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By Dr. Ramzy Baroud

Social media censorship is a global phenomenon, but the war on pro-Palestinian views on social media represents a different kind of censorship, with consequences that can only be described as dire.

Long before the current devastating war on Gaza and the escalation of Israeli violence and repression in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices have been censored.

Some date the censorship to an agreement in 2016 that, according to the Israeli government, sought to “force social networks to remove content that Israel considers to be incitement.”

This was translated, almost immediately, to the shutting down of thousands of accounts and the barring of many social media influencers, with the hope of slowing down the vastly growing pro-Palestinian tendencies in all Meta-linked platforms.

The war on Gaza, however, has escalated the censorship. In a report submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Human Rights Watch noted that the documented restrictions on freedom of speech “undermine the fundamental human rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”

The censorship became so sophisticated and increasingly involved a direct Israeli role. To ensure that ‘offenders’ to Israeli sensibilities were eliminated in large numbers, Meta began censoring specific words, thus deeming entire contents offensive, racist, and antisemitic.

But Meta was not the only social media network involved in this practice. On November 17, 2023, the X platform (previously known as Twitter) declared that users who write terms like “decolonization”, “from the river to the sea”, or similar expressions would be suspended.

One year later, the social media platform Twitch followed suit by revising its ‘Hateful Content Policy’ to include “Zionist” as a potential slur.

Not only do these decisions, and many others, directly impair the freedom of speech and press, but they also confuse rational conversations with anti-Jewish sentiments.

The word ‘genocide’, for example, is not a swear word, but a common term, embraced by numerous countries around the world, accusing Israel of carrying out acts of genocide, meaning the “systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race”.

Under pressure from many countries, and after presenting a powerful case at the Hague, South Africa managed to compel the International Court of Justice to investigate Israel’s acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention.

In other words, this is not a matter for Mark Zuckerberg or any other social media company to decide, based on direct consultations with those carrying out the mass killings in Gaza.

The same applies to Zionism, an ideologically situated political movement, that traces its history to 19th-century Europe, thus, neither to a specific race nor a religious text.

While many are, rightly, outraged by the fact that this kind of widespread, and growing, censorship directly challenges the main tenants of democracy, the actual harm for Palestinians is much bigger.

According to a November 2024 report by the Sada Social Center for Digital Rights, the surge in digital violations targeting Palestinian content could not come at a worse time.

According to the organization, “Meta platforms accounted for the largest share of violations at 57%, followed by TikTok at 23%.” YouTube and X follow at 13 and 7% respectively.

This censorship, according to Sada, includes the shutting down of WhatsApp accounts, another Meta-owned platform that is also tightly controlled.

Unlike most of us, Palestinians in Gaza use these platforms to communicate with one another, to know who is dead and who is alive, and to raise awareness of certain massacres, often taking place in isolation, especially in the northern Gaza Strip.

Regarding northern Gaza, Sada Social spoke of a ‘digital blackout’, which has compounded the horror of that region – famine, mass killing, destruction of all hospitals, etc.

In the specific case of social media censorship in Gaza, lives are literally being lost as a result of politically motivated decisions.

HRW was one of many rights groups that have routinely spoken about the ‘systematic censorship’ by Meta. A December 2023 HRW report identified the following recurring patterns of censorship: removal of content, suspension of pro-Palestinian accounts, the reduction of visibility, known as ‘shadow-banning’, the restrictions on engagement, and the deliberate misuse of policies on hate speech and graphic content.

The danger of this kind of censorship is multilayered. It is a direct threat to one of the most basic freedoms guaranteed under the law in any democratic society. In the case of Gaza, the censorship takes a dark, deadly turn as it could make the difference between people dying under the rubble of their homes or receiving assistance.

Additionally, censorship of this magnitude often creates precedents and often leads to other forms of censorship that, in fact, are already taking place against other vulnerable communities, whether on a national stage or globally.

While the international community is yet to translate its verbal solidarity with Palestinians into any meaningful action, the least we could do is to give Palestinians their full rights to express their views, share their pain, and raise awareness of their collective plight. The world owes them that much, and no social media company should be permitted to hinder such a simple and reasonable demand.

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

21 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Ida Audeh

One year into the Israel-U.S. genocidal war on Gaza, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in combat in Tal al-Sultan in Rafah. For Palestinians (and Arabs generally), he was a man of principle, who spoke clearly and defiantly as he affirmed the right of Palestinians to live free of Israeli domination. Unlike other leaders on a national scale—most recently Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, among many others—he was not assassinated but rather died in combat, an end for which he had expressed a preference. He commanded the militias that roared out of Gaza on Oct. 7, broke through the structure meant to encage them, neutralized Israel’s southern command, captured prisoners of war and took them to Gaza, to use them as bargaining chips to end the siege on Gaza and to release Palestinians in Israeli prisons. That turned out to be the opening salvo in the Palestinian war of liberation.

I read Sinwar’s two-part novel, The Thorn and the Carnation, because I hoped that the text might provide some insight into this remarkable man from Gaza whose movement has defied the Israeli-U.S. genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, now underway for more than 14 months. Sinwar wrote his novel in prison while serving four life sentences, charged in 1989 with killing two Israeli soldiers and some Palestinian collaborators with Israel. He was 27. He had no way of knowing if or when he would be released (although he might have retained hope that he would be, knowing that the Palestinian resistance never turns its back on its imprisoned cadres), and so he was using the novel to communicate with his countrymen. (As it turned out, he was released in a prisoner exchange in 2011 after serving 22 years of his sentence, an exchange he helped to negotiate.) The novel was completed in 2004, the year Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, founder of Hamas and a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic, was assassinated. For readers today, the ongoing genocide in Gaza provides what amounts to a sequel to the novel; we see a clear trajectory from the events described in the book to the moment we find ourselves in now and that knowledge gives the novel added depth and poignancy.

The novel begins in 1967, when Sinwar’s main character, 5-year-old Ahmad, finds himself living under Israeli occupation; it ends in 2001 or so, during the second intifada. Through the events affecting Ahmad and his impoverished family, Sinwar explores several topics, only a few of which will be mentioned here: direct Israeli occupation and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA); the prison experience; the rise of Islamist activism; the character of the freedom fighter; and the scourge of collaborators.

One senses that Sinwar is attempting to provide a historical record for Gaza’s young population about the brutality of the Israeli occupation: what it was like to live through the Israeli night patrols, the rounding up of men, the extended curfews and the mass destruction of homes in the early 1970s. Gaza was home to a refugee population that needed UNRWA services to survive, but it was also a site of resistance, and neighborhoods developed a system of shouting harmless phrases when Israeli patrols entered their areas without warning, by way of alerting militants to the threat. He describes the discussions that took place when Israel opened its labor market to Gaza. People weighed their need for income against their rejection of interacting with the occupation in any way; practical needs won out, and soon working in Israel was normalized. Sinwar relays this without moral judgment. Years later, the PLO signed the Oslo Accords, and Sinwar portrays the heated arguments between the PA supporter and Islamists within Ahmad’s family. Today the battles raging in Gaza and in the West Bank are the inevitable outcome of that shameful sellout.

The Israeli prison system hovers over the lives of the occupied Palestinians. (It has been estimated that about 40 percent of the male population of the occupied territories has spent time in an Israeli prison between 1967 and 2012.) Sinwar describes the torture methods used in the prisons as well as the practice of using other detainees as informants to extract information in more relaxed conversations in prison spaces. He recounts that by way of explaining the need to remain alert and not let one’s guard down, almost like delivering survival tactics to (young) readers who might find themselves in such situations. The prisons are also sites of political education, organization and resistance, a place where leaders are formed.

Sinwar himself did much more than merely survive in prison—he studied Hebrew and learned it well enough to read biographies of Israeli leaders and to translate text into Arabic. His immersion into the world of Israeli history and biographies made him a match for any Israeli he had to deal with. (Seven months into the current genocide, an Israeli analyst would say, “Sinwar squeezes us like a lemon; he reads the political and military map of Israel better than we do.”)

Today, Israel mass arrests Palestinians and takes them to torture centers, where the extraction of resistance information is of lesser significance than the thrill of torturing Palestinian bodies. In the past, the Israeli population could remain ignorant of the occupation regime’s prisons; but now, Israeli torturers live stream their brutality against Palestinian bodies to sadistic Israeli viewers who clamor for more.

Sinwar’s discussion of student activism offers a fascinating insider’s view of young men charting a political course under conditions of constant threat. Palestinians developed the first university in Gaza when Egypt closed its doors to Palestinian students in the wake of President Anwar Sadat’s normalizing of relations with Israel. Ahmad and his cousin would attend that university, which resembled a high school with a skeletal staff. Several decades later, Gaza could boast 17 higher education institutions, and by mid-April 2024, all of them had been either completely or partially destroyed, and at least 95 professors had been killed, generally with their families. As Israel’s crimes against Palestinians are tallied, add scholasticide to the crimes of genocide and ecocide.

In the novel, Ahmad’s brother Mahmoud is aligned with Fatah; another brother, Mohammad, is an Islamist; and so is Ahmad’s favorite cousin, Ibrahim. Sinwar does not shy away from depicting the criticism of Islamists in the 1970s: that they did not accept the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people (recognition of which had been a hard-fought struggle) and were slow to take up armed struggle. Israel tolerated their early organizing, seeing the Islamist movement as a tool to splinter the Palestinian population into two antagonistic camps. In Part 2, the Islamists are beginning to make their own weapons and attack Israelis wherever they can—mostly soldiers and settlers, but noncombatants as well. Reading the novel in 2024, as the beleaguered Palestinian resistance led by Hamas forges ahead in year two of a battle against Israel financed by the United States—14 months during which it has prevented Israel from achieving a single war objective—one has to marvel at the evolution of the organization. Today it fights with a range of home-made weapons, and its fighters are creating legends. No other liberation struggle—not Algeria or Vietnam or South Africa—has had to struggle against such staggering odds.

While describing the evolution of the Islamist movement, Sinwar depicts the personal characteristics of the ideal revolutionary in the characters of Ahmad’s role models: his brothers and his cousin Ibrahim. Piety is a key ingredient; so are self-sacrifice, discipline and asceticism. Being a good listener and negotiator are necessary for anyone who aspires to lead. Integrity and having an unwavering moral compass are essential qualities. This depiction initially struck me as somewhat idealized. Upon further reflection, I realized that today’s fighters are providing the evidence not only of skill and determination on the battlefield but also of a code of conduct unknown to their enemies.

Western leaders, pundits and the corporate media demonize or dismiss the Palestinian resistance fighters, but many details in the official narrative of “Hamas terrorism” are contradicted by statements of Israelis or the videos taken by the fighters themselves. For example, some Israeli prisoners released in the initial exchange have had positive things to say about their captors—how they were protected by them during times of intense shelling, treated humanely and fed whatever was available to their captors. When they were released to the custody of the Red Cross, they looked relatively relaxed—at least when compared to traumatized Palestinians released from jail who had clearly lost weight and expressed concern for their comrades in prison because of the sadistic torture they were subjected to.

A recent item published on Resistance News Network purports to be a letter from Israeli captive Alexander Trufanov to the Israeli public, in which he expresses fear that his government will kill him or at best, write him off; he says that “the fighters of Islamic Jihad have saved my life several times to keep me from dying. Some of them were wounded, and others lost their lives while trying to protect me.” And this after the fighters’ own family members have been targeted for extermination.

Another example of the principled resistance of the fighters: in the videos released by the resistance groups, we see what they see, including medical evacuations of wounded and dead Israeli soldiers. (Resistance video clips are shown and discussed during the Electronic Intifada’s weekly webcast.) Never do the fighters attempt to impede the evacuations even though they have the Israelis in line of sight. It is truly remarkable, especially when compared with the depraved conduct of Israeli soldiers, executing patients, shooting children in the head, shelling hospitals and raping men and women snatched from the street.

Contending with Palestinian collaborators with Israel is a recurring theme in the novel. As depicted, when evidence of collaboration with the Israeli authorities is confirmed, a social crisis presents itself: the collaborator cannot be allowed to live freely because of the threat he poses to the resistance and to the society at large. In the novel, collaborators were hapless Palestinians who either need movement permits or had committed some moral transgression that made them open to blackmail; today the threat to militants comes from an institution installed to serve the Israeli occupation. Palestinians seethe when learning that PA forces raid refugee camps in search of militants wanted by Israel after these same militants had successfully warded off an Israeli military assault on the camps. Reading the novel as militants in West Bank camps are contending with both Israeli and PA attacks, one understands why Sinwar depicts collaboration with the enemy as a threat that colonized people cannot tolerate.

Yahya Sinwar will be remembered not only for the way he lived his life and the resistance movement he led, but also for the manner in which he met his end: in combat, his head wrapped in a kuffiyeh to hide his identity (he most likely did not want to be captured alive), defiant until the end. Killed by an Israeli soldier who did not recognize him, his body was taken for an autopsy, and the Israelis announced that he hadn’t eaten in three days. That detail, as much as anything he wrote about in his novel, is so characteristic of the man who endured the same hardships as the fighters he led, who described in his novel the lived experience of a nation at the mercy of Israeli-U.S. colonization and who gave his life to the struggle against that brutal regime.

Ida Audeh is senior editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine.

20 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Richard Falk

[Prefatory Note: The questions and responses were made a month ago and now presented in a modified form. The original intention was to cooperate with Aida Naouel Kara Mohammed of The Interviews Office of Aljazeera.net based in Doha Qatar that was gathering  information for a report about the newly formed Gaza Tribunal.]

1-How and when the idea of making “Gaza Tribunal” came?

The idea of a peoples or civil society tribunal on the persisting genocidal assault on the entrapped and blockaded Palestinian civilian population has long been conceived of as a valuable initiative. Yet a specific proposal with adequate funding only came to our attention when my wife, Hilal Elver, and I were approached in Turkey during May of 2024 by a group of concerned Turkish citizens associated with the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum inviting  and encouraging us to embark on such a project and asked me to serve as president, and Hilal to act as chief coordinator. We carefully deliberated upon whether we should accept such a proposal given the time-consuming complexities of organizing and carrying out such a project, and considering the political complexities of dealing with an undertaking of this magnitude.

During negotiations we insisted upon a strict pledge of political independence from interference by sponsors and funders, and above all, and by the Turkish Government. As well as independence from all governments. We also made clear that we would only proceed if assured about the exclusion of active politicians or diplomats. Such assurances were given in a persuasive form, and in August 2024, as the genocide intensified and the UN and US seemed in the first case unable and in the second case unwilling to even establish a ceasefire, we accepted this invitation and have been planning the organization, structure, and activities ever since. A successful launch meeting of the Gaza Tribunal Project was held in London on October 31-November 1st with many prominent scholars and activists taking part, including giving great attention to the work of Palestinian civil society grassroots organizations working under harsh conditions prevailing throughout Occupied Palestine.

2-Many nongovernmental organizations participate in this initiative, how do they coordinate and cooperate with each or other?

As a civil society initiative oriented toward lending support to the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and other basic rights, we have sought participation from a wide range of Palestinian NGOs, and have been encouraged by their strongly positive response as evidenced by their participation. We have established a Palestinian Civil Society Working Group as well as Global Civil Society Advisory Council to ensure that there are clear channels for participation and influence. To date there has been excellent cooperation among participating Palestinian organizations and in relation to the global CSOs, and of course we hope this will continue and be reflected in the final judgment of the Gaza Tribunal. The identity of the Gaza Tribunal is global in its orientation, aiming to mobilize support throughout the world for global solidarity initiatives.

3-What are some of the prominent active organizations?

To varying degrees representatives of many organizations are active and or influential in the work of the GT, including notable Palestinian civil society actors: Al Haq, Palestinian Center of Human Rights,  Addameer, and Al Mezan Center of Human Rights. We have a special working group in the project composed of representatives of Palestinian grassroots and solidarity organizations. We on the Steering Committee of the GTP will turn to them for guidance throughout the entire GT process. We also are responsive to the valuable contributions of such global civic society organizations Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, and other civil society organizations and activists wherever situated, including in Israel. We also intend to involve journalists, observers, and experts with a clear knowledge and experience of the violence that has been directed both toward the people of Gaza, but also toward international health and humanitarian aid workers, and indeed any individual of conscience, including poets, novelists, and artists.

4-What are the main goals that the Gaza Tribunal aspires to achieve?

I think a consensus exists among the conveners and sponsors of the Gaza Tribunal Project that we hope to organize the tribunal in such a manner that its final judgment gives primary emphasis to the particulars of the crime of genocide as perpetrated in Gaza by Israel delimited by international law and the Genocide Convention. It also seeks to complement the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by acting more quickly and by producing texts that are technically competent yet readable by any concerned person without the obstructions of the sort of obscure legalism and boundaries that tend to be characteristic of ICJ judgments. The GT will operate without the guard rails of normal national and international courts, especially those affecting jurisdiction to decide, the scope of criminality that is to be pronounced upon, and especially the professional discipline of giving equal opportunity to complainants and defendants. A peoples tribunal is activated only by a sense of widespread injustice that is not being adequately addressed by the intergovernmental structures of world and their institutional policy tools for implementation (as center in the UN System).

Additional to the text itself and wider than any proceeding before the tribunal is the overall goal of producing an accurate and comprehensive record of what has transpired in Gaza (and spillover combat regionally) since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, which itself should be contextualized in terms of prior Israeli provocations over the decades, intensified from the time the Netanyahu took control of Israeli governance at the start of 2023. It is a documentation of the criminal course of action free from jurisdictional restrictions on scope of inquire and from legalistic proceedings that impose boundaries on what kind of evidence and arguments are acceptable.

A further objective is to create a civil society template for a critical understanding and treatment of international law, including the world order significance of the GT experience for the development of an alternative pedagogical paradigm for the teaching and apprehension of international law that seeks to be critical of standard approaches and more dedicated to forging linkages between law and justice. As matters currently stand, the ICJ despite ‘justice’ being in its name veers sharply toward a strictly legalistic and positivist framing of issues it is called upon to resolve. Of course, in extreme circumstance such as Gaza legalistic and populist approaches to international law tend to converge, and the professionalism of the judges at the ICJ gives legitimacy and legal prestige to their rulings even if, as here, the obligatory features of their rulings are neither respected, nor observed, by Israel.

A further goal is to explain and justify a ‘judicial’ proceeding that does not accord due process to the defendant or adversary. Such partisan jurisprudence fills the gap created by the shortcomings of intergovernmental judicial processes even if operating free from geopolitical interference.  Again, if competently and objectively done, this mode of populist adjudication deserves respect, and implementation by private sector solidarity initiatives. For instance, BDS or cultural, sporting, and academic steps responsive to calls for populist modes of ‘enforcement.’ The effective of implementation depends on the degree to which a civil society undertaking has a mobilizing effect on people. The struggle against South African apartheid contains many reasons to believe that global expressions of solidarity strengthens the will and prospects on a national struggle for basic rights.

5-Do you think that your efforts will exert a meaningful influence?

Yes, if the quality of performance at various stages of the GT live up to its diverse aspirations and potential. A civil society tribunal lacks any direct enforcement capabilities, but it can encourage solidarity initiatives that exert pressure. This seems to have been instrumental in the case of the anti-apartheid movement that differed from the Palestinian situation because the UN exerted an important delegitimizing influence, including by way of several Advisory Opinions of the ICJ. Also organized elements in civil society including faith-based groups, labor unions, and university protest movement supportive of divestment and boycott exerted pressure on the apartheid regime. As well, as with Occupied Palestine, an array of anti-racist pro-constitutional human rights actors were active and effective in delegitimizing apartheid South Africa.

One such established effort in the Palestinian struggle along these lines is the BDS Campaign which was initiated in 2005 by a coalition of Palestinian activists and grassroots organization. A strong judgment by GT, if widely distributed will add legitimacy to such civil society initiatives and give rise to other meaningful non-governmental undertaking including cultural and sports boycotts, and cooperative academic projects involving exchange programs and other interactions with Israel’s university.

The success or disappointment of our efforts will of course reflect the contextual situation, especially whether there continues to be widespread concern about the behavior of Israel toward Palestinian basic rights as well as whether Israel will continue under present or similar leadership. It is possible if Israel implements its increasing overt plans to annex the West Bank, Gaza in whole or in part, and deny any prospect of agreeing to the emergence of a Palestinian state of equivalent sovereignty, the impact of our GT Tribunal could be considerable even if indirect.

Also quite possible is a Zionist led pushback against the GT probably under its familiar tactic of weaponizing antisemitism. There exists a substantial prospect that a Trump presidency will encourage the demonization of the GT and those closely associated. So far, such dark prospects have not discouraged participation in its activities by those whose contributions we have solicited, which include persons prominent in the civic life of their respective country. The US as a geopolitical leader and the principal supporter of Israel despite the transparency in real time of the genocide is an important battleground in the Legitimacy War being waged effectively on behalf of the Palestinian struggle but at great costs if measured in terms of human suffering and traumatized alienation endured by the entire civilian population of Gaza. A recent report on the condition of the mental health of children in Gaza reached the conclusions that 96% of children believe that they will soon die, 49% have lost the will to live, and 100% of surviving children will need psychological help to restore their mental health. [Study and Report of Gaza Community Centre for Crisis Management, supported by the UK-based War-Child Alliance.]

6-Some believe that people have lost hope in such initiatives, what do you respond to them?

Such initiatives have always had to swim against the currents of geopolitical hard power and the mainstream media’s establishment alignments that were dismissive or hostile to such populist challenges. Such statist attitudes were present from the inception of civil society tribunals as a policy instrument of persons opposed to the behavior of states and their institutions. The serious development of this populist approach to law goes back to the formation  of the Russell Tribunal in the mid-1960s addressing the alleged crimes associated with the conduct of the Vietnam War. This first instance of a people’s tribunal did not have a discernable effect on the US conduct of the war, although it energized to some extent anti-war activism in the US and Europe, and pioneered a model of legitimacy challenges that has been emulated in numerous subsequent instances, including tribunal initiatives concerned with nuclear weapons, interventions in the Global South, gender equality, environmental protection, and corporate wrongdoing. In this sense, this civil society format has emerged as a pedagogical model of soft power resistance with variable educational, media, and activist impacts depending on the issue, overall political context, and the skills of the organizers in disseminating the outcome of their tribunal.

The Palestinian struggle and Israel’s genocide is in many ways a special case, which makes its likely effects either less than hoped for or greater. For one thing Israel learned from apartheid South Africa to use major resources to shape effectively the public discourse relevant to its behavior, including resorting to ‘a politics of distraction’ to divert attention from substantive allegations and criticism by mounting defamatory attacks on the messenger to divert attention from the message.  In this respect Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have consistently dismissed UN authority, including of the ICJ, with contrary-to-fact defamatory attacks irresponsibly charging UN antisemitism.

Further, the historical background- of Jewish victimization climaxing with the Holocaust continues to inhibit criticism or identification with the Palestinian struggle particularly in Germany but also in the Western democracies, especially the US, that emerged from World War II with a guilty conscience because these governments did so little to oppose Nazi antisemitism culminating in the Holocaust before and during the Second World War. This liberal guilt led to an Orientalist sequel in the postwar context in which Europe’s long history of extreme persecution of Jews were addressed at the expense of people resident in a Global South nation, making Palestinian Arabs themselves persecuted strangers in their own homeland. This is the deep roots of a process that culminated in genocide when Palestinian resistance persisted despite Israeli apartheid policies and practices. Such a pattern of recourse to genocide is embedded in the experience of settler colonialism that long preceded Israeli genocide. While eliminating or marginalizing the resistance of native peoples, settlers from Europe coupled their state-building operations with genocidal tactics in the breakaway British colonies of North America, Australia, and New Zealand in systematic processes. I have labeled this dynamic as ‘genocide before genocide,’ that is before the word ‘genocide’ was invented by Rafael Lemkin and widely adopted throughout the world in the post-Holocaust, written into international law in a widely ratified treaty, International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (1948).

Finally, we who are devoting time and mainstream reputations to the GT acknowledge the uncertainty as to its usefulness. In part, we make this major commitment in response to Michelle Obama’s pre-election imperative then directed at Democrats in the US 2024 pre-electoral setting: ‘Do Something!’ Also, even if a direct impact on Israel’s behavior fails, we are confident that there will be secondary impacts of a high-quality tribunal in relation to future legal education, especially in the Global South. The compilation of a historical record and archive is itself a contribution to a people-oriented approach to the study and application of international law in global security contexts.

I suspect that most of those ‘who lost hope’ never had much hope or belief in ‘such initiative.’

7- Why was the Gaza Tribunal Project launched it in London exactly?

The principal reason for locating the November 1 launch in London was to signal and underscore our intention to be global rather than to appear Turkish or even Palestinian. The diverse background of the London participant in this initial meeting of the GT Advisory Council gave full expression to this issue of global identity. London was also logistically convenient. We plan future meetings in other national settings.

8- It’s known at the international level that such initiatives are symbolic, will be there any legal obligations to punish the perpetrators?

Whenever the obligations of international law clash with strong strategic interests of geopolitical actors, especially in relation to war/peace and global security issues, the impacts of even formal governmental or international institutions has been principally symbolic. Israel defies international law and the UN and there is no political will to counteract or even censure such behavior. At most, a non-judgmental call for a ceasefire and a concern about the humanitarian catastrophe being inflicted on the previously entrapped and abused civilian population of Gaza for over 14 months.

And yet, Israel is sufficiently sensitive to the impact of adverse judgments by the ICJ, International Criminal Court (ICC), and the General Assembly as to use all its influence to blunt the effects, including hyperbolic defamation as instanced by characterizing the UN as ‘a vile cesspool of antisemitism’ and trying to use backroom influence to cancel or otherwise nullify the ICC issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders as recommended by the Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan.  As the Israel historian Tom Segev writes, “Not every criticism against Israel is antisemitic…The moment you say it is antisemitic hate … you take away all legitimacy from the criticism and try to crush the debate.” This is exactly descriptive of the Netanyahu tactics at the UN repeatedly referring to this organization of the world peoples and their governments as an ‘Anti-Israel Flat Earth Society’ and calling the UN ‘a swamp of antisemitic bile.’ Indeed, the UN deserves criticism as weak and incapable of upholding its own Charter and exhibiting no capacity or will to challenge ‘the primacy of geopolitics.’ At least, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has mounted muted criticism of the UN with his catchy slogan ‘the world is greater than five.’

In this sort of context of geopolitically supported lawlessness, the main path leading to effectiveness for law is symbolic, but the symbolic effects of legitimate political actors, whether inter-governmental or not, are real as evidenced by targeted states doing everything in their power to prevent and discredit them. I have long believed that symbolic arenas of lawmaking should not be trivialized or derided as I argue most emphatically with respect to the existence and activities of the GT. It is always worth remembering that the anti-colonial wars since 1945 have all been won by nationalist forces on the symbolic battlefields of legitimacy. In other words, victors in Legitimacy Wars have controlled political outcomes in war while competing with militarily superior colonial armies. This is a prime lesson of history, which ‘political realists’ that dominate foreign policy circles and arms merchants wanted to be banned throughout the lifetime education of their citizenries.

If nothing else, the Gaza Tribunal Project can offer an alternative, TWAIL, or sub-altern pedagogical model of how the interplay of law, morality, and war should be configured and interpreted at this time of planetary danger.

Richard Anderson Falk (born November 13, 1930) is an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He is also one of JUST’s International Advisory Panel Members.

20 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Gideon Polya

The utterly unforgivable Jewish Israeli-imposed Gaza Genocide continues remorselessly. By the end of 2024 Gaza Genocide deaths from violence and imposed deprivation are estimated as follows: 340,000 deaths (total), 243,000 (children), 67,000 (men) and 31,000 (women). The World is moving to stop this carnage. To that end and for ultimate justice  and reparations it is important to estimate the complicity of the citizens of key countries involved as exampled below.

(A). Polling, electoral and other assessment of Jewish Israeli, US, UK, and Australian public complicity in the horrific, unforgivable and continuing Gaza Genocide.

(1). Apartheid Israel.

A pro-Palestinian human rights Israeli friend repeatedly tells me that fewer than 1% of Jewish Israelis  are opposed to the war on Gaza. A new Pew Research Center survey (March –April 2024) finds that 39% of Israelis say Israel’s military response against Hamas in Gaza has been about right, while 34% say it has not gone far enough , 19% think it has gone too far, and 7% don’t know. Israeli Arabs (21% of the Israeli population) are much more likely than Jews to say the country’s military response has gone too far (74% versus. 4%). Thus only 4% of Jewish Israelis think it has gone too far but of these it seems likely that most would nevertheless support the war per se [1].  My Israeli friend appears to be correct – about 99% of Jewish Israelis support the killing, including those who want a temporary humanitarian cessation of the killing in exchange for 100 remaining Israeli hostages (noting that there are over 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli military  prisons and that before 7 October 2023 there were 5.6 million Occupied Palestinians held hostage without human rights under Zionazi military rule [2]).

(2). America.

Well before the present Gaza Massacre, in 2021 a  survey commissioned by the Jewish Electorate Institute found that 25%  of  Jewish American voters agreed that Israel is an apartheid state (38% among those under age 40) and that 22% agreed  that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinian (33% of the under 40s) [3]. Polling in 2024 by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs found that 30% of US Jews thought that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, with younger respondents more likely to agree with the genocide accusation (38% of those under 44 versus  22% of those over 44) [4]. Over 60% supported a 2-state solution but mostly with conditions (e.g. a de-militarized Palestinian state) [4].

Of course correct perception of reality is based on evidence and not on polling. Thus we know from the astronauts that the Moon is not made of green cheese. Likewise  we know that genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide as  “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” [5] and that is exactly what has been happening in Gaza – an estimated 335,500 deaths (mostly children) from violence and imposed deprivation or 15% of the pre-war population killed by the end of 2024 [6]. Similarly, Apartheid involves suppression of one group by another and in Palestine while Indigenous Palestinians  represented 51% of the Subjects of Apartheid Israel (before the Gaza Massacre) and the ruling Jewish Israelis only 47%, 73% of these Indigenous  Palestinian Subjects (the Occupied Palestinians) are excluded from voting for the government ruling them, and the Israeli Palestinian 27% of the  Indigenous  Palestinian Subjects can vote but only for approved candidates and as Third Class citizens under 65 Nazi-style, race-based, discriminatory laws [7-9]. The 70-75% of US Jews denying the patent realities of Jewish Israeli-imposed  genocide and apartheid are simply complicit in these awful crimes by lying – complicity  in genocidal racism and egregious lying in gross violation of the core Kindness and Truth ethos of civilized Humanity.

Similarly one can measure  American voter attitudes in the recent US Presidential election by the de facto outcome as a % of the popular vote: Donald Trump (Republican,49.7%), Kamala Harris (Democrat, 48.3%), Dr Jill Stein (Greens, 0.6%), Robert F. Kennedy Jr (Independent 0.5%), Chase Oliver (anti-war but pro-Israel Libertarian, 0.4%), and  Others (notably anti-war African American academic Dr Cornel West, 0.5%) [10].

Kid Killing Kamala  (KKK) Harris was part of the Genocide Joe Biden/ Kid Killing Kamala  (KKK) Harris Administration that fervently backed genocidally racist Apartheid Israel and hence Apartheid, supplied 75,000 tons of bombs to the child-killing Jewish Israelis, and supported Apartheid Israel diplomatically at the UN and elsewhere . Trump is even more pro-Israel than the Democrats, and is fanatically supported by anti-science Biblical literalist Christian Zionist fanatics.

Trump  stated  in the Trump-Biden debate (June 2024,  by which time 40,000 Gazans had been killed according to Gaza authorities):”As far as Israel and Hamas, Israel’s the one that wants to go – he said the only one who wants to keep going is Hamas. Actually, Israel is the one. And you should [let] them go and let them finish the job. He [Biden] doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian. But they don’t like him, because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one”[11].

In the Trump-Harris debate (September 2024) Trump stated: “But when she mentions about Israel all of a sudden — she hates Israel. She wouldn’t even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech… She hates Israel. If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now. And I’ve been pretty good at predictions. And I hope I’m wrong about that one. She hates Israel. At the same time in her own way she hates the Arab population because the whole place is going to get blown up, Arabs, Jewish people, Israel. Israel will be gone… Look at what’s going on in the Middle East. This would have never happened. I will get that settled and fast” [12]. Child-killing Harris unequivocally supported Apartheid Israel (“I have my entire career and life supported Israel and the Israeli people”) but made dishonest noises in a vain attempt to regain the Arab and Muslim vote: “And so absolutely, I said then, I say now, Israel has a right to defend itself. We would. And how it does so matters. Because it is also true far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end. It must when, end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal and we need the hostages out” [12]. Child-killing Harris is damned by her own words because “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed” clearly implies that “many innocent Palestinians” should have been killed.

(3). United Kingdom.

While Apartheid Israel is a Zionazi-run  democracy-by-genocide (democratic Nazism), the US, UK and Australia are  corporatocracies  and lobbyocracies in which Big Money buys public perception of reality, votes and hence more political power [13-15].  The US is ruled by a Democrat/Republican Duopoly, the UK by a Labour/Conservative Duopoly, Australia by a Labor/Liberal-National Party Coalition Duopoly and in all cases there is rule by the rich for the super-rich Establishment.  The Western Establishments  are dominated by genocidally racist Christian  Zionist and Jewish Zionist billionaires  who presently fervently support Apartheid Israel and hence the utterly evil crimes of Apartheid and genocide that are  condemned by the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid [16] and  Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide [17], respectively.

While Australia has a world-leading and exquisitely fair compulsory and preferential voting system, the US and UK have non-compulsory voting and  first-past-the-post electoral systems. Thus in the recent UK elections Labour won a landslide victory with 411 seats from 33.7% of the vote as compared to the Conservatives (121 seats with 23.7% of the vote) and the Liberal Democrats (72 seats from 12.2% of the vote) [18].

However the major UK parties are united in their support for genocidally racist, Zionazi-run, child-, mother- and women-killing Apartheid Israel and hence for the utterly vile crime of Apartheid. Those supporting Apartheid Israel and hence neo-Nazi Apartheid (most members of the UK House of Commons) are utterly unfit for decent company, public life and public office in an internally human rights-observant and  one-person-one-vote democracy like the US, UK and Australia.

Of course the UK has had over a century to develop its utterly disgusting fervent support for  genocidal Zionism (Zionazism) and anti-Arab anti-Semitism (Islamophobia). Oil was discovered in Iran in 1908, the London-based Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was formed in 1909, the British confected war with Turkey by seizing a British-built battleship  ordered by Turkey, and invaded Iraq in 1914. In 1916 the Sykes-Picot Agreement divided the Ottoman Turkey-ruled Arab world between British and France. 2 days after the 31 October 1917 Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) victory over the Turks at Beersheba (Palestine), on 2 November 1917 the British  issued the Balfour Declaration that granted Palestine as a Homeland for Jews [19-21]. Over a century later, in 2024  Zionists occupy all of Palestine plus big parts of Lebanon and Syria,  have been  saturation bombing Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and are conducting  a merciless Gaza Genocide in which the US has supplied 75,000 tons of bombs, the UK is complicit (aerial surveillance for Apartheid Israel) [22], and US lackey and Zionist-subverted Australia is complicit in 20 ways [23] and lies for Apartheid Israel in 35 ways [24].  The UK-initiated and century-long Palestinian Genocide has been associated with 3 major ethnic cleansing atrocities  (0.8 million Palestinians expelled from their homes in 1948, 0.4 million in 1967 and 2.3 million in 2024), and  2.5 million Palestinian deaths from violence (0.1 million) and imposed deprivation (2.4 million) [21], a Palestinian Holocaust similar in magnitude to the Nazi-imposed WW2 Jewish Holocaust (5-6 million Jews killed by violence and imposed deprivation) and the WW2 Bengali Holocaust (WW2 Indian Holocaust, WW2 Bengal Famine;  6-7 million Indians deliberately starved to death for strategic reasons in Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Odisha by the British with food denying Australian complicity)

The UK, like the US, Australia and US Alliance countries, has been thoroughly subverted and perverted  by  virulent, mendacious and genocidally racist Zionists. Rational and humane opposition to this obscenity whether from anti-racist Jews or anti-racist non-Jews is falsely reviled by Zionist psychopaths as “antisemitism”, “hate speech”, “blood libel” etc.  Notable courageous opponents of genocidal Zionism (Zionazism) in the UK include many anti-racist Labour activists such as  Tony Greenstein, outstanding former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and George Galloway. Like many others around the world, including many former colonial subjects of the UK, I love and admire British culture, innovation, social progress, literature, poetry, theatre, art, language, music, science, scenery, scholarship, sports  and, of course, British eccentricity and humor. However the Zionists and their traitorous acolytes have  soiled that appreciation just as genocidally racist Zionism by false conflation has soiled the wonderful 3 millennium Jewish humanitarian tradition from the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ “love thy neighbor as thyself” to wonderful present era Jewish humanitarian scholars from Hannah Arendt to Howard Zinn (see “Jews Against Racism Zionism” [25]).

Of course the real purpose of the UK creation  of  Apartheid Israel was as a Western Crusader fortress in the heart of the Arab world as revealed by the British, French and Apartheid Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. The US put an end to that vile imperialist adventure but with Apartheid Israeli acquisition of nuclear weapons by the mid-1960s and the conquest of all of Palestine and parts of its neighbors in 1967, the US became increasingly beholden to Apartheid Israel and the traitorous Zionist Lobby. As a dirty tricks surrogate of the US, Zionazi Apartheid Israel was very likely directly involved in the 9/11 atrocity, an event that required the resources of a major nation state. 32 million Muslims died from violence (5 million) and imposed deprivation (27 million) in 20 countries invaded by the US Alliance since the US Government’s 9/11 false flag atrocity that killed 3,000 innocent Americans [26, 27]. The UK was variously involved in  the War on Terror (in actuality a War on Muslims) that devastated the Muslim world from West, North and East Africa and through the Middle East to Central, South and South East Asia [28]. UK Labour PM Tony Blair played a dirty role in supporting  US lies that enabled the devastating Iraq War (2.7 million dead from violence and deprivation) [28] and the Afghan War (6.8 million  dead from violence and deprivation) [29-38].

While UK Establishment power, Zionist perversion, US subversion and mendacious Mainstream media mean that UK MPs overwhelmingly support genocidally racist and Zionazi  Apartheid Israel, a small rump of decent Labour MPs (and a much greater proportion of Labour Party members) support Palestinian human rights.  UK polling  indicates that 60% of Brits think that the Israeli military response to 7 October 2023 has gone “too far” [39]. However, this is rather like Kid-Killing Kamala (KKK) Harris (with Genocide Joe Biden the supplier of 75,000 tons of bombs to the genocidal Jewish Israelis) saying in the Trump-Harris Debate that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed” (obscenely implying that “many innocent Palestinians” should have been killed) [12, 40-42].

(4). Australia.

In the 19th and early 20th century Australia became  one of the first countries in the world to have one-person-one-vote parliamentary democracy, ballot papers, free, compulsory and secular education, free trade unions, female suffrage, public access universities, basic human rights and the rule of law  for ordinary citizens, and the 8 hour working day – for White people. Thus Indigenous Australians were subject to merciless genocide for over 2 centuries, the last massacres  occurring in about 1930 in Central Australia. Indigenous Australians were only counted as citizens after a Referendum in 1967 (being previously counted under a Flora and Fauna Act). In the first century of colonization the Indigenous population fell from about 1 million to 0.1 million through violence, dispossession, deprivation and introduced disease. The death toll in the Aboriginal Genocide was 2 million involving 0.1 million killed through violence and the remainder killed through imposed deprivation and disease. In one of history’s  biggest ethnocides,  the pre-Invasion 700 unique  Indigenous languages and dialects in 1788 was reduced to about 100 today with all but 25 severely endangered. Assimilatory ethnocide was significantly promoted by the Stolen Generations obscenity in which about 0.1 million Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their mothers – it was the subject of an official Australian Government “Sorry” by PM Kevin Rudd in 2008 but  continues today with continuing removal of Indigenous children from their impoverished mothers and communities at record rates on the basis of “child protection”. Indigenous Ethnocide is also being encouraged through opposition to bilingual teaching and imposed harsh living conditions in remote Indigenous communities. Today Indigenous Australians  suffer a continuing and deadly  “Gap” compared to  non-Indigenous Australians in relation to health, housing, education,  employment, income, incarceration, smoking, drinking, domestic violence, infant mortality, health and life expectancy [43-59].

Whether a child is killed violently ( by bashing, bullets or bombs)  or dies from imposed deprivation, the death is just as final and the perpetrator just as guilty. Violent deaths in Gaza now reportedly total about 50,000 [60] but Professor Devi Sridhar (chair, global health, University of Edinburgh) has estimated that 335,500 people would be  killed by violence and imposed deprivation in Gaza by the end of 2024 (i.e. in the15 months since the Palestinian Breakout from the Gaza Concentration Camp on 7 October 2023) [6]. Under-5 infant deaths are about 70% of total avoidable deaths from deprivation [32]. Using this information  it is estimated that violent and non-violent Gaza deaths in the first year of the Gaza Massacre then total 194,499 (children), 24,588 (women) and 53,861 (men) for a total of 272,948 deaths [61]. By the end of 2024 one can proportionally estimate the following Gaza deaths: 340,000 deaths (total), 243,000 (children), 67,000 (men) and 31,000 (women).

This horrifying death toll of children in particular in the Jewish Israeli-imposed Gaza Genocide demands some comment about the Jewish Israeli perpetrators and those complicit through supporting genocidal Apartheid Israel or through Silence. My endlessly repeated mantra is “Peace is the only way but silence kills and silence is complicity”. Indeed on 19 December 2024 I sent  the following strong Letter to major Mainstream Australian media (it is extremely unlikely to be published in Zionist-perverted Australia):

LETTER. “About 2,000 years ago Jewish King Herod allegedly massacred all under-2 male Palestinian children in and about Bethlehem in the hopefully fictional Massacre of the Innocents (Holy Bible, Matthew 2.16). It is expertly estimated that by New Year’s Day 2025 about 340,000 Gazans (15% of the pre-war population and mostly children) will have been killed by Jewish Israeli-imposed violence and deprivation (eminent Professor Devi Sridhar, chair, global health, University of Edinburgh). The perpetrators and those complicit in this unforgivable atrocity through support of genocidal Apartheid Israel or through Silence have departed from decent Humanity and have utterly cursed themselves, their self-imposed curse being endlessly renewed every time they see their reflection and at the going down of the sun and in the morning”.END LETTER.

Those engaged in “support of genocidal Apartheid Israel” include 99% of Jewish Israelis, many citizens of the US, UK and Australia (as analysed here) and many citizens of the 35 member countries  of the anti-Arab anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish anti-Semitic, holocaust ignoring and all-European IHRA (International  Holocaust Remembrance  Alliance) that fervently supports pro-Apartheid neo-Nazi Israel and indeed includes the US, UK and Australia [62-74]. In addition to the  horrendous mass murder of children by genocidal Jewish Israelis (the genocidal ultimate in child abuse) there is the horrific traumatizing abuse of all Gaza children [75-80]. Thus Amira Mohamed Taha and colleagues (2024): “Since Oct 7, 2023, escalating violence in Gaza has intensified a mental health crisis among its 2.1 million residents, of whom 67% are refugees and 65% are younger than 25 years. Constant bombardment and displacement and the loss of family members are predisposing many children to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other adverse mental health conditions. In fact, a 2020 study showed that 53·5% of Gazan children had PTSD even before this conflict” [76].

The Guardian: “A new study of children living through the war in Gaza has found that 96% of them feel that their death is imminent and almost half want to die as a result of the trauma they have been through. A needs assessment, carried out by a Gaza-based NGO sponsored by the War Child Alliance charity, also found that 92% of the children in the survey were “not accepting of reality”, 79% suffer from nightmares and 73% exhibit symptoms of aggression” [77]. War Child on its latest report (2024): “The findings in this study are stark. Caregivers report that 96% of children feel death is imminent, and nearly half believe they will die because of the war. Many children exhibit symptoms of aggression, fear, withdrawal, and severe anxiety, alongside a pervasive sense of hopelessness. Years of displacement, loss, and relentless bombing have left children psychologically scarred and their families in dire circumstances” [78]. The War Child report summary (2024): “The needs assessment study – which interviewed over 500 children, parents and caregivers, from families where at least one child is disabled, injured or unaccompanied – shows that over a year of displacement, loss, and relentless bombing have left the most vulnerable children in Gaza seriously psychologically traumatised, with their families on the brink of survival. For the most vulnerable children in Gaza, caregivers report that: 96% of children feel death is imminent,  92% of children are not accepting of reality, 87% display severe fear, 79% suffer from nightmares, 77% of children avoid talking about traumatic events, 73% of children exhibit symptoms of aggression, 49% of children wish to die because of the war, and many more show signs of withdrawal and severe anxiety, alongside a pervasive sense of hopelessness” [79].

Australia has appalling record of ongoing child abuse through removal of Indigenous children from their mothers, and de facto slavery of Indigenous children as well as of Indigenous adults  lasting into the 1970s. About 25% of Australians are sexually abused as children, as compared to 18% of Israeli children and 18% of American children [81-90].

As a UK or US lackey Australia has invaded 85 countries as compared to  Britain 193, France 82, the US 72 (52 after WW2), Germany 39, Japan 30, Russia 25, Canada 25, Apartheid Israel 13, China 2 and North Korea 1 [91-95]. Indeed in living memory Australia has violated all 80 Indo-Pacific countries variously through war, military presence, assistance in US-backed  covert coups (8), and as a leading climate  criminal country that existentially threatens Humanity and the Biosphere [96, 97]. Between 1901 and 1974 White Australia insulted the 80% of the world who are not European by its racist White Australian Policy. However old habits die hard. White Australia was involved in all 1950 onwards US Asian Wars (atrocities associated with 40 million Asian deaths from violence and war-imposed deprivation) [32]. The Right-Far Right Liberal Party-National Party Coalition (presently in Opposition) supported all of these wars but the Centre-Right Labor Party (presently in government) supported all except for the  Iraq War and the Afghan War [32]. Australia treats adult and child boat-borne non-European refugees appallingly (highly abusive indefinite detention in remote, offshore prisons without charge or trial) and has helped the US devastate Asia since WW2. While Whites and non-Whites are now 76% and 24%, respectively, of the Australian population, they represent 94.9% and 5.1%, respectively of the senior leadership  of  major Australian organizations and institutions (e.g. corporations, parliament, and  universities). Australia is currently being rocked by huge scandals in the 4 Big Banks in which Whites and non-Whites average 89.7% and 10.3%, respectively, of Board members. Lack of cultural diversity evidently facilitates  corporate malfeasance [98, 99].

Australia as a US lackey has committed immense war crimes in utterly impoverished Occupied Iraq and utterly impoverished Occupied Afghanistan in gross violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention that demands that an Occupier must provide life-sustaining  food and medical services to its conquered Subjects “to the fullest extent of the means available to it” [100, 101]. However US lackey and Zionist-subverted racist White Australia simply looks the other way, and apart from the Left to progressive Centre Alternative media has an entrenched culture of lying by omission, especially concerning genocidal Apartheid Israel and Zionist-perverted America. For a website documenting a huge number of things that Australian Mainstream media do not want Australian to see, know about or think about see  “Australian Mainstream media lying & censorship”[102] (see also [103-106]).

One can readily understand that a genocidal racism-based and British  settler-colonialism-based Australia would find common cause with similarly genocidal racism-  and settler-colonialism-based  America and Apartheid Israel. Thus Australia under either a Labor Government or a Coalition Government is second only to the US as a fervent supporter of Apartheid Israel, is complicit in the Gaza Genocide in 20 ways [23], lies for Apartheid Israel in 35 ways [24], and is committed to this utterly disgusting course despite the fact that Australia is violated by traitorous  Zionists and Zionazi Apartheid Israel in about 50 ways [107].

For about 14 months the Australian Labor Government (together with the even worse pro-coal, Right- Far Right Coalition aka the COALition) has opposed an immediate and permanent Ceasefire in Gaza, a disgusting position adopted by all Federal MPs except for 15 Greens and 4 decent Independents, ex-Green Senator Lidia Thorpe, ex-Labor Senator Fatima Payman, Dr Helen Haines and Andrew Wilkie, a mere 19 out of a total of 227 Federal MPs (76 Senators and 151 Members of the House of Representatives) [108-110].

However there is a mounting backlash  from anti-racist Jewish, non-Jewish, young, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim Australians who naturally enough are distressed by the Jewish Israeli mass murder of children, mothers and women. Australia has a world’s best compulsory  and preferential voting system. For  a valid vote the voter must numerically indicate  the order of preference for all candidates. If a candidate fails to get 50% of the vote then second preferences are taken into account. Thus in the 2022 Federal Elections Center-Right Labor got 77seats with 32.6% of the first preference vote, the Right-Far Right Coalition got 58 seats with 35.7% of the vote and the Left-Centre Greens got  4 seats with 12.3% of the vote  – however Labor won because it got most of the second  preferences of the Green voters [111], Labor getting a winning “Two-Party Preferred Vote” (TPV) of 52.1% and the Coalition losing with only 47.9% .  The latest opinion polls suggest a reversal of this position with the Coalition getting  a TPV of 51% and Labor only 49% [112].

As summarized below, the cowardly, unprincipled, Zionist perverted and US lackey  Australian Labor Government after 14 months of blindly supporting Apartheid Israel has finally voted for “an  immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” (item #12 below) and “Israel to]  end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” (item #14 in the detailed analysis below) [113]. Labor clearly wants to try to appease Palestinian, Arab and Muslim voters in working class suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. However as the carnage mounts in Gaza and Apartheid Israel bombs and invades Lebanon and Syria the anger is not going away.  Young people recognize genocide when they see it – thus the famed Oxford Union voted overwhelmingly for the proposition that  “This house believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide” [114]. The utterly appalling Coalition has declared that it won’t arrest ICC-sought war criminal Netanyahu under the ICC-issued arrest warrants and cowardly and dishonest Labor is too scared to explicitly say yea or nay [115] . For this new position  Labor has been condemned  by the Coalition, Zionists and ICC-sought war criminal Netanyahu as “anti-Israel” and “antisemitic” for voting for International Law and Palestinian human rights. Pathological liar, genocidal racist, thief  and child killer Netanyahu absurdly accused fervently pro-Israel Labor  of being “anti-Israel” and thence asserted that “anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitism” [116]. However after an utterly  deplorable Melbourne synagogue arson in  Melbourne  and arson of cars and  anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney (all by persons unknown),  Labor joined the Zionist chorus of “antisemitism”, “terrorism” , “hate speech” and “damage to social cohesion” and is moving to further constrain free speech and weekly Sunday Rallies for  Palestinian human rights  [116].

While Labor’s belated support for the UNGA Resolutions for “an  immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” and “[Israel to] end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” is welcome, many decent Australians will vote 1 Green or Socialist and  put the awful, climate criminal and anti-Palestinian  human rights  Liberal Party –National Party  Coalition last  and Labor second last in Australia’s compulsory  and preferential voting system. Indeed The Age (the leadingqualityMelbourne newspaper) published a colour photo of one of the weekly Sunday Rallies (12 noon, Victorian  State Library, every Sunday since the beginning of the Gaza Genocide on 7 October 2023) showing me holding a huge 2-sided  placard saying “BOYCOTT APARTHEID ISRAEL, LABOR, LIBS”(the other side saying “WORLD: STOP PALESTINIAN GENOCIDE, ZIONISM”) [117].

(B). Set out below are details of how Apartheid Israel, the UK, the US and pro-Apartheid Australia voted on 16 Palestine-related Resolutions at the UN General  Assembly in 2024 [113]. Item #13 about “Assistance to the Palestinian People” was passed by consensus. In relation to the other 15 Resolutions (at Plenary Sessions or at pre-Plenary Committee, Israel voted No to all 15, and) the US voted No to all except for #3 (“Assistance to refugees”) on which it Abstained. The UK and Australia importantly  mostly voted Yes, and in particular voted Yes  to  “an  immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” (item #12 below) and “[Israel to]  end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” (item #14, but nevertheless showed their continuing loyalty to genocidal and International Law-violating  Zionazi Apartheid Israel by variously voting No or Abstaining for some other Palestine-related Resolutions upholding International Law (Australia 5 and the UK 6) [113].

Marked with an asterisk (*) below are votes in which my country Australia departed from civilized Humanity and voted No or Abstained. You can use this compilation [113] to see how your country voted.

*(1). “The occupied Syrian Golan” [A/C.4/79/L.15] (“Determines that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken or to be taken by Israel, the occupying Power, that purport to alter the character and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan are null and void…”),  Plenary vote: Australia Abstained, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (152 Yes (including UK and all of the EU), 5 No (United States, Israel, Argentina, Tonga, Papua New Guinea), 23 Abstained).

(2). “Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan” [A/C.4/79/L.16] (“Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development…Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 19 July 2024 by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”), Plenary vote:  Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (152 Yes (Including UK, Canada, & most of EU), 9 No (including US, Israel, Argentina, Hungary), 19 Abstained).

(3). “Assistance to Palestine refugees” [A/C.4/77/L.13] (“Expressing grave concern at the especially dire situation of the Palestine refugees under occupation, including with regard to their safety, well-being and socioeconomic living conditions”), Plenary vote: Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US Abstained (171 Yes (including UK, Canada, & all of EU), 3 No (Israel, Argentina, Papua New Guinea), 9 Abstained (including US, Cameroon, Panama, Paraguay).

(4). “Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues” [A/C.4/79/L.14] (“Reaffirms that the Palestine refugees are entitled to their property and to the income derived therefrom, in conformity with the principles of equity and justice…”), Plenary vote:  Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (164 Yes (including UK, Canada, & all of EU), 6 No (including US, Israel, Argentina), 9 Abstained).

*(5). “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East” [A/C.1/79/L.2] (“Recalling that Israel remains the only State in the Middle East that has not yet become a party to the Treaty”.  Israel is the only Middles Eastern country which has  nuclear weapons and is a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), Plenary vote: Australia Abstained, UK Abstained, Israel No, US No (153 Yes, 5 No (Israel, US, Argentina, Palau, Micronesia), 27 Abstained).

(6). “Oil slick on Lebanese shores” [A/C.2/79/L.9] (“Reiterates, for the nineteenth consecutive year, its deep concern about the adverse implications of the destruction by the Israeli Air Force of the oil storage tanks in the direct vicinity of the Lebanese Jiyeh electric power plant for the achievement of sustainable development in Lebanon…”), Pre-Plenary Committee vote: Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (161 Yes, 7 No (including United States, Canada, Israel, Argentina), 9 Abstained).

(7). “Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources” [A/C.2/ 79/L.40]  (“Expressing its grave concern also about the widespread destruction caused by Israel, the occupying Power, to vital infrastructure, including water pipelines, sewage networks and electricity networks, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”), Pre-Plenary Committee vote:  Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (159 Yes, 7 No (including US, Canada, Israel, Argentina), 11 Abstained).

(8). “The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination” [A/C.3/79/L.49] (“Recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 19 July 2024 by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, Pre-Plenary Committee vote: Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (170 Yes (Including UK, Canada, & all of EU), 6 No (Israel, US, Argentina, Paraguay, Micronesia, Nauru), 9 Abstained).

(9). “Admission of new Members to the United Nations” [A/RES/ES-10/23] (“Reaffirming its resolutions 43/176 of 15 December 1988 and 77/25 of 30 November 2022 and all relevant resolutions regarding the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine, which, inter alia, stress the need for the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem…Calls for renewed and coordinated efforts by the international community aimed at achieving without delay an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967”), Plenary vote: Australia Yes, UK Abstained, Israel No, US No (143 Yes, 9 No (including US, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Czechia), 25 Abstained).

*(10). “Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory” [A/RES/ES-10/24] (“Demands that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility, and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution…Demands that Israel comply without delay with all its legal obligations
under international law, including… withdrawing all its military forces from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including its airspace and maritime space”), Plenary vote: Australia Abstained, UK Abstained , Israel No, US No (124 Yes, 14 No (including US, Israel, Argentina, Hungary),43 Abstained).

(11). “Support for the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East” [A/ES-10/L.32] (“Deplores the legislation adopted by the Israeli Knesset on 28 October
2024…Deeply concerned also about attempts to discredit the Agency, as well as attempts to undermine and terminate its operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem…Underscores the imperative of reparations, in accordance with international law, for all losses, damage and destruction sustained by the Agency in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and calls upon the Secretary-General to undertake the necessary assessments to this end”), Plenary vote: Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (159 Yes (including UK, Canada, & most of EU), 9 No (including US, Israel, Argentina, Paraguay), 11 Abstain (Including Austria, Netherlands, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Czechia)).

(12). “Demand for ceasefire in Gaza” [A/ES-10/L.33] (“Recalling the orders of provisional measures of the International Court of Justice in the case concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip… given its determination that there is a real and imminent risk that irreparable prejudice will be caused to the rights found by the Court to be plausible, namely the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide… recalling also the advisory opinion rendered on 19 July 2024 by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory…Demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, to be respected by all parties, and further reiterates its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”), Plenary vote: Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (158 Yes (including UK, Canada, & most of EU), 9 No (including United States, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Czechia), 13 Abstained (Including Ukraine, Slovakia, Cameroon, Georgia, Albania).

(13). “Assistance to the Palestinian people” [A/79/L.41] (“Aware that development is difficult under occupation and is best promoted in circumstances of peace and stability. Noting the great economic and social challenges facing the Palestinian people and their leadership”), no plenary vote and a consensus decision i.e.  Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel Yes, US Yes (but (gross hypocrisy for the US that delivered 75,000 tons of bombs to Israel that were then dropped on Gaza).

(14). “Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine” [A/79/L.23] (“Reaffirming the illegality of Israeli settlement activities and all other unilateral measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the City of Jerusalem and of the Occupied Palestinian Territory as a whole, including the wall and its associated regime, and demanding their immediate cessation, and condemning any use of force against Palestinian civilians in violation of international law, notably children… Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply strictly with its obligations under international law, including as reflected in the advisory opinion of the International Court of 19 July 2024, including to bring an end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory… 15. Calls for: (a) The withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since1967, including East Jerusalem; (b) The realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent State; (c) A just resolution of the problem of Palestine refugees in conformity with its resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948;”), Plenary vote: Australia Yes, UK Yes, Israel No, US No (157 Yes (Including UK, Canada, & most of EU), 8 No (Including United States, Israel, Argentina, Hungary) and 7 Abstained).

*  (15). “The Syrian Golan” [A/79/L.19] (“Deeply concerned that Israel has not withdrawn from the Syrian Golan, which has been under occupation since 1967”), Plenary vote: Australia No, UK No, Israel No, US No (97 Yes, 8 No (including US, UK, Canada, Australia, Israel), 64 Abstained including  anti-nuclear weapons, 5-eyes member New Zealand ).

*(16). “Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat” [A/79/L.24] (“Considers that, by providing substantive support to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in the implementation of its mandate, the Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat continues to make a constructive and positive contribution…” “Requests the Division… to organize international meetings and activities in support of the Committee’s mandate … to liaise and cooperate with civil society and parliamentarians, including through the Working Group of the Committee, to develop and expand the ‘Question of Palestine’ website”), Plenary vote: Australia Abstained, UK No, Israel No, US No (101 Yes, 27 No (including US, Germany, UK, Canada, Italy, Israel, Austria, Switzerland), 42 Abstained).

Final comments and conclusions.

The Gaza Genocide must be halted and the Jewish Israeli perpetrators made to immediately leave Gaza  and all Occupied Territories to permit entry of (a) life-sustaining  water, food, winter clothing, shelter, electricity, fuel, medicine, and medical care teams, (b) UN peacekeepers to keep order and protect the surviving population and service providers, (c) reconstruction teams  and materials for vital housing and infrastructure reconstruction, and (d) forensic teams  to determine all who have died and how they died.

The World must apply rigorous  and comprehensive  Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Apartheid Israel and all its supporters – all the people, politicians, parties, collectives, companies and countries complicit in  this  horrific atrocity.

References.

[1]. Laura Silver and Maria Smerkovich, “Israeli Views of the Israel-Hamas War”, Pew Research Center, 30 May 2024: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/05/30/israeli-views-of-the-israel-hamas-war/ .

[2]. Gideon Polya, “Australia must stop Zionist subversion and join the World in comprehensive Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Apartheid Israel and all its supporters”, Subversion of Australia, 15 April 2021: https://sites.google.com/site/subversionofaustralia/2021-04-15 .

[3]. Ali Abunimah, “A third of young US Jews see Israel as genocidal, poll finds”, Electronic Intifada, 15 July 2021: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/third-young-us-jews-see-israel-genocidal-poll-finds .

[4]. Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA), “Survey Among American Jews: Over 51% Support for Biden’s Decision to Withhold Arms Shipments to Israel”, 31 May 2024: https://jcpa.org/survey-among-american-jews-over-51-support-for-bidens-decision-to-withhold-arms-shipments-to-israel/ .

[5]. “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”: https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf .

[6]. Devi Sridhar, “Scientists are closing in on the true, horrifying scale of death and disease in Gaza”, The Guardian, 5 September 2024: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/05/scientists-death-disease-gaza-polio-vaccinations-israel .

[7]. Gideon Polya, “Australia must stop Zionist subversion and join the World in comprehensive Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Apartheid Israel and all its supporters”, Subversion of Australia, 15 April 2021: https://sites.google.com/site/subversionofaustralia/2021-04-15 .

[8]. Susan Abulhawa, “Israel’s “nation-state law” parallels the Nazi Nuremburg Laws”, Al Jazeera, 27 July 2018: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/israel-nation-state-law-parallels-nazi-nuremberg-laws-180725084739536.html .

[9]. “Discriminatory laws in Israel:, Adalah, https://www.adalah.org/en/law/index?page=4 .

[10]. “2024 United States presidential election’, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election .

[11]. CNN, READ: Biden-Trump debate transcript , 28 June 2024: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/27/politics/read-biden-trump-debate-rush-transcript/index.html .

[12]. Riley Hoffman, “READ: Harris-Trump presidential debate transcript”, [US] ABC News, 11 September 2024: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/harris-trump-presidential-debate-transcript/story?id=113560542 .

[13]. Thomas Piketty,  “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”, Harvard University Press, 2014.

[14]. Gideon Polya, “Key Book Review: “Capital In The Twenty-First Century” By Thomas Piketty “, Countercurrents, 1 July, 2014: https://countercurrents.org/polya010714.htm .

[15]. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, “Manufacturing Consent. The political economy of the mass media” , Pantheon, 2002.

[16]. “International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid”: https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.10_International%20Convention%20on%20the%20Suppression%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Apartheid.pdf .

[17]. “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”: https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf .

[18]. “2024 United Kingdom general election”, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_Kingdom_general_election .

[19]. Gideon Polya, “Australia must stop Zionist subversion and join the World in comprehensive Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Apartheid Israel and all its supporters”, Subversion of Australia, 15 April 2021: https://sites.google.com/site/subversionofaustralia/2021-04-15 .

[20]. Nur Masalha, “Palestine. A four thousand year history”, Zed Books, 1999.

[21]. Gideon Polya, “Genocide-complicit US & US Allies Reject ICC Arrest Warrants For Genocidal Zionazis Netanyahu & Gallant”, Countercurrents, 1 December 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/12/genocide-complicit-us-us-allies-reject-icc-arrest-warrants-for-genocidal-zionazis-netanyahu-gallant/ .

[22]. “UK surveillance flights over Gaza ‘complicity’ in Israel war: Palestine”, Middle East Monitor, 6 December 2024: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231206-uk-surveillance-flights-over-gaza-complicity-in-israel-war-palestine/ .

[23]. Gideon Polya, “20 Ways Anti-Semitic Australian Labor Government Complicit In Jewish Israeli Gaza Genocide”, Countercurrents, 5 March 2023: https://countercurrents.org/2024/03/20-ways-anti-semitic-australian-labor-government-complicit-in-jewish-israeli-gaza-genocide/

[24]. Gideon Polya, “Gaza Massacre: 35 Ways Zionist-perverted US, Australia & West Lie For Child-killing, Neo-Nazi Apartheid Israel”, Countercurrents, 23 November 2023: https://countercurrents.org/2023/11/gaza-massacre-35-ways-zionist-perverted-us-australia-west-lie-for-child-killing-neo-nazi-apartheid-israel/

[25]. “Jews Against Racism Zionism”: https://sites.google.com/site/jewsagainstracistzionism/home .

[26]. Gideon Polya, “Paris Atrocity Context: 27 Million Muslim Avoidable Deaths From Imposed Deprivation In 20 Countries Violated By US Alliance Since 9-11”, Countercurrents, 22 November, 2015: https://countercurrents.org/polya221115.htm .

[27]. “Experts: US did 9/11”: https://sites.google.com/site/expertsusdid911/home .

[28]. Gideon Polya, “12th Anniversary Of Illegal Iraq Invasion – 2.7 Million Iraqi Dead From Violence Or War-imposed Deprivation”, Countercurrents,  23 March, 2015: https://www.countercurrents.org/polya230315.htm .

[29]. Gideon Polya, “Muslim Holocaust,  Muslim Genocide”: https://sites.google.com/site/muslimholocaustmuslimgenocide/home .

[30]. Gideon Polya, “Afghan Holocaust – The Awful Truth Versus US Alliance Lies”, Countercurrents, 22 August 2021: https://countercurrents.org/2021/08/afghan-holocaust-the-awful-truth-versus-us-alliance-lies/#:~:text=So%20far%20the%202001-2021%20Afghan%20Holocaust .

[31]. Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs, “Costs of War”: https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/summary .

[32]. Gideon Polya, “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950”, 2nd edition, Korsgaard Publishing, 2021.

[33], Gideon Polya in Soren Korsgaard, editor, “The Most Dangerous Book Ever Published: Dangerous Deception Exposed!”, Korsgaard Publishing, 2020.

[34]. Gideon Polya, “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History. Colonial rapacity, holocaust denial and the crisis in biological sustainability”, 3rd edition, Korsgaard Publishing, 2022.

[35]. Gideon Polya, “US-imposed Post-9/11 Muslim Holocaust & Muslim Genocide”, Korsgaard Publishing, 2020.

[36]. Gideon Polya, “Western Undercounting Of 335,500 Gaza Genocide Dead From Jewish Israeli-Imposed Violence & Deprivation”, Countercurrents, 15 October 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/10/western-undercounting-of-335500-gaza-genocide-dead-from-jewish-israeli-imposed-violence-deprivation/ .

[37]. “Report genocide”: https://sites.google.com/site/reportgenocide/ .

[38]. Gideon Polya, “Racist Mainstream Ignores “US-Imposed Post-9/11 Muslim Holocaust & Muslim Genocide”, Countercurrents, 17 July 2020: https://countercurrents.org/2020/07/racist-mainstream-ignores-us-imposed-post-9-11-muslim-holocaust-muslim-genocide/ .

[39]. “UK attitudes toward the conflict in Israel and Gaza”, Ipsos, 4 October 2024: https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/uk-attitudes-toward-conflict-israel-and-gaza .

[40].  Gideon Polya , “335,500 Gaza Dead Estimate: Voting For Kid-Killing Kamala (KKK) Harris Means Complicity in Genocide “, Countercurrents,  25 October 2024:

https://countercurrents.org/2024/10/335500-gaza-dead-estimate-voting-for-kid-killing-kamala-kkk-harris-means-complicity-in-genocide/ .

[41]. Gideon Polya , “Kid-Killing Kamala (KKK) Harris-complicit Gaza Genocide”, Dissident Voice, 26 October 2024:  https://dissidentvoice.org/2024/10/kid-killing-kamala-kkk-harris-complicit-gaza-genocide/ .

[42]. Gideon Polya, “Kid-Killing Kamala (KKK) Harris Complicit in Gaza Genocide”, Global Research, 3 November 2024: https://www.globalresearch.ca/kamala-harris-complicit-gaza-genocide/5871233 .

[43]. “Aboriginal Genocide”:  https://sites.google.com/site/aboriginalgenocide/home .

[44]. Gideon Polya, “Apartheid Israel’s Palestinian Genocide & Australia’s  Aboriginal Genocide Compared”, Countercurrents, 20 February 2018: https://countercurrents.org/2018/02/apartheid-israels-palestinian-genocide-australias-aboriginal-genocide-compared/ .

[45]. Gideon Polya, “Censorship Of Stan Grant, Indigenous Australians & Palestinians, Julian Assange & Truth Tellers”, Countercurrents, 25 May 2023: https://countercurrents.org/2023/05/censorship-of-stan-grant-indigenous-australians-palestinians-julian-assange-truth-tellers/ .

[46]. Gideon Polya, “Political Lynching Of Lidia Thorpe & Huge Failure To Report In Zionist-Subverted Australia”, Countercurrents,  23 October 2022: https://countercurrents.org/2022/10/political-lynching-of-lidia-thorpe-huge-failure-to-report-in-zionist-subverted-australia/  .

[47].Gideon Polya, “Rich Australia Ignores 100,000 Preventable Deaths Annually: The Cost Of Neoliberalism & Lying”, Countercurrents,  29 September 2022: https://countercurrents.org/2022/09/rich-australia-ignores-100000-preventable-deaths-annually-the-cost-of-neoliberalism-lying/ .

[48]. Gideon Polya, “Queen Elizabeth II & 70 years of UK colonialism, neo-colonialism, wars, mass mortality & genocide”, Countercurrents, 18 September 2022: https://countercurrents.org/2022/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-70-years-of-uk-colonialism-neo-colonialism-wars-mass-mortality-genocide/ .

[49]. Gideon Polya, “Review: “Cambridge History of Australia” ignores Australian involvement in 30 genocides”, Countercurrents, 14 October 2013: https://countercurrents.org/polya141013.htm .

[50]. Gideon Polya, “Australian Climate Criminality, Heat Stress Deaths & Australian  Aboriginal Ethnocide” , 19 December 2019: https://countercurrents.org/2019/12/australian-climate-criminality-heat-stress-deaths-australian-aboriginal-ethnocide/ .

[51]. “Aboriginal prison rates”, Creative Spirits: http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/law/aboriginal-prison-rates .

[52]. Gideon Polya, “Australian Aboriginal Genocide Continues Despite Historic Apology”, Countercurrents, 19 February, 2008 : http://www.countercurrents.org/polya190208.htm .

[53]. Paddy Gibson, “Stolen futures”, Overland , Spring 2013: http://overland.org.au/previous-issues/issue-212/feature-paddy-gibson/ .

[54]. Gideon Polya,  “Film Review: “Utopia” By John Pilger Exposes Genocidal Maltreatment Of Indigenous Australians By Apartheid Australia”, Countercurrents,  14 March 2014: https://countercurrents.org/polya140314.htm .

[55]. Gideon Polya, “ Ongoing Aboriginal Genocide And Aboriginal Ethnocide By Politically Correct Racist Apartheid Australia ”, Countercurrents, 16 February 2014: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya160214.htm .

[56]. Thomson N, Burns J, Burrow S, Kirov E (2004) Overview of Indigenous health 2004. Australian Indigenous Health Bulletin , 4(4), October-December 2004: http://archive.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/html/html_bulletin/bull_44/reviews/thomson/reviews_thomson_1.htm .

[57]. MacRae A, Thomson N, Anomie, Burns J, Catto M, Gray C, Levitan L, McLoughlin N, Potter C, Ride K, Stumpers S, Trzesinski A, Urquhart B (2013). Overview of Australian Indigenous health status, 2012: http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-facts/overviews .

[58]. John Pilger, “Mandela’s gone but apartheid lives in Australia ”, Green Left Weekly, 26 December 2013: https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/55595 .

[59].  Gideon Polya, “Australian State Terrorism –  Zero Australian Terrorism Deaths, 1 Million Preventable Australian Deaths & 10 Million Muslims Killed By US Alliance Since 9-11”, Countercurrents, 23 September, 2014: https://countercurrents.org/polya230914.htm .

[60]. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor,  “New report.. De-Gaza: A Year of Israel’s Genocide and the Collapse of World Order”, 6 October 2024: https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6494/New-report..-De-Gaza:-A-Year-of-Israel%E2%80%99s-Genocide-and-the-Collapse-of-World-Order .

[61]. Gideon Polya, “Estimated 273,000 Gazans Killed In the First Year Of Oxford Union-Perceived Gaza Genocide By Apartheid Israel”, Countercurrents, 6 December 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/12/estimated-273000-gazans-killed-in-the-first-year-of-oxford-union-perceived-gaza-genocide-by-apartheid-israel/ .

[62]. “The IHRA member countries”: https://holocaustremembrance.com/who-we-are/member-countries .

[63]. Gideon Polya, “Australian Universities Complicit With  Pro-Zionist Censorship And Genocidal Israeli  Militarism”, Countercurrents, 24 May 2012: https://countercurrents.org/polya240512.htm .

[64]. Vacy Vlazna, “Israeli Hawkademia in Australian Universities”, Palestinian Chronicle, 5 February 2012: http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19268 .

[65]. Gideon Polya, “Zionist-subverted University of Melbourne Falsely Defames Anti-racist Jews & Non-Jews”, Countercurrents, 26 June 2022: https://countercurrents.org/2022/06/zionist-subverted-university-of-melbourne-falsely-defames-anti-racist-jews-non-jews/ .

[66]. Gideon Polya, “Uni of Melbourne falsely defames anti-racist Jews, non-Jews critical of apartheid Israel”, Green Left, 28 June 2022: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/uni-melbourne-falsely-defames-anti-racist-jews-non-jews-critical-apartheid-israel .

[67]. Caitlin Cassidy, “Melbourne university first in Australia to take up controversial definition of antisemitism. International code adopted as part of ‘anti-racism commitment’ could be used to shut down genuine criticism of the state of Israel, critics warn”, Guardian, 25 January 2023: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/25/melbourne-university-first-in-australia-to-take-up-controversial-definition-of-antisemitism .

[68]. Guy Rundle, “Melbourne Uni’s new anti-Semitism guidelines are an attack on free thought”, Crikey, 27 January 2023: https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/01/27/melbourne-university-anti-semitism-guidelines/ .

[69]. Micaela Sahhar, Sahar Ghumkor, Jasmine Barzani, and Natale Ironfield, “The IHRA definition of anti-Semitism has no place on Australian campuses”, Al Jazeera, 6 December 2023: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/12/6/the-ihra-definition-of-anti-semitism-has-no-place-on-australian-campuses .

[70]. Gideon Polya, “Melbourne University Adopts Anti-Semitic & Holocaust-Ignoring IHRA Definition Of Anti-Semitism”, Countercurrents, 5 February 2023: https://countercurrents.org/2023/02/melbourne-university-adopts-anti-semitic-holocaust-ignoring-ihra-definition-of-anti-semitism/ .

[71]. Gideon Polya, “Zionists & Pro-Zionist, US Lackey Australian Government Threaten Australian Academic Free Speech”, Countercurrents, 7 March 2023: https://countercurrents.org/2023/03/zionists-pro-zionist-us-lackey-australian-government-threaten-australian-academic-free-speech/ .

[72]. Gideon Polya, “Melbourne University Backs Racist and Anti-Semitic IHRA”, Dissident Voice, 7 February 2023: https://dissidentvoice.org/2023/02/melbourne-university-backs-racist-and-anti-semitic-ihra/ .

[73]. Gideon Polya, “US-backed IHRA Definition Of Antisemitism Is Anti-Arab Anti-Semitic & Anti-Jewish Anti-Semitic”, Boycott Apartheid Israel, 9 March 2021: https://sites.google.com/site/boycottapartheidisrael/2021-03-09 .

[74]. Jewish Voices for Peace, “First ever: 40+ Jewish groups worldwide oppose equating antisemitism with criticism of Israel”, 17 July 2018: https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/first-ever-40-jewish-groups-worldwide-oppose-equating-antisemitism-with-criticism-of-israel/#english .

[75]. Save The Children, “Complete psychological destruction”: Children in Gaza have suffered “relentless mental harm” during five months of war – Save the Children”, 12 March 2024:  https://www.savethechildren.net/news/complete-psychological-destruction-children-gaza-have-suffered-relentless-mental-harm-during .

[76]. Amira Mohamed Taha, “Addressing the mental health crisis among children in Gaza”, The Lancet, Volume 11, Issue 4, p249-250, April 2024: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(24)00036-1/fulltext .

[77]. Julian Borger, “Death feels imminent for 96% of children in Gaza, study finds”, The Guardian, 12 December 2024: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/11/death-feels-imminent-for-96-of-children-in-gaza-study-finds .

[78]. War Child, “New Study: Gaza’s Children Face Severe Psychological Toll Amid Catastrophic War” , 11 December 2024: https://www.warchild.net/news/new-study-gaza-children-psychological-toll/ .

[79]. War Child (2024), “Child shares first study of psychological impact of war on vulnerable children in Gaza”, 11 December 2024: https://www.warchild.org.uk/news/war-child-shares-first-study-psychological-impact-war-vulnerable-children-gaza .

[80]. Community Training Centre for Crisis Management (CTCCM), Dutch Relief Alliance – Gaza Joint Response Programme, “Needs Study: Impact of War in Gaza on Children with Vulnerabilities and Families”, November 2024: file:///D:/Users/Gideon/Downloads/CTCCM_Gaza_Needs_Assessment_Report_2024_WCUK.pdf .

[81]. Gideon Polya, “Horrendous Pro-Zionist, Zionist And Apartheid Israeli Child Abuse Exposed”, Countercurrents, 21 April, 2014: https://countercurrents.org/polya210414.htm .

[82]. Gideon Polya, “Horrendous Child Abuse By  Pro-war, Pro-Zionist, Climate Criminal Australian Coalition Governments”,  Countercurrents, 4 December, 2013: https://countercurrents.org/polya041213.htm .

[83]. “Little Children are Sacred” Report: http://web.archive.org/web/20070703014641/http://www.nt.gov.au/dcm/inquirysaac/pdf/bipacsa_final_report.pdf  .

[84]. Dunne, M.P., Purdie, D.M., Cook, M.D., Boyle, F.M. & Najman, J.M.(2003), Is child sexual abuse declining? Evidence from a population-based survey of men and women in Australia , Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 27 (2), pp141-152).

[85]. Gideon Polya, “Sectarian Australian Mainstream Ignores Horrendous Child Sexual Abuse Of 4.4 Million Australians”,  Countercurrents, 15 November, 2012: https://countercurrents.org/polya151112.htm ,

[86]. Jane Lee, “Child abuse victims lead “shorter lives” than other children, royal commission hears”, The Age, 25 May 2015: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/child-abuse-victims-live-shorter-lives-than-other-children-royal-commission-hears-20150525-gh8y1d.html .

[87].  Australian Institute of Criminology (1993). Second Conference on Violence (June 1993).

[88]. Brave Hearts, “Child sexual assault: facts and statistics”: https://www.bravehearts.org.au/files/Facts%20and%20Stats_updated141212.pdf .

[89].  David Finkelhor, “The international epidemiology of child sexual abuse”, Child Abuse & Neglect, Volume 18, Issue 5, May 1994, Pages 409–417: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0145213494900264 .

[90]. Gideon Polya, “Australia’s Horrendous Abuse Of Aboriginal Children The Tip Of Massive Australian Child Abuse”, Countercurrents, 30 July 2016: https://countercurrents.org/2016/07/australias-horrendous-abuse-of-aboriginal-children-the-tip-of-massive-australian-child-abuse/ .

[91]. “Stop state terrorism”: https://sites.google.com/site/stopstateterrorism/home .

[92]. Gideon Polya, “As UK Lackeys Or US Lackeys Australians Have Invaded 85 Countries (British 193, French 80, US 70)”, Countercurrents, 9 February, 2015: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya090215.htm .

[93]. Gideon Polya, “The US Has Invaded 70 Nations Since 1776 – Make 4 July Independence From America Day”, Countercurrents, 5 July, 2013: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya050713.htm  .

[94]. ; Gideon Polya, “British Have Invaded 193 Countries: Make 26 January ( Australia Day, Invasion Day) British Invasion Day”, Countercurrents, 23 January, 2015: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya230115.htm .

[95]. Gideon Polya, “President Hollande And French Invasion Of Privacy Versus French Invasion Of 80 Countries Since 800 AD”, Countercurrents, 15 January, 2014: http://www.countercurrents.org/polya150114.htm  .

[96].  Gideon Polya, “AUKUS & Quad In Context: Australia Violates All Indo-Pacific countries”, Countercurrents, 9 December 2021: https://countercurrents.org/2021/12/aukus-quad-in-context-australia-violates-all-indo-pacific-countries/ .

[97]. Gideon Polya, “Australia violates all Indo-Pacific countries”, Stop state terrorism, 9 December 2021: https://sites.google.com/site/stopstateterrorism/2021-12-09-australia-violates-all-indo-pacific-countries .

[98]. Tim  Soutphomassane, Greg Whitwell, Kate Jordan and Philipp Ivanov, “Leading for Change. A blueprint for cultural diversity and inclusive leadership revisited”, 2018.

[99]. Gideon Polya, “Review: “Leading for Change” – corporate  cultural diversity deficiency & Australian financial scandals”, Countercurrents,  3 May 2018: https://countercurrents.org/2018/05/review-leading-for-change-corporate-cultural-diversity-deficiency-australian-financial-scandals .

[100]. Gideon Polya, “Australian National Anti-Corruption Commission Rejects Submissions Re Huge Australian War Crimes and Carbon Debt”, Countercurrents, 2 October 2023: https://countercurrents.org/2023/10/australian-national-anti-corruption-commission-rejects-submissions-re-huge-australian-war-crimes-and-carbon-debt/ .

[101]. Fourth Geneva Convention (The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War: https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.33_GC-IV-EN.pdf .

[102]. “Australian Mainstream media lying & censorship”: https://sites.google.com/site/mainstreammedialying/australian-mainstream-media-lying-censorshp .

[103]. “Gideon Polya”:  https://sites.google.com/site/drgideonpolya/home .

[104]. “Racist & lying Australian Mainstream ignores awful truths”: https://sites.google.com/site/mainstreammedialying/racist-lying-australian-mainstream-ignores-awful-truths .

[105]. “Gideon Polya Countercurrents articles”: https://sites.google.com/site/palestinegenocideessays/gideon-polya-countercurrents-articles .

[106]. “Countercurrents articles by Gideon Polya”: https://sites.google.com/site/drgideonpolya/countercurrents-articles .

[107]. Gideon Polya, “Racist Zionism and Israeli State Terrorism threats to Australia and Humanity”, Palestinian Genocide, 2010: https://sites.google.com/site/palestiniangenocide/racist-zionism-and-israeli .

[108]. Australian House of Representatives, “Middle East”, Hansard, 7 February 2024: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=chamber/hansardr/27585/&sid=0061 .

[109]. Gideon Polya, “Put Labor Last: Traitorous Australian Labor Government Deceives Australians For US & Genocidal Apartheid Israel”, Countercurrents, 21 May 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/05/put-labor-last-traitorous-australian-labor-government-deceives-australians-for-us-genocidal-apartheid-israel/ .

[110]. Gideon Polya, “Breakthrough: Australian Labor Senator Fatima Payman Condemns Jewish Israeli Gaza Genocide, Human Rights Denial & Occupation”, Countercurrents, 17 May 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/05/breakthrough-australian-labor-senator-fatima-payman-condemns-jewish-israeli-gaza-genocide-human-rights-denial-occupation/ .

[111]. “2022 Australian federal election”, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Australian_federal_election .

[112]. Adrian Beaumont, “Labor and Albanese end 2024 in worst poll position this term”,   The Conversation, 18 December 2024: https://theconversation.com/labor-and-albanese-end-2024-in-worst-poll-position-this-term-245846 .

[113]. “2024 UNGA Resolutions on Israel [16] vs. Rest of the World [6]”: https://unwatch.org/2024-unga-resolutions-on-israel-vs-rest-of-the-world/ .

[114]. Gideon Polya, “Estimated 273,000 Gazans Killed In the First Year Of Oxford Union-Perceived Gaza Genocide By Apartheid Israel”, Countercurrents, 6 December 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/12/estimated-273000-gazans-killed-in-the-first-year-of-oxford-union-perceived-gaza-genocide-by-apartheid-israel/ .

[115]. Gideon Polya,  “Genocide-complicit US & US Allies Reject ICC Arrest Warrants For Genocidal Zionazis Netanyahu & Gallant”, Countercurrents, 1 December 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/12/genocide-complicit-us-us-allies-reject-icc-arrest-warrants-for-genocidal-zionazis-netanyahu-gallant/ .

[116]. Gideon Polya , “Melbourne Synagogue Arson By Unknown Agents Fans Zionist Lies, Hysteria, Islamophobia & Human Rights Abuse “, Countercurrents, 13 December 2024: https://countercurrents.org/2024/12/melbourne-synagogue-arson-by-unknown-agents-fans-zionist-lies-hysteria-islamophobia-human-rights-abuse/ .

[117].  Michael Bachelard and Carla Jaeger, “Protests to go on ‘until liberation’, say pro-Palestinian rally organisers”, The Age, 8 December 2024:  https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/protests-to-go-on-until-liberation-say-pro-palestinian-organisers-20241208-p5kwqj.html .

Dr Gideon Polya taught science students at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia over 4 decades.

20 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Marwan Asmar

One Hamas fighter, killed an Israeli officer and three other soldiers on the streets of Jabalia, north Gaza in a turnaround posture in this bloody war on the Palestinian enclave.

The killing, Thursday morning, was a face-to-face operation as the lone Izz Al Din Al Qassam fighter first stabbed the Israeli soldiers, took away their weapons and armor and quickly vanished from the scene.

This is the first-time that a direct man-to-man fighting at zero-distance between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers since the onslaught on Gaza that began soon after 7 October, 2023.

Observers see such a move as a major qualitative step of hand-to-hand combat. Up till now, and it has been 14 months of fighting, Hamas and Palestinian resistance operatives have been fighting the Israeli army from a distance – throwing grenades, missiles at their tanks, troop carriers and/or bulldozers. They were not operations as this latest one.

Through the Hamas’s operatives, the latest action was different, aiming for bodily contact which has never done before, on the Gaza Strip, nor at anywhere else in the world, one analyst pointed out for the latest “knifing” with a blunt instrument, showed the Palestinian resistance were now daring the Israeli soldiers to come and fight in open warfare.

It is seen as a major development in what has long  been turned into a war of attrition on the streets of Gaza between Hamas fighters and the Israeli army.

It shows the spunk of the Palestinian fighters after Israeli militarily in-roaded north Gaza since 5 October 2024 and had been trying to end the presence of the Palestinian resistance there but to no avail. Of course, the Israeli army including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps boasting about the end of Hamas being near but what is happening on the ground doesn’t show that at all but the complete opposite.

Also on Thursday, a Hamas sniper killed an Israeli soldier in the Tawam residential neighborhood, north of Gaza city to the west of Jabalia. He was part of a group of soldiers on top of a building, when he was sniped and instantly killed.

Brigadier-General Elias Hanna – a military analyst in Al Jazeera – say the latest military combat proves the Palestinian resistance have not been beaten but on the contrary, they are continually changing their military tactics and ways of fighting. He added it  reflects the transition to a new qualitative phase of zero-distance targeting.

He added that from now on they could be aiming to fight man-to-man if indeed such operations as that happened in Jabalia continues to occur on a frequent basis from now on.

Israeli soldiers have been steadily falling over the past months because of the resistance despite the fact that there are currently three Israeli military divisions operating in the area as Hanna points out.

Dr Marwan Asmar, a Jordanian writer, is an editor of the www.crossfirearabia.com

20 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Palestinian Territory – A new investigation conducted by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has revealed a massacre committed by the Israeli military, killing over 15 Palestinians and injuring others, including women, children, and the elderly, in an air strike targeting a mosque in Gaza City during dawn prayers.

Euro-Med Monitor investigated the Israeli attack on Al-Hassan Mosque in Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, Gaza City, during dawn prayers on 16 November 2023, concluding that no evidence was found of any military targets, such as objects or armed individuals, inside the mosque or in its surrounding area at the time of the attack.

According to the investigation’s findings, at approximately 4:45 am on Wednesday, 16 November 2023, Israeli aircraft struck Al-Hassan Mosque in the Al-Sanafur area of Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, without any prior warning. The attack involved one or two heavy, high-explosive bombs and occurred just as worshippers began their dawn prayers.

The Israeli air strike destroyed the mosque, one of the largest in the area, within seconds, collapsing it onto the worshippers inside. Only remnants of its entrance and the two surrounding minarets remained. The attack resulted in the deaths of all worshippers present, with most of the bodies reduced to fragments.

The attack also resulted in casualties and injuries of varying degrees in a house adjacent to the mosque. Additionally, several nearby structures, including garages used for car repairs, carpentry, and washing, were destroyed. The air strike also caused damage to residential buildings and facilities surrounding the mosque in the area.

As part of its investigation into the military attack, Euro-Med Monitor employed its standard investigative methodology, beginning by collecting preliminary data related to the incident. Field teams were dispatched to the attack site to document the human and material damage and verify the absence of any military presence or armed activities in the area at the time of the attack.

The field team conducted personal interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses, including testimonies from six residents of the area and relatives of the victims who remained in the neighbourhood despite the forced displacement of most of its population following the mosque’s targeting. The team also documented the names of the deceased and injured.

In addition to on-site visits and gathering testimonies from survivors and witnesses, Euro-Med Monitor’s team analysed video footage and photographs capturing the aftermath of the attack and the crime scene. Satellite imagery was also reviewed, revealing the extent of the massive destruction to the site before and after the air strike.

Ezz Al-Din Maher Kraim, an 18-year-old resident of the area and the son of one of the massacre’s victims, recounted to Euro-Med Monitor’s team: “When we entered the mosque after the Israeli bombing, we found no trace of anyone who was inside at the time. All of them were torn into pieces, there was no sign of anyone.”

Euro-Med Monitor was able to identify 10 of the victims, including a young girl, a woman, and eight men, two of whom were elderly. Some victims remain unidentified as their bodies were torn apart or remain buried under the rubble.

The Israeli attack on the mosque lacked any justification based on military necessity. Moreover, the Israeli army has offered no explanation or justification for this crime. The attack constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law principles, including distinction, proportionality, and the obligation to take precautions—fundamental rules that Israel is required to uphold at all times without exception.

As such, this attack constitutes a cluster of fully-fledged war crimes committed by the Israeli army against civilians protected under international humanitarian law, as well as against a place of worship classified as a civilian object safeguarded by the same law.

This crime, which directly targeted civilians with death and injury, also amounts to a crime against humanity due to its occurrence within the context of a widespread and systematic military campaign carried out by Israel against Gaza’s civilian population for over a year. Furthermore, this massacre qualifies as an act of genocide, part of Israel’s ongoing campaign since 7 October 2023 to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza.

Therefore, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reiterates its call to the international community to fulfil its legal international obligations by working to halt the ongoing genocide in Gaza using all available means. The prevention and punishment of this crime are international legal obligations incumbent upon all states without exception. This is an absolute obligation towards all, ensuring the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from all Palestinian territory, including Gaza, and the dismantling of all Israeli military bases, barriers, and checkpoints.

Furthermore, Euro-Med Monitor urges the International Criminal Court to examine and investigate all crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, including the Hassan Mosque massacre, as well as the thousands of other massacres carried out by the Israeli army in the strip. It also calls for the expansion of investigations into individual criminal responsibility for these crimes to include all those accountable, and for the swift issuance of arrest warrants against all perpetrators.

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

20 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Gaza (Quds News Network)- At least 15 Palestinians were killed and 30 others injured in Israeli attacks on two schools sheltering hundreds of displaced families in Gaza City on Thursday.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1869764922651078849]

Local sources and medics reported that most of the victims were women and children. The attack hit the Dar al-Arqam and Shaaban al-Rayes schools in the Tuffah neighbourhood.

Witnesses added that the Israeli attack caused huge destruction to the schools and nearby residential buildings.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1869773461251608662]

The Israeli military claimed, without providing evidence, that the deadly attacks carried out on the two school shelters were a “precise strike” that targeted “terrorists who were operating in command and control centres” in the buildings.

Since the start of the ongoing genocide, the Israeli military has repeatedly targeted schools-turned-shelters across Gaza. These attacks have included shelling, direct shootings, and the killing of forcibly displaced people and their families or making them leave the schools under fire and/or with orders to flee.

20 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Human Rights Watch

• Israeli authorities have deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the population in Gaza by intentionally depriving Palestinian civilians there of adequate access to water, most likely resulting in thousands of deaths.
• In doing so, Israeli authorities are responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide. The pattern of conduct, coupled with statements suggesting that some Israeli officials wished to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, may amount to the crime of genocide.
• Governments and international organizations should take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, including discontinuing military assistance, reviewing bilateral agreements and diplomatic relations, and supporting the International Criminal Court and other accountability efforts.

(Jerusalem) – Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinian civilians in Gaza of adequate access to water since October 2023, most likely resulting in thousands of deaths and thus committing the crime against humanity of extermination and acts of genocide, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

In the 179-page report, “Extermination and Acts of Genocide: Israel Deliberately Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of Water,” Human Rights Watch found that Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinians in Gaza of access to safe water for drinking and sanitation needed for basic human survival. Israeli authorities and forces cut off and later restricted piped water to Gaza; rendered most of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure useless by cutting electricity and restricting fuel; deliberately destroyed and damaged water and sanitation infrastructure and water repair materials; and blocked the entry of critical water supplies.

“Water is essential for human life, yet for over a year the Israeli government has deliberately denied Palestinians in Gaza the bare minimum they need to survive,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “This isn’t just negligence; it is a calculated policy of deprivation that has led to the deaths of thousands from dehydration and disease that is nothing short of the crime against humanity of extermination, and an act of genocide.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed 66 Palestinians from Gaza, 4 employees of Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), 31 healthcare professionals, and 15 people working with United Nations agencies and international aid organizations in Gaza. Human Rights Watch also analyzed satellite imagery, photographs, and videos captured between the beginning of the hostilities in October 2023 and September 2024, as well as data collected and estimates produced by doctors, epidemiologists, humanitarian aid organizations, and water and sanitation experts.

Human Rights Watch concluded that Israeli authorities have intentionally created conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza in whole or in part. This policy, inflicted as part of a mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination, which is ongoing. This policy also amounts to one of the five “acts of genocide” under the Genocide Convention of 1948. Genocidal intent may also be inferred from this policy, coupled with statements suggesting some Israeli officials wished to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, and therefore the policy may amount to the crime of genocide.

Immediately after the attacks in southern Israel by Hamas-led Palestinian armed groups in Gaza on October 7, 2023, which Human Rights Watch has found amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Israeli authorities cut all electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip. On October 9, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” of Gaza, stating: “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is closed.”

That same day, and for weeks thereafter, Israeli authorities cut off all water and blocked fuel, food, and humanitarian aid from entering the strip. Israeli authorities continue to restrict the entry of water, fuel, food, and aid into Gaza and to cut Gaza’s electricity, which is required to operate life-sustaining infrastructure. This continued even after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued provisional measures in January, March, and May 2024 ordering Israeli authorities to protect Palestinians in Gaza from genocide and, in so doing, provide humanitarian aid, specifying in March that this includes water, food, electricity, and fuel.

Israeli authorities have also barred nearly all water-related aid from entering Gaza, including water filtration systems, water tanks, and materials needed to repair water infrastructure.

Between October 2023 and August 2024, the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, the UN, and other sources reported that people in Gaza did not have access to the minimum amount of water needed for survival in long-term emergency situations. In northern Gaza, the UN reported that people did not have access to potable water for over five months, between November 2023 and April 2024. While a study of water access in August showed that people’s access to water had increased, most people still did not have adequate water needed for drinking and cooking.

Human Rights Watch found that Israeli forces have deliberately attacked and damaged or destroyed several major water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities. In several cases, Human Rights Watch found evidence that Israeli ground forces were in control of the areas at the time, indicating that the destruction was deliberate.

The decimation of Gaza’s healthcare system, including healthcare tracking, has meant that confirmed cases of disease, illnesses, and deaths possibly linked to water-borne disease, dehydration, and starvation are not being systematically tracked or reported. However, based on interviews with healthcare professionals and epidemiologists, it is likely that thousands of people have died as a result of the Israeli authorities’ actions. The deaths are in addition to the more than 44,000 people directly killed in the hostilities, as recorded by Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Hundreds of thousands of people have also contracted diseases and health conditions to which the lack of access to safe and sufficient water has likely caused or contributed, including diarrhea, hepatitis A, skin diseases, and upper respiratory infections. Water deprivation is particularly harmful to infants, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people with disabilities.

The crime of genocide requires committing acts of genocide with genocidal intent. The ICJ has said that to infer such intent from a pattern of conduct by the state, it needs to be “the only reasonable inference to be drawn” from the acts in question. Human Rights Watch’s findings, and statements from Israeli officials suggesting that they wished to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza, may indicate such intent.

Human Rights Watch also found that some statements from senior Israeli officials calling for cutting water, fuel, and aid, in tandem with their actions, have amounted to direct and public incitement to genocide.

The Israeli government’s continuing blockade of Gaza, as well as its more than 17-year closure of the strip, also amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population, a war crime. The closure also constitutes part of the continuing crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution that Israeli authorities have been committing against Palestinians.

Several governments have undermined accountability efforts and continue to provide the Israeli government with arms despite the clear risk of complicity in serious violations of international humanitarian law.

“Governments should not contribute to the grave crimes that Israeli officials are committing in Gaza, including crimes against humanity and genocidal acts, and should take all steps possible to prevent further harm,” Hassan said. “Governments arming Israel should end their risk of complicity in atrocity crimes in Gaza and take immediate action to protect civilians with an arms embargo, targeted sanctions, and support for justice.”

19 December 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac

It has been 440 days. 440 days of constant bombing. Nonstop. 440 days of starvation. On top of 17 years of siege and imprisonment. Tens of thousands killed. Injured. Forever disabled. Imprisoned. Starved. More than 17,000 children killed. It feels like we have watched them being killed one by one. 440 days of the people of Gaza sharing live images of their executions; burned alive. And we cannot stop it.

Trump said, if the hostages are not released in January there will be hell to pay! IT IS ALREADY HELL! What is he talking about? It has been hell for 16 years before October 7. And of course, no one is talking about the Palestinian hostages.

It is hard to believe that another Christmas has come upon us and the genocide has not stopped. It has expanded. We are out of words. We feel powerless to stop it. Decision makers are content to let this continue. To them, Palestinians are dispensable. And they know it. They are watching. It is not as if the horrors of this genocide will be discovered after all is said and done. No, it is well documented. We are all watching it. Even Those committing it, the ruthless soldiers and their masters are sharing images of their blatant crimes against humanity and boasting about it. They are taking pleasure in our erasure and our annihilation. Israeli news reported about soldiers competing to arbitrarily kill the most civilians. And that’s not just soldiers “following orders.” It has become some sort of a recreational activity — you can actually go on top of hills and watch our executions live – they have created a tourist spot for this. Or a boat tour for the whole family! A casual afternoon spent watching the bombs fall on Gaza. Celebrating this. It has become entertainment to them. They don’t see us as human. Because in the logic of settler colonialism, despite knowing there were always people here, the land was “empty” of who they deemed human.

But it has also been 440 days of resilience and even beauty. I think of our heroes of Gaza: the doctors, the medics, the rescuers, the volunteers—those who sacrifice and give everything for their fellow human beings. I think of those who created schools in tents. The ones who play music to the displaced children, to bring a smile in the midst of pain and destruction. The chefs who are cooking meals en masse. And the smallest of children, tending to their siblings. The loss is enormous. But we have not lost our faith, or our collective humanity. This is the beauty I am talking about.

We especially remember our steadfast churches in Gaza, which, despite the brutality of the scene, have embraced, supported, and suffered for their sons and daughters. In the midst of genocide, they continue to pray and serve.

Today we ask: What happened to humanity? I really fear for our collective humanity when a genocide of such scale is normalized, even celebrated. I fear for our souls, because we have gotten used to the images of children, lifeless, pulled from under the rubble, of plastic and cloth tents bombed, and people starved. How have we become numb? How do we watch this? We must fight this within us. We cannot be content. We have to fight against the growing apathy. We must not rest or grow weary. To do so, is to abandon not only the people of Gaza, but our very own humanity. This is why We must continue talking about Gaza, and all places of systematic oppression and killing, until this is stopped.

Last year I said silence is complicity. We are past that. Numbness is a betrayal to humanity. Yours and those in Gaza.

Equally, we must insist that all who committed war crimes must be held accountable. We cannot normalize impunity. What kind of a world and future we are leaving our children – if we accept a reality where war criminals go unpunished, even emboldened – where they openly boast of their crimes, and rather than met with justice they are met with applause in the halls of congress and defended by European parliaments. And they still dare to lecture us on human rights and international law.

Never again is only a slogan. Empty words. Never again should mean never again to all peoples. Never again has become yet again! Yet again to supremacy. Yet again to racism. Yet again for genocide.

And sadly, never again has become yet again for the weaponization of the Bible, and the silence and complicity of the western church. Yet again for the church siding with power; with the Empire.

Today, and after all this of total destruction and annihilation – Gaza is erased – millions have become refugees and homeless, tens of thousands killed, why is anyone still debating whether this is a genocide or not? Yet when a church leader simply calls for investigating whether this is a genocide, he is called out, and it becomes breaking news.

The evidence is clear. Truth stands plain for all to see. The question is not whether this is a genocide – this is not the debate. The real question is: why isn’t the world and the church calling it a genocide? It says a lot when you deny and ignore and refrain from using the language of genocide. It reveals hypocrisy – for you lectured us for years on international law and human rights. It says a lot on how you look at us Palestinians. And says a lot about your moral and ethical standards.  It says everything about who you are when you turn away from the truth, when you refuse to name oppression for what it is.

Or could it be that if reality was acknowledged for what it is, that this is a genocide, that it would be an acknowledgment of your guilt? For this was a war that so many defended as “just” and as “self-defense”?

The genocide will end one day. Soon we pray and plead. But history will remember where people stood. What they said. They cannot claim they did not know. This is why we insist that this is more than Gaza or Palestine. In Palestine, we find the intersection of colonialism, supremacy, the logic of might is right, militarism, racism and religious fundamentalism all coming together.

Palestine is a human and moral cause. For the church, it is also a theological crisis, as a friend of mine recently suggested. It is about the credibility of our witness. It is here that we come face to face with the tragic consequence of bad theology. Actually, this is way beyond “bad theology” or ideology. Zionism and Christian Zionism are ideologies of supremacy. It is racism. They turned God into a racist tribal deity of their image. They must be named for what they are.

Today also, we acknowledge all those who stood on the side of justice and truth; all those who said no to dehumanization; many of whom paid a heavy price. We salute you. Solidarity, by definition, is costly. Over the last 440 days, we have heard you, in churches, mosques and synagogues, in the streets, in universities, in governmental buildings, in front of arms factories, protesting, organizing, lobbying… we heard you.

Dear friends, it is indeed painful that we live in a time when a genocide is committed before the eyes of the world, and we feel powerless to stop it. Today, as we gather around “Christ in the Rubble”, we remember the children of Gaza, the children of Bethlehem before them, and many others around the world who have fallen victim to the tyranny of Herod and his modern-day counterparts. The Massacre of innocents.

A voice was heard in Ramah, the prophet cried thousands of years ago, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her sons and daughters and refuses to be comforted, because they are no more. A voice was heard in Bethlehem, and today we hear the same voice in Gaza: weeping and great mourning.

We weep, we are crushed, we suffer. And we cry out: How long, O Lord? Why, O Lord? Why do You allow this, and why do You remain silent? Humanity has chosen Herod’s path. Humanity glorified power and cruelty. It glorified domination, greed, weapons, and even the annihilation of others. Herod is neither the first nor the last. This is the logic of the Empire. And we have fashioned God in this image, turning Him into a god of war!

This is also the result of an exclusionary mentality. Even God, we have made tribal, exclusionary, and selective—a God of one people at the expense of another, one religion over another, one nation over another. In our human racism, we have made God a racist!

But the question remains: Why is God silent? How long will Rachel weep for her children? How long will Gaza weep? We have continued to ask this question until we saw this God, in His incarnation, sharing our same fate. He survived in His childhood, but not in His youth. As a child, He fled, becoming a displaced refugee in Egypt, but in His youth, He did not survive. He was crucified, killed by the logic of Empire, the worship of power and extremism. He shared our fate, our suffering, and cried the same cry we cry today: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

This is why we said last year, “Christ is in the rubble,” and this year, we say, “Christ is still in the rubble.” This is His manager. Jesus finds His place with the marginalized, the tormented, the oppressed, and the displaced. We look at the Holy Family and see them in every displaced and homeless family, living in despair. In the Christmas story, God walks with them and calls them His own.

Today, let us reflect on the Child Jesus—the Child of Bethlehem. At the heart of the Incarnation, there is a child. In His weakness, He is our hope, our consolation, and our strength. This child shook Herod’s throne. While there are some who talk about their “Roman Empire,” or glorify Herod as “great,” we Christians are the ones who sing of a child born to refugees escaping a massacre. And you cannot worship both.  I pray that the image of the Child in the Rubble will be deeply rooted in our hearts and minds. He was born among us and entered our world under the most difficult and harsh circumstances. His family suffered greatly to protect His life. The children of Bethlehem were massacred, but not all of them. Jesus survived this genocide, becoming a refugee with His family in Egypt, then returning to His land and people, serving, building, working, and bringing salvation and redemption. In this resilient child and His family, we find hope. This child, whom we see today among the ruins, once stood before Pilate and Herod, faced death itself, and triumphed, granting eternal redemption.

With this hope and faith, we endure. We refuse to surrender to despair, because ours is a faith of resurrection. From the midst of the rubble, a plant of life will arise, giving the promise of a new dawn. The assurance of a harvest where justice and restoration will flourish, and the vine will bear fruit that nourishes generations to come. As the poet Mahmoud Darwish said: “The grains of a dying ear of grain, fill the valley with ears of grain.”

We embrace our calling in this wounded world and land. We insist on seeing the image of Jesus in every victim of oppression, marginalization, and violent ideologies of supremacy and Empire. We will continue to declare the goodness and justice of God.

It has been 440 days of Palestinian resilience – sumud. Indeed, 76 years of sumud. But we have not and will not lose hope. Yes, it is 76 years of the ongoing Nakba, but it is also 76 years of Palestinian steadfastness, sumud, clinging to our right and the justice of our cause. 76 years of praying and singing for peace – We are stubborn people. We will continue echoing the words of the Angels: Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on Earth!

And today we say: Our faith in the God of truth and justice is our hope. Today we continue to cry out to Him because we believe that He hears us, and because we believe in His justice and goodness. And because we believe in His solidarity with the oppressed! “I know that the Lord maintains justice for the poor, and righteousness for the needy.” (Psalm 140:12)

In our steadfastness – sumud, let us have eyes of faith to perceive and believe that every Herod will pass, every Caesar will fade, for Empires have an expiry date, and let us remember that it is the meek, not the powerful, who will inherit the earth. In our pain and oppression, we might feel that death has the final word, that Herod is sovereign. But through the eyes of faith, we see that God has the final word: and it is a word of life and light, not death and darkness. In Christmas, God has spoken, and the Word is Christ. Christ is born! Hallelujah! Peace on Earth, Hallelujah! May it be so today – Amen!

Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac is a Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian. He pastors the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour. He is also the Academic Dean at Bethlehem Bible College, ad is the director of the Christ at the Checkpoint conferences. Munther is passionate about issues related to Palestinian theology.

20 December 2024

Source: redletterchristians.org

Committee Bureau Welcomes Historic Resolution Requesting an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice, Rejects Actions that Obstruct Aid

The Bureau of the UN Palestinian Rights Committee warmly welcomes the General Assembly’s adoption of a timely and important resolution to urgently request an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the obligations of Israel in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations, other international organizations and third States. The path to peace begins with justice—no more, no less. This groundbreaking initiative spearheaded by Norway stands as a testament to the international community’s unwavering commitment to uphold human rights, international humanitarian law, and the urgent pursuit of justice for the Palestinian people.

By an overwhelming majority vote of 137 to 12, with 22 abstaining, the UN Member States requested the World Court to act urgently, giving the matter top priority. This step follows closely the adoption of resolution ES-10/25, which deplored the measures taken by Israel, the occupying Power, that impede assistance to the Palestinian people, including the illegitimate legislation adopted by the Knesset against UNRWA and reaffirmed full support for the mandate of the Agency and demanded an end to the obstruction of UNRWA’s vital operations and full respect for Israel’s international legal obligations.

BREAKING: UN requestes World Court’s opinion on Israel’s obligations to allow aid delivery to Gaza

Israel’s relentless and brutal war on the Gaza Strip has resulted in over 45,000 Palestinians killed, the majority children and women, more than 107,000 injured, over 70,000 homes destroyed or damaged, in addition to other vital civilian infrastructure, and approximately 1.9 million forcibly displaced and suffering a humanitarian catastrophe, including starvation, cold and the spread of diseases. Now is the time for decisive action—no more impunity, no more obstruction, no more weaponization of vital humanitarian aid.

Israel must implement, without delay, all of its legal obligations under international law, including the binding provisional measures as set out by the International Court of Justice in the case brought by South Africa under the Genocide Convention to prevent further harm to the Palestinian civilian population.

The Committee Bureau reiterates its longstanding call for an immediate ceasefire, unobstructed and immediate provision of humanitarian aid, and a just and peaceful resolution to the question of Palestine that ends the Israeli unlawful occupation, enables the Palestinian people to achieve their inalienable rights, including self-determination and achieve the two-State solution on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine in accordance with international law and the relevant UN resolutions.

END

20 December 2024

Source: un.org