interest in Denmark, that other affluent country keen on outsourcing its humanitarian obligations.  While Copenhagen abandoned its partnership with Rwanda in January 2023 regarding a similar arrangement to that reached with the UK, it is now showing renewed interest, notably after hosting a high-level conference on immigration.

In opening the conference on May 6, the Social Democratic Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, speaking in language that could just as easily have been associated with any far right nationalist front, decried the “de facto” collapse of the “current immigration and asylum system”.  Those in the Rwandan treasury will be rubbing their hands in anticipation.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.

11 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr. Ramzy Baroud

Many political analysts believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is buying time in Gaza and Lebanon with the hope that Donald Trump returns to the White House, following the next November elections.

Whether this is the case or not, Trump, this time around, is unlikely to influence the outcomes of the war, or to alter Israel’s fate.

US foreign policy seems to be ruled by two different outlooks, one dedicated to the whole world and another only to Israel. The first is driven by the famous, and oft-repeated quote by former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, that “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”

Israel, however, remains the exception, and the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza has, once more, demonstrated the truth of such a claim.

Though Washington fully shares Israel’s war objectives, it fundamentally disagrees with the concepts of the long war, and ‘total victory’, as championed by Netanyahu.

Two protracted US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq taught the Americans that neither the longevity of wars nor the lofty, unrealistic expectations alter inevitable outcomes.

In fact, many US officials, military generals and mainstream analysts have tried to warn Netanyahu, to no avail.

Destabilizing the Middle East at this specific historical juncture is simply bad for the US. It comes at a time when Ukraine is suffering serious weapons shortage, thus territorial losses, and at a time that the US-European allies are struggling under the weight of economic and political crises.

Since US-Israeli relations are governed according to a unique foreign policy paradigm, the Biden Administration continues to support Israel in every possible way so that it may carry on with a losing war.

The war is, of course, happening at the expense of over 125 thousand Palestinians, who, thus far, have been killed and wounded due to Israeli strikes, shelling and mass executions. Those dying from famine or disease are a different number, yet to be fully accounted for.

Washington is not perturbed by the Gaza genocide itself but by the outcome of the war on US plans in the Middle East, and the future of its forces, namely in Iraq and Syria. It is also concerned about its geostrategic sway in the region due to the unprecedented instability of the Red Sea.

Yet, Joe Biden continues to arm Israel and to provide a safety net to its dwindling economy. On April 20, the House passed a bill to provide $26.3 billion in assistance to Israel. Moreover, massive shipments of weapons continue to flow to Israel unhindered.

These explosives are not only destroying the whole of Gaza, but any chances that the US could ever regain any degree of credibility in the Middle East. Worse, US blind support for Israel has also shaken Washington’s position internationally.

So, what could Trump do that Biden did not?

Trump’s politics is abashedly Machiavellian. During his only term in office between 2017 and 2021, he served the role of the American genie, granting Israel’s every wish, though all such demands were flagrant violations of international law.

Trump’s pro-Israel policies included the recognition of all of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the annexation of the Golan Heights and the recognition of all illegal Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank, among others.

But Netanyahu is also Machiavellian, a fact that irked Trump following his humiliating exit from the White House.

“I haven’t spoken to him since,” Trump said in an interview with Axios’ Barak Ravid in December 2021, in reference to the Israeli leader. “F**k him,” he said.

But now, both sides are trying to rekindle the old love affair. The Republican presidential candidate must be pleased with Netanyahu’s public criticism of the Biden Administration. In return, Trump is ready to “finish the job”, as he stated in the first presidential debate on June 27.

However, Trump’s return will do nothing to change Israel’s misfortunes since October 7, because Israel’s problems do not originate in Washington.

Israel’s crisis is multifaceted. It is unable to win the war in Gaza, despite the mass tragedy and destruction it has created there. It is also failing to change the rules of engagements in Lebanon due to the strength of its enemies, and the fact that its military is unable to fight and win on multiple fronts – let alone one.

Another dimension of the Israeli crisis is also internal: deep divisions in Israeli society, security apparatus and politicians. Not even Trump could possibly bridge the gap or end the polarization, which is likely to deepen in the future.

Even on the international front, Trump is likely to prove equally ineffective, again, simply because the Biden Administration has defied international consensus on Israel since the start of the war. The current US House of Representatives went as far as passing legislation to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its Prosecutor applied for arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

If Netanyahu thinks that Trump would offer him a better deal than that of Biden, he is mistaken. Biden has proved to be the greatest American enabler to Israel in its 76-year history.

Ironically, the US’ unquestioned support of Israel could be a contributing factor to its downfall.

“To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal,” Kissinger also said. He is not wrong.

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

11 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Marwan Asmar

Attacks on Palestinian journalists have always been widespread. The Israeli authorities frequently charge Palestinian media workers with “incitement” and imprison them as “administrative detainees” based on claimed “secret evidence”.

Both of these charges are bogus and are aimed to prevent the journalists from exposing the Israeli crimes.

Like other detainees journalists held in Israeli prisons suffer from torture, beatings, humiliation and torture. As well, they are deprived from any form of communication with the outside world.

There are currently six Palestinian female journalists held in Israeli prisons and are not due to be released ant time soon while enduring the violence of the Israeli guards.

[https://twitter.com/CFWIJ/status/1767519696411062731]

They are Bushra Al Taweel from Ramallah. This is her 5^th arrest in three years and today she is held in administrative detention for six months under the instruction of the Israeli Shin Bet.

Then follows Ikhlas Saleh Sawalha. She was arrested at a military checkpoint in Dier Sharaf. Her arrest is due to the fact that her husband, journalist Ibrahim Abu Safiya has been in Ofer prison since 2022.

[https://twitter.com/Palestinecapti1/status/1734741643881038090]

Ikhlas has been arbitrarily detained since December, 2023 with under an administrative detention that is renewed almost automatically.

Then comes journalist Rula Hassanein from Ramallah. She is also under administrative detention that is being routinely renewed.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1773064249201336821]

Rula has a baby which has refused her food and milk without her mother leading to her dehydration. Therefore, doctors had to intervene and administer intravenous injections.

Then there is journalist Asmaa Harish. Israeli soldiers stormed her home in Beitunia, west of Ramallah, last April and took her away. She is presently in prison under administrative detention.

[https://twitter.com/ChrisHu34451470/status/1775415842118996333]

Her case is related to the fact she is the daughter of Noah Harish and her brother Ahmad who are in an Israeli jail.

Then there is 39-year-old Rasha Herzallah. She is being detained for what the Israeli authorities claim incitement on social media platforms.

[https://twitter.com/emangaza48/status/1800360277604532527]

She is the sister of Mohammad Herzallah, a journalist at the Wafa news agency. He was shot by Israeli soldiers in Nablus in 2022 and four months later he succumbed to his wounds and died.

Finally, student Amal Al Shujaiya was taken from her home in Dier Jarir, east Ramallah, late at night by Israel soldiers. She is being detained awaiting a military court hearing. Amal is a journalism student at Birzeit University in Ramallah.

[https://twitter.com/fairouz_salameh/status/1807545470333395163]

“She is leaving a big space of emptiness in our house,” her mother said.

Dr Marwan Asmar is an Amman-based journalist covering Middle East affairs.

11 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Brett Wilkins

The Biden administration has ended a two-month pause on the shipment of 500-pound bombs to Israel despite the frequent use of U.S.-supplied weapons by Israeli forces to commit alleged war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

Citing an unnamed Biden administration official, The Wall Street Journalreported Wednesday that the bombs “are in the process of being shipped” to Israel and should arrive in the coming weeks.

In May, the Biden administration suspended transfers of 500- and 2,000-pound bombs manufactured by aerospace giant Boeing over fears the devastating munitions would be used in airstrikes on Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge.

By that time, Israel had already dropped hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs—which the U.S. military avoids using in civilian areas because they can destroy entire city blocks—on Gaza, including in an October 31 attack on the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp that killed more than 120 civilians.

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Office said Israel’s use of 2,000-pound bombs and other U.S.-supplied weapons likely violated international law by deliberately targeting civilians in disproportionate attacks. Israeli military commanders have also been criticized for using artificial intelligence-based target selection to approve bombings they know will cause high civilian casualties.

The Biden official told the Journal that the pause on 2,000-pound bomb shipments will remain in effect.

“Our main concern had been and remains the potential use of 2,000-pound bombs in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza,” they said. “Because our concern was not about the 500-pound bombs, those are moving forward as part of the usual process.”

But Israeli forces have killed many civilians with smaller bombs too. The New York Timesreported Wednesday that multiple weapons experts including a a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician identified a fragment from a Boeing-made GBU-39 250-pound bomb used in Tuesday’s attack on a refugee tent encampment outside the al-Awda school in southern Gaza that killed and wounded scores of civilians, including many women and children.

Palestinian and international agencies say Israel’s 278-day Gaza assault and siege have left at least 137,500 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. Israel’s conduct in the war is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case. International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is also seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for crimes including extermination.

Despite overwhelming evidence of Israeli war crimes, the Biden administration remains Israel’s most steadfast supporter, providing billions of dollars in military aid, approving more than 100 arms shipments, and offering diplomatic cover in the form of United Nations Security Council vetoes and what critics call genocide denial.

Reutersreported last month that since October the U.S. has sent Israel 14,000 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, and other munitions.

Citing the al-Awda massacre, Jewish Voice for Peace Action said Wednesday that “this is what U.S. funding and weapons do.”

“Arms embargo NOW,” the group added.

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

11 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights

Palestinian Territory – The Israeli army began waging a new war of terror early this morning, forcibly displacing the people living in Gaza City and North Gaza and causing another massive wave of internal displacement. This is part of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, ongoing since 7 October 2023.

Tens of thousands of Gazans were displaced from multiple areas of Gaza City, and now have nowhere left to go, amid conflicting displacement orders issued by the Israeli army and no safe passages. This comes along with the Israeli military’s systematic and widespread genocidal war of starvation and deliberate, indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians in the Strip.

Just a few hours after ordering residents of the Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah, Al-Daraj, and Al-Shuja’iya neighbourhoods to head to the city’s southwest, the Israeli occupation army launched a new ground incursion in this precise area, which housed 10s of thousands of displaced people.

The Israeli army launched a ground incursion in the area of Al-Sinaa, putting the neighbourhood under heavy rocket and shell fire. Israel directly targeted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) headquarters, plus the main buildings of several already destroyed universities in the west of Gaza City—in total contradiction to the displacement orders given to 10s of thousands of residents.

The Israeli occupation army later ordered the residents of large areas in Gaza City to evacuate to Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, including the Ahli Baptist Hospital medical staff, thereby forcing the hospital out of service. For months, the Ahli Baptist Hospital had been the main hospital operating in Gaza City.

Many reports have surfaced of dozens of deaths and injuries caused by the Israeli army’s abrupt incursion into Gaza City’s eastern and then southwestern neighbourhoods, which put the areas under heavy fire. This action was taken without prior warning and in defiance of conflicting evacuation orders.

Coinciding with the ongoing ground incursion into large areas of Gaza City, the Euro-Med Monitor field team documented a series of Israeli raids with dozens of gun belts and the firing of artillery shells. The ground incursion included searches, raids, and arbitrary arrests of civilians, as well as intentional killings around the clock.

Concerns about the Israeli army’s intentions to expand its ground operations and escalate its war of forced displacement, pushing the population in the north into the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip—which are already crowded with more than 1.5 million people, suffering from various catastrophic humanitarian conditions—have increased. Residents of Gaza City’s Al-Shuja’iya and Al-Darajneighbourhoods received phone calls and threats from the Israeli army last night, first asking them to head to the areas southwest of Gaza City before eventually asking them to go to the “humanitarian shelters” in the city of Deir Al-Balah this morning.

The Israeli occupation army released a statement at approximately 9 a.m. regarding the start of its 99th Division’s military operation in Gaza City’s industrial area, which includes the UNRWA headquarters. The statement highlighted that “with the beginning of the operation, the army has called and warned civilians via loudspeakers about the operation at the headquarters,and will open a corridor for the exit of uninvolved civilians from the area”.

Israel has pursued and continues to pursue a systematic policy of targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip who are protected by international humanitarian law. This includes intensifying the bombing of shelter centres over the heads of displaced people, purposefully forcing them to repeatedly evacuate from one area to another, and targeting areas designated as humanitarian zones.

Israel is deliberately killing, starving, and imposing forced displacement on the residents of the Gaza Strip. It is also destroying all aspects of life there, including targeting UN headquarters and shelter centres, and committing mass murder crimes, each of which constitutes a fully-fledged war crime.

By targeting UNRWA schools functioning as shelter centres, Israeli bombing tactics demonstrate a deliberate policy intended to prevent security across the entire Gaza Strip and deny displaced Palestinians stability or shelter, even if that shelter is only temporary.

According to UNRWA, Israel has bombed 190—more than half—of the agency’s facilities in the Gaza Strip, some of them more than once since the genocide began.  As a result, thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed and injured while seeking refuge.

According to UN estimates, 1.9 million people in the war-ravaged enclave are internally displaced, including some individuals who have now been displaced up to nine or 10 times. Israel’s evacuation orders, its widespread damage to both public and private infrastructure, restrictions on access to essential services, and the ongoing Israeli violence constitute the main causes of the mass displacement waves.

Based on the aforementioned, all nations are required to fulfil their international obligations by enacting strong sanctions against Israel and severing all other types of political, financial, and military support and cooperation. This includes immediately halting arms transfers to Israel, including export permits and military aid; otherwise, these nations will be held accountable for the crimes that have been committed in the Gaza Strip, including genocide.

Additionally, the International Criminal Court ought to keep looking into any and all crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip; broaden its investigation into criminal responsibility, in order to hold all perpetrators accountable; issue arrest warrants for those responsible; and acknowledge and address Israel’s crimes in the Strip, as they are international crimes that fall under the purview of the International Criminal Court and are clearly crimes of genocide.

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

10 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Marwan Asmar

The battle is raging in Tal Al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City, and the fighting there is no less fierce than what is happening in the east of the city, referring to the Shujaiya neighborhood, said military and strategic expert Major-General Fayez Al-Duwairi.

https://www.assawsana.com/article/635430

In his military analysis, Al-Duwairi doubted what the Israeli media was saying  about the transfer of three soldiers wounded in the Gaza battles. He said the Israeli army admitted it was subjected to four difficult security incidents  in Tal al-Hawa.

The expert who is a military analyst on Al Jazeera believes these difficult events resulted in the killing of more Israeli soldiers, basing his view also on the Information provided by  Al-Qassam Brigades and Saraya Al-Quds, the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

[https://twitter.com/bany_hasan/status/1810609605937930413]

He pointed out their statements are backed by videos confirming the credibility of the resistance, pointing out Israel is forced to announce its human losses when there are successful ambushes or effective combat operations, as it anticipates the Qassam videos of deaths and injuries of their soldiers.

Based on this, Al-Duwairi predicted the Israeli casualties ranged from 6 to 8 on average, some serious, in addition to deaths because of the hard nature of the incidents while ruling out the total of only three casualties, as claimed by the Israeli media.

He said he does not take the Israeli announcements seriously, recalling the statements they repeatedly made claiming the dismantling of the Al-Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza, and confirming that he evaluates the resistance on field performance.

[https://twitter.com/AJA_Palestine/status/1810532833733271813]

Al-Duwairi also cited the last statements of spokesman Abu Ubaida in which he said the Al-Qassam Brigades restored its 24 brigades in the whole areas of the Gaza Strip, and also strengthened their defensive capabilities, stressing the brigades’ human capabilities are in top shape.

Thus, Al-Qassam rehabilitated its 24 brigades both materially and in human resources with combat efficiency at 80% of its situation before 7 October, the military expert maintained.

[https://twitter.com/AI_1947/status/1810722308656345585]

He warned Tel al-Hawa was subject to many incursions because it was on the edge of the northern Netzarim axis, but added the commander of its battalion has good  information about the Israeli occupation army, providing a forward-looking reading of their third phase of the war.

He concluded the resistance led by Al-Qassam, are able to discern the intentions of the Israelis army and their goals by monitoring its communications, ground movements, and the intensity of its bombing whilst determining the direction of future Israeli actions and preparing for it before they begin.

Al-Duwairi also pointed out the third phase of the Israeli war on Gaza is related to the occupation noticing several elements, such as the emergence of resistance leaders, administrative arrangements, or information about tunnels or detained prisoners.

On Monday evening, the Israeli media reported the occurance of four difficult security incidents against the Israeli army in Tel al-Hawa, with news of military helicopters landing for short periods on the Netzarim axis, to evacuate the Israeli wounded.

[https://twitter.com/ronimmi/status/1810709191948120378]

In turn, Al-Qassam Brigades reported they detonated an anti-personnel device against a force of 6 Israeli soldiers in Tal al-Hawa, leaving them dead and wounded. It also announced the targeting of an Israeli foot force in the chalet area, west of Tal al-Hawa, leaving its members dead and wounded.

In the same area, Al-Qassam destroyed a military jeep with a “Al-Yassin 105” shell on Al-Sinaa Street, while also targeting an Israeli troop carrier with a “Shawaz 3” device on Roundabout 17 in the same neighborhood, and a “D9” bulldozer with a “Shawaz 3” device on Al-Rashid Street.

Dr Marwan Asmar is an Amman-based writer covering Middle East affairs and can be found at https://crossfirearabia.com/

10 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Julia Conley

While the United Nations still has not formally declared a famine in Gaza after nine months of Israel’s near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, 10 top U.N. experts on Tuesday said they have seen enough.

“We declare that Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza,” said the experts.

Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food, was joined in the statement by other experts including Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, and Paula Gaviria Betancur, special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.

They said the recent deaths of three children in various parts of the enclave led the experts, who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations as a whole, to declare a famine has taken hold.

“Fayez Ataya, who was barely six months old, died on May 30, 2024 and 13-year-old Abdulqader Al-Serhi died on June 1, 2024 at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah,” said the experts. “Nine-year-old Ahmad Abu Reida died on June 3, 2024 in the tent sheltering his displaced family in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. All three children died from malnutrition and lack of access to adequate healthcare.”

“With the death of these children from starvation despite medical treatment in central Gaza, there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza into central and southern Gaza,” they continued.

[https://twitter.com/adequatehousing/status/1810685366858400092]

At least 34 Palestinians in Gaza—the majority being children—have now died from malnutrition since October, when Israel began its bombardment of the enclave in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced there would “be no electricity, no food, no fuel” allowed in to Gaza.

Israeli officials said in response to Tuesday’s statement that it has increased the aid allowed into Gaza recently, but hundreds of delivery trucks remain stranded in Egypt and a floating pier built by the U.S. has not significantly improved the humanitarian crisis.

The U.N. experts said that with the first death of a child from malnutrition and dehydration, it should have been considered “irrefutable that famine has taken hold.”

“When a two-month-old baby and 10-year-old Yazan Al Kafarneh died of hunger on February 24 and March 4, respectively, this confirmed that famine had struck northern Gaza,” they said. “The whole world should have intervened earlier to stop Israel’s genocidal starvation campaign and prevented these deaths… Inaction is complicity.”

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which is backed by the U.N., said last month that Gaza is at high risk for famine and that nearly half a million people were facing “catastrophic” food insecurity, with an extreme lack of food.

In May, Human Rights Watch co-founder Aryeh Neier, who had previously hesitated to say Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, said Israel’s “sustained policy of obstructing the movement of humanitarian assistance into the territory” ultimately convinced him that Israeli officials are “engaged in genocide.”

In March, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to ensure its military refrain from violating the Genocide Convention by preventing humanitarian aid from reaching people in Gaza, saying that “the catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further” and that “famine is setting in.”

A woman named Ghaneyma Joma told Reuters on Monday at a hospital in Khan Younis that she feared her son would soon die of starvation.

“It’s distressing to see my child… lying there dying from malnutrition because I cannot provide him with anything due to the war, the closing of crossings, and the contaminated water,” she told the outlet.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the U.S. government, the biggest international funder of Israel’s military and a persistent defender of its actions in Gaza, to ensure that a cease-fire agreement is reached and that Palestinians receive necessary humanitarian aid.

“The intentional starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza can only occur with the active complicity of the Biden administration in Israel’s campaign of genocide,” said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the group. “This complicity must end, and the Palestinian people must be offered a future in which they are free of occupation and can live in dignity.”

Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

10 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Palestinian Territory – The international community must effectively pressure Israel to open the border crossings and allow sick and injured people to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment. Thousands of sick and injured people face certain death as they are unable to receive treatment in the Strip amid the destruction or travel elsewhere, due to Israel’s systematic targeting of the region’s health sector—which has rendered most of its components inoperable—and the strict Israeli siege.

Nine months into its genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Israel still besieges the sick and injured, preventing them from leaving the Strip to receive medical treatment, despite having destroyed or rendered most of the region’s hospitals inoperable. As a result, more than 26,000 sick and injured individuals who require immediate external referrals for life-saving care will die, and thousands more will have to wait to travel to finish their treatment or obtain critical medical and rehabilitation services that are unavailable in the Strip.

Travel by Palestinians, including sick and injured individuals seeking medical treatment abroad, has all but ceased since the Israeli army closed the Rafah border crossing on 7 May. A limited number of these individuals had previously been permitted to travel outside of the Strip after submitting their names to the Israeli army, which would then perform arbitrary security checks.

In cooperation with the World Health Organisation, Israel permitted 21 patients and several family members to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing on 27 June, but over 12,000 wounded people trapped in the Gaza Strip still require urgent medical attention to survive. In addition, 14,000 patients, of whom 10,000 suffer from cancer or other serious diseases, are threatened with imminent death if they do not travel for treatment.

Other than the 21 aforementioned individuals, no injured or ill person has been permitted to leave the Gaza Strip since 7 May, even with the collapse of health system and the closure of 34 out 36 hospitals due to the systematic Israeli attacks. The two hospitals that are currently open are only partially operational,and are without access to medical supplies or medications; medical teams there are suffering from extreme fatigue after working nonstop for nine months.

The Euro-Med Monitor team has received complaints from a large number of ill and injured people pleading to be allowed to travel in order to save their lives.

Israa Jihad al-Jundi, 32, of Shujaiya, east of Gaza City, told the Euro-Med Monitor team: “On 3 July, an Israeli bombing targeted my house, resulting in the deaths of three of my children. As for me, all I saw was a mass of blackness and fire, and I no longer heard anything. I realised that I had been hit by a missile. I ended up in a neighbour’s house, my legs covered in concrete. I was taken out by my neighbours and brought to Baptist Hospital. My right leg was implanted with platinum. I sustained multiple fractures to my pelvis, chest, and limbs. I can’t move, my pelvis is not stabilised, I die every day. My only demand is to be treated abroad.”

Northern Gaza resident Bilal Munir Abu Sultan stated: “I have been a cancer patient since last April; the disease has advanced to a significant degree around my neck. I need to travel for treatment to save my life. I have to leave right away before the cancer takes over my entire body. There is no health care available here.”

Abdul Rahman Muhammad, 17, stated: “On 23 October 2023, Israeli planes bombed my family’s home, killing my mother, father, and four of my siblings, including three children. I was seriously injured as a result. I survived the attack but I suffered from burns and fractures. Although my burns have healed, I am still unable to walk. After they had fitted me with an external platinum insert, they took it off. I had surgery, but it did not work out. Because of the devastation to hospitals and the lack of treatment, […] there is also no chance to treat me here. I appeal to everyone to facilitate my travel for treatment.”

By tightening the ongoing siege, closing the GazaStrip’s crossings, and destroying hospitals and health facilities across the entire Strip, Israel has apparently decided to carry out a mass execution against the sick and injured people in the enclave.

As part of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in the Strip, ongoing since 7 October 2023, hospitals, medical facilities, and means of transportation have been destroyed, and medical personnel have been arrested or killed. As a result, those who were not killed directly will perish from a lack of access to necessary medical care. This is all part of Israel’s systematic, organised, and wide-ranging plan to destroy the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and turn it into an uninhabitable place that lacks basic services and the most fundamental components of life. One of the most criminal parts of the genocideis the systematic and widespread targeting of the health sector: forcing it out of service through destruction and siege, bringing it to the point of no return, and ultimately depriving the Palestinians of opportunities for survival, life, recovery, and even shelter.

Israel’s actions against hospitals and legally protected individuals in the Gaza Strip are not only crimes against humanity, but also complete war crimes,because they are part of a larger, systematic Israeli military campaign against the civilian population in the Strip.

In addition to flagrantly violating the principles of distinction, proportionality, military necessity, i.e. in its refusal to take necessary precautions to protect sick and injured individuals, the Israeli army is carrying out its crimes against hospitals in the Gaza Strip with the utmost disregard for international law, particularly international humanitarian law. This is a grave violation of the special protection afforded to civilians, civilian hospitals, and medical teams, whether due totheir capacity or because they are not directly participating in hostilities, along with the protection enjoyed by the wounded and sick, even if they are military personnel.

To ensure the safety of medical personnel and sick or injured patients, plus displaced individuals shelteringwithin hospitals, as well as to enable those who need it to receive life-saving treatment, an immediate international intervention is required to establish field hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip and exert pressure on Israel to cease its repeated attacks on hospitals. Thousands of emergency cases must also be referred for treatment abroad.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a youth-led independent, nonprofit organization that advocates for the human rights of all persons across Europe and the MENA region, particularly those who live under occupation, in the throes of war or political unrest and/ or have been displaced due to persecution or armed conflict.

8 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Asmar

A new Palestinian exodus is being forced but to where? Nobody knows! Palestinians in different neighbourhoods of Gaza City are picking up what little is left of their belongings and are on the move again.

Thousands of Palestinian families are fleeing their homes in Gaza City amid relentless Israeli occupation bombardment and the threat of imminent invasion.

[https://twitter.com/Qxj9EpiXyt9sd0O/status/1810204980046901750]

The Israeli army threatened thousands of displaced Palestinians in Tuffah and Daraj neighborhoods to immediately evacuate and flee at the end of Israeli missiles and bombardment of already ruined homes that are in complete wreckage.

[https://twitter.com/UNRWA/status/1810233791945768981]

To make sure thousands started moving an Israeli occupation warcraft targeted the home of the Hallou family in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. The home was previously targeted but no matter.

[https://twitter.com/WAFANewsEnglish/status/1810240989983879504]

This time the bodies of more family members did not make it. They join other members of the family who are under the rubble.

This is part of the intense attack the city is being subjected to with firebombings in the Tafah, Sabra and Al Daraj neighbourhoods, east of Gaza to force hundreds of families once more to move out of their homes.

Israeli shelling has also targeted the vicinity of the Bank of Palestine in Gaza City.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1810242879521955891]

This is regarded as the biggest onslaught with Israeli warplanes launching massive airstrikes on the once-plush neighbourhood al-Remal in the city.

The Israeli military crackdown on civilians begun in the early hours of Monday morning. “Our forces are now operating in Gaza City, including at the UNRWA headquarters, after intelligence information” an Israeli army announced.

The announcement created panic. In addition to the fact that many people started moving, patients in their hospital beds were hurriedly being wheeled out for miles to find another hospital.

[https://twitter.com/trtworld/status/1810205464572903509]

[https://twitter.com/trtworld/status/1810242171464732867]

In addition to the heavy Israeli shelling, tens of martyrs and wounded have been trapped under the rubble of their homes in Al Daraj and Al Tufah.

Dr Asmar is an Amman-based writer and covers Middle East affairs.

8 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org