Know Their Names: Palestinian Children Killed in Israeli Attacks on Gaza

January 29th, 2024 by Al Jazeera

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

The Gaza Strip is a graveyard for thousands of children, the United Nations has said.

Since October 7, Israeli attacks have killed at least 10,000 children, according to Palestinian officials. That is one Palestinian child killed every 15 minutes, or about one out of every 100 children in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands more are missing under the rubble, most of them presumed dead.

The surviving children, who have endured the traumatic impact of multiple wars, have spent their lives under the shadow of an Israeli blockade, influencing every aspect of their existence from birth.

Here are the names of some of those children killed, read on Al Jazeera.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image is from Al Jazeera

“The Arabs – A History”

January 28th, 2024 by Jim Miles

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

 

 

 

While the genocide has raged on in Gaza I have been reading Eugene Rogan’s large work simply titled The Arabs – A History.  It is generally well written in an academic textbook manner, a political outline of the trials and tribulations of the Arab people viewed mostly through the political-military-financial manipulations of the rulers of the region.  That overlaps fully with the political-military-financial manipulations of the empires and outside authorities interested in controlling the region for various reasons.

Themes

The history works at the political level, and to sum it up as succinctly as possible, presents two main themes. First is that for much of the time period of the book (starting from the Ottoman control of the lands in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries), the Arabs were ruled by non-Arab authorities, either directly by the Ottoman regime, under the control of subordinate rulers, or under the control of previous non-Arab groups contesting with or subordinate to the Ottomans.   

The second theme coming through is how much foreign interference has played in the region, not as just mentioned above but in more recent history with the military and financial interference and influence of mostly European empires (Italy, France, and Great Britain) and even more recently, the United States empire. There have been no effective independent Arab governments operating within democratic principles. They have tried but have always been subjugated to foreign influence, dominance, or outright control.

The first edition of the book (2009) ended with post 9/11 events. The second edition (2017) adds another chapter outlining the Arab Spring. As with all histories attempting to write fully up to date information, the latter part is weak, a natural outcome of not having the hindsight nor access to more restricted documents that could and always do reveal a more nuanced story.

The main fault with the second addition’s final chapter is partly due to that; it is also perhaps due to the author’s inability to pull back and put the full perspective on the changing situation, to acknowledge the role of the two main current antagonists in the region, Israel and the U.S.  

Fault Lines

With any current history/current events writing about the Arab world, it cannot be properly done without a large accounting for U.S. manipulations and interference at all levels, nor with the same accounting for Israel, which includes both U.S. interests and Jewish/Zionist interests.   

Israel’s nuclear activity is mentioned only once in the original edition as an aspect of French assistance to the Zionists. U.S.’ effects on the mujahideen and on into the Taliban and al-Qaeda and ISIS are only directly mentioned once with the supply of Stinger missiles to the mujahideen by way of Pakistan. Admittedly the latter is mostly outside the Arab arena, but bin Laden’s al-Qaeda and the many Saudi sponsored madrasahs in Pakistan had a large significant overflow effect directly on the even more recent history of the Arabs.

Current Events

Today, other events have overtaken the significance of earlier events. Fortunately for Rogan he did not try to predict or formulate what the future held for the Arabs. With the ongoing destruction of Gaza infrastructure and the slaughter and genocide of its citizens there are some unfortunate similarities within the violence.

Ending with the Israeli/U.S. denial of the Hamas electoral victory in 2006, Rogan writes,

“…the United States would support any Israeli action, no matter how disproportionate, against parties it associated with terrorism.” It should be understood the U.S. ‘associates’ whomever it decides is a terrorist as it best fits its interests. He concludes, “Far from facing censure for provoking devastating wars with Israel, the Islamic resistance movements enjoyed greater support at home and across the Arab world for standing up against Bush, Israel, and the U.S. led war on terror.”   

Note the bias that it was the Islamic movements that “provoked” the wars, where in reality it was the Israeli colonial-settler regime that initiated all but the Yom Kippur war (1973), while it was the U.S. attacking Iraq, Libya, Yemen (via Saudi Arabia), and Syria (via ISIS and the SFA).  Also, not only did the Arab world give greater support but the Muslim world as a whole and much of the global ‘south’ also gave support.

The Global War on Terror Continues…

A caveat is needed concerning that support.  Throughout the Palestinian struggle, the Arab rulers have frequently verbally given support to the Palestinian cause but have noticeably done very little about it – they feared their own ‘street’ as much as outside influences.  The reasons for this are several, but the emphasis should be placed on their military powerlessness in face of the supposed power of the Israeli military, including its nuclear weapons.  As well, most Arab governments were either bought out by U.S. financial power or threats of U.S. military intervention (direct or covert) to replace their rule with some other more acceptable ruler.   

Unfortunately that continues true today.

All the Arab governments are voicing their strong support for the Hamas resistance and decrying the genocide perpetrated by Israel.  The only action being taken by any government is from tiny war torn Yemen who have effectively fought off Saudi/U.S. military attacks for many years. Non-state actors are also supporting the Palestinian resistance, but with no state to lose, no power to lose, with nothing new that can be threatened by the U.S. and its allies, Hezbollah and other militias throughout Iraq and Syria are attacking Israeli and U.S. positions in the region.   

There are many nuances to the political struggles of the Arab world. As a general statement, Rogan’s summation given above for earlier events is perhaps even stronger for today’s actions. The U.S., by its deeds, fully supports Israeli actions. Israel continues its disproportionate genocide against Gaza. The resistance is receiving more and more support abroad as it stands up to Israeli attacks and sees the U.S. support. And finally, as this started with a look at “The Arabs – A History”, it seems that history is repeating itself, only much more violently and overtly. Except the vaunted prowess of the Israeli military has been shown to be unreal; and the fear of U.S. intervention appears to not concern at least some of the Arab interests. Whatever the outcome, not just the Arab world, but the world of empires is reshaping itself. 

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Jim Miles is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2): “The Gas of Life”

January 28th, 2024 by Dr. Joseph Mercola

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is commonly mischaracterized as a harmful waste product of respiration and is falsely blamed for disrupting the planetary climate

CO2 is an essential gas necessary for life. Moreover, its impact on Earth’s temperatures is negligible, and will remain negligible even if the current concentration in the atmosphere were to double. A 100% increase of CO2, from 400 ppm to 800 ppm, would decrease radiation into space by just 1.1%, resulting in a 0.7 degree C increase of the average earth temperature

A 0.7 degree C difference means there’s no climate emergency, and no matter what we do to reduce CO2 emissions, it’s not going to impact global temperatures. To fabricate an emergency where there is none, it is assumed that massive positive feedbacks are involved. However, most natural feedbacks are negative, not positive, so isn’t it likely the 0.7 degree C increase is an overestimation to begin with

There’s no single temperature of the Earth. It varies by location and altitude. For every kilometer of altitude, you have an average cooling of 6.6 degrees C

Higher CO2 levels will green the planet, making it more hospitable to plant life. The more CO2 there is, the better plants and trees grow. CO2also reduces the water needs of plants, reducing the risks associated with droughts

*

The video above, “CO2, The Gas of Life,” features a lecture given at the Summit Old Guard Meeting in New Jersey, October 3, 2023, by William Happer, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of physics at Princeton University and former scientific adviser to the Bush and Trump administrations.

The topic: carbon dioxide (CO2), commonly mischaracterized as a harmful waste product of respiration and a pollutant that is disrupting the planetary climate. As explained by Happer in this lecture, CO2 is actually an essential gas necessary for life. Moreover, its impact on Earth’s temperatures is negligible, and will remain negligible even if the current concentration in the atmosphere were to double.

CO2 Is Not a Pollutant

At present, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere at a few thousand feet of elevation is around 430 parts per million (ppm). Closer to the ground, concentrations vary widely, both by location and time of day. This is because ground-level readings are impacted by photosynthesis and the respiration of insects and the like.

In the room where Happer was giving his lecture, the CO2 reading was 1,800 ppm — the result of having a large group of people breathing in a closed space. Air conditioning systems have CO2meters that turn on fans to bring outdoor air inside when levels get too high.

The question of what is too high is an important one, considering The Great Resetters are pushing a green agenda that demands the dismantling of energy infrastructure and farming in the name of stopping climate change, which quite obviously threatens our quality of life and food supply. Ultimately, it may threaten human existence altogether. 

The fact of the matter is that CO2 is not the “bad guy” it’s made out to be, and the “net zero” agenda is wholly inappropriate if maintaining life on Earth is part of the equation.

“CO2 is a very essential and natural part of life,” Happer says. “It is the gas of life. We’re made of carbon after all, mostly carbon, and we breathe out a lot of CO2 a day just by living. Each of us breathes out about 2 pounds of CO2 a day. Multiply that by 8 billion people and 365 days a year, and just [by] living, people are a non-negligible part of the CO2 budget of the Earth.

Nevertheless, we are living through a crusade against so-called pollutant CO2. People talk about carbon pollution. [But] every one of us is polluting Earth by breathing, [so] if you want to stop polluting … apparently God wants us to commit suicide …

We’re doing all sorts of crazy things because of this alleged pollutant … more and more beautiful meadows are being covered with black solar panels. It doesn’t work very well; it doesn’t work at all at night. It doesn’t work on cloudy days. It doesn’t work terribly well in the middle of the winter because of the angle of the sun.

But nevertheless we’re doing it. We’re being misled into climate hysteria, and if you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it. It was published first in 1841, called ‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.’ It’s as relevant today as it was then …

I’m a physicist. I’m proud to say that no one could call me a climate scientist, but I know a lot about climate and I was a coauthor of one of the first books on the effects of carbon dioxide 41 years ago. This was a study done by the Jason Group which I was a member of. I was chairman for a while and it had really good people there.”

Long-Term Impact of Increasing Atmospheric CO2

The key question when it comes to global warming is, how much do you warm the Earth if you double the atmospheric CO2 concentration? This is called the climate sensitivity question. The GUESS is that doubling CO2 would result in a 3-degree centigrade rise in the global temperature.

“It was not based on any hard calculations,” Happer says. “It was because of group-think. That’s what everybody else thought, and so that’s what we thought. Now, in my defense, one of the reasons I didn’t pay much attention to this [is because] I was working on something at this time that I thought was much more important. So, let me tell you about that, so you get a feeling for why I think I’m qualified to pontificate about this subject.

It was the beginning of the Strategic Defense Initiative, of Star Wars … President Reagan … wanted some way to defend the United States so that we didn’t have to have this mass suicide pact, and among other things we considered using high-powered lasers to burn up incoming missiles …

But here’s the problem. If you take the 1 megawatt laser on the ground and you send it toward the missile, by the time it gets to the missile, the beam — instead of focusing all the power on the missile — breaks up into hundreds of sub beams — speckles — and this was something that was well-known to astronomers. You have the same problem when you’re looking at distant stars and galaxies.

Astronomers knew how to fix this … If you can measure how much this wave is bent, then you can bounce it off a mirror bent in the opposite direction, and when the wave bounces up it’s absolutely flat. That’s called adaptive optics and it works beautifully. Then, when you focus the corrected beam, you get a single spot instead of hundreds of [beams].

The trouble with that is that if you look at the night sky, there are only four or five stars that are bright enough to have enough photons to do the measurement of the distortion of the wave. So, we had a classified meeting in the summer of 1982. There were a number of Air Force officers there who explained the problem. By chance, I knew how to solve it.

You can make an artificial star anywhere in the sky by shining a laser tuned to the sodium frequency onto the layer of sodium above our heads, at 90 to 100 kilometers.”

While the Air Force was initially dubious about there being a sodium layer in the atmosphere, they did eventually build the sodium laser proposed by Happer, and if you go to any ground-based telescope today, you’ll usually see one or two of them. Anyway, that story was simply to impress you with the fact that Happer knows what he’s talking about when it comes to atmospheric constituents and their related phenomena.

CO2 Has No Discernible Impact on Earth Temperatures

According to the climate alarmists, rising CO2 will result in global warming that will threaten all life on earth. In actuality, however, CO2 “is a very puny tool to do anything to the climate,” Happer says.

Keep in mind that there’s no single temperature on the Earth. It varies by location and altitude. For every kilometer of altitude, you have an average cooling of 6.6 degrees C. This is known as the lapse rate. That cooling continues up to the troposphere, where it stops.

The cooling is due to the fact that warm air rises and cool air descends. “It’s the convection that sets that rapid drop of temperatures — 6-and-a-half degrees per kilometer,” Happer says. He then explains the following graph, which details the thermal radiation to space from the Earth, assuming a surface temperature of 15.5 degrees C. The greenhouse gases is the area beneath the jagged black curve.

According to Happer, this is only 70% of what it would be without greenhouse gases, which is shown as the smooth blue curve, because as the sun heats the earth, greenhouse gases — mostly water vapor — impede cooling.

The most important part of this graph is the red jagged line, shown here with a red arrow pointing to it. That red line shows the effect that a doubling (a 100% increase) of CO2 would have on the surface temperature of Earth. As you can see, it’s negligible. It decreases radiation into space by just 1.1%.

earths surface temperature graph

As noted by Happer:

“Let that sink in. We’re far from doubling [CO2] today. It’ll take a long time, [and] it only causes a 1% change. So, CO2 is a very poor greenhouse gas. It’s not an efficient greenhouse gas.”

If you remove ALL CO2, you end up with the green jagged curve. As you can see, the green and black jagged lines run parallel with the exception of one spot. There’s a huge effect if you go from zero CO2 to 400 ppm (green arrow). But it’s again negligible when you go from 400 ppm to 800 ppm (black arrow). As explained by Happer:

“You get all of the effect in the first little bit of added CO2 … So, it’s really true that doubling CO2 only causes a 1% decrease of radiation. The IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] gets the same answer so this is not really controversial, although they will never show you the curve or tell you that it’s 1%. That would interfere with the narrative …

So, this is radiation to space. How do you change that into a temperature? They’re worried that we’ll get intolerable warming of the surface of the Earth where we live, or other parts of the atmosphere.

Here again it’s important to do the first order calculation … and it says that the warming from doubling CO2 is … less than one degree … 0.7 [degree] C. Very small. You really can’t feel that.”

Why, Then, the Alarm Over Rising CO2?

Needless to say, this is a huge problem for the climate science community, because a 0.7 degree C difference means there’s no climate emergency, and no matter what we do to reduce CO2emissions, it’s not going to impact the climate.

So, to fabricate an emergency where there really is none, the IPCC “assumes enormous positive feedbacks,” Happer says. Because CO2 is not a potent greenhouse gas, the tiny direct warming caused by it is amplified by factors of anywhere from four to six to make it seem like it has a discernible impact.

“I like to say it’s affirmative action for CO2,” Happer says. “It’s not very good at warming but if you assume lots of feedback, you can keep the money coming in.” The problem with that is that most who have a background in physical chemistry and physics know that most natural feedbacks are negative, not positive.

This is known as the Chatelier Principle, named after the French chemist who first discovered that “when a simple system in thermodynamic equilibrium is subjected to a change in concentration, temperature, volume or pressure … the system changes to a new equilibrium and … the change partly counteracts the applied change.”

So, the 0.7 degree C of warming you get when you double the CO2 is “probably an overestimate,” Happer says, “because there are probably negative feedbacks operating in this very complicated climate system that we live in. The atmosphere, the oceans, everything is nonlinear.”

The key take-home from all this is that whether we’re at 400 ppm of CO2 or 800 ppm doesn’t matter when it comes to impacting the temperature of the earth. In short, the climate hysteria is just that. It’s not based on any real threat. Only if we were able to get to absolute zero CO2 would there be a change, but doing so also means we’d exterminate all living things on the planet. It’s nothing short of a suicide agenda.

More CO2 Will Green the Planet

As explained by Happer, more CO2 will green the planet, making it more hospitable to plant life. The more CO2 there is, the better plants and trees grow, so if we want lush forests and bountiful harvests, cutting CO2 is the last thing we’d want to do.

“All plants grow better with more CO2 [in the air],” he says. “Plants are really starved [of] CO2 today. We know plants need many essential nutrients. They need nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium; most important of all they need water. But they also need CO2, and like many of the other nutrients, CO2 today is in short supply.”

CO2 benefits plants by reducing their water needs, hence less risk from drought. Higher CO2 levels also reduce harmful photorespiration. According to Happer, C3-type plants lose about 25% of their photosynthesis potential due to increased photorespiration. For more in-depth information about the role of CO2 in plant growth and photosynthesis, please view the video. This discussion begins around the 40-minute mark.

Lies, Ignorance, Stupidity or Something Else?

In closing, Happer makes an effort to explain what’s driving the climate hysteria:

“In spite of incontrovertible arguments that there is no climate emergency — CO2 is good for the Earth — the campaign to banish CO2, ‘net zero,’ has been very successful. So, how can that be? I’m really out of my depth here because now I’m talking about human nature. I’m really good with instruments and with solving differential equations but I’m not very good at understanding human beings.

But here are some of the drivers: noble lies, political lies, ignorance, stupidity, greed. Noble lies goes back to Plato who discusses it in ‘The Republic.’ ‘In politics, a noble lie is a myth or untruth, often, but not invariably of a religious nature, knowingly propagated by an elite to maintain social harmony or to advance an agenda.’

And here there’s a clear agenda. If you could somehow unite mankind to fight some external threat, for example CO2 pollution, then we won’t fight each other. There won’t be wars. So, I think many sincere people have latched on to the CO2 narrative partly for that reason. You can actually read about it in the early writings of the Club of Rome.

Then there are political lies. This is one my favorite H.L. Menken quotes: ‘The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.’”

Ignorance, of course, is widespread, and largely based on incomplete knowledge or a flawed understanding of the facts. And what of stupidity? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the few German clergymen who opposed Hitler and eventually paid for his public dissent with his life, once wrote about human stupidity:

“Against stupidity we have no defense. Neither protest nor force can touch it. Reasoning is of no use. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved — indeed, the fool can counter by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can just be pushed aside as trivial exceptions.

So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self-satisfied. In fact, they can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make them aggressive. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one.”

Happer himself has experienced the danger of opposing stupidity. “I regularly get phone calls threatening me, my wife and children with death,” he says. “So, what kind of movement is this?” Lastly, greed. A.S. Pushkin once said, “If there should happen to be a trough, there will be pigs.” And climate science is currently where the big bucks are — provided your work furthers the global warming narrative and the need for net zero emissions.

Whatever the drivers are, responsible people everywhere need to push back against the false climate change narrative and the net zero agenda, as it will accomplish nothing in terms of normalizing temperatures, but will rapidly erode quality of life and the sustainability of food production, and shift wealth into the hands of the few.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image: An animation shows how carbon dioxide moves around the planet. (Photo: NASA/YouTube)

Canadian Truckers Score Big Victory Over Trudeau in Federal Court

January 28th, 2024 by Michael Nevradakis

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

In a historic decision, Canada’s Federal Court on Tuesday ruled the Canadian government’s use of the Emergencies Act in 2022 to disperse truckers protesting the government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates was “unreasonable” and violated several articles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The truckers, dubbed the “Convoy for Freedom,” organized a cross-country protest beginning in January 2022, following a Jan. 15, 2022, order by the Canadian federal government mandating the vaccine for all cross-border U.S. and Canadian truckers.

In his 190-page ruling, Justice Richard G. Mosley said the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act “does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility — and was not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints that were required to be taken into consideration.”

The court ruled that invoking the Emergencies Act infringed upon Section 2(b) of the Charter, which protects freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, and Section 8, which pertains to the right to be secured from unreasonable seizure.

Mosley, who according to Global News “is a 21-year veteran of the Federal Court and is a respected voice on national security legal matters,” found that the freezing of protesters’ bank accounts amounted to such seizure.

Arguments in the case were heard over three days in April 2023, CTV News reported.

Plaintiffs included the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), Canadian Frontline Nurses and five individuals — two of whom “had their bank accounts frozen.”

According to The Epoch Times, the plaintiffs “argued … that the Liberal government did not meet the legal threshold to invoke the legislation in response to the protest.”

In a statement provided to The Defender, attorneys for the Canadian Frontline Nurses said:

“We are proud to be the party that initiated the application to the Federal Court challenging the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy protest.

“We are pleased that the Federal Court agreed with our position that the Trudeau government’s action in invoking the Emergencies Act was unreasonable and outside their jurisdiction and that it was a violation of Canadians’ rights and freedoms under the Charter.”

Tom Marazzo, a spokesperson for the Freedom Convoy and author of “The People’s Emergency Act: Freedom Convoy 2022,” told The Defender, “The ruling by Judge Mosley was a great victory for all who participated and supported the Freedom Convoy.”

Marazzo said:

“When the government overreaches, as the Provincial, Municipal and Federal governments did, it is up to the citizens to remind them that they work for us and that we determine the direction of Canada. Unfortunately, the political class in Canada see themselves as royalty and not as simple representatives.

“Judge Mosley also reminded the Liberal/New Democratic Party government that they don’t rule over Canadians with impunity.”

Marazzo was referring to Canada’s ruling government coalition led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who attended the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, said the government will appeal the decision.

According to the CBC, this may lead to “a legal battle that could go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.”

Ruling ‘a Rebuke’ to the Canadian Government

According to The New York Times, The Freedom Convoy resulted in “encampments of trucks in the nation’s capital.” In response, and as the convoy reached Ottawa, Canada’s federal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in its history on Feb. 14, 2022.

Tuesday’s decision is “the first instance of a court delivering a rebuke to Mr. Trudeau over his handling of the protest,” the Times wrote.

According to CTV News, the government argued “that the national security risks stemming from the protests justified its use.”

CTV News reported that the act “allowed the federal government to enact wide-sweeping but temporary powers,” which CBC said included “extraordinary powers to remove and arrest protesters … the power to freeze the finances of those connected to the protests [and] the ability to commandeer tow trucks to remove protesters’ vehicles.”

The Times reported that, under the act, “an enormous force of police officers from across the country finished clearing the streets” in Ottawa — an operation during which 230 protesters were arrested

The bank accounts of 257 Canadians were frozen under the act, The Countersignal reported.

CBC reported that the Canadian government “has long argued the measures it took under the Emergencies Act were targeted, proportional and temporary.”

But writer and blogger Margaret Anna Alice, whose writings have focused on health, politics, mass control and propaganda, and who has written extensively about Canada’s COVID-19 policies, told The Defender, “This single act of peaceful noncompliance triggered a cascade effect that dissolved the mental enslavement keeping the populace under the thrall of tyranny.”

“That is precisely what occurred as freedom convoys began erupting all over the world,” Alice said. “And yet, as this peaceful movement rose, so did the government’s tyranny.”

In his ruling, Mosley said he initially believed invocation of the Emergencies Act was justified as a response to an “unacceptable breakdown of public order,” but that the plaintiffs’ arguments swayed him.

“There was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires,” he wrote.

“Trudeau and his cabinet did not make even a single attempt to engage with the truckers. In blatant violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they leapt to invoking the Emergencies Act without meeting the necessary threshold,” Alice said.

Joanna Baron, plaintiff and CCF executive director, told the CBC the decision is a “huge vindication for many people.” In a statement CCF provided to The Defender, Baron said, “The invocation of the Emergencies Act is one of the worst examples of government overreach during the pandemic.”

Christine Van Geyn, CCF’s litigation director, said the ruling is “a complete vindication of the position of civil liberties organizations who viewed the invocation of the Emergencies Act as illegal, unjustified and unconstitutional.”

Speaking to the CBC, Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, executive director of the CCLA, said “Emergency is not in the eye of the beholder. Emergency powers are necessary in extreme circumstances, but they are also dangerous to democracy.”

CCLA attorney Ewa Krajewska told Global News, “I think it’s in the interest of this government and future governments and all Canadians that the threshold to invoke the Emergencies Act remains high.”

The ruling elicited reactions from across the political spectrum in Canada. Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party, the country’s main opposition party, tweeted:

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, said his party “reluctantly” supported the invocation of the Emergencies Act, in remarks quoted by CBC.

Journalist and podcaster Trish Wood told The Defender, “The trucker protest was a classic class struggle [involving] citizens taking on the power elites and winning until government decided it had had enough,” adding that “This decision restores some power back to the people.”

Greg Hill, a captain with a major Canadian airline who was suspended in 2021 for not complying with Canada’s vaccine mandate and who subsequently became director of the Free to Fly advocacy group, told The Defender, “We certainly welcome the decision. The unjustified and unconstitutional use of the Emergencies Act resulted in grave professional and personal loss for thousands of Canadians — damage that’s ongoing.”

Internationally acclaimed novelist Colin McAdam attended the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. He told The Defender “There are many things to be happy about with this decision, not least the declaration that the government acted illegally.”

“What is most encouraging is that the ruling upholds certain sections of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which has otherwise been a feckless document through the COVID years,” he said. “I like that it has been acknowledged in law that when people fight for their rights, those rights are paramount to inconvenience.”

Alex Pattakos, Ph.D., co-founder of the Global Meaning Institute and contributing writer for Psychology Today, is unvaccinated and was unable to travel while Canada’s vaccine mandates were in effect. He told The Defender invocation of the Emergencies Act was “a stain on Canada’s identity and history.”

“It’s a reflection of the Trudeau government’s fear of its citizens and a manifestation of a ‘totalitarian movement’ it has been advancing in the name of the public good,” he said.

Freezing Protesters’ Accounts an ‘Unreasonable Search and Seizure’

Mosley’s ruling referred to the freezing of hundreds of protesters’ financial accounts. In writing that this action violated Section 8 of the charter, Mosley said the government’s decision to freeze the accounts, even if for a “pressing and substantial” reason, was “not minimally impairing,” as “less impairing alternatives” were available to the government.

He added that freezing the accounts amounted to “unreasonable search and seizure of the financial information of designated persons” and infringed upon freedom of expression, “as they were overbroad in their application to persons who wished to protest but were not engaged in activities likely to lead to a breach of the peace.”

This rejects arguments made by the Canadian government when the measures were invoked. According to The National Post, federal lawyer Timothy Huyer claimed at the time, “The Emergency Economic Measures Order does not seize any assets.”

Notably, Mosley’s ruling also found that the Canadian government’s action did not infringe upon people’s right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

Mosley did rule that the Canadian government was wrong in its application of the Emergencies Act, under which a national emergency can be declared only if the situation “cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.”

“The act defers to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s [CSIS] definition of such threats [including] serious violence against persons or property, espionage, foreign interference or an intent to overthrow the government by violence,” CBC said.

Testimony heard by the Public Order Emergency Commission, a public inquiry examining the invocation of the Emergencies Act, revealed CSIS did not believe the Freedom Convoy posed a threat to national security, The Epoch Times reported.

According to CBC, the inquiry, led by Justice Paul Rouleau, heard from over 70 witnesses and reviewed more than 7,000 documents — and found that Trudeau met the threshold to invoke the Emergencies Act.

CBC reported that Rouleau determined, “Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency.” However, he acknowledged that he did not consider the factual basis for the invocation “overwhelming” and added that “Reasonable and informed people could reach a different conclusion” from his.

In its defense, the Canadian government cited the seizure of a cache of weapons, body armor and ammunition in Coutts, a town in Alberta where the border with the U.S. was blockaded by truckers, according to CTV News, which added that four men are awaiting trial on charges of conspiring to murder Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers.

According to Global News, “Much of the Coutts blockade was cleared prior to the Feb. 14, 2022, declaration of a public order emergency, the first step in invoking the act.”

According to The Countersignal, less than a day before the invocation of the act, Trudeau was told by a national security adviser that there was potential for a “breakthrough” in talks with the Freedom Convoy protesters.

And according to an investigation by Public, the Trudeau government used fake intelligence to frame participants in the Freedom Convoy as “violent extremists” and then shared the information with other “Five Eyes” countries.

Global News reported that “CCLA successfully argued that the existing laws of Canada were sufficient in dealing with the blockades and extraordinary powers granted by the Emergencies Act were not needed.”

In his ruling, Mosley wrote that “The harassment of residents, workers and business owners in downtown Ottawa and the general infringement of the right to peaceful enjoyment of public spaces there, while highly objectionable, did not amount to serious violence or threats of serious violence.”

“Sadly, the concept of a ‘state of exception’ is used by many governments today as the rule, not the exception, in order to transcend the rule of law, suspend freedoms and exercise what otherwise would be considered government overreach,” Pattakos said.

McAdam said what he observed during the protests in Ottawa was far from violent.

“When I was on Parliament Hill in the early part of the convoy, there was a beautiful feeling of celebration and togetherness,” he said. “As the weeks passed this dissipated. By the time the Emergencies Act was declared, the scene was more Orwellian. If I had simply stood on the Hill in those final days with a ‘placard,’ as the judge hypothesized, I could have been arrested and my bank account frozen.”

Canadian Government to Appeal, ‘Convinced’ It Was ‘the Right Thing to Do’

At a press conference in Montreal on Tuesday, Freeland said the federal government will appeal Mosley’s decision, while according to CBC, Justice Minister Arif Virani cited the inquiry’s findings and said it “also informs our decision to appeal.”

“I would just like to take a moment to remind Canadians of how serious the situation was in our country when we took that decision,” Freeland said, in remarks quoted by CTV News. “The public safety of Canadians was under threat. Our national security, which includes our national economic security, was under threat.”

“It was a hard decision to take,” she said. “We took it very seriously after a lot of hard work, after a lot of careful deliberation. We were convinced at the time — I was convinced at the time — it was the right thing to do, it was the necessary thing to do … I remain and we remain convinced of that.”

Sarah Choujounian, co-founder of the Canadian Frontline Nurses, told The Defender she was not surprised by the government’s reaction.

“We expected that they would appeal if they lost,” she said. “At the moment, we are not sure what this means for anyone affected by these measures. We hope that, in time, justice will be served. One thing is for sure, it will be much harder for anyone to impose the Emergencies Act in the future, and we see that as somewhat of a victory for now.”

Marazzo said the appeal “is yet another demonstration of the Liberal government’s hubris,” adding that “Unsurprisingly, the government is denying any accountability and plans to continue their abuse of Canadians with an appeal. Regardless, we need to remain steadfast and unmovable in working for a return to truth, principle and justice.”

In CCF’s statement, Van Geyn said that the government now has “a mountain to climb” after Tuesday’s ruling, adding, “We look forward to the fight.”

And in remarks shared with CTV News, University of Ottawa associate professor of criminology Michael Kempa, Ph.D., said the federal court’s decision is “legally binding” and “sets a legal precedent” — unlike the conclusion reached by the inquiry.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D., based in Athens, Greece, is a senior reporter for The Defender and part of the rotation of hosts for CHD.TV’s “Good Morning CHD.”

Featured image is from CHD

The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity

by Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.

“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”

Reviews

This is an in-depth resource of great interest if it is the wider perspective you are motivated to understand a little better, the author is very knowledgeable about geopolitics and this comes out in the way Covid is contextualized. —Dr. Mike Yeadon

In this war against humanity in which we find ourselves, in this singular, irregular and massive assault against liberty and the goodness of people, Chossudovsky’s book is a rock upon which to sustain our fight. –Dr. Emanuel Garcia

In fifteen concise science-based chapters, Michel traces the false covid pandemic, explaining how a PCR test, producing up to 97% proven false positives, combined with a relentless 24/7 fear campaign, was able to create a worldwide panic-laden “plandemic”; that this plandemic would never have been possible without the infamous DNA-modifying Polymerase Chain Reaction test – which to this day is being pushed on a majority of innocent people who have no clue. His conclusions are evidenced by renown scientists. —Peter Koenig 

Professor Chossudovsky exposes the truth that “there is no causal relationship between the virus and economic variables.” In other words, it was not COVID-19 but, rather, the deliberate implementation of the illogical, scientifically baseless lockdowns that caused the shutdown of the global economy. –David Skripac

A reading of  Chossudovsky’s book provides a comprehensive lesson in how there is a global coup d’état under way called “The Great Reset” that if not resisted and defeated by freedom loving people everywhere will result in a dystopian future not yet imagined. Pass on this free gift from Professor Chossudovsky before it’s too late.  You will not find so much valuable information and analysis in one place. –Edward Curtin

ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0,  Year: 2022,  PDF Ebook,  Pages: 164, 15 Chapters

Price: $11.50 FREE COPY! Click here (docsend) and download.

We encourage you to support the eBook project by making a donation through Global Research’s DonorBox “Worldwide Corona Crisis” Campaign Page. 

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, JVP Descendants of Survivors Call for an End to the Israeli Government’s Genocide of Palestinians

January 28th, 2024 by Jewish Voice for Peace

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

We, descendants of Holocaust survivors, call on the world on this Holocaust Remembrance Day to join us in working to end the Israeli government’s genocide against the Palestinian people, enabled and supported by the US government.  

The Israeli government has made very clear its intent to destroy Palestinian life in Gaza. To justify this horrific violence, the Israeli government has shamelessly manipulated Holocaust trauma. As descendants, we are outraged that the memory of our ancestors is being used to justify the same kind of horror being inflicted on others. We cry out against this genocidal assault: Not in our name!

As descendants, we recognize that genocide makes no one safer. We are not alone in our trauma, and we have a collective duty to prevent others from experiencing similar harm. Instead of ignoring the key lesson of the Holocaust — that Never Again means never again for anyone — and manipulating our trauma to support a genocidal war, we choose to invest in Jewish values like tzedek tzedek tirdof (justice, justice you shall pursue), and tikkun olam (repairing the world) right here and now, where we are. 

Collectively, we determine what the legacy of Holocaust memory will be. We can weaponize our pain and inscribe the names of our ancestors on the funding bills and bombs that are the instruments of genocide. Or, we can carry our ancestors’ memories in actions that unite and protect us all. We choose the latter: free Palestine!

– Jewish Voice for Peace members who are descendants of Holocaust survivors

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

ICJ Stops Short of Ordering Gaza Ceasefire to Stop Genocide

January 28th, 2024 by Joe Lauria

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

The World Court ruled on Friday that the Israeli military must ensure that it is not committing acts in Gaza that are in violation of Article 2 of the Genocide Convention; Israel must pursue legal action against Israelis who made statements of genocidal intent; it must facilitate humanitarian aid into Gaza and Israel must report back to the Court on measures it is taking to fulfill these orders in one month.

The Court ordered that:

“The State of Israel shall, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of this Convention, in particular: (a) killing members of the group. …”

The Court’s actions amount to little more than what the United States has been saying publicly about Israel’s conduct, that it must not commit acts that amount to war crimes.  The U.S. has not gone as far as to tell Israel not to commit genocide but the Court’s action falls far short of what South Africa and much of the world has been demanding.

The Court said South Africa has a plausible claim in at least some instances in its request for provisional measures to stop what it argues is Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.  But the provisional measures South Africa requested — namely to stop the killing — were denied.

The Court established that there was a dispute against Israel and South Africa to give the Court jurisdiction. The Court also presented a litany of overwhelming evidence that Israel is plausibly committing genocide and that the Court would allow the case the go forward, namely putting Israel on trial for genocide. That will take years to adjudicate.

Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s foreign minister, tried to put a positive spin on the Court’s decisions in remarks to reporters outside the Palace of Justice in The Hague. “I am satisfied that our request for provisional measures was addressed,” she said.

Pandor said she was disappointed the word “cessation” of hostilities was not included in the Court’s orders, but said that to fulfill the orders to provide humanitarian services to Gaza Israel must stop its military operation.

“I believe to execute these orders there would have to be a ceasefire,” Pandor said.  However, she added: “In no way will I say that I am disappointed” in the court’s ruling. “I had hoped for it [a ceasefire order], but to provide services would require a ceasefire.”

Pandor said she thought it “very significant” that Israel must report back to the World Court in one month to show how it is preventing its forces from committing genocide. It is unclear if there is a procedure for the Court to act if it is not satisfied with Israel’s report that Israel is fulfilling the order to do everything it can to prevent genocide.

Given that the Court’s directives amount to little more than public statements made by the U.S., Washington should be pleased with Friday’s ruling.

Israeli legal team listens to Court’s ruling on Friday. (U.N. TV Screenshot)

The Palestine Authority also tried to portray the ruling in a positive light.

“The ICJ order is an important reminder that no state is above the law,” PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in a video statement. He said the ruling “should serve as a wake-up call for Israel and actors who enabled its entrenched impunity.”

The people who count most, Gazans, were crushed by the ruling.

Most of 50-minute statement read by Judge Joan Donoghue, the American president of the court, was taken up by a recitation of evidence that sounded like it came directly out of South Africa’s complaint.

She relied heavily on statements by top U.N. officials, including the secretary-general and senior aid officials, to paint a picture of abject horror being imposed on the people of Gaza. She also read into the record clear statements of genocidal intent by the Israeli defense minister and the Israeli president.

Israel has being saying all along and stated it clearly in its argument before the Court on Nov. 12 that it is providing humanitarian aid and that it is working very carefully to avoid civilian casualties. It can likely be expected that Israel’s one-month report will repeat similar statements, which have already been refuted by U.N. officials, including the secretary-general.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was described by Al Jazeera as pleased with the outcome, took to Twitter to state that the claim of Israel committing genocide was “rightly rejected” by the Court and to eviscerate anyone who dared suggest Israel could commit such a thing as genocide.

“Israel’s commitment to international law is unwavering,” Netanyahu wrote. “Equally unwavering is our sacred commitment to continue to defend our country and defend our people. Like every country, Israel has an inherent right to defend itself.”  He said:

“The vile attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right is blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected. The charge of genocide leveled against Israel is not only false, it’s outrageous, and decent people everywhere should reject it.”

Netanyahu clearly believes that Israeli military actions the Court believes could amount to genocide is Israel’s “fundamental right.” He continued to present Israel as the victim and Hamas as the war criminal.

“On the eve of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I again pledge as Prime Minister of Israel – Never Again,” he said. “Israel will continue to defend itself against Hamas, a genocidal terror organization.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was singled out for his alleged incitement by the Court, said that Israel “does not need to be lectured on morality” by the Court.

“The International Court of Justice in The Hague went above and beyond, when it granted South Africa’s antisemitic request to discuss the claim of genocide in Gaza, and now refuses to reject the petition outright,” he said in a statement.

“Those who seek justice, will not find it on the leather chairs of the court chambers in The Hague — they will find it in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza, where 136 hostages are held, and where those who murdered our children are hiding,” he said. “They will find it in the ‘Spirit of the IDF,’ a document that outlines the values and conduct of our moral and professional soldiers.”

International lawyer Francis Boyle, who won provisional measures against Yugoslavia at the ICJ in 1993, told  the Institute for Public Accuracy:

“This is a massive, overwhelming legal victory for the Republic of South Africa against Israel on behalf of the Palestinians. The U.N. General Assembly now can suspend Israel from participation in its activities as it did for South Africa and Yugoslavia. It can admit Palestine as a full member. And — especially since the International Criminal Court has been a farce — it can establish a tribunal to prosecute the highest level officials of the Israeli government, both civilian and military.”

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image: Judge Joan Donoghue of the U.S., president of the ICJ, reading the Court’s ruling on Friday. (U.N. TV Screenshot)

One of the Largest Unions in the United States Just Called for a Ceasefire in Gaza

January 28th, 2024 by Peoples Dispatch

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

“Wherever violence, fear and hatred thrive, working people cannot,” reads a statement by Mary Kay Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU, which boasts two million members, just joined a growing section of the US labor movement in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. SEIU is now the largest union in the country to issue such a statement. 

The statement begins with condemning “the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7th,” while also condemning “the widespread attacks on innocent civilians, including the bombardment of neighborhoods, healthcare facilities, and refugee camps, by the Israeli military.” 

“We call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the delivery of life-saving food, water, medicine and other resources to the people of Gaza,” reads the statement. “We call on elected leaders to come together to bring an end to the violence and demand a peaceful resolution that ensures both lasting security for the Israeli people and a sustained end to decades of occupation, blockades and lack of freedom endured by the Palestinian people.”

SEIU joins an emerging sector of the US labor movement which includes the United Auto Workers, the American Postal Workers Union, the United Electrical Workers, and an SEIU local, 1199. SEIU joins this movement as popular support for a ceasefire grows, with a new poll indicating that voters are more likely to support political candidates who call for a ceasefire. 

The union’s statement also indicates a willingness among major unions to break from the established Democratic Party status quo as the Biden administration has been openly hostile towards calls for a ceasefire. The White House has gone as far to condemn the progressive congress members calling for a ceasefire, calling the pressure for peace “repugnant” and “disgraceful.” 

Congress has also thus far failed to hold Israel accountable for ongoing war crimes in the Gaza strip. The US Senate recently rejected a proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders to require a State Department report on Israel’s human rights violations, on the basis that the US can investigate any country receiving US military aid. The proposal was rejected by 72 to 11.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image is from SEIU

From the Siege of Leningrad to the Siege of Gaza: Colonialist Mentality

January 28th, 2024 by Prof. Yakov M. Rabkin

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Eighty years ago, on January 27, 1944, people in the street were hugging each other and weeping with joy. They were celebrating the end of a nearly 900 days brutal siege. Soviet forces lifted the siege of Leningrad after ferocious battles. Exactly a year later they liberated Auschwitz. Even today, walking in Saint-Petersburg’s main avenue, the Nevsky Prospect, one notices a blue sign painted on a wall during the siege: “Citizens! This side of the street is the most dangerous during artillery shelling”.

The siege was enforced by armies and navies which had come from Germany, Finland, Italy, Spain, and Norway. It was part of a war started by a coalition of forces from around Europe led by Nazi Germany on June 22, 1941.

The goal of the war against the Soviet Union was different from the war Germany had waged in Western Europe. On the day of the invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler declared that “the empire in the east is ripe for dismemberment”. Germany sought new living space (Lebensraum) but did not need the people who lived on it. Most of them were despised as subhuman (Untermenschen) and destined to be killed, starved or enslaved. Their land was to be given to “Aryan” settlers. To make his point in racial terms familiar to the Europeans, Hitler referred to the Soviet population as “Asians”.

Indeed, the war against the Soviet Union had aspects of a colonial war: millions of Soviet civilians – Slavs, Jews, Gypsies (Roma) and others – were systematically put to death. This surpassed Germany’s genocide in Southwest Africa (today’s Namibia) in 1904-1908 when it just as systematically massacred the local tribes of Herero and Namas. True, Germany was not exceptional: this was common practice among European colonial powers.

The intentions of the Nazi invaders were summarized succinctly:

After the defeat of Soviet Russia there can be no interest in the continued existence of this large urban center. […] Following the city’s encirclement, requests for surrender negotiations shall be denied, since the problem of relocating and feeding the population cannot and should not be solved by us. In this war for our very existence, we can have no interest in maintaining even a part of this very large urban population.

As one of the Nazi commanders enforcing the siege put it, “we shall put the Bolsheviks on a strict diet”.

The last rail line linking the city with the rest of the Soviet Union was severed on August 30, 1941, a week later the last road was occupied by the invaders. The city was completely encircled, supplies of food and fuel dried up, and a severe winter set in. The little that the Soviet government succeeded in delivering to Leningrad was rationed. At one time, the daily ration was reduced to 125 grams of bread made as much of sawdust as of flour. Many did not get even that, and people were forced to eat cats, dogs, wallpaper glue, and there were a few cases of cannibalism. Dead bodies littered the streets as people were dying of hunger, disease, cold and bombardment.

Leningrad, a city of 3.4 million people, lost over one third of its population. This was the largest loss of life in a modern city. The former imperial capital famous for its magnificent palaces, elegant gardens and breathtaking vistas was methodically bombed and shelled. Over 10 000 buildings were either destroyed or damaged. This was part of the invaders’ drive to demodernize the Soviet Union, to throw it back in time. Leningrad had to be wiped out precisely because it was a major centre of science and engineering, home to writers and ballet dancers, the see of famous universities and art museums. None was to survive in the Nazi plans.

Sadly, neither sieges, nor colonial wars ended in 1945. Britain, France and the Netherlands waged brutal wars of “pacification” in their colonies long after Nazism was defeated. Racism was still official in the United States, another ally in the fight against Nazism. Twelve years after the war, it took the 101st Airborne Division to enable nine black students to attend a school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Today’s Western values of tolerance are recent and fragile. Overt racism is no longer acceptable, but its impact is still with us.

Human lives do not have the same value either in our media, or in our foreign policies. The death of an Israeli attracts more media attention that that of a Palestinian. Severe sanctions are imposed on Iran for its civilian nuclear enrichment program while none are imposed on Israel for its military nuclear arsenal. And, of course, Western powers continue to provide arms and political support for the siege of Gaza, where civilian population is not only bombed and shelled, but deliberately starved and let die of disease. The International Court of Justice confirmed “plausible genocide”, even though it failed to stop Israel.   

Commemoration of the siege of Leningrad should prompt us to put an end to all racism, to stop the siege of Gaza and to prevent such atrocities in the future. Otherwise, the accusation thrown in the face of the European citizen by the Martinican poet Aimé Césaire in 1955 would remain still valid:

.. what he cannot forgive Hitler for is not crime in itself, the crime against man, it is not the humiliation of man as such, it is the crime against the white man, the humiliation of the white man, and the fact that he applied to Europe colonialist procedures which until then had been reserved exclusively for the Arabs of Algeria, the coolies of India, and the blacks of Africa.”

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Yakov M. Rabkin is Professor Emeritus of History at the Université of Montréal. His publications include over 300 articles and a few books: Science between Superpowers, A Threat from Within: a Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism, What is Modern Israel?, Demodernization: A Future in the Past and Judaïsme, islam et modernité. He did consulting work for, inter alia, OECD, NATO, UNESCO and the World Bank. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.yakovrabkin.ca

Featured image is a screenshot from the video

Vaccines: “Just Get Your Damn Shots”

January 28th, 2024 by Dr. Gary G. Kohls

Incisive article by Dr. Gary G. Kohls first published by Global Research on August 1, 2017, more than three years prior to the launching of Covid-19 in December 2020.  

***

The title above “Just Get Your Damn Shots” is a verbatim quote taken from any number of seriously uninformed TV physicians, paid trolls and paid celebrities as they have gleefully joined the popular CDC, WHO, AAP, AAFP and AMA-sponsored campaigns that have denigrated (and therefore infuriated) the witnesses of the hundreds of thousands of over-vaccinated, vaccine-injured, vaccine-disabled or vaccine-killed infants, children, adults and soldiers. 

Particularly angered are the parents, siblings, neighbors and other loved ones of the vaccine-traumatized victims, for they

KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT THE VACCINES POISONED THEIR LOVED ONES BECAUSE THEY SAW WHAT WAS HAPPENING BEFORE THEIR VERY EYES.

Dear Readers, Google the title: “Just Get Your Damn Shots” Prevails. 

Draft Google Search (January 27, 2023)

Governor Hogan: “Just Get The Damn Vaccine.” – YouTube

www.youtube.com › watch
 
 
With the Delta variant accounting for nearly all of the new COVID-19 cases in the State of Maryland and an increase in infections among …
YouTube · Governor Larry Hogan · Aug 5, 2021

‘Get the damn shot!’ Broward pushes residents to … – YouTube

www.youtube.com › watch
 
 
 
Broward County hospitals are seeing a surge of COVID-19 patients, a problem that Mayor Steve Geller and medical experts say is preventable …
YouTube · WPLG Local 10 · Jul 28, 2021

Man’s last text: ‘I should have gotten the damn vaccine’ – CNN

www.cnn.com › videos › health › 2021/08/02 › jessica-d…
 
 
Jessica DuPreez talks with John Berman about her 39-year-old fiancé who died from Covid-19. She discusses why they didn’t get vaccinated, …
CNN · Aug 2, 2021

just get the damn vaccine

www.tiktok.com › DK (@devan.kaney) | TikTok
 
 
“just get the damn vaccine
 

These witnesses knew the truth, even though their physicians (especially, apparently, pediatricians) and their clinics refused to listen to them and often fired them and their families when they logically refused to accept “coincidence” as the reason for the catastrophic vaccine-induced illness that suddenly changed their normal baby into a chronically ill or dead one.

Well-informed parents are beginning to realize – despite the aggressive propaganda campaigns from Big Pharma, Big Medicine and Big Media – that vaccines are NOT necessarily safe. Indeed they are seeing that they can be lethal.

Many parents are also beginning to see that vaccines are NOT necessarily effective long-term either. As opposed to natural childhood infections giving life-long immunity, vaccines for such mild infections as measles, mumps and chickenpox need frequent booster shots to theoretically provide partial immunity.

Parents who can’t expect to get thorough information about the CDC’s and AAP’s over-vaccination mandates from their clinics are having to do their own research on neurotoxicology , and they are beginning to realize (no thanks to their too-busy and relatively un-informed physicians) that the vaccines that are planned for their precious kids contain varieties of neurotoxic ingredients in the cocktails of baby shots. As many as 3 injections at one sitting are supposed to go into the tiny muscles of 6 or 8 or 10 pound babies at their 2, 4 and 6 month well baby check-ups. These injections may contain live viruses, aluminum, mercury or unintended contaminants all of which the vaccine manufacturers admit may cause brain inflammation or infection.

The most brain toxic vaccine ingredient in this era since the year 2000 is aluminum, which is increasingly in many infant vaccines. The most brain toxic metal that was in vaccines in the latter two generations of the 20th century was mercury (thimerosal) – a preservative that was removed from many vaccines around 2000 because pediatricians KNEW that it was the major cause of the pediatric autism spectrum disorder (ASD) epidemic that had no other plausible explanation.

Because of that knowledge, the AAP (the American Academy of Pediatrics that now infamously denies the connection between vaccines and ASD), with no help from the CDC, eventually helped convince the vaccine manufacturers to remove mercury from most vaccines.

Babies, most notably the premature ones, always have immature, leaky blood-brain barriers (and leaky guts) that allow some of these toxic vaccine ingredients to enter the brain. Both aluminum and mercury – even in “trace” amounts – are known to adversely affect both the blood-brain barrier and the placental barrier, with serious implications for pregnant women who are increasingly prompted to submit to expensive and probably fetotoxic vaccinations.(!).

Paid Trolls are Behind Much of the Smearing of the Vaccine-injured

The ubiquitous smear campaigns against what paid trolls pejoratively call “anti-vaxxers” target any and all rational and scholarly skeptics of America’s blatantly over-vaccination agenda – a American national agenda that

1) over-vaccinates the most children in the entire developed world,

2) has the worst infant mortality rate in the entire developed world and

3) has the largest percentage of autistic kids in the entire developed world.

But Big Pharma’s toxic over-vaccination agenda is highly profitable for

1) Big Pharma,

2) Big Medicine,

3) pediatricians,

4) medical clinics and

5) Big Media (which makes billions of dollars per year from Big Pharma advertisers).

The propagandistic smear has been orchestrated by organizations (and their paid trolls) representing the 5 corporate institutions named above, who are drafting laws to make more and more of these toxic vaccines compulsory, as has happened in California in 2016. Even Big Pharma-bribed politicians – all totally ignorant of the neurotoxicology of America’s over-vaccination agenda – are joining the irrational campaign.

What is saddest is how vicious have been the attacks against the independent, non-pharma  scientist-scholars who have actually done well-designed toxicology research that PROVES (to any unbiased physician or otherwise smart person that isn’t conflicted and immobilized by financial or professional conflicts of interest) that what the CDC and  AAP is saying about vaccine safety is untrue.

Sadly, every major media outlet seems to employ attractive, highly indoctrinated, financially- and professionally-conflicted full-time celebrity physicians to only report on medical issues that are favorable to the network’s Big Pharma advertisers. Therefore no news will be effectively reported that might expose any of Big Pharma’s many blatantly fraudulent practices.

Don’t Criticize What You Can’t Understand

And then there are ignorant celebrities who have joined the well-financed and well-organized smear campaign  who know nothing about the science of vaccine neurotoxicology, a science that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that intramuscularly-injected aluminum (which is in most infant vaccines as an “adjuvant” – look it up) and intramuscularly-injected mercury (thimerosal) are common causes of childhood brain damage that can be diagnosed as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Asperger’s Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autoimmune/inflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA), Autoimmune Disorders, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Allergies (and that’s just the list of vaccine-induced disorders that start with the letter “A”), tic disorder, seizure disorder, dementia, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, etc, etc, depending on what age the brain was sufficiently poisoned and what location in the brain was most seriously affected.

The sad reality is that most physicians (including my own) had woefully inadequate medical school training about neurotoxicology, immunology, vaccinology and nutrition, at least partly because Big Pharma has devious influences on medical education – hoping to create endless supplies of prolific prescription-writers and vaccine supporters.

A couple of years ago, prior to his pregnant wife (highly likely) receiving her mercury-laden prenatal flu shot and her aluminum-laden prenatal DTaP shot, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel chimed in with the CDC/AMA/AAP’s “just get your damn shots” campaign that demonized

1) parents and loved ones of vaccine-injured babies and children,

2) unbiased research immunologists,

3) unbiased neurotoxicologists,

4) the 10 – 15% of pediatricians who actually listen sympathetically to their patients, and

5) other scholarly and critically-thinking science-minded folks who know that toxic vaccine ingredients commonly sicken many of America’s over-vaccinated children.

Knowing that the most common neurotoxic vaccine ingredients (aluminum and mercury)

1) are both mitochondrial toxins,

2) are both blood-brain barrier toxins,

3) are both capable of crossing the placental barrier and

4) are both exponentially more poisonous when given together,

it shouldn’t surprise any logical thinker that bad outcomes should be expected when metal-containing vaccines are given in cocktails at the same time, whether they are given to a soldier, a baby, a child, a pre-pubertal girl or an adult heading towards dementia.

Quotes

I conclude with some appropriate quotes that should give some uncertain or blind pro-vaccinators pause and give them interest and the willingness to go to the massive volume of unbiased medical literature to learn the truth about the dangers of over-vaccinating children.

I don’t expect changing the minds of those who have been indoctrinated by Big Pharma and Big Medicine. I also don’t expect influencing paid or unpaid trolls to actually go to the many references and scholars that I have referred to in the past. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. And you can point out the conflicts of interest of the ignorant naysayers and trolls but that won’t stop them from continuing to criticize the science that they are either incapable of understanding or unwilling to listen to.

“You might as well consult a butcher on the value of vegetarianism as a doctor on the worth of vaccination.” – George Bernard Shaw

 “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!” – Upton Sinclair, American anti-fascist, anti-imperialist author

“No vaccine manufacturer shall be liable…for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death.” – President Ronald Wilson Reagan, as he signed The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986, absolving drug companies, pediatricians and all vaccine providers from all medico-legal liability when children die, become chronically ill with vaccine-induced autoimmune disorders or are otherwise disabled from vaccine injuries. (That law has led directly to an expected reckless, liability-free development of scores of new, over-priced, potential block-buster vaccines, now numbering over 250. The question that must be asked of Big Medicine’s practitioners: How will the CDC, the AMA, the AAFP and the American Academy of Pediatrics fit any more potentially neurotoxic vaccines into the current well-baby over-vaccination schedule?)

“By Nov. 1, 2016, $3.5 billion had been awarded to more than 3,500 vaccine victims through the federal vaccine injury compensation program (VICP) created under the 1986 NCVIA law.”

“When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses … the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker, a raving lunatic.”— Dresden James

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”  – George Orwell

Is the Childhood Vaccine Schedule Safe?

1976: 1 child in 30 was learning disabled → 2013: 1 child in 6 is learning disabled.

1980: 1 child in 27 had asthma → 2013: 1 child in 9 has asthma.

1992: 1 child in 500 developed autism → 2013: 1 child in 50 develops autism.

2001: 1 child in 555 had diabetes → 2013: 1 child in 400 has diabetes.

THREE TIMES AS MANY VACCINATIONS FOR CHILDREN

1953: CDC recommended 16 doses of 4 vaccines (smallpox, DPT) between two months and age six.

1983: CDC recommended 23 doses of 7 vaccines (DPT, MMR, polio) between two months and age six.

2013: CDC recommended 50 doses of 14 vaccines between day of birth and age six and 69 doses of 16 vaccines between day of birth and age 18.

MULTIPLE VACCINATIONS GIVEN SIMULTANEOUSLY

In 1983, the CDC directed doctors to give a child no more than 4 vaccines (DPT, polio) simultaneously.

By 2013, the CDC directed that a child can receive 8 or more vaccines at once.

The Institute of Medicine published a report in 2013 stating that “key elements of the entire [CDC recommended childhood vaccine] schedule – the number, frequency, timing, order and age of administration of vaccines – have not been systematically examined in research studies.”

VACCINATIONS DURING PREGNANCY

A new CDC policy directs doctors to give pregnant women one dose of influenza vaccine in any trimester and one dose of pertussis containing Tdap vaccine after 20 weeks during every pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that large, well-controlled long term studies have not been conducted to confirm that influenza and Tdap vaccination during pregnancy is safe.

“The evidence strongly suggests that it is the vaccines and the vaccinated who are spreading the diseases for which vaccines are given.”

“The real issue is viral shedding. Viral vaccines are vaccines containing live viruses, even if they are weak or attenuated strains. These live viruses shed for varying amounts of time in the body fluids of a vaccinated individual – and can be transmitted to others. You can absolutely catch the virus (or bacterium) from someone who has just been vaccinated against that disease. Not only that, but viral shedding from vaccines is leading to viral and bacterial mutations, helping to create a phenomenon of new and dangerous strains of disease which can evade treatment by becoming accustomed to whatever drugs get thrown at them.”

“The U.S. has maintained one of the world’s highest child vaccination rates and lowest infectious disease rates, even as public health officials have been unable to explain why so many of today’s highly vaccinated children are so sick and disabled. Also unexplained, is why America has the worst infant mortality rate of all developed nations, with 6 out of 1,000 babies dying before their first birthday.

“Maternal mortality in the U.S. has also become one of the worst of all industrialized nations, with between 12 and 28 women in 100,000 dying within one year of giving birth, a maternal mortality rate that more than doubled between 1990 and 2013. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), annually an estimated 1,200 women in America suffer fatal complications during pregnancy and childbirth and another 60,000 suffer near-fatal complications.

“Women having babies in the U.S. today, who represent the most vaccinated generations in our nation’s history, are now also being given influenza, diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccines during pregnancy, a federal maternal vaccination policy that was launched in 1997 with administration of influenza vaccine during any trimester and was widened in 2011 with the addition of a pertussis containing TDaP shot after 20 weeks gestation.

“As of 2015, about half of the nation’s pregnant women or nearly 2 million women, were either vaccinated with TDaP vaccine during pregnancy (42 percent) or influenza vaccine before or during pregnancy (50 percent) or received both vaccines.” – Barbara Loe-Fischer, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)

What has happened to the health of children in America since the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was passed in 1986?

“After drug companies, pediatricians and all vaccine providers were shielded from accountability and liability for vaccine injuries and deaths, U.S. health officials tripled the numbers of vaccinations recommended for children – from 23 doses of seven vaccines in 1986 to 33 doses of nine vaccines by 1997, which has escalated to a current 69 doses of 16 vaccines. States also increased the numbers of vaccinations required for children to attend school and, by 1997, it was obvious that a growing number of highly vaccinated children in America were never well anymore.

“The new and unprecedented child chronic disease and disability epidemic that has perfectly coincided with the expansion of the child vaccine schedule over the past 30 years is having a devastating effect on children, their families and our nation. Today, 1 child in 6 in the U.S. is learning disabled; 1 in 9 has asthma; 1 in 10 has ADHD; 1 in 50 develops autism; and 1 in 400 has diabetes. Millions more are suffering with severe allergies epilepsy, anxiety and depression, and other kinds of brain and immune disorders marked by chronic inflammation in the body.” – Barbara Loe-Fischer

“If we listen to present-day wisdom, we are all at risk of resurgent massive epidemics should the vaccination rate fall below 95%. Yet, we have all lived for at least 30 to 40 years with 50% or less of the population having vaccine protection. That is, herd immunity has not existed in this country for many decades and no resurgent epidemics have occurred. Vaccine-induced herd immunity is a lie used to frighten doctors, public-health officials, other medical personnel, and the public into accepting vaccinations.” – Russell Blaylock, MD

“The live polio vaccine…contains live attenuated polioviruses. Those polioviruses, when you take that [live] vaccine, you shed them in your body fluids – your saliva, urine, and stool…Whether you have the a viral infection or you get the live attenuated vaccine, you shed live viruses in your body fluids and you are able to transmit the virus to other people who come in contact with your body fluids.” — Barbara Loe-Fisher

”Curbing civil liberties under the guise of protecting the public health and national security has become big business. In 1982, when the pharmaceutical industry threatened to stop producing government licensed and recommended vaccines for children unless vaccine manufacturers got a product liability shield, Congress gave Big Pharma most of what it wanted in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.  It was tort reform legislation sold to parents and the American public on the backs of children legally required by states to get federally recommended vaccines to attend school.

“Even though by Nov. 1, 2016, $3.5 billion had been awarded to more than 3,500 vaccine victims through the federal vaccine injury compensation program (VICP) created under the 1986 law, two out of three claims have been denied throughout the entire history of the law’s implementation.  Most of the compensation awards today are for adults injured by flu vaccine – not for children required to get vaccines to go to school.

“While the government denies compensation to many children, whose lives have been destroyed by state mandated vaccines, in the past five years liability-free drug companies have joined forces with politically powerful medical trade groups to change state vaccine laws. They are lobbying state legislatures to severely restrict the medical exemption and eliminate the non-medical religious, philosophical and conscientious belief exemptions for children attending school.” — Barbara Loe-Fisher

“…our current results are consistent with the existing evidence on the toxicology and pharmacokinetics of aluminum adjuvants which altogether strongly implicate these compounds as contributors to the rising prevalence of neurobehavioral disorders in children. Given that autism has devastating consequences in a life of a child, and that currently in the developed world over 1% of children suffer from some form of ASD, it would seem wise to make efforts towards reducing infant exposure to aluminum from vaccines.“ — C A Shaw, PhD

“There is a serious problem with vaccine safety. Vaccine aluminum adjuvant has adverse neurological effects, at dosages that are recommended by the US CDC. Vaccine critics are supported by the science. Parents refusing to vaccinate according to the recommended CDC schedule are supported by the science. Use aluminum-containing vaccines with great caution, or not at all.” – C. A. Shaw, PhD

“Aluminum is an experimentally demonstrated neurotoxin and the most commonly used vaccine adjuvant…research clearly shows that aluminum adjuvants have a potential to induce serious immunological disorders in humans. In particular, aluminum in adjuvant form carries a risk for autoimmunity, long-term brain inflammation and associated neurological complications and may thus have profound and widespread adverse health consequences.” (From Tomljenovic and Shaw’s journal article “Aluminum Vaccine Adjuvants: Are They Safe?”, published in Curr Med Chem 2011;18(17):2630-7.)

“The CDC says that 36,000 people die from the flu every year in the US. But actually, it’s closer to 20. However, we can’t admit that, because if we did, we’d be exposing our gigantic psyop. The whole campaign to scare people into getting a flu shot would have about the same effect as warning people to carry iron umbrellas, in case toasters fall out of upper-story windows…and, by the way, we’d all be put in prison for fraud.” – Jon Rappoport

“A 2007 [Zika] outbreak on Yap Islands in Micronesia is estimated to have affected nearly 75% of the (island’s) population of some 12,000 people, and a 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia affected nearly 28,000 of 270,000 residents. Neither epidemic caused a spike in microcephaly.” — qz.com

“The correlation between a) the presence of Zika and b) babies with the microcephaly birth defect is so weak and sparse, it constitutes counter-evidence for Zika as the cause…the overwhelming majority of birth-defect cases show no presence of Zika. Therefore, the Zika-carrying mosquitoes have no business being the target of toxic spraying. But they are. And the spraying increases the risk of neurological damage in babies.” – Jon Rappoport

“Microcephaly may result from any insult that disturbs early brain growth…Annually, approximately 25,000 infants in the United States will be diagnosed with microcephaly…” – From the Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the Practice Committee of the Child Neurology Society. (Neurology 2009 Sep 15; 73(11) 887-897)

“…even the ideal influenza vaccine, matched perfectly to circulating strains of wild influenza and capable of stopping all influenza viruses, can only deal with a small part of the ‘flu’ problem because most ‘flu’ appears to have nothing to do with influenza. Every year, hundreds of thousands of respiratory specimens are tested across the US. Of those tested, on average 16% are found to be influenza positive.” – Dr Peter Doshi (from a British Medical Journal review article, “Influenza: marketing vaccines by marketing disease” 2013 (BMJ 2013; 346:f3037)

“…It’s no wonder so many people feel that ‘flu shots’ don’t work: for most flus, they can’t, work because most diagnosed cases of the flu aren’t the flu.” – Jon Rappoport

“[According to CDC statistics], ‘influenza and pneumonia’ took 62,034 lives in 2001—61,777 of which were attributable to pneumonia and 257 to flu, and in only 18 cases was the flu virus positively identified.” – Dr Peter Doshi, from in his 2005 BMJ report, titled, “Are US flu death figures more PR than science?” (BMJ 2005; 331:1412

“Between 1979 and 2001, [CDC] data showed an average of 1348 [flu] deaths per year (range 257 to 3006).” – Dr Peter Doshi

“Official data shows that large scale vaccination has failed to obtain any significant improvement of the diseases against which they were supposed to provide protection” — Dr Sabin, developer of Polio vaccine

“The greatest threat of childhood diseases lies in the dangerous and ineffectual efforts made to prevent them through mass immunisation…..There is no convincing scientific evidence that mass inoculations can be credited with eliminating any childhood disease.” — Dr Robert Mendelsohn, MD

“The only safe vaccine is one that is never used.” — Dr. James A. Shannon, National Institutes of Health

“No batch of vaccine can be proved safe before it is given to children.” – Dr Leonard Scheele, Surgeon General of the United States, addressing an AMA convention in 1955

“It is pathetic and ludicrous to say we ever vanquished smallpox with vaccines, when only 10% of the population was ever vaccinated.” — Dr Glen Dettman

“The decline in infectious diseases in developed countries had nothing to do with vaccinations, but with the decline in poverty and hunger.” — Dr Buchwald, MD

“There is a great deal of evidence to prove that immunisation of children does more harm than good.” – Dr. J. Anthony Morris (formerly Chief Vaccine Control Officer at the US Federal Drug Admin.)

“There is insufficient evidence to support routine vaccination of healthy persons of any age.” — Paul Frame, MD, Journal of Family Practice

“I think that no person would permit anybody to get close to them with an inoculation if they would really know how they are made, what they carry, what has been lied to them about and what the real percent of danger is of contracting such a disease which is minimal.” — Dr Eva Snead

“The evidence for indicting immunisations for SIDS is circumstantial, but compelling. However, the keepers of the keys to medical-research funds are not interested in searching this very important lead to the cause of an ongoing, and possibly preventable, tragedy. Anything that implies that immunisations are not the greatest medical advance in the history of public health is ignored or ridiculed.   Can you imagine the economic and political import of discovering that immunisations are killing thousands of babies?” — Dr William C. Douglass, MD (Honored twice as America’s ‘Doctor of the Year’)

“Sudden Infant Death Syndrome has been reported following the administration of DPT. The significance is unclear. 85% of SIDS cases occur in the period 1 through 6 months of age, with the peak incidence at age 2 to 4 months.” (From the accompanying insert to Connaught Labs’ DPT vaccine) — Jane Orient, MD, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

“If you want the truth on vaccination you must go to those who are not making anything out of it…My aim has been to show that you have a powerful body to fight in the medical profession. We cannot be stirred without great effort. We are a kind of Juggernaut; we have to be dragged; we will not go. Let each one take his doctor, or, if he be so fortunate as not to need one, the doctor who lives nearest to him, and try and instruct him (about the dangers of vaccination). Send him the literature of the subject; he may not read it, but he may. Every little helps. – Instruct the people by means of public lectures and meetings. Show them as plainly as you can the uselessness and dangers of vaccination. Teach them that they must not go to the medical profession for counsel on the matter. If cases of small-pox were isolated and the clothes of the sufferers disinfected, the disease would not spread. If you wish to avoid smallpox, you must live pure and simple lives. If we crowd together we must expect disease; if we keep our skins closed, the impurities of the body are retained, and these impurities are the food upon which small-pox thrives. If your constitution is in a bad, state and you come in contact ‘with small-pox, you will probably have it.” — Dr T. R. Allinson

“The greatest threat of childhood diseases lies in the dangerous and ineffectual efforts made to prevent them through mass immunisation…There is no convincing scientific evidence that mass inoculations can be credited with eliminating any childhood disease.” — Dr Robert Mendelsohn, MD

“Vaccine-induced herd immunity is a lie used to frighten doctors, public-health officials, other medical personnel, and the public into accepting vaccinations.” – Russell Blaylock, MD

“the 271 vaccines in development span a wide array of diseases, and employ exciting new scientific strategies and technologies. These potential vaccines – all in human clinical trials or under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – include 137 for infectious diseases, 99 for cancer, 15 for allergies and 10 for neurological disorders.” — PhRMA (the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America), the pharmaceutical industry’s trade association and powerful lobbying group

***

Dr Kohls is a retired physician from Duluth, MN, USA. He writes a weekly column for the Duluth Reader, the area’s alternative newsweekly magazine. His columns deal with the dangers of American fascism, corporatism, militarism, racism, malnutrition, Big Pharma’s psychiatric drugging and over-vaccination regimens, and other movements that threaten the environment, prosperity, democracy, civility and the health and longevity of the planet and the populace. Many of his columns are archived at

http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/gary-g-kohls;

http://duluthreader.com/search?search_term=Duty+to+Warn&p=2; or at

https://www.transcend.org/tms/search/?q=gary+kohls+articles

  • Posted in English
  • Comments Off on Vaccines: “Just Get Your Damn Shots”

Davos24 Bombshell Video: F**k You at the World Economic Forum (WEF)

January 28th, 2024 by Global Research News

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

 

This is a Montage by Damon Imani, 

Known for his satirical approach, Imani draws attention to societal and political issues.

 

Two Controversial Videos. The First Video is More Recent


 

 

Damon Imani indicates explicitly on his website that the video is political satire. The incident did not occur in Davos at the WEF Plenary.  

Our thanks to Damon Imani. 

 

L’Italia in Prima Linea Sotto Comando USA nella più Grande Esercitazione di Guerra contro la Russia

January 27th, 2024 by Manlio Dinucci

Il Generale dell’Esercito USA Christopher Cavoli, Comandante Supremo Alleato in Europa, ha annunciato che, dalla fine di gennaio alla fine di maggio, si svolgerà in Europa la più grande esercitazione NATO degli ultimi decenni, Steadfast Defender (Saldo Difensore) 2024.

Vi parteciperanno 90.000 militari dei 31 Paesi della NATO e della Svezia che sta per entrare nella NATO. Saranno impiegati nell’esercitazione oltre 80 aerei da combattimento insieme ad elicotteri e droni, 50 navi da guerra comprese le portaerei, 1.100 carrarmati e altri veicoli da combattimento.

L’esercitazione – la più grande dalla fine della Guerra Fredda – servirà a testare e perfezionare la strategia di guerra contro la Russia.

Il generale USA, che nella NATO comanda le forze armate dei 29 Paesi europei membri della Alleanza, ha dichiarato che, con la Steadfast Defender 2024. “l’Alleanzadimostrerà la sua capacità di rafforzare l’area euro-atlantica attraverso il movimento transatlantico di forze dal Nord America.

Questo rinforzo avverrà durante uno scenario di conflitto emergente simulato contro un avversario quasi-pari”. Chiaro il riferimento alla Russia.

Il Comandante Supremo Alleato in Europa comunica inoltre che l’Italia è stata scelta quale sede del quartier generale della Forza di Reazione Alleata.

Il generale USA sottolinea che essa è “una componente fondamentale del nostro nuovo modello di forza e che “è in grado di svolgere l’intero spettro di missioni e funge da riserva strategica a dispiegamento rapido”.

Nel corso dell’esercitazione il quartier generale italiano della Forza di Reazione Alleata effettuerà uno spiegamento della Forza di Reazione Rapida in Polonia sul fianco orientale dell’Alleanza, chiaramente diretto contro la Russia.

Il Comandante Supremo Alleato in Europa non dice che l’esercitazione di guerra, che si svolgerà per quattro mesi in Europa, sarà anche una esercitazione di guerra nucleare.

Gli aerei, le navi e i sistemi missilistici impiegati nella Steadfast Defender 2024 hanno duplice capacità convenzionale e nucleare.

Gli USApotranno così testare, in una realistica simulazione, le nuove armi nucleari che stanno schierando in Europa sempre più a ridosso della Russia.

Manlio Dinucci

VIDEO : 

https://www.byoblu.com/2024/01/26/litalia-in-prima-linea-sotto-comando-usa-nella-piu-grande-esercitazione-di-guerra-contro-la-russia-pangea-la-rassegna-stampa-internazionale-di-byoblu-126-puntata/

U.N. General Assembly Panel: The Dangers of Sabotage of Information and Communications Technologies. The Role of “Centralized Controls” and the Potential Destabilization of An Entire Country

January 27th, 2024 by Carla Stea

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

 

“25 Years of Discussions on Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies Under the Auspices of the United Nations”

 

***

While the psychopathology of Russophobia is infecting the West, and various venal stratagems are being employed to destabilize the Russian Federation, it is precisely the Russian Federation which is leading efforts to establish an international code of conduct assuring the peaceful uses of technology, and prohibiting criminal attempts to cripple societies dependent upon centralized technological control.

On September 22, 2023, the Russian Federation held an important panel discussion during the General Assembly High-Level Week, chaired by H.E. Mr Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and including panel participants:

  • Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs,
  • H.E. Mr. Burhan Gafoor, Chair of the Open-Ended working group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies 2021-2025,
  • H.E. Ms. Faouzia Mebarki, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes, Ambassador of Algeria to the United Nations in Vienna,
  • H.E. Mr. Grigory Logvinov, Deputy Secretary-General, Shanghai Cooperation Organization,
  • Mr. Oleg Slepov, Head of International Development Department, Rostelecom-Solar.

The possibilities of information and communications technologies, used for constructive purposes, and by contrast, the deadly potential of using these technologies for destructive, criminal purposes were discussed in depth and detail, and what would seem an abstract matter became stunningly immediate, particularly as described by Mr. Oleg Slepov, of Rostelecom-Solar. Mr. Slepov discussed the way in which  crucial sectors of modern societies can be connected by advanced technologies, speeding up, and providing incredibly efficient and effective transfer of information, as all sectors of these societies become increasingly dependent on these  centralized technologies in order to function.

However, Mr. Slepov also warned of the dangerous possibility of hostile actors sabotaging these newly centralized controls of the most important sectors of society, by disabling the control centers of these now technologically linked sectors of society.

Thus, criminals have the power to destroy an entire country by disabling the switch that controls the communication technology.

This sabotage can be immediate, and will paralyze the most indispensable sectors of society, controlling water, electricity, health care facilities, transportation, telecommunications, and all other indispensable components that enable human societies to function. Mr. Slepov warned that this very centralized technological control of entire societies makes them vulnerable to sabotage by hostile actors.

The Concept Note for this meeting states:

“The fifth substantive session of this Open-ended Working group (OWEG) held in July 2023 marked the implementation of the initially Russian proposal on establishing global intergovernmental Points of Contact Directory, aimed at enhancing cooperation between competent national authorities in detecting, preventing and eliminating consequences of computer attacks, as well as responding to computer incidents.”

I had the privilege of speaking directly with Russian Deputy Minister Vershinin, and asked him whether it is actually possible to destroy an entire country by hostile interference with the technological centers which control effective functioning of that targeted country. 

Minister Vershinin replied that this danger is, indeed, very real and alarming, and it is one of the reasons that the Russian Federation proposed this initiative, to be held under the auspices of the United Nations, in the context of international security. This initiative was adopted by the General Assembly by consensus.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Carla Stea is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) and Global Research’s Correspondent at UN headquarters, New York. 

The US Steals Syrian Oil, and the Kurds Sell It to Israel at a Discount in Erbil

January 27th, 2024 by Steven Sahiounie

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRG) claimed responsibility for missile attacks on an Israeli “spy headquarters.” Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and four of his family members were killed in the attack on their home on January 16 near the US Consulate in Erbil, in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR).

Dizayee was the owner of the Falcon Group, which is a business involved in oil and gas, agriculture and security. The IRG claimed its missiles targeted a “Mossad headquarters”.

“No US facilities were impacted. We’re not tracking damage to infrastructure or injuries at this time,” a US official said in response to the recent attack.

Prime Minister of the IKR, Masrour Barzani, condemned the IRG attacks on Erbil.

The Oil Business in Erbil

The oil business is thriving in IKR, and the Falcon Group was part of it. Kurdish oil has been exported to Israel, Italy, France and Greece through a secretive trade depending on pre-pay deals.

Israel buys much of its oil from Erbil, and Israel depends on the heavily discounted crude, making it a key customer. The oil is discounted to Israel because it is free, as the source is the stolen Syrian oil. 40% of Israel’s oil supplies were from IKR in the first three months of 2023, which doubled the amount in 2022.

Israel received its first substantial seaborne crude oil shipment from the IKR in 2014, which is the same time the US occupation forces arrived in Syria. Israel was reportedly importing as much as three-quarters of its crude oil needs from the IKR by mid-2015.

Israeli refineries and oil companies imported almost $1 billion worth of Kurdish oil between May and August of 2023, according to shipping data, trading sources and satellite tanker tracking, which represents about 77% of average Israeli demand, which runs at roughly 240,000 barrels per day. More than a third of all of the northern Iraqi exports, which are shipped from Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, went to Israel over the period.

According to anonymous sources, it was a Mossad agent who first traveled to Erbil to negotiate the deal to buy oil from IKR, which was facilitated by US officials.

The US Consulate in Erbil

The new US Consulate General building in Erbil, near the attack carried out by Iran, is the biggest consulate complex built by the US. Embassies and Consulates are under the US State Department, but the consulate in Erbil has a connection to the US Department of Defense, demonstrating the strategic importance of the region for Washington, with a US military base also in IKR.

Irvin Hicks, Jr., the US Consul General in Erbil, stated in January 2023, that the new 800-million-dollar consulate building is a clear statement that the “United States of America is not going anywhere.”

The US first opened a diplomatic office in Erbil in February 2007, and later upgraded to a consulate general in 2011, the same year the US-NATO attack on Syria began for regime change, under the Obama-Biden administration.

The US embassy in Baghdad was built in 2009 and is its biggest mission compound in the world at a cost of $750 million. Iraqi Kurdistan and the Iraqi central government in Baghdad operate separately, as the Kurds are a semi-autonomous region.

Erbil has 30 consulates, six honorary consulates, and six foreign trade offices, with the Japanese consulate the latest to open on Jan. 11.

“Opening more than 30 consulates is not normal,” Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Hossein Rajabi criticized. Most of these consulates are used for espionage activities.”

Iran views the foreign offices as having the potential to carry out plans aimed at destabilizing the security of Iran, by hosting Iranian separatist groups and bases aligned with Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

The Iraqi Response to the Genocide in Gaza

“On October 20, 2023, the Department ordered the departure of eligible family members and non-emergency U.S. government personnel from U.S. Embassy Baghdad and U.S. Consulate General Erbil due to increased security threats against U.S. government personnel and interests,” according to the State Department’s Iraq travel advisory.

Iraqis have taken to the streets to protest the US complicity in the genocide being committed in Gaza by Israel.  US President Joe Biden has defied the American values of human rights and international law by continuing to send weapons to Israel to promote the wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian civilians of Gaza, even in the face of international criticism which has lowered the image of America as a beacon of freedom to a joke.

Protests have taken place outside of the US Embassy in Baghdad, and military groups which are under the central government of Iraq have fired rockets and armed drones at US troops based in Anbar and near Erbil multiple times. Baghdad does not recognize Israel; however, the IKR are aligned with the US, and sell the stolen oil from Syria to the prime US ally, Israel.

The US invaded and destroyed Iraq in 2003, and occupied the country for years until a withdrawal. When ISIS reared its ugly head, the Baghdad government requested US troops to come to help in the fight against ISIS, which saw its defeat at the hands of Iraq, Syria, Russia, and the US. The Iraqi parliament ordered the US troops to leave after the defeat of ISIS in 2017, but the Department of Defense refused. The Prime Minister of Iraq has recently ordered the US troops to leave immediately following the US assassination of Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari in Baghdad on January 4, an Iraqi military commander who was instrumental in the defeat of ISIS.

The PKK in Syria and Erbil

The PKK aligned SDF in north east Syria is US supported. The US military in Syria are occupying the largest oil field in Syria, which prevents the Damascus government from using the oil to provide electricity to the Syrian people, who suffer with just 3 hours of electricity per day.

In December 2023, 44-tanker convoy carrying oil stolen from Syria traveled clandestinely to US bases near Erbil. Just days before, US forces took 95 tankers of oil and a truckload of stolen Syrian wheat to IKR. The Syrian wheat fields are also in the area the US troops occupy and the area is controlled by Kurds who are aligned with the IKR.

Farhan Jamil Abdullah, head of the Syrian Oil Company, said in July that as a result of the US sanctions and military occupation in Syria, oil production has decreased to 15,000 barrels per day from 385,000 barrels before 2011.

Firas Hassan Kaddour, the Syrian Oil Minister, said in July that the losses of the energy sector in Syria are close to 100 billion U.S. dollars. 

The main oil field of Al Omar and Conoco in Syria are producing oil which is shipped in tankers by the US Army and refined at Kar Oil Refinery in Erbil.

The US sponsors the SDF militia in Syria which is dominated by the YPG. The YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK, a group recognized by Turkey, as well as the US and the EU, as a terrorist organization, who have killed more than 40,000 persons over decades.

Turkey has condemned the US alliance with the SDF and YPG, and considers the US is financing terrorism.

The commander of the SDF is General Mazloum Kobani, who is also a member of the PKK. His real name is Ferhat Abdi Sahin, is one of Turkey’s most wanted terrorists. Kobani was chosen by the US as their military ally and it is at Kobani’s command that the stolen Syrian oil is loaded into tankers.

Erdogan has demanded for years that the US must stop supporting the SDF, YPG, and to stop encouraging the Kurds to establish an independent homeland in north east Syria on the border with Turkey, which is a NATO member, and ally of the US, housing an American military base there.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on Mideast Discourse.

Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from MD

French Mercenaries and Military Contractors Targeted by Russia in Kharkov, Bad Omen for NATO Personnel in Ukraine

January 27th, 2024 by Drago Bosnic

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

On January 16, Russian military sources reported that a missile strike was launched at the headquarters of a group of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. Reports indicate that the targeted personnel were mostly French military contractors and that the precision strike resulted in at least 80 casualties, of which over 60 were KIA (killed in action). The sources further posit that the neutralized personnel were highly trained specialists whose assignments involved specific Western-made weapon systems that regular, forcibly conscripted Ukrainians are simply not trained to handle. Russian military sources also indicate that the strike put some of the most effective long-range weapons in the Kiev regime’s inventory out of service, at least until new specialists are recruited, which will certainly take time to accomplish.

The mercenaries were stationed in the eastern city of Kharkov and their mission was most likely to coordinate and direct long-range strikes on Russian territory. This is in line with the hypothesis that the Neo-Nazi junta is simply unable to integrate the massive amount of new NATO-sourced weapons, the influx of which increased dramatically in the last two years. Mostly accustomed to Soviet-era weapons, including their domestic modernized variants, the Kiev regime had a tough task of integrating these doctrinally very different Western armaments. In order to accomplish that, they needed a large number of Western specialists who would coordinate such efforts. This also involved training Ukrainian personnel to operate the said NATO-sourced weapon systems.

However, it should be noted that this process takes years to accomplish, meaning that the Russian precision strike is a major setback for the Neo-Nazi junta, as its soldiers lost a valuable asset that could’ve made even more damage to Moscow’s interests simply by proliferating its expertise. A good example of this is the battlefield usage of the US-made “Patriot” SAM (surface-to-air missile) system, which the Kiev regime forces were considered unable to operate before 2024 at the earliest, as the training process for the personnel operating the system takes several years and even longer for combat tasks, particularly against a high-tech opponent such as Russia. And yet, the “Patriot” was already in use in early 2023. The only logical explanation is that it has mostly been operated by Western military contractors.

Precisely this is why foreign mercenaries in Ukraine are given no quarter. The consequences of having highly trained enemy combatants participate in battles, as well as train Ukrainian personnel simply cannot be overstated. The political West is fully aware of the fact that Soviet-era weapons in Ukrainian service are on their last legs. Apart from local systems, this also includes weapons that NATO’s former Warsaw Pact members sent in the last two years. Western-made equivalents are the only viable alternative in order to keep the Ukrainian conflict going for as long as possible. This is precisely why Russia will show no mercy toward any NATO contractors in the country, as their activities only prolong the conflict, resulting in unnecessary death, destruction and devastation for both sides.

This has been the case since the first days of the special military operation (SMO). For instance, on March 13, 2022, or barely three weeks into the intervention, the Russian military obliterated the Yavoriv training camp, located less than 15 km from the Polish (and by extension NATO) border. Estimates vary, but it seems there were upwards of 1000 foreign mercenaries there, nearly 200 of which were KIA as a result of the strike. Since then, there have been numerous similar instances when troop concentrations of foreign fighters were targeted. Back in late April last year, an “Iskander-M” missile system eliminated an entire unit of the infamous “Georgian Legion”, notorious due to gruesome war crimes against Russian-speaking civilians in the Donbass, as well as captured Russian soldiers.

Faced with mounting losses, the Neo-Nazi junta is very likely to start relying on foreign mercenaries more than ever before. As millions of Ukrainians are trying to dodge the draft, the Kiev regime is trying to raise its own Volkssturm, which now includes pregnant women. Forced to rely much less on the sheer numbers of Ukrainians that can be used as cannon fodder, NATO is looking for other ways to fight the Russian military (and not just the military). This is why it needs highly trained specialists who can use complex weapon systems. These can be used as a form of asymmetric warfare against the conventionally superior Russian forces. Moscow’s advantages became even more pronounced after the failed summer/fall counteroffensive that saw the massive destruction of NATO-sourced equipment.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian combat specialists, mostly trained by NATO, were killed or wounded, leaving the Neo-Nazi junta without much-needed personnel. NATO has had a sizeable presence in Ukraine even before the SMO, with US covert operators staying even after most other Americans left the country. Others, such as the British, Poles, as well as personnel from the former Soviet Baltic states were also among the most prominent foreign fighters. However, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, France has long been one of the leading sources of mercenaries for the Kiev regime. Apart from this, in violation of arms control agreements, Paris is also delivering long-range missiles to the Neo-Nazi junta. On the other hand, on a strategic level, Russia is responding by helping dismantle France’s (neo)colonial empire in Africa.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from InfoBrics

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Attempt to Silence Palestinian Human Rights Advocacy

January 27th, 2024 by Center for Constitutional Rights

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Today, a U.S.-based Palestinian rights organization prevailed when the Supreme Court refused to take up a lawsuit brought by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and several U.S. citizens who live in Israel. Citing the speech and expressive activities of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), including its support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the lawsuit had argued that the group provided “material support” for terrorism.  The dismissal by the district court had been unanimously affirmed by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

This lawsuit is just one example of a long line of efforts to silence Palestinians for advocating for their freedom – in this case, by wielding the accusation of support for terrorism to discredit and dehumanize Palestinians for their advocacy, including their support for boycotts. Multiple organizations with histories of seeking to silence Palestinian rights filed their own briefs in an effort to have the Supreme Court of the United States endorse their suppression effort. USCPR’s attorneys say today’s decision to let the lower court rulings stand is an important win for the movement and definitively sets the record straight. As the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found, “[a]dvocating and coordinating a boycott of Israel – ‘economically, academically[,] and diplomatically,’… – is not unlawful.” 

In dismissing the suit in March 2021, the lower court said the arguments were, “to say the least, not persuasive.” Advocates say the suit is part of a broader effort to criminalize and silence the political activities of supporters of Palestinian rights, a threat that has only increased as Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza intensifies. 

“USCPR’s message is justice for all and an end to funding genocide. There’s no lawsuit in the world that can stop us from pushing our demands for human rights,” said Ahmad Abuznaid, Executive Director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. “We will remain focused on opposing Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people and pursuing justice and freedom for the Palestinian people.”

Headquartered in Jerusalem, the JNF is a quasi-state institution that acquires and administers land for the sole benefit of Jewish Israelis. The JNF’s lawsuit alleges that USCPR bears responsibility for “incendiary terror balloons and kites” sent from Gaza onto JNF land during the 2018 Great Return March. 

At issue were USCPR’s fiscal sponsorship of the Boycott National Committee and expressions of support for the rights and demands of Palestinians participating in the Great Return March, when Palestinians protested to demand respect for their right to return to the villages from which Israeli settlers expelled them in 1948. These two activities, the lawsuit claimed, amount to a violation of the U.S.’s Antiterrorism Act, which prohibits “material support” for terrorism. 

“The JNF’s prolonged and egregious pursuit of a fishing expedition to silence and intimidate urgent advocacy for Palestinian rights has been definitively put to rest by the Supreme Court,” said Diala Shamas, a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “The JNF’s accusations were baseless, as recognized by the district court, the court of appeals, and now confirmed by the Supreme Court. Now, as the government of Israel is carrying out an unfolding genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, it is more important than ever that activists be free to speak out without fear. This is an important victory, but USCPR shouldn’t have been subjected to these smears in the first place.”

Also representing USCPR were cooperating counsel Judith Chomsky and Beth Stephens.  

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image: This file photo shows the US Supreme Court building located at One First Street, NE, in Washington.

Crimes against Palestinian Women and New Born Babies, No Water, No Sanitation, Caesarians without Anesthetics, Cut Up Tents for Period Products

January 27th, 2024 by Katherine Hearst

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Displaced women and girls in Gaza are resorting to using tent strips as sanitary pads amid severe shortages of menstruation products, while women in labour are undergoing caesarean procedures without anaesthetic.

With limited access to running water and hygiene products, women and girls living in tent cities in Rafah are using canvas strips and scraps of clothing as a substitute for sanitary pads, risking infection and deadly toxic shock syndrome.

Since the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian enclave began on 7 October, the total siege on Gaza has prevented hygiene and period products from entering the Strip. 

According to Riham Jafari, advocacy and communications cooordinator at ActionAid Palestine, the aid trucks that do enter the strip mostly carry food and medical aid, rather than sanitary products for women.

“Women in Gaza go to many places and walk long distances to search in all the pharmacies for pads, but they can’t find them,” Jafari told Middle East Eye.

Many women have resorted to menstruation delaying pills to block their periods. While sanitary products are scarce, pills that delay periods are generally more available as they are commonly not used.

A New Form of Suffering

Of the 1.9 million Gazans who have fled south to Rafah, 1 million are estimated to be women and girls. Many are living in makeshift tents and struggle to access clean running water and toilets due to overcrowding.

In a post on Telegram, Palestinian health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said that infrastructure and medical services in Rafah could not cater for the influx of people. 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) estimated that at its shelters in Rafah, there is only one toilet per 486 people.  

“We suffer a lot whenever we want to go to the bathroom. We stand in line for a long time and the bathrooms are far away,” Adara*, a woman who was displaced from her home with her four children told ActionAid.

“This is a new form of suffering experienced by women in Gaza. This situation is extremely difficult for women and adolescent girls, who lack safe, private and dignified places to manage their menstrual hygiene,” Jafari said.

With only one of three water pipelines in Gaza functioning, women are unable to wash themselves.

According to ActionAid, women they have spoken to have gone weeks without showering.

The UN estimated that there are 700,000 women and girls in Gaza experiencing menstrual cycles who cannot access basic hygiene products like pads, toilet paper or even running water and toilets.

Born ‘Into Hell’

According to Unicef spokesperson, Tess Ingram, babies in Gaza are being “delivered into hell”.

Mothers are undergoing caesarean operations without anaesthetic, and are being discharged just hours after the operation.

With only one functioning maternity hospital left in the besieged enclave, women in labour are forced to share beds or give birth in their tents or in toilets.

“Two women who were sharing a bed … maybe an hour after getting a caesarean, they were then moved to a chair to free the bed up to somebody else, and discharged after three hours to go back to their shelter,” Ingram reported following a trip to the El Emirati Maternity Hospital on 12 January.

According to Unicef, 20,000 babies have been born in Gaza since 7 October, with many of these deliveries conducted in dangerous and unhygienic conditions.

After delivery, mothers are forced to nurse their newborns in tents, and are often unable to find clothes and nappies.

Food shortages have left many new mothers too malnourished to breastfeed, according to ActionAid.

A report by UN women on 19 January found that women and girls in Gaza are dying at “unprecedented levels” and facing “catastrophic levels of humanitarian need”.

Of the more than 25,000 Palestinians killed since 7 October, 70 percent are estimated to be women and children, with two mothers killed per hour since the beginning of the crisis.

*Names have been changed on request

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image: Airport workers unload crates with aid delivered from Qatar destined for Gaza at El Arish International Airport (Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

War on Gaza: Arab Despots’ Failure to Stand Up to Israel Could Fuel an Explosion

January 27th, 2024 by David Hearst

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

The world is watching a famine develop in Gaza that could kill many times more than the 24,000 Palestinians who have already perished in Israel’s merciless blitzkrieg. 

Last month, more than 90 percent of Gaza’s population was estimated to be facing high levels of acute food insecurity, categorised as Phase 3 or crisis levels. Of those, more than 40 percent were in a state of emergency (Phase 4), and more than 15 percent in a catastrophic situation, the fifth and final phase.

The famine is projected to develop rapidly in the coming weeks. By early February, if nothing changes, the entire population of Gaza is projected to be in the crisis phase, half in the emergency phase, and more than half a million people in the catastrophic phase, with households experiencing an extreme lack of food, starvation and exhaustion.

These are not the projections of the Palestinian health ministry, dismissed collectively by western media as “Hamas-run”, but of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), drawing on data from UN agencies and NGOs. Three weeks ago, the IPC warned that Gaza would have the highest share of people in the world facing acute food insecurity – and so it has turned out to be.

Unless Israel’s western backers consider the World Food Programme, Unicef and the World Health Organization to be “Hamas-run”, they will increasingly be obliged to listen to them when they say that the trucks being allowed into Gaza are only a fraction of what is needed to avert a mass famine.

Of course, the US, UK and Germany are doing much more than simply watch a humanitarian catastrophe develop in Gaza. They are actively contributing to it by feeding the Israeli military machine with the means to carry on this war indefinitely. 

Yediot Ahronoth, an Israeli newspaper with good government sources, reported that since 7 October, the US has sent 230 cargo planes and 20 ships filled with artillery shells, armoured vehicles and combat gear.

‘What Is to be Done?’

This level of arms supply is at odds with American rhetoric, which, by the way, Washington is good at. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken should get an Oscar for his performance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Asked by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman whether Muslim and Christian lives were worth less than Jewish lives, Blinken responded in a voice cracked with emotion:

“No. Period. For me, I think for so many of us, what we’re seeing every single day in Gaza is gut-wrenching. And the suffering we’re seeing among innocent men, women and children breaks my heart. The question is, what is to be done?”

How about calling for an immediate ceasefire? How about stopping the supply of US shells and bombs? How about backing the South African claim that this is genocide, or at the very least war crimes?

Many flights carrying US weapons and equipment have gone through the British base of Akrotiri in Cyprus, according to UK investigative site Declassified, following a Haaretz report that more than 40 US and 20 British transport aircraft, along with seven heavy-lift helicopters, have flown into RAF Akrotiri, a 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv. Germany is reportedly considering the delivery of 10,000 rounds of 120mm precision ammunition to Israel, a request to which it has already agreed in principle.

In terms of saying one thing and doing another, Turkey is just as bad in failing to halt its burgeoning trade with Israel. It’s not enough to say that even at the time of the Mavi Marmara incident, when a Turkish flotilla was stormed by Israeli commandos on the high seas, trade continued. 

Nor is it sufficient to say that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ire is directed against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally and not against Israel as a whole. Opposition leader Benny Gantz shares as much of the blame for the carnage in Gaza as Netanyahu does. 

Like Russia’s assault on Ukraine, Israel’s bombing of Gaza has been so intense that it is perpetually on the verge of running out of ammunition. Israel has dropped almost 30,000 bombs and shells on Gaza in 100 days, eight times more than the US dropped on Iraq in six years of war. 

Stopping Israel from getting away with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children is no longer a question of left or right in western politics. By the only measure that counts for Palestinians, US President Joe Biden is a fully paid-up member of the Party of War, like many of his predecessors and contemporaries in both the US and UK.

Egypt’s Ringside Seat

But none of these countries have borders with Israel. One nation that does have a ringside seat to the famine unfolding inches from its border is Egypt.

Its responsibility for the current siege of Gaza, which is far more brutal than during any period over the last 16 years, is direct. Journalists staging an impromptu demonstration outside the headquarters of the Journalists Syndicate in Cairo were correct when they said “Egypt is a partner in the siege.”

“The Zionists are in control of us … For as long as Arab blood is cheap, down, down with any president. [Nelson] Mandela’s grandchildren did it. And we are in cowardice, shame and humiliation. We want the [Rafah] crossing open,” the journalists chanted.

The same message is being delivered by children taunting Egyptian troops on the border fence:

“They say Egypt is the mother of the world. Have you ever seen a mother leaving her children alone? … They are all gone. God is enough for us,” one said.

In the meantime, Egyptian officials appear to think nothing of giving contradictory figures. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, the Egyptian minister of health, said late last month that Egypt had received 20,000 injured Palestinians in around two dozen hospitals. Just two weeks later, Diaa Rashwan, the head of the State Information Service, said Egypt had received 1,210 injured Palestinians. 

More than 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been wounded, and some are dying in ambulances as they wait to get out. Sometimes permission to leave arrives after the patient has died. 

Israel has no qualms about throwing its regional allies under the bus. When defending itself last week against the charge of genocide at the World Court in the Hague, Israel’s defence team accused Cairo of being responsible for preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. This embarrassed Egypt, and Rashwan issued a statement saying Rafah was under Israeli control. 

He said, truthfully, that Israeli top officials had confirmed many times since the start of the war “that they will not allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip, particularly fuel, because this is a part of the war that their state is waging against the Strip”. 

Egypt’s official position is that it can only control its own side of the border. In fact, co-operation with Israel goes much deeper than that.

Chequered History

Over the course of history, Egypt’s relationship with Gaza and the Palestinian cause has been complex. At a time when the Arab world’s most populous country still held geopolitical weight, former President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s support for the revolution in Algeria was a key factor in its success.

Former President Hosni Mubarak played a complicated role in Gaza. He helped build the siege after Hamas’s victory in the 2006 elections, and under Mubarak, Egypt accepted that nothing could pass into Gaza without Israel’s prior permission. At the same time, however, trade continued through tunnels. Above ground, Egypt under Mubarak tightened the pressure on Gaza; below ground, the tunnels became a release valve.

But when the pressure became too much and fighting broke out, as happened in 2008, Tzipi Livni, then Israel’s foreign minister, stood alongside her Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who is today secretary general of the Arab League, to say Israel would attack Gaza. Egypt’s support for that war was one of the factors behind the revolution that would oust Mubarak three years later.

After the war, however, Mubarak’s government ducked and weaved again, saying the tunnels were a consequence of the siege, and rejecting an embargo on weapons to Gaza.

Gaza enjoyed its best times under Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood president who kept the border at Rafah open and stopped a subsequent war. His overthrow, and the rise to power of his defence minister, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, brought the darkest times for Gaza. 

Sisi did everything in his power to harden the siege by flooding the tunnels, along with forcibly displacing the Egyptian population of Rafah to create a buffer zone at the border. Under Sisi, the importance of the Israeli border crossings grew as the primary means of keeping Gaza on life support with food, water and diesel.

There are two factors governing this very chequered history. The first is the geopolitical decline of Egypt under Sisi. Egypt is no longer relevant to its biggest neighbours. Amid the civil war in Sudan, the tiny Gulf state of the United Arab Emirates plays a greater role. Egypt is also irrelevant to the fate of Libya. 

The second is Sisi’s visceral fear of the Muslim Brotherhood, and its inherent and enduring claim to legitimacy in Egypt – a fear that is intimately connected with the brutal suppression of the Arab Spring.

If Sisi was true to his word about not allowing Israel to ethnically cleanse Gaza, he is duty bound to help Palestinians survive on their shattered lands. Egypt has to secure Gaza’s basic needs for food, water and medicine, either through the crossing, or by sea.

It can even invite other countries from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to join in an air drop of the sort the Allies did to break the Berlin Blockade in 1948. Such an airlift would challenge the hypocrisy of the West and the crocodile tears it sheds for the famine in Gaza. It will not happen of course because a dictatorship like Sisi’s cares about only one thing – its survival.

However, the bond between the fight for Palestinian rights and the domestic battle for democracy in Egypt is unbreakable, and Sisi knows this only too well. One inspires the other, which is why beyond a handful of staged rallies, the Egyptian state has cracked down on any public displays of solidarity with Palestinians. 

Of course, Egypt plays a diplomatic role in trying to end the war, but its latest three-stage proposal was weighted towards the release of hostages. It must also be acknowledged that Egypt has stopped Israel from forcing a mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza into Sinai. But they also have much in common: like Israel, Sisi wants a demilitarised Gaza and the demise of Hamas.

In terms of what Egypt is doing on the ground to maintain the bottleneck of humanitarian aid at Rafah, versus what the government is saying, Sisi is giving Blinken a good run for his money as a would-be thespian.

Palestine as a Global Cause

But something else is happening that is just as important: Palestine is being officially defended by the Global South. South Africa has taken the lead by launching the case for genocide at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

Palestine, at the same time, is reemerging as a global cause, just as was the case in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. The composition of South Africa’s team of lawyers says it all: multi-ethnic, male, female, Irish, British, South African. There was no Palestinian officially with them in the group. And yet, a day after the hearing ended, there were massive demonstrations in 45 countries – but not in Egypt, Saudi Arabia or even Algeria.

The despots of Egypt and the Gulf, however, should not draw a straw of comfort from this. In a recent survey from the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, polling 8,000 Arabs in 16 countries, 92 percent of respondents said the Palestinian cause was an issue of concern for all Arabs.

Nearly 90 percent of Arab respondents said they considered the 7 October attack by Hamas, which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK and other countries, to be a “legitimate resistance operation” or a “somewhat flawed but legitimate resistance operation”.

Eighty-nine percent of respondents rejected recognising Israel, the highest figure in the centre’s polling history. Only 13 percent of surveyed Arabs said they believed that peace with Israel remains possible.

Anger is boiling in the hearts of Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians and Iraqis – and this will eventually come to the surface and explode. Farouk I, Egypt’s penultimate king who abdicated and appointed his baby son Foud whose rule continued for a few months before the monarchy was abolished, paid the price for supporting the Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948. It is one of the reasons Egyptians allowed the army to take over in a coup several years later.

Today, the degree of anger is exponentially greater.

The despots should beware what they wish for. Their profound reluctance to stand up to Israel could explode in their faces. 

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

David Hearst is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye. He is a commentator and speaker on the region and analyst on Saudi Arabia. He was the Guardian’s foreign leader writer, and was correspondent in Russia, Europe, and Belfast. He joined the Guardian from The Scotsman, where he was education correspondent.

Featured image: Rafah crossing. Reuters

Against Every Instinct: How Doctors in Gaza Persevere Amid Israel Attacks

January 27th, 2024 by Hanna Duggal

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

“No doctor wakes up in the morning and says: ‘I’m going to amputate a child’s leg without anaesthesia.’

“You don’t want to watch children suffer,” Dr Amber Alayyan with Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, tells Al Jazeera.

The measured cadences of the voice of the charity’s deputy programme manager for Palestine suggests just how inconceivable it is for her, as a doctor and a mother, to cause pain to a patient and to a child.

Yet it is the moral conflict her colleagues in Gaza face daily, minute by minute, as they try to treat unprecedented numbers of injured people flooding into the Gaza Strip’s barely functioning hospitals.

Your natural instinct is to take care of people… to protect people. … You’ve been trained over and over and over and over for years.

—BY DR AMBER ALAYYAN

As doctors in Gaza are forced to make split-second decisions on who to save and who to let die, on whose pain to relieve and whose they do not have time to, it is that innate instinct and their Hippocratic oath that is assailed by decisions they never thought they’d have to make.

Burdened with personal losses and struggling to operate under unrelenting Israeli bombardments, this is the story of how medical workers are fighting to keep Gaza’s healthcare system going.

INTERACTIVE--0--Gaza-hospitals-illustration-1705991882

How Gaza’s Healthcare System Has Been Destroyed

It is nearing midnight in Gaza and Mohamed S Ziara, a Palestinian doctor, is on a WhatsApp call to Al Jazeera. His tone is soft and unaffected by the rumbling explosions and pop of gunfire that can be heard in the background.

The plastic surgeon is working 12- to 14-hour shifts, six days a week at the European Gaza Hospital (EGH) in Khan Younis, where he treats up to 15 cases a day.

Ziara describes the healthcare situation as “catastrophic”.

“It doesn’t match anything I’ve seen before, even with previous escalations and war,” says Ziara, who has worked during Israel’s assaults on Gaza since 2014.

He has been posting about Israeli attacks near the EGH and the conditions inside on his Instagram account.

The widespread damage caused by Israeli attacks since October 7, following Hamas’s surprise attacks on Israel, has led to a shortage of medical staff and supplies and an urgent need for fuel, electricity and water.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional – nine in the south and six in the north.

From October 7 to November 24, there were 74 Israeli assaults on health facilities with 30 hospitals attacked in Gaza, according to Insecurity Insight, a humanitarian association that collates data on threats facing people in dangerous environments.

Northern Gaza, including Gaza City, has borne the brunt of attacks on the healthcare sector, but as the war has progressed, previously designated safe areas south of Wadi Gaza have come under Israeli fire.

The map below summarises the Israeli attacks on Gaza’s healthcare sector during the first seven weeks of the war.

INTERACTIVE -1- Israeli attacks on Gaza healthcare sector-1705995227

The hospitals that have been attacked most often include:

  • al-Shifa Hospital – attacked 12 times
  • al-Quds Hospital – attacked nine times
  • Indonesian Hospital – attacked nine times
  • Nasser Hospital – attacked three times

Insecurity Insight documented at least 26 other hospitals from across the Gaza Strip that were attacked by Israeli forces over the same period.

INTERACTIVE -2- Hospitals in Gaza attacked by Israeli forces-1705995260

These repeated attacks came during an Israeli order on October 13 that instructed all 22 hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south within 24 hours. The WHO described the order as “impossible to carry out” and “a death sentence for the sick and injured”.

Israel’s Raid on al-Shifa Hospital

One of the first hospitals to come under fire was al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, located in the Remal neighbourhood in Gaza City, where Ziara worked before EGH.

“I remember that I was watching TV, and the spokesman of the [Israeli] army was asked twice about the possibility of bombing the hospital, and he replied that everything is possible,” Ziara says.

Israeli soldiers flanked al-Shifa Hospital on three sides on November 15 and then stormed the complex after Israeli accusations that it was serving as a Hamas command centre.

INTERACTIVE_GAZA_al-Shifa_NOV15_2023 copy-1700037675

“We have never seen any military action or military activity inside the hospital,” Ziara says, adding that he thought the threat to the hospital was merely propaganda from the Israeli army. “We never thought that they would reach the hospital and that we’d evacuate patients and the injured.”

Several doctors, including Norwegian Mads Gilbert, who has worked in Gaza for several years, have said they had not seen any evidence of military activity at the hospital during the war.

After the storming of al-Shifa Hospital, a number of United Nations missions were carried out in cooperation with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to evacuate patients and healthcare workers.

The same exercise has been attempted more recently at hospitals in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south – namely Al-Aqsa, Nasser and EGH – due to ongoing hostilities nearby.

Ziara says he witnessed drone attacks on al-Shifa Hospital.

“They were shooting at people. They injured many. They shot a missile at the hospital garden and killed about four people staying there who had evacuated or were refugees,” he says.

Healthcare Attacks and ‘War Crimes’

Assaults such as those seen on al-Shifa Hospital have raised questions about the legality of attacks on healthcare facilities. International humanitarian law, based on the Geneva Conventions, stipulates that hospitals are considered “civilian objects” and receive de facto protection. Despite that prohibition, Israel has continued to target healthcare structures and workers.

“The UN has been very clear that hospitals, civilians and healthcare workers should be protected, and we continue to call for their protection. They’re not a target,” Dominic Allen, the UN Population Fund’s representative for Palestine, tells Al Jazeera.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said attacks on healthcare are “attacks on the sick and the injured”, which need to be “investigated as a war crime”, according to A Kayum Ahmed, special adviser on the right to health at HRW.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Insecurity Insights, there were at least 212 attacks on healthcare facilities and workers from October 7 to December 11.

The graphic below shows a timeline of all recorded incidents during those nine weeks. Each dot represents a recorded incident and is sized according to the number of casualties.

INTERACTIVE -3- Recorded attacks against Gazas healthcare facilities and workers-1705995334

Targeting Healthcare Workers: ‘He was the kind of guy who would paint your name in bacteria on a Petri dish’

On November 6, Mohammed al-Ahel was in his home in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza when Israeli forces bombed the area, collapsing the building he was in.

Al-Ahel was killed along with his two young daughters as well as dozens of other people.

Al-Ahel, who worked as a laboratory technician at Nasser Hospital, was the first of MSF’s staff to be killed in the war.

“He was just such a stereotypical microbiology nerd – the guy that loves the microscope with the big glasses like a real cartoon,” Alayyan says, remembering her colleague. “He was the kind of guy who would paint your name in bacteria on a Petri dish.”

I can’t imagine going back to the lab and not seeing him there. God, he was such a good guy, such an innocent, loving guy.

BY DR AMBER ALAYYAN ON MOHAMED AL-AHEL

Al-Ahel left behind a wife and newborn twins. His story is just one of the many shared with Al Jazeera on the personal losses medical staff in Gaza are dealing with. In tandem with the loss of colleagues is also the loss of family members, which forces healthcare workers to operate in unthinkable circumstances where melancholy and resilience coalesce.

Interactive-gaza doctors carousel 1-1705927753

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 192 medical personnel were killed from October 7 to November 8:

  • 65 nurses
  • 29 doctors
  • 24 pharmacists
  • 20 paramedics
  • 17 dentists
  • 14 lab technicians
  • 11 medical students
  • seven physiotherapists
  • three medical professors
  • one optometrist
  • one medical engineer

INTERACTIVE -4- Medical personnel killed by Israeli forces-1705925763

Since November 8, an additional 182 healthcare personnel have been killed by Israeli forces, bringing the total number killed in Gaza to at least 374 as of January 1, according to a tally by Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine.

With an average of at least four medical workers being killed every day, hospital staff and paramedics are fighting a dual battle of saving the lives of injured Palestinians while also surviving targeted and indiscriminate attacks.

INTERACTIVE -5- Names of the medical personnel killed by Israeli forces-1705925017

INTERACTIVE -6- Names of the medical personnel killed by Israeli forces-1705990968

Operating Under Extreme Conditions: ‘It is scary. We are dealing with these kinds of injuries’

Without proper equipment, sanitation, supplies or even electricity to deal with daily mass casualty events, healthcare workers face a vicious cycle of more people becoming sick due to lack of medicine, space and a sterile clinical environment.

According to the WHO, only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional – nine in the south and six in the north. The hospitals in the south are operating at three times their capacity while facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza says occupancy rates are reaching 206 percent in inpatient departments and 250 percent in intensive care units.

INTERACTIVE -8- Gaza hospitals partially functioning-1705925748

‘That Loss Can Never be Recovered’

According to Alayyan, MSF has surgical teams at EGH and Nasser Hospital. Another team was operating in the emergency room at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital but had to withdraw on January 6 and 7 after evacuation orders.

“Nasser, Al-Aqsa and EGH are just overwhelmed with mass casualties and trauma surgeries on top of the regular population that needs everyday care. The situation is dire,” Alayyan says.

MSF’s main team also operates from Rafah Field Hospital, where they see 20 to 30 patients daily for postoperative care.

“The problem is that when you’re doing a mass casualty several times a day, every day for three months, your wherewithal runs really low and your threshold for maintaining good practices becomes infinitesimally small,” Alayyan says.

The lack of medical equipment and medicines has led to doctors performing surgeries without anaesthesia or properly sanitised equipment.

“The injuries are so bad, and the psychological impact of that loss can never be recovered,” Ziara says.

“It is so hard to see these kinds of injuries.  We’re in a state of shock when we see babies and children who have lost more than a limb in one sitting and then lost many of their family members. It’s so unbearable.”

Trying to Save Limbs

In November, three-year-old Ahmad Shabat lost his legs in an Israeli air strike outside a UN school in the Nuseirat refugee camp. His uncle Ibrahim Abu Amsheh was the only relative at his side in the ICU of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Ahmad Shabat and his uncle Ibrahim at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip

Ahmad Shabat and his uncle Ibrahim at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip [Atia Darwish/Al Jazeera]

His uncle says Ahmad is not fully aware of what has happened to him.

“He doesn’t know he lost his legs,” the 28-year-old says. “He keeps asking to go outside for a walk.

“He’s in a lot of pain, and the hospital only has Acamol [paracetamol], which you take if you have a headache, not if you’ve lost both your legs.”

The WHO says amputations are carried out despite the possibility of saving limbs because many of the injured cannot reach hospitals due to fighting or there is a lack of specialists, such as vascular surgeons, according to Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for the Palestinian territories.

According to Save the Children, more than 1,000 children have lost one or both their legs since October 7.

Treating Chronic Illnesses the ‘First to Go’

In addition to immediate injuries from Israeli air strikes and artillery, patients with prior and long-term illnesses and vulnerable health conditions are faced with not being treated. According to WHO, they include:

  • 1,100 patients in need of kidney dialysis
  • 71,000 patients living with diabetes
  • 225,000 patients with high blood pressure requiring medication
  • 485,000 people with mental health disorders
  • cancer patients, 2,000 of whom are diagnosed each year, including 122 children
  • 45,000 patients with cardiovascular disease

INTERACTIVE -7- Existing health conditions not being treated-1705925028

“I think cancer was one of the first to go because of the care that you need – you need to be in a safe environment, you need to be in a clean environment all the time – and similar for dialysis patients,” Alayyan says.

In addition, an estimated 100 patients a day need access to specialised healthcare outside Gaza. However, due to the precarious nature of evacuations, it is nearly impossible to guarantee the evacuation of some patients, even those approved by the UN with Israeli forces.

Pregnant Women in Gaza ‘Suffer from Thirst and Malnutrition’

There are an estimated 52,000 pregnant women in Gaza with 183 births a day and 5,500 babies being born in the past month, of whom 130 have been premature and dependent on incubators.

Esraa Kamal al-Jamalan was just one of many women faced with the prospect of giving birth in war-torn Gaza. At nearly eight months pregnant, she was forced to flee her home in the northern Gaza neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan after it was bombed by Israel in late October. She, her husband and their five-year-old son walked more than 3km (nearly 2 miles) to al-Shifa Hospital, where many people were sheltering.

Two months later, 28-year-old Esraa and her family are living in one of the hundreds of makeshift tents in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. Esraa gave birth to their baby girl at a nearby hospital on November 24 and received stitches without any painkillers. “I begged her [the doctor] to give me a little painkiller,” she says.

According to Allen, who visited Gaza in mid-January, pregnant women at Al-Helal Al-Emairati Maternity Hospital were being rotated in and out of the five delivery rooms due to capacity constraints.

“Women who are in their final stages of labour have to step out of that room to enable another pregnant woman to step in,” he says.

“Many of them suffer from thirst, malnutrition, lack of health. If the bombs don’t kill them, if disease, hunger and dehydration don’t catch up with them, simply giving life will,” Allen says.

transfer of Shifa Hospital maternity ward to Helou Hospital [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

Doctors perform a cesarean section on a pregnant woman in Al Helou International Hospital in Gaza City after the maternity ward was transferred from al-Shifa Hospital [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

Alayyan explains that with the war going on for more than three months, the entire third trimester “has been out the window” for many pregnant women who, along with their foetuses, are severely malnourished and stressed.

“You don’t want to force a woman out of a hospital bed with a newborn baby knowing that they’re not going to have any place safe to go. That’s not something you tend to want to do when you sign up to be a paediatrician or an obstetrician or a nurse. You want to hold people’s hands. You want to help them enjoy that moment,” Alayyan says.

What Lies Ahead for Gaza’s Healthcare System?

On January 7, exactly three months into the war on Gaza, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “It is inconceivable that this most essential need – the protection of healthcare – is not assured.”

Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan with MSF echoed these comments, telling Al Jazeera that there is an urgent need for a ceasefire. With no fully functioning hospitals in Gaza and a number of WHO missions cancelled due to a lack of permission and security, healthcare facilities are hanging on by a thread.

Recently at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, WHO staff described scenes of chaos and “people of all ages being treated on blood-streaked floors”.

“My biggest concern is what’s going to happen with vaccine-preventable diseases,” Alayyan says. “And my concern is that for the children who have been born in the last three to six months, they’re not going to be protected, and I think that what we’re going to see in a few months are huge epidemics, and we’re already seeing people who are getting sick and potentially dying of the infections as a result of their injuries.”

Ziara, who never thought he’d have to amputate children’s legs without anaesthetic, remembers what his colleagues said at the start of the war.

Concern can be heard in his voice as gunfire draws closer. It’s now almost midnight, and our phone conversation is cut short because it’s no longer safe to talk. But he still has time to say thank you.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image: Ahmad Shabat and his uncle Ibrahim at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip [Atia Darwish/Al Jazeera]

Civilization and History: On Arab Culture and Its Crucial Characteristics

January 27th, 2024 by Dr. Vladislav B. Sotirović

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

What Is Arab?   

Understanding Arab culture and the values based on it are the crucial points for the proper understanding of the modern region of MENA (composed of the Middle East and North Africa) and its fundamental features. Nevertheless, it must be noticed that all people in the region of MENA are not Arabs like Turks, Jews, some North African tribes, or Iranians. The Arab League (or the League of Arab States) is composed of 22 Arab countries. (image Left)

Even though Arab states are, in fact, from a very cultural viewpoint considered to be Middle Eastern (in a broader sense), not all of them belong to the Middle East (in a narrow sense), and not all Middle Eastern or MENA countries are Arab. 

Another focal feature of the Arab world is that not all member states have similar attitudes, communications, behaviors, traditions, etc. There are, for instance, Muslim Arab states such as Mauritania, Sudan, or Somalia in which tribal languages are usually spoken rather than Arabic followed by many cultural traditions founded on the local African customs and heritage. 

We also have to keep in mind the very fact that not all Arabs are Muslims as there are those Middle Eastern Arabs who are Christians (in Lebanon, for instance). However, the Arab nations are composed of an overwhelming Muslim (Sunni or Shia) majority.

The next feature we have to take about is that Arabs are an ethnic category of broader Semitic people (Jews are Semites too), while the term Muslim determines religious belief and confessional orientation.

Nonetheless, the reference to Arabs is, basically, directed to separate people who possess a unique pattern of behaving founded on their special type of culture, tradition, religion, language, and customs.

Arab Civilization and History

However, the Arab people do not all look or dress alike and should not be stereotyped. It has to be stressed that Arabs are not a race, skin color, nationality, or Muslim. By the authentic pre-Islamic time, an Arab was an inhabitant of the Arabian Peninsula, a member of some of many nomadic Bedouin tribes but at the time of the expansion of Arabian Islam, Arabs brought their new religion, language, and culture to the region of the Middle East and North Africa and beyond (like to the Iberian Peninsula), mixing it with the conquered peoples from Spain and Portugal to Persia. 

Arab conquests have been the wars which in the century after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, created a great state (caliphate/empire) which was stretching from the Pyrenees in Europe to the Indus River in Asia.

The conquest originally started as a holy war (jihad) against those Bedouin tribes who refused to accept Islam but soon the holy war became inspired by the prospect of vast land acquisition and the belief that death in the holy war would bring the warrior to paradise.

In the Byzantine provinces of Egypt and Syria, the Arab conquerors allowed Christians and Jews to continue expressing their confessions as the “peoples of the book” or “protected peoples” (dhimmi) upon payment of a certain tax.

Due to the resistance in Persia and North Africa, the conquests became slower. After the first civil war in 656−661, the Arab capital was transferred from Medina to Damascus by the dynasty of Umayyads and under the new dynasty of Abbasids to Baghdad where Islamic culture flourished.

Regardless of the fact that the political coherence of this Arab empire (historically there were four caliphates) no longer existed due to the rival caliphates appearing in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula in the 9th and 10th centuries, cultural coherence was maintained by the university of the Arab language and Islamic law (shariah) followed by the traffic of merchants, scholars, and pilgrims. 

As a consequence of the Arab conquests followed by the intermixture of Arabic with local cultures, today, in fact, Arabs are not some separate ethnic group but much more a community with a state of mind. The confusion about the meaning of the term Arab is coming very often from the fact that it is used as a synonym for the peoples of MENA or/and Muslims in general. However, the question is what are the crucial characteristics of the distinctive Arab culture?  

The Focal Features of Arab Culture  

Like any distinctive culture, Arab culture has its own values – Arab values (as, for instance, Asian values). In Arab traditional societies, the most valuable virtues are respected to be dignity, honor, and reputation. It is, for instance, very much suggested to foreigners in an Arab country to avoid causing an Arab to lose face or to be shamed; in the case of a woman, for losing her virginity before the marriage. There has to be respected Arab loyalty to family and polite and friendly communication. In tribal or traditional Arab communities, the scale of priorities runs first to the individual, then kinsman, tribesman, and finally to those who share the same confession and country. Regardless of the rapid urbanization which decreased the influence of tribalism, there is still a degree of collectivism. However, the focal problem is taking into consideration all aspects of the impact of modernization, for how long local Arab community can be successful in the preservation of their traditional characteristics of generosity, gallantry, courage, patience, and endurance, especially at the time of the false stereotypes about Arabs created by Western mass media, film, and TV industry.  

The effects of Western colonialism, cultural, and military invasions in the Arab MENA societies caused serious changes at a high price like:

1) Urban problems such as inadequate housing and traffic organization;

2) Weakened parental authority and family cohesion;

3) Poverty for the masses and affluence for the elite; or

4) Broken homes, materialism, and sexual promiscuity.

The outcome of such Westernization’s impact on MENA has been manyfold:

  1. Islamic traditionalists are propagating the struggle against what they understand to be Western civilizational decadence followed by the increase of immorality. They reject Western (liberal) democracy as not fitting traditional Islamic culture as individual freedom above collective responsibility, the rights of women according to Western standards including their full education, and many other practices that are common in (post)industrialized nations. The Islamic fundamentalists or extreme traditionalists are seeking to form the governmental authorities according to the ancient (authentic) Islamic law based on the Qur’an. Most extremist groups are organizing violent attacks against Western values, culture, and Western foreigners including tourists as well. 
  2. Several governments of MENA states have responded to Islamic traditionalists with both harsh and authoritarian security measures including treating all dissidents in their countries as terrorists. This happened, for instance, in Algeria or Egypt, where attempts by the people to democratically elect an Islamic government have been suppressed by the ruling power very much supported by Western (the USA) authorities.      
  3. Western bombings, killings, and devastations of Arab Muslim countries in the name of liberal Western democracy during the last 33 years caused the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East and around which may provoke as S. P. Huntington wrote the “Clash of Civilizations” or more precisely a focal war between Arab and other Muslim societies against the Judeo-Christian Western order. 
  4. There are those on both sides who despite all differences in confession, culture, values, history, or customs believe in reconciliation and understanding between the Judeo-Christians and the Arab Muslims. However, such cultural differences and even antagonistic divides may only be overbridged if local authorities and business leaders become more sensitive and less assertive concerning the (Arab) Islamic ethos and aspirations. It is suggested that the most optimal places to start the creation of greater cultural cooperation with the (Arab) Muslim communities are Western countries from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, especially after 9/11 when hate crimes surged in the West against innocent Muslims. 

One of the focal features of Arab culture is that Arabs seek close personal relationships, mainly without great distance or mediators.

Body and food odors are used to enhance relationships. The body is an important factor in the process of choosing a partner.

For Arabs, to look at one peripherally is a not polite way. On one hand, the Arabs are not looking for personal distance if interacting with friends but they may seek far personal distance in conversation with strangers and on such social occasions, for instance, Arabs may prefer to sit on opposite sides of a room and talk across to one another. Arabs are generally warm and expressive people being active participants with each other but they resist being crowded in enclosed spaces or by boundaries. Cordiality is the core of Arab culture. The traditional greeting is to place one’s right hand on the chest near the heart as a sign of sincerity although modern Arabs may proceed with greeting with a long, limp handshake. There is a custom for men to kiss one another on both cheeks. For Arab Muslims, certain Islamic teaching affects very much social relations as, for example, taboos against eating pork meat, drinking alcohol, or gambling. 

The social position and role of Arab women are some of the most special features of Arab culture at least to be compared with the Western culture. In principle, great diversity exists in the Arab world regarding the status of women in both family and society. It is a fact that the Arab patriarchal culture places the male in the dominant position and role, while the protection and respect of women are the common rules. In an Arab household, the husband is the head with a strong role and influence but the woman as a mother is very often the authority on family matters.  

In public life, the woman defers to her husband, but in the private sphere, she is more influential. It has to be stressed that, paradoxically, Islam does not advance the practice of female inherent inferiority, but only female differences. Islam does not perceive biological inferiority but instead, affirms potential equality between males and females. 

It is true that in some Arab states, female members of the family are equal to the males but in others, they have only a limited role in the family and a restricted position in the society. In more conservative and traditional Arab communities men are allowed to have up to five women, including the foreign-born while women may marry only one husband, excluding foreigners. In Arab society, the husband may divorce without indicating a real cause but the wife is obliged to specify the foundations of divorce in order to satisfy the court which recognizes the testimony of two females to be equal to one male witness. 

In the Qur’an is not written that women must be veiled as it is just written that they have to be dressed modestly in appearance by covering their arms and hair, which are considered to be very sensual from the viewpoint of morality. It is important to emphasize that Western females (or in general, foreign females – those of not Arab and Islamic origin) visiting Arab countries have to pay great attention to what is acceptable or unacceptable in the local Arab Islamic community of visitation. Whether being a simple visitor-tourist or some kind of business person, women have to accommodate themselves to what is considered allowed and proper behavior and be adequately dressed according to the local moral rules. The persons from outside the culture who do not respect local Arab moral rules, either male or female, may have unpleasant experiences either with the members of the local community or the court.

Nevertheless, the traditional Arab way of life is undergoing substantial changes in social, political, economic, and religious aspects. Cultural and moral practices may vary depending on the degree of secularization and economic development followed by the impact of education and modernization.       

Anti-Western Reactions by MENA Arabs  

The Arabs of MENA have long suspicion of former European colonial powers but above all the French and British who have been ruled the biggest portion of the region. Many Westerners have negative images and stereotypes about Middle Easterners and North Africans and their cultural contributions to the history of global civilization but it is true, especially regarding West European and North American mass media’s presentation about MENA and Arabs. However, after 9/11, aggressive US politics toward the region of MENA regarding its people, culture, and religion, became the foundation of anti-Western politics by the Middle Easterners and North Africans that declined both political and business relationships between MENA and the West.  

Such a process occurred in Iran which is a non-Arab country/nation, in 1979 when the US influence and political/military actions brought to the question the identity of Persian/Iranian culture to the point of a violent takeover of and hostage-taking at the US Embassy in Tehran. Nevertheless, we have to keep in mind that the Muslim terrorist actions among Islamic radicals arose primarily out of fear that Western cultural values would destroy traditional Arab culture. The results of an influx of Westerners into the region of MENA can be summarized from the Arab perspective as such:

  1. The Westerners express their alleged civilizational superiority followed by arrogance.
  2. The Westerners know the best answers to everything.   
  3. Many Westerners do not want to share the credit for what is accomplished by joint efforts.
  4. The majority of Westerners are constantly unable or even unwilling to respect and adjust to local Arab customs and cultural traditions.
  5. Many Westerners fail to innovate to meet the needs of local Arab culture, preferring to seek easy solutions founded on the conditions in their native countries.
  6. Westerners are often too imposing, aggressive, pushy, and rude.
  7. What makes Arabs very mad is the fact that the Americans and West Europeans are constantly providing much more financial aid and material support for Zionist Israel than for the Arab Palestinians and their human rights.

Finally, there are four proposals of possible peaceful cooperation between the people of MENA region and the Westerners which can contribute to solutions to current challenges in the Middle East and North Africa:

  1. The reconstruction of both Iraq and Afghanistan in the direction that their citizens would meet fundamental human rights, freedom, and dignity.
  2. The resolution of warfare between the Zionist Israel and the local autochthonous inhabitants of Palestine – Arab Palestinians.
  3. The resolution of the internal disputes between al-Fatah and Hamas.
  4. The modernization of socio-political-economic systems in MENA. 

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Dr. Vladislav B. Sotirović is a former university professor in Vilnius, Lithuania. He is a Research Fellow at the Center for Geostrategic Studies. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. 

Featured image is from the author

WEF “Global Solutions”, But for Whom? The WEF Prescribed “Climate Activism”

January 27th, 2024 by Michael Welch

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

“Today, the concept of stakeholder capitalism, as well as the ideas that the complex issues in our world can only be solved through public-private cooperation is finally becoming mainstream! Stakeholder responsibility on a corporate but also on a global level remains the fundamental underlying principle behind everything we are doing.”

– Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum [1]

LISTEN TO THE SHOW


Click to download the audio (MP3 format)

Is it a question of business and financial leaders adding their expertise to the problems facing the world to advance answers for the governments of the world? Or is it the other way around?

The World Economic Forum wrapped up its 24th annual meeting in Davos last Friday. The Davos leaders boasted about presentations on AI, the role of cities in bolstering sustainability, resistance and affordability, Central banks and digital currencies, insights into the geopolitics of the Middle East and Africa, and more. According to their website, the WEF provides “Crowdsource solutions for the world’s most important and pressing issues.” [2][3]

But the WEF no longer deliberates away in a vacuum of popular attention. In fact, the deliberations of the world’s business leaders and their allies in government is very much front and centre in the eyes of the prying public. And their talks, engaged behind closed doors, are stoking the fires of suspicion about what they are planning in the years ahead. [4]

The following video is a fake. Forged with the assistance of AI. But it pretty much sums up what the common man and woman thinks of the WEF:

 


  a

Is it a coincidence that farmers are being shut down due to the nitrous oxide their activities produce, but no one would even THINK of shutting down the financial gold rush springing from Artificial Intelligence which is expected to increase the consumption of energy. [5][6]

There are particular suspicions about the great quest to tackle climate change. Greta Thunberg and the message that carbon is “enemy number one” is hardly taken off of YouTube, Facebook and internet search engines the way criticism of mRNA Vaccines has been. In fact, critics of this position have been. [7][8]

Conventional climate change activism is NOT a threat to the elites. In fact, the history of the WEF from it’s start as the Club of Rome shows that their class WANTS the masses to think there is a global threat, apparently so that the solutions THEY provide will be embraced and not resisted. [9]

Problem. Reaction. Solution.

If climate change is the problem, what should we make of the solutions they provide. This is a question we will explore at some length in this week’s episode of the Global Research News Hour.

For the bulk of this week’s Global Research News Hour show, two figures who contribute regularly to Global Research, Peter Koenig and Julian Rose, weigh in on how the climate threat as posed by carbon is not what it appears (they are skeptics) and the role that is served in conjunction with pandemics and all the other threats facing the world and leading up to 2030.

We also let another Global Research writer, Elizabeth Woodworth weigh in with concerns about the WEF as undermining democracy, though coming from a position consistent with that of the overwhelming majority of published climate scientists.

Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020). Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.

Julian Rose is an organic farmer, writer, broadcaster and international activist. He is author of four books of which the latest ‘Overcoming the Robotic Mind’ is a clarion call to resist the despotic New World Order takeover of our lives. Do visit his website for further information www.julianrose.info . He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Elizabeth Woodworth is highly engaged in climate change science and activism. She has published 42 articles on Global Research, is co-author of “Unprecedented Climate Mobilization”, “Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival,” and co-producer of the COP21 video “A Climate Revolution For All.” She is author of the popular handbook on nuclear weapons activism, “What Can I Do?” and the novel, “The November Deep”. For 25 years, she served as head medical librarian for the BC Government. She holds a BA from Queen’s and a Library Sciences Degree from UBC. She is a regular contributor to Global Research.

(Global Research News Hour Episode 419)

a

LISTEN TO THE SHOW


Click to download the audio (MP3 format)

a

The Global Research News Hour airs every Friday at 1pm CT on CKUW 95.9FM out of the University of Winnipeg. The programme is also podcast at globalresearch.ca .

Other stations airing the show:

CIXX 106.9 FM, broadcasting from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. It airs Sundays at 6am.

WZBC 90.3 FM in Newton Massachusetts is Boston College Radio and broadcasts to the greater Boston area. The Global Research News Hour airs during Truth and Justice Radio which starts Sunday at 6am.

Campus and community radio CFMH 107.3fm in  Saint John, N.B. airs the Global Research News Hour Fridays at 7pm.

CJMP 90.1 FM, Powell River Community Radio, airs the Global Research News Hour every Saturday at 8am. 

Caper Radio CJBU 107.3FM in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia airs the Global Research News Hour starting Wednesday afternoon from 3-4pm.

Cowichan Valley Community Radio CICV 98.7 FM serving the Cowichan Lake area of Vancouver Island, BC airs the program Thursdays at 9am pacific time.

Notes: 

  1. https://www.weforum.org/about/world-economic-forum/
  2. https://www.weforum.org/
  3. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/01/davos-2024-key-takeaways-for-cities-and-local-economies/
  4. https://www.globalresearch.ca/limits-growth-climate-change-digitization-everything-worldwide-censorship-all-leading-wef-behemoth-cult-commanding-it/5818827
  5. https://www.globalresearch.ca/world-economic-forum-how-usurps-treaty-based-intergovernmental-institutions/5847073
  6. Ben Payton (December 4, 2023), ‘Power mad: AI’s massive energy demand risks causing major environmental headaches’, Reuters; https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/power-mad-ais-massive-energy-demand-risks-causing-major-environmental-headaches-2023-12-04/
  7. https://www.globalresearch.ca/illegal-collusion-between-government-big-tech-exposed/5793607
  8. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58831379
  9. https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/wef-54th-rejected/

Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Uganda Condemns Genocide in Palestine

January 27th, 2024 by Abayomi Azikiwe

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Introductory Note

This year the Non Aligned Movement is chaired by Uganda’s President Musaveni who happens to be a faithful and longstanding proxy of the U.S.

From the mid-1980s, the Kampala government under President Yoweri Musaveni had become Washington’s African showpiece of “democracy”. Uganda had also become a launchpad for US sponsored guerrilla movements into the Sudan, the Congo and Rwanda. 

Musaveni was instrumental in supporting the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) led by Major General Paul Kagame who was head of military intelligence in the Ugandan Armed Forces. 

The civil war in Rwanda and the ethnic massacres were an integral part of US foreign policy, carefully staged in accordance with precise strategic and economic objectives.  Washington’s hidden agenda consisted in establishing an American sphere of influence in a region historically dominated by France and Belgium.

There is No “Shared Global Affluence”. Today’s Non-Aligned Movement is still under the brunt of the Washington Consensus and its hideous “debt conditionalities”, which impose poverty, famine and despair throughout de Global South.

As outlined by Abayomi Azikiwe in his carefully researched analysis and historical review:

“the economic dominance of imperialist states continues well into the third decade of the 21st century” 

 

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, January 27, 2024

 

***

A 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit was held in the East African state of Uganda on January 19-20.

This event was organized under the theme: “Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence.” Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni assumed the leadership of the NAM taking over from the Republic of Azerbaijan.

This gathering took place amid worldwide outrage over the State of Israel’s present siege on the Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip. Over 25,000 people have been killed since October 7 leaving tens of thousands more injured and wounded. As a result of the blanket bombing, shelling and ground invasion, the overwhelming majority of people living in Gaza have been displaced.

The Republic of Cuba, a founding member of the NAM in 1961 at their inaugural meeting in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, during the most recent summit put forward a plan for resolving the security situation in Gaza. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, a political bureau member of the ruling Communist Party (PCC), called for an international team to be deployed to Gaza.

Cuba also reiterated its support for the lawsuit filed by the Republic of South Africa against Tel Aviv at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) claiming that the settler-colonial state is in violation of the Genocide Convention of 1948. The Caribbean socialist state has been under a blockade by the United States since 1960 despite annual votes by the United Nations General Assembly demanding that the blockade led by Washington and Wall Street be lifted against the people of Cuba. Even though the Cuban people have been consistently targeted by the dominant imperialist country in the world, the government has excelled in numerous international solidarity projects in Latin America, Africa, Asia and other geopolitical regions.

In a report published by Granma International, the Official Voice of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, it says:

“Cuba proposed that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) support the urgent dispatch to the Gaza Strip of an international protection mission, authorized by the United Nations General Assembly, with the mandate to guarantee the security and protection of the civilian population and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and food…. Its purpose would be to contribute to the protection of the rights of the Palestinian people, establishing the sovereign State of Palestine and the early entry of that State as a member of the United Nations, said the Cuban Foreign Minister in his speech, published on the Minrex website…. Also during the day, Rodríguez Parrilla participated in the Ministerial Preparatory Meeting of the XIX Summit of the NAM, in which he reiterated his unchanging solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and thanked the valuable support of the Movement to the just demand for the end of the illegal U.S. blockade of Cuba, as well as the united position against the infamous inclusion of the Island in the spurious unilateral list of State sponsors of terrorism, a fallacy that has a suffocating impact on our economy.”

In addition, the Cuban Foreign Minister proposed the convening of an international peace conference noting the real threats of broader global conflicts. Rodriguez also emphasized the government’s ongoing support for the right to self-determination for the people of Western Sahara still under the occupation of the Kingdom of Morocco.

The African Union (AU) and the NAM

Most African governments are members of the NAM constituting the largest bloc of states, 53, within the broader grouping. The AU, the 55 member-state continental organization, continues to emphasize the necessity of South-South unity.

With the presidency being in the hands of Uganda for the next three years, issues related to the AU will undoubtedly receive significant attention. African states have expressed their concern over the ongoing war in Ukraine and are demanding an immediate ceasefire along with a negotiated conclusion to the conflict between the Russian Federation and the government in Kiev.

Another international crisis prompted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) escalating war against the people in Gaza and the West Bank, has been a huge focus of the peoples of the globe. Millions have gone into the streets throughout North America, Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific to demonstrate their solidarity with Palestine.

AU Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned the IDF war being waged in Gaza while stressing the need for a ceasefire. The U.S., the main defenders and funders of Tel Aviv, has on repeated occasions voted in the UN Security Council and General Assembly against resolutions for a ceasefire.

An article published by the Associated Press on the NAM Summit in Uganda, reported that:

“Speaking during the meeting of heads of state at the week-long gathering, Mahamat asked the 120 member countries to demand international justice for the Palestinians. His remarks were echoed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who called for the release of all the hostages and ‘the resumption of talks on a just solution that will end the suffering of the Palestinian people.’ Ramaphosa further called for unhindered and expanded humanitarian access to allow for vital aid and basic services to meet the needs of everyone living in Gaza…. ‘This is necessary to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people,’ Ramaphosa said. At the start of the conference, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. called on the members of the Non-Aligned Movement to put pressure on Israel to implement a cease-fire in Gaza after 100 days of war with Hamas.” 

The concluding document known as the Kampala Declaration addressed numerous issues impacting the world today. There was the stated support for the cause of the Palestinians and the condemnation of Israel and its actions in Palestine.

Other points addressed in the final statement also included an endorsement of the lawsuit filed by the African National Congress (ANC) government in South Africa against the State of Israel; the demand that the UN Security Council be reformed to include African states as permanent members; the need to address public health concerns such as COVID-19, Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Influenza strains, etc.; nuclear disarmament; gender equality; anti-racism; climate change; the unfairness of the international system of finance and trade; among other concerns.

History of the NAM

The Non-Aligned Movement grew out of the anti-colonial struggles for independence during the post-World War II period. The Afro-Asia summit held in Indonesia in 1955, known as the Bandung Conference, laid the groundwork for the eventual formation of the NAM in 1961.

NAM founders in 1961

Since the period between 1955-1961, there have been many more states which gained political independence from colonialism. However, despite these gains in the number of independent states in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, the economic dominance of imperialist states continues well into the third decade of the 21st century.

On the official website for the NAM there is a section on the history of the organization which emphasizes:

“Today, the work of NAM has been guided by the Bandung Principles – which caters mostly for the Movement’s political agenda. Over the years, however, economic cooperation and social and humanitarian issues have become central to the work of NAM. Since its founding, in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter, NAM has been instrumental in championing international peace and security. Its members have been a strong voice in the calls for: nuclear disarmament and the establishment of nuclear free zones; condemning and fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations; and supporting United Nations’ efforts towards peacekeeping and peacebuilding. NAM also played an important role in leading international efforts towards addressing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic for a steady global recovery. Unlike other regional and international organizations, such as the United Nations or the African Union, NAM neither has a formal founding Charter, Act or Treaty, nor a permanent secretariat. Coordinating and managing the affairs of the Movement, therefore, is the responsibility of the country holding the Chairmanship.” 

This summit was significant considering the international movement away from the unipolar foreign policy approach of the U.S. and other imperialist states. Uganda also hosted the Group of 77 Plus China in the immediate aftermath of the 19th NAM Summit. Uganda will also serve in the capacity of chair of the organization whose governments represent 80 percent of the global population.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

All images in this article are from the author

Crise fronteiriça fomenta o separatismo no Texas

January 26th, 2024 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

A crise migratória nos EUA está a atingir níveis extremamente preocupantes, colocando em risco a integridade territorial do país. Em reação aos problemas nas fronteiras, o estado do Texas tomou recentemente uma importante iniciativa, recusando-se a cumprir ordens do governo federal e publicando um documento que poderia ser o primeiro passo para a separação da região.

O governador do Texas, Greg Abbott, publicou uma carta em 24 de janeiro afirmando que o pacto federal americano foi quebrado por Washington devido à inércia do governo em resolver a crise fronteiriça. Ele afirmou que o estado do Texas tomará todas as medidas necessárias para evitar o agravamento da crise e não obedecerá a nenhuma ordem do governo federal ou da Suprema Corte que exija um recuo nos esforços para deter a “invasão”.

A Abbott acusou formalmente o governo Biden de negligenciar a crise e até de violar as leis de migração dos EUA. Isto, na sua opinião, é motivo suficiente para reivindicar a ruptura do pacto de integração nacional, podendo os Estados passar a poder agir livremente e individualmente para resolver os seus problemas internos.

“O governo federal quebrou o pacto entre os Estados Unidos e os estados (…) O poder executivo dos Estados Unidos tem o dever constitucional de fazer cumprir as leis federais que protegem os estados, incluindo as leis de imigração em vigor neste momento. O Presidente Biden recusou-se a fazer cumprir essas leis e até as violou”, disse, acrescentando: “Já declarei uma invasão (…) para invocar a autoridade constitucional do Texas para se defender e proteger (…) Essa autoridade é a lei suprema do país e substitui quaisquer estatutos federais.”

Na verdade, este tipo de situação no Texas já era esperada. Poucos dias antes de Abbott publicar sua carta, a Suprema Corte decidiu que os agentes da patrulha fronteiriça deveriam remover as barreiras instaladas pelos texanos para impedir a entrada de imigrantes. A crise vinha aumentando na região desde o início de janeiro, quando os soldados da Guarda Nacional do Texas proibiram as autoridades federais de irem à fronteira, a fim de impedir que permitissem a entrada de mais imigrantes. Este conflito entre as autoridades locais e federais gerou uma atmosfera de polarização e descontentamento que culminou na recente declaração da Abbott.

O governador está firme na sua decisão de que as tropas do estado do Texas continuarão a proteger as fronteiras e a impedir a entrada de imigrantes, independentemente de qualquer decisão de Washington sobre o assunto. Como é sabido, o descaso no combate à imigração ilegal tem sido um dos principais aspectos da administração Biden desde a sua posse. Tanto por razões ideológicas, dada a mentalidade ultraliberal de Biden, como pela sua incompetência administrativa, o presidente tem sido incapaz de tomar decisões eficazes relativamente ao problema da entrada desenfreada de migrantes no país.

A imigração causou uma série de problemas graves em estados próximos da fronteira. Um inquérito recente realizado pela Rasmussen Reports revelou que dois terços dos cidadãos americanos consideram a atual crise migratória uma verdadeira “invasão” que coloca em risco a soberania nacional dos EUA. Por ser um estado fronteiriço, o Texas é uma das regiões mais afetadas por esta “invasão”, razão pela qual o governo local decidiu agir de forma independente para enfrentar a crise.

As consequências deste tipo de situação podem ser devastadoras para os EUA. Sabe-se que os sentimentos separatistas são comuns na região sul do país desde a Guerra Civil. Existem muitos movimentos no Texas e em estados próximos que exigem abertamente a separação de Washington, formando assim, novos países. Estas organizações e agendas são fortalecidas pelo enorme potencial econômico da região, com áreas produtoras de petróleo que poderiam gerar riqueza e soberania econômica para os “novos países”, caso realmente houvesse uma separação.

Agora, os americanos estão vendo um aumento nesta tendência. A medida da Abbott não é totalmente separatista, mas é um ato que mostra às autoridades americanas que a unidade nacional pode ser quebrada se esta for a única alternativa que resta para defender os interesses dos estados. Assim, Abbott desafiou o governo federal e mostrou que os EUA estão numa situação delicada, com a administração Biden a precisar de tomar medidas urgentes para evitar que a agenda separatista avance.

Na verdade, o caso mostra como Washington precisa urgentemente parar de se envolver em conflitos no exterior, passando a prestar atenção à sua própria situação interna. Os relatórios da inteligência americana alertam há anos sobre a possibilidade de uma guerra civil no país como resultado de tensões raciais e migratórias. Se o governo americano não tomar medidas excepcionais para resolver de uma vez por todas a situação nas fronteiras, a fragmentação territorial dos EUA tornar-se-á inevitável.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

 

Artigo em inglês : Border crisis foments separatism in Texas, InfoBrics, 25 de Janeiro de 2024

Imagem : InfoBrics

*

Lucas Leiroz, jornalista, pesquisador do Center for Geostrategic Studies, consultor geopolítico.

Você pode seguir Lucas Leiroz em: https://t.me/lucasleiroz e https://twitter.com/leiroz_lucas

Tucker Carlson Surveys the Ruins of Canada After Eight Years of Trudeau

January 26th, 2024 by Prof. Anthony J. Hall

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

“There is no media in the world I have more contempt for than the Canadian Media. They literally work for the Canadian government. They are state media.” —Tucker Carlson, 24 January, 2024

***

Tucker Carlson is in Alberta today to address audiences in Calgary and Edmonton. He will be joined on the stage at Calgary’s Telus Convention Centre by Alberta’s Premier, Danielle Smith. Premier Smith, elected to Alberta’s top job just 9 months ago, is pushing back against the Woke authoritarianism epitomized by the antics of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

An inductee into the perverse cult of Klaus Schwab’s WEF, Trudeau is obsessively attacking the health and viability of Alberta’s otherwise vibrant oil and gas sector.

Carlson’s visit comes just as Federal Judge Richard Mosley has condemned the Trudeau government’s invocation of the Emergency Act in February of 2021. The Emergency Act basically halted the normal operations of the Canadian government. The most recent incarnation of the War Measures Act allowed Trudeau and his main handler, Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, to notoriously seize the bank accounts of Truckers from across Canada.

These Truckers had famously converged in Ottawa to present a well reasoned critique of the lethal and draconian measures forced on Canadians in the name of fighting COVID-19.

The fact that a Federal Court has now decided that the Emergency Act was wrongfully imposed, has major legal and political ramifications for the Trudeau government, for the criminalized Truckers, and for Canadian citizens generally.

The Federal Ruling came down after the Tucker Carlson’s taping of a conversation with Gord Magill, a refugee from Canada living in upper New York state. Magill has been a Canadian Trucker although he did not take part in the legendary parking protest in Ottawa in the winter of 2021. Magill has published several editorials on Canadian issues in Newsweek.

Click here to watch the interview

One of the major subjects that Tucker and Gord Magill did discuss in the video was the persecution of four men singled out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The RCMP announced their charges against the men on February 14 of 2021 just as the Trudeau government was about to announce the Emergency Act.

The police forces trying to do the bidding of the Trudeau government had desperately looked for Truckers at Ottawa who would fill the bill of “terrorists.” They found none even though they riffled through many parked trucks looking for loaded guns. Since 9/11 the mere utterance of the word “terrorism” seems sufficient to empower governments to crush various types of legitimate dissent in the name of protecting the public.

A government investigation in 2022 of the invocation of the Emergency Act turned up a note by Deputy Prime Minister Freeland that related the advice given her by a banker friend.

The banker proposed to Freeland that the Truckers should be “designated as a terrorist group,” that their “assets should be seized” and that they should thereby be “impaired.” (See Freeland’s note below which came up as part of her evidence in the Rouleau Inquiry.)

That scrawled note jotted down before Feb. 14 described precisely what happened subsequently. The Emergency Act also empowered police to violently beat protesters and run them down with horses

“This hand-scrawled note by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was recently tabled before the Emergencies Act inquiry. Probably the most notable thing is the top line in which she suggests providing a list of “mischief-makers” to Canadian banks – which did indeed happen. Or you can marvel that Canada’s second-in-command has the illegible penmanship of a badly sleep-deprived physician” (National Post)

The Trudeau government reached out to the Truckers demonstration at Coutts and came up with four men that the RCMP agreed to charge with the accusation that they had conspired to kill cops. These four men were denied bail by Liberal Party judges including Johnna Kubik. These political prisoners, convicted of nothing, have been consistently maltreated in jail for two years now.

The Coutts Four have been denied legal help by, for instance, the Calgary-based Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and the sketchy Democracy Fund associated with sketchy Rebel News. The Coutts Four have been taken away from their families and jobs and incomes. Nevertheless they have been required already to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay a long stream of legal bills in what is misleadingly described as a “pre-trial process.”

The Coutts Four have already been subjected to a number of weird unorthodox procedures that have put a cloud of suspicion on the whole process, but especially over the main Crown Prosecutor, Stephen Johnston. When secret evidence was accidentally released by the Crown to the lawyers for the accused, the lawyer for Tony Olienick accused the Crown Prosecutor, Stephen Johnstone, of committing “crime fraud.” This crime fraud, it was alleged, took the form of the directives given by Johnstone to the RCMP. The RCMP are apparently conceived of as Johnstones’ “clients” subject to “solicitor-client privilege.”

Olienick’s lawyer, Tonii Roulston, asked to be removed from the case after making accusations against the Crown Prosecutor. Did Ms. Roulston withdraw from the proceeding voluntarily or under duress?

The RCMP themselves are in a deep conflict of interest because they claim to be targets of a plot by the four accused men put together artificially onto a single trial to heighten the perception that they were all mutually engaged in a “conspiracy.” The RCMP themselves are curating the evidence in this murder trial that lacks any murdered victim.

Thus those curating the evidence are RCMP members operating on the principle that they themselves are the would-be victims of the unrealized actions that supposedly took place exclusively in the imaginations of those accused of thought crimes. The RCMP case involves testimony from unnamed police plants who secretly taped the accused in a scheme of obvious entrapment to bring about a desired political outcome in a heavily politicized case. It involved the production on Feb. 14 of a RCMP photo widely distributed in the media of odds and sods of weaponry gather who knows where and with proper chains of custody.

The photo of course is meant to mislead those who initially saw it in the newspaper beside the initial published accounts of the alleged crimes. The picture offered a (false) appearance proof that the police were dealing with an open and shut case. Now almost two years later it is becoming increasingly clear that there is nothing open and shut about this case. What is very clear, however, is the extreme bias of the police, the prosecutors and Trudeau’s bought-and-paid-for media who continue to hit obstacles in convicting the Coutts Four.

The origins of this tainted legal process go back to the Trudeau government’s need to come up with some evidence of terrorism to justify issuing the Emergency Act. This Emergency Act has now been deemed by a Federal Judge to have been illegal from the moment it was enacted. It is Trudeau who should by now be on trial if Canada was something other than a police state in the making.

Although the process against the Coutts Four now under way is frequently referred to as a “pre-trial procedure,” that characterization misrepresents what is really going on. In fits and starts the trial of the Coutts Four has in reality been going on for a long time already. If the process looks like a trial, acts like a trial, and makes noises like a trial, it is a trial.

Meanwhile, Trudeau’s bought-and-paid-for media have been delivering the goods by conducting an outrageous ongoing trial-by-media of the Coutts Four.

The New York Times has been covering the story closely, probably with the view that this legal matter approximates the style of criminalization applied to the protesters at the US Capital on Jan 6, 2021.

The imperative of this trial-by-media is to paint the Coutts Four as “insurrectionists” in a disgraceful miscarriage where much of the malevolence can be traced back to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.

See this, this, this and this.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack, Looking out at the World from Canada.

Dr. Anthony Hall is currently Professor of Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta Canada. He has been a teacher in the Canadian university system since 1982. Dr. Hall, has recently finished a big two-volume publishing project at McGill-Queen’s University Press entitled “The Bowl with One Spoon”.

He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). 

America’s Military Empire. Why Does the U.S. Need a Network of Military Bases?

January 26th, 2024 by Jacob G. Hornberger

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

CNN is reporting that “gigantic” waves “swamped a key military facility in the middle of the Pacific Ocean last weekend.” The rush of water, which can be seen here, occurred on Roi-Namur Island, which is part of Kawajalein Atoll, “which hosts a US military ballistic defense test site in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.”

But that big wave raises an important question? Why does the U.S. government need an empire of foreign military bases? Unfortunately, hardly anyone asks that question. A vast worldwide empire of foreign military bases has become an accepted and integral part of American life. We’ve all grown up under this empire and so it’s just considered to be normal.

But it’s anything but normal, at least not compared to our nation’s original founding governmental system, which eschewed large, permanent military establishments and rejected, fully and completely, the concept of a worldwide military empire.

According to this article by David Vine, associate professor of sociology at American University and author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World, as of 2015 the United States maintained “nearly 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad.”

I have read Vine’s book and I highly recommend it. I also recommend four books by Chalmers Johnson, who was a professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, and a former consultant to the CIA: Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire; The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic; Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic; and Dismantling the Empire: America’s Last Best Hope.

Martin Luther King correctly pointed out that the U.S. government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Its empire of foreign military bases plays an important role in the death and destruction wreaked by America’s federal killing machine.

But there is also the domestic empire of military bases to consider. It too has become a normal and accepted part of the American life. No one asks the important questions: What are all those bases good for? What purpose do they serve? Why can’t they be closed and sold off?

I can understand why the U.S. government would establish military forts during the 19th century. They were used to protect towns and settlements from attacks by Native Americans.

But today, no one is in danger of attacks from Native Americans. Moreover, there is no possibility whatsoever of a foreign invasion of the United States. No nation-state has the money, resources, manpower, military force, supply lines, or even interest in crossing either the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans to invade America. There is also no possibility of an invasion by Canada or Latin America.

Terrorism? Those domestic military bases do nothing to prevent terrorist attacks, nor should we want them involved in domestic criminal offenses. Moreover, once the federal killing machine overseas is shut down, the threat of anti-American terrorism disappears.

So, I repeat: Why do we need all those domestic military bases? Think of the tax money we could save by closing them and selling them off.

Indeed, think of the tax money we could save by closing and dismantling not only America’s foreign and domestic empire of military bases but also the national-security state itself. The conversion of the federal government to a national-security state has proven to be a disaster for the American people. Given that the Cold War, which was the justification for the conversion, ended long ago, why can’t we have our founding system of limited government republic back, along with just a relatively small military force?

These are the types of questions that the American people need to be asking if we are to get our nation back on the right track — toward freedom, peace, prosperity, and harmony.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education. He has advanced freedom and free markets on talk-radio stations all across the country as well as on Fox News’ Neil Cavuto and Greta van Susteren shows and he appeared as a regular commentator on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show Freedom Watch. View these interviews at LewRockwell.com and from Full Context. Send him email.

Featured image: A U.S. Navy vessel in the Marshall Islands.

Video: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Delivers Its Order in the Case South Africa v. Israel

January 26th, 2024 by United Nations

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, delivers its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) on 26 January 2024, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court. Session held under the presidency of Judge Joan E. Donoghue, President of the Court.

 

Click document below to read the ICJ ruling.

Measures to be adopted according to the ICJ ruling:

 

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Live: ICJ Orders Israel to Prevent Genocide in Gaza, While Israel Bombs Khan Younis

January 26th, 2024 by Middle East Eye

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Thousands of Palestinians Forcibly Flee Khan Younis Under Israeli Bombing

Palestinians in Khan Younis have been made to forcibly flee as Israeli forces increase their bombing campaign of the neighbourhood. 

According to one journalist on the ground, many of the people there have already been displaced two or three times since the start of the war. 

Video footage showed elderly people and children carrying all of their belongings as they scramble to find safety. 

*

Egypt Welcomes ICJ Ruling

Egypt has welcomed the ICJ ruling in favour of South Africa’s request to impose emergency measures against Israel over its war in Gaza, Reuters reported. 

The EU also said it expects a “full, immediate and effective implementation of the World Court’s orders on emergency measures in Gaza genocide case,” following the ruling.

*

Scotland’s Humza Yousaf: ‘Killing and destruction in Gaza must stop’

Scottish leader Humza Yousaf reacted to the ICJ court ruling on Friday, saying that the message from it is clear.

“The killing and destruction in Gaza must stop. Urgent humanitarian assistance must be provided to prevent more suffering. Hostages must be released immediately,” he said in a post on X. 

He added that calls for a ceasefire must continue.

*

Oxfam Calls on UK Government to Respect ICJ Court Ruling and ‘Cease Its Complicity’

The international charity, Oxfam, has welcomed Friday’s ICJ court ruling,  which requests Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the commission of all acts in relation to the articles of the Genocide Convention.

The charity called it a “crucial step towards recognizing the ongoing atrocities in Gaza and stopping the bloodshed,” that around 2 million Palestinians are subjected to. 

In a statement, the organisation said: “The UK government must respect the court ruling, and cease its complicity in the crisis, starting by immediately stopping arms sales to Israel given the risk of them being used to commit war crimes and calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.  Anything less will be a stain on the UK’s reputation as an upholder of international law.”

*

Medics: Israeli Forces Continue to Target Gaza’s al-Amal Hospital

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said on Friday that Israeli forces are continuing to target the al-Amal Hospital and their headquarters in Khan Younis.

The organisation said that the attacks have been ongoing for five days, with intense shelling and gunfire in the hospital’s vicinity. 

*

Turkey’s Erdogan Vows to Follow Up the Process on ICJ Ruling

Turkey’s president Erdogan welcomed the ICJ ruling on Friday, vowing to follow up on developments.

“I find the temporary injunction taken by the International Court of Justice regarding the inhumane attacks in Gaza valuable and welcome it,” he said. 

“We will continue to follow the process to ensure that war crimes committed against innocent Palestinian civilians do not go unpunished,” he added. 

*

Director of UNRWA Says Israeli Attacks on Shelters Must Stop

Thomas White, the director of the UN agency Unrwa said that Israel’s attacks on buildings where “terrified civilians are sheltering,” are abhorrent, and must stop immediately. 

The statement came following an Israeli attack on a training centre in Khan Younis, where 12 Palestinians were killed and 75 wounded. 

*

Spain Welcomes ICJ Ruling

Spain has issued a statement welcoming the ICJ ruling on Friday. 

“We welcome the decision of the International Court of Justice and call on the parties to implement the interim measures it has decreed,” Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said on X.

“We will continue to advocate for peace and an end to the war, the release of hostages, access to humanitarian aid and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, so that both nations can coexist in peace and security,” he added.

*

Iranian Foreign Minister Says Israel Must be Brought to Justice

Iran’s foreign minister slammed Israel on Friday following the ICJ court ruling, saying that they must be brought to justice. 

“Today, the authorities of the fake Israeli regime… must be brought to justice immediately for committing genocide and unprecedented war crimes against the Palestinians,” foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on the X platform.

*

Click here to read the full update.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. 

Featured image is from MEE

US Military to Leave Iraq Because of the Israeli Attack on Gaza

January 26th, 2024 by Steven Sahiounie

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

US President Joe Biden is set to lose American military presence in both Iraq and Syria because of his unconditional support of the Israeli genocide committed against the Palestinians in Gaza.

After a long series of US attacks on targets in Iraq, the Iraqi government had asked the US military to leave. Yesterday, US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski handed a letter to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein which set forth a plan for the two nations to discuss the end of a US-led military coalition in Iraq.

150 attacks have been launched against US troops in Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war began by militants who are aligned with Iran. The attacks are designed to show solidarity with Palestinians, and disgust with the US support of the genocide in Gaza.

Four US personnel suffered injuries after the Ain al-Asad air base was hit by multiple ballistic missiles and rockets in Iraq on Saturday. The Americans have since returned to duty.

“US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack. The group emerged in late 2023 and comprised of various groups in Iraq which have attacked US forces.

The US opposes Iran because Israel sees Iran as their biggest enemy. Iran is committed to the freedom of the Palestinian people who have suffered 75 years of brutal Israeli military occupation and denial of all human rights.

The majority of Iraq is Shite, and the US insisted on overthrowing Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in favor of installing a US-leaning Shite regime in Baghdad. There were no WMD, and the 2003 US invasion, attack, destruction and occupation of Iraq was carried out for the sole purpose of regime change, a precursor to Libya, Egypt, and Syria. 

The US set up a sectarian form of government in Iraq. The Prime Minister must be Shite and the seats in the Parliament are allocated by sects.  Iraq has been an ally of both Iran and the US.

The western media, and the US military, refer to the militant groups in Iraq as “Iran-backed militias”. A group targeting the US troops is part of the Iraqi national army, and is neither a militia, nor a paramilitary.  

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) is under the command of the Iraqi army and was instrumental in the defeat of ISIS. The US media would have you to believe the US military and its allies defeated ISIS, and in a scene right out of a Hollywood movie like “Rambo”. The fact is, ISIS was defeated by Iraq, Syria, Russia, Iran, and the US-led coalition.  The PMF killed their share of ISIS terrorists.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the US attacks in Iraq “blatantly” violated his country’s sovereignty.

Major General Yehia Rasool, a spokesman for Sudani, said that the US action was “contributing to a reckless escalation”.

“This unacceptable act undermines years of co-operation… at a time when the region is already grappling with the danger of expanding conflict, the repercussions of the aggression on Gaza,” Rasool added

He added that Iraq would treat the US operations “as acts of aggression” against its people on their land, and urged the international community to help restore peace. 

The international community is powerless to stop the genocide in Gaza, because only the US can stop it. Biden has chosen to green-light Israel’s genocide on Gaza, while the international community meet for cake and coffee, and lots of hand-wringing.  No one can stop Israel except Biden, and no one can stop Biden. France and Spain have repeatedly asked for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but Biden remains unmoved.  Perhaps he will be moved finally in November 2024.

Even in the face of losing the 2024 election, as Biden’s support for the genocide in Gaza is bringing his electability into doubt, the White House continues to send weapons and cash to Israel in the plane-loads. 

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lost the support of the Israelis, but in the Oval Office he can still call the shots. Netanyahu insisted on killing 25,000 Palestinians instead of negotiating for the release of Israelis held captive in Gaza.  He prioritized revenge over the safety of his own people.

Earlier this month, the US assassinated a high ranking commander in the PMF in downtown Baghdad. In response to the killing, the Iraqi government condemned it, and said the US troops must leave Iraq.

The US has 2,500 troops in Iraq, advising and assisting local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State (IS), according to the Pentagon. But, there is no sign of IS regrouping, or organizing.  IS follows the same ideology as the Muslim Brotherhood, with members across the US and Europe, and Al Qaeda. Radical Islam is a political ideology which hides behind a religion.  There are IS followers in New York and London, and troops stationed in Iraq are not going to matter.

The Iraqi people suffered hundreds of thousands of deaths at the hands of the US-led coalition of occupation beginning in 2003. Finally, the US left. Then in 2014, ISIS reared its ugly head, and the Iraqi government requested the US military to come back to help them defeat ISIS. Once ISIS was gone, the Iraqi parliament voted for the US troops to leave, but the US refused. Then it started to feel like an occupation, again.  

With the regional stress of the US-supported Israeli attack on Gaza after October 7, the calls for “Yankee Go Home” have grown louder in Iraq, and in Syria. The troops can pack up and leave, that is easy, but what will be the long lasting regional effect of the American support of the slaughter of mainly women and children in Gaza? Biden has lost Iraq, and is set to lose the election, and is responsible for losing the hearts and minds of millions of Arabs, across the 22 nations comprising the Arab world. Which one of those losses is the biggest for the image of America, as the home of the free?

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on Mideast Discourse.

Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from MD

Only Democrats Allowed to Question the Validity of the 2020 Presidential Election

January 26th, 2024 by Drago Bosnic

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Ever since Joe Biden took the presidency in the United States, the mainstream propaganda machine has been absolutely merciless toward anyone who’d dare to question the validity of the 2020 presidential election. The DNC-dominated federal institutions, particularly the highly politicized Department of Justice (DoJ), offered full support in this regard, looking to suppress any attempts of “undermining American democracy”, which is just another lifeless euphemism used against anyone daring to expose lies and outright voter fraud. However, this sort of behavior uncovers another form of hypocrisy and double standards in American politics (not that those were ever in deficit). Namely, the Democratic Party never had any qualms about questioning the validity of the 2016 presidential election, as well as countless other instances when elections on state and other levels weren’t beneficial to them.

In fact, it could easily be argued that the so-called “Russiagate” conspiracy theory that has been recycled over and over in the last well over half a decade is a prime example of questioning the validity of elections by the Democrats. What’s more, this laughable claim was even used as a pretext to change the geopolitical landscape by bringing the relations between Russia and the US to (First) Cold War levels, perhaps even worse, pushing the world to the edge of an abyss. Of course, no such concern was shown during the much more controversial 2020 election that saw actual mass voter fraud committed, as evidenced by recent findings. However, that’s a forbidden topic for the DNC, the so-called “Big Tech” and the mainstream propaganda machine. God forbid anyone would ask any questions about it, as they’d get nothing but open hostility or even get prosecuted.

Steve Watson of the Modernity News recently covered this topic, showing the case of the Fox News reporter Peter Doocy who confronted the troubled Biden administration’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over this practice. Namely, on January 24, he pointed out the recent footage of Joe Biden calling Democrat Terry McAuliffe “the real governor of Virginia”. Doocy asked whether questioning election validity is a joke now, resulting in an awkward exchange with Jean-Pierre, who was clearly agitated by the question. Her rather clumsy attempt to play ignorance didn’t last long and she soon found herself having to defend Joe Biden’s statement as a supposed “joke”. When Doocy asked for further clarification, Jean-Pierre failed to provide one, trying to go around the question. However, the Fox News reporter refused to back down and stood his ground, asking the following:

“How are you going to convince people, though, that this idea of denying election results is very bad if President Biden is going out and making jokes like this?”

Jean-Pierre kept insisting that this was “merely a joke”. However, as Watson pointed out, this wasn’t the first time Joe Biden questioned election validity. He previously called former president Donald Trump “an illegitimate president”. Biden’s practice of denying election results goes back decades, as evidenced by his claim that “Al Gore really won the 2000 election”. There are numerous other examples of the DNC’s top people questioning election validity, perhaps best illustrated by this video showing 24 minutes of footage proving it. And yet, the mainstream propaganda machine is “worried about our democracy” whenever the Republicans question election results. Apparently, claiming that Trump is supposedly “illegitimate” and even “Vlad’s pal” is perfectly fine and doesn’t constitute any sort of “danger for American democracy“. However, similar criticism of the DNC is “deplorable“.

Worse yet, these same people are demanding Trump be prosecuted and even jailed for “undermining our democracy” by refusing to acknowledge that the 2020 election was valid. What’s more, on December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court banned Trump from running for presidency under the pretext that he led the so-called “January 6 insurrection”. Although he was never formally charged (let alone convicted) for that highly controversial event, the Court made its decision based precisely on that premise. On the other hand, the DNC-aligned judges probably didn’t expect this obviously partisan decision would open up a political “Pandora’s box” in the US. Namely, in response to the ruling, high-ranking officials from Texas, Arizona and Pennsylvania suggested taking Biden off the ballot. Such developments could even lead to America’s collapse along state lines.

As for election validity, recent findings show that the public’s trust in the impartiality of federal institutions has been severely undermined. The latest poll, conducted jointly by Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports, found that 20% of voters who cast mail-in ballots during the 2020 presidential election admitted to participating in voter fraud. However, such findings aren’t limited to polls, as evidenced by a recent court ruling in Connecticut. Namely, according to the Epoch Times, Superior Court Judge William Clark overturned the results of a Democrat mayoral primary in November 2023 and ordered a new election. The ruling was based on hours of video evidence showing hundreds of illegally harvested absentee ballots being stuffed into drop boxes in the city of Bridgeport. Clark called the videos shocking and warned they “should be shocking to all the parties”.

The report further points out other instances when election results were nullified by lower court decisions across the US, including the 2021 Compton City Council run-off race that was initially decided by a single vote. The judge tossed four fraudulent ballots cast by people not legally registered in the jurisdiction, while five people pleaded either guilty or no contest to conspiring to commit election fraud. The report cites an even worse case in Mississippi, where both state and federal institutions were deeply involved in election fraud and attempted cover-up. There are dozens of such cases across the country, many still pending for court proceedings. The Epoch Times also pointed out the thousands of court convictions for election fraud in the last two decades. This is yet another proof that the “rule of law” in the US is nothing but a myth that not even Americans themselves believe.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from InfoBrics

At Davos, the Inmates Run the Asylum—And the World. “Capitalism in All Its Glory”

January 26th, 2024 by April Holcombe

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Davos, a small skiing town in Switzerland, once a year becomes the world’s most consequential insane asylum. On Europe’s highest populated mountaintop, 3,000 of the global elite meet to ponder why the climate they pollute is so polluted, why the people they impoverish are so poor and why the world they fight over is at war.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is the ruling-class Comic-Con, a fantasy fortress where the 1 percent’s 1 percent can save the world that they are sending to hell.

The 2024 iteration in mid-January offered five days of unadulterated “bullshit”. (All sessions can be viewed at weforum.org.) One session was about “liberating science”; another was about “empowering humans and machines in industry” (empowering machines?). Amid the melting slopes, hundreds, including “ecopreneurs”, arrived on carbon-spewing private jets to hear skiing equipment CEOs talk about the challenge of “alpine economies at +2°C”.

This year’s conference theme? “Rebuilding trust”.

And who wouldn’t trust Ronald W. Hovsepian, CEO of Indigo Agriculture.

“For so long, we’ve taken advantage of those natural resources and not put that into the economic equation”, he told attendees on 17 January. “So we do look at it and we include it in the way we look at the markets and how we’re going to tie together a number of the players to bring the value chains to life as part of that overall journey.”

That sentence sure was a journey.

Davos coincides with the release of British charity Oxfam’s annual report on global inequality. The 2024 issue, Inequality Inc.: A Gilded Age of Division, estimates that, in the last four years, the wealth of the world’s five richest men more than doubled to US$870 billion, while the poorest 5 billion are even poorer than they were in 2019.

“The sharp increase in the cost of food and other essentials that began in 2021 has become a grinding new reality for many families across the world as they try to buy oil, bread or flour without knowing how much they can afford this time, or how hungry they and their children will have to go today”, the report notes.

Meanwhile, at US$190 billion, the combined annual profits of oil and gas companies are triple their pre-pandemic average.

Luxury goods profits have doubled—evidenced by the suits, watches, jewellery and handbags opulently displayed at Davos.

Women, by the way, made up 28 percent of all attendees, which conference organisers said is really good for a creepy old-boys’ club and “marks a significant milestone in the 54-year history of the annual meeting”.

The point of the WEF appears to be demonstrating that the rich live, quite literally, in a different part of the atmosphere. According to swissinfo.ch, up to 5,000 Swiss armed guards were deployed to protect the conference. That’s called rebuilding trust one hotel-rooftop-sniper at a time.

Architects of Israel’s mass slaughter in Gaza lined up at the conference buffet. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen all spoke about the democratic, rules-based order. In the same week, a Palestinian doctor in Gaza told Al Jazeera about having to amputate his own daughter’s leg without anaesthetic.

On 19 January, attendees were safely, soundly and warmly “anticipating the Middle East in 2024”. The region is a century-long victim of the West’s rapacious competition to secure oil, gas and trade routes. Now that it’s teetering on the edge of general war, Davos-goers wondered how they might extract even more profits from the place.

That was a common theme at the conference’s more serious sessions. Capitalists don’t solve problems; they anticipate them. They try to keep pace with the “risk environment” created by their own blind profiteering. If the Congo introduces child labour restrictions in its cobalt mines, how badly will margins be affected? If Taiwan is invaded and millions are vaporised in a nuclear war, where will be the next happening place for silicon chip production? When will interest rate hikes finally lift the unemployment rate and reduce the heat on wage bills?

But for many, the WEF was about getting down to brass tacks. The talks, delusionally self-serving as they were, were a flimsy pretext for getting the world’s shiniest shoes into the same building and under the same tables.

“Ask almost anyone who is here, and they will tell you—some freely, some coyly—that their chief purpose in Davos is to get several weeks’ worth of high-level business meetings and networking done in three to five days”, Hans van Leeuwen, the Australian Financial Review’s Europe correspondent, reported. “I didn’t overhear anyone during my trip discussing climate change, the challenge of artificial intelligence, the likely fate of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia this year, or the world’s economic prospects.”

Behind the images projected to the world (was anyone watching?), Davos was capitalism in all its glory. Thousands of executives and politicians wheeled and dealed, wined and dined. An arms deal here, a fossil fuel project there, a tax break on top.

Freshly gorged and eyes glazed, they sauntered to another plenary to pretend to listen to think tankers, stakeholders, thought leaders, trendsetters, philanthropists, trustees, advisors, editors, commissioners, directors, professors, consultants, analysts, wonks—an army of grubby bullshit artists waxing and wanking over issues their coked-up audience couldn’t care less about—unless there’s a buck to be made. Show us the money!

It is amazing that Thomas Hobbes’ famed war of all against all never broke out on the conference floor. But the wars are always fought by people other than these. The WEF spirit is to revel in what the parasites share in common: a lifestyle, a worldview, a set of economic interests to exploit, pillage and plunder.

If you thought the prospect of the whole world going down the capitalist gurgler would provoke a reflective thought or two, think again. The Davos set are doubling down. New far-right Argentine President Javier Milei gave the keynote address, which the Financial Times reports was “met with warm applause”. According to him, there is not a thing wrong with the system:

“Talking about a market failure is an oxymoron. There are no market failures … Thanks to free trade capitalism, the world is now living its best moment. Never in all of mankind or humanity’s history has there been a time of more prosperity than today … I would like to leave a message for all businesspeople here … You are social benefactors. You are heroes. You are the creators of the most extraordinary period of prosperity we’ve ever seen.”

These people rule the world. Davos is not a padded cell for Ayn Rand LARPers debating how much heroin in children’s lollipops would maximise marginal utility. It’s real life, just not as we know it.

“The Davos Matrix is plugged directly into the mainframe”, Hamilton Nolan wrote in the Guardian about last year’s conference. “The decisions that these people make in their little atmosphere of illusion percolate out into the real world, leaving the rest of us holding the bag as wealth trickles further and further upwards.”

Little wonder that polls show all-time low levels of trust in governments and corporations, as capitalists rampage across the globe leaving destruction, poverty and resentment in their wake.

“Yes, it’s a volatile, tense world we are living in”, Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm admitted in a panel discussion on 18 January. “But it’s opportunity rich. And I think the opportunity far outweighs the problems.”

That’s the Davos spirit.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Israel’s Case at the ICJ: An Armed Conflict Where Only One Side Is Allowed to Fight

January 26th, 2024 by Craig Murray

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

I was the only journalist inside the courtroom at the International Court of Justice for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. Thirty accredited journalists were in a press room in another wing of the building, watching what the director showed them on a screen. Rather more journalists waited outside the building.

I got into the courtroom by sleeping on the pavement in the sub-zero temperatures of the Hague, in the queue for one of the 14 seats available in the public gallery. You can’t beat being in the court – the interactions between the delegations, the body language and expressions of the judges in response to particular arguments. If you were not there, you are not really covering the case.

It has taken a week for my body to fully recover and about the same period for my mind to sift the drama and tension of the court from the actual arguments advanced.

The most striking thing was, of course, the highly belligerent attitudes of the opposing sides, with South Africa talking of the Nakba and 75 years of apartheid in Israel, while the Israeli side responded by accusing South Africa of complicity in genocide themselves through support of Hamas.

The total dissonance of alleged facts was also truly remarkable. Israel simply denied responsibility for the destruction of infrastructure and housing – which they blamed on over 2,000 Hamas missile misfires and Hamas’ booby-trapping of buildings. Israel claimed that more food per day now entered Gaza than before 7 October.

Israel also stated explicitly that every single hospital in Gaza was “a military base”.

Findings of fact would be established by evidence at a substantive hearing of the ICJ, probably in around two years’ time. What we had now was a request for provisional measures, where argument, probability and procedure were being considered, not evidence weighed.

I want to look now at some aspects of the argument that seem to me insufficiently considered elsewhere.

‘Unispute’

Israel’s base argument was that this was an “armed conflict”, not a genocide. They used the term repeatedly.

In an armed conflict, there are inevitably civilian casualties. These might be “horrible”, but are always there, and are worse in urban warfare. Hamas was responsible for the civilian casualties by embedding its forces within civilian populations and structures.

Israel stated explicitly that Hamas operations were centred in hospitals, schools, water treatment and electricity generation facilities, and United Nations facilities. Civilian casualties in such places in armed conflict were therefore both inevitable and the fault of Hamas.

The difficulty here is that Israel both claimed that what is happening is “armed conflict”, and denied the legitimacy of any armed resistance to it.

In attempting to have the ICJ dismiss the case on procedural grounds, Malcolm Shaw KC said that South Africa had no right to bring the case as it had no dispute with Israel at the time of filing. It was not, he said, a dispute but a “unispute”.

On a similar logic, Israel’s position depends on it being in “armed conflict” but denies there are two legitimate parties to the armed conflict. Israel stated in terms that it must not stop its operations because Hamas continues to fire on Israeli forces and launch rockets into Israel.

It is a strange armed conflict where one side is not allowed to fire. If Israel claims it is in armed conflict, it must acknowledge the legitimacy of the arms of those it is fighting. It cannot use “armed conflict” as an excuse for over 25,000 dead but then also claim it is not an armed conflict but some kind of limited anti-terrorism operation.

In short, if this is an armed conflict, the Palestinians have a right to fight back. Which of course they do. There is no doubt in international law that a people under occupation have the right to armed resistance. I don’t think anybody disputes that, not even the British or US governments.

Legal Nonsense

The key question here is: have the Palestinians no right to resist a genocidal attack because it is Hamas – designated by the West as a proscribed terrorist organisation – doing the resisting? This, in my opinion, is massive hypocrisy. The appalling consequences of branding a de facto government simply as “terrorist” are playing out in the violent killing of hundreds of children every day.

The Hague has to pick its way through the legal nonsense of an “armed conflict” in which only one side is allowed to fight and in which the large majority of casualties are entirely innocent women and children, a distressing proportion of them infants; in which one side has every weapon of the most modern and expensive of armies and massive air power it uses to kill indiscriminately on an industrial scale, and the other side has a few light arms and improvised rockets.

In the West, we have painted ourselves into a similarly ridiculous legal position. Some protesters have now been arrested in the UK for opposing this genocide. I have personally been forced to flee the country while the police puzzle over whether supporting the Palestinian right in international law to armed resistance is “terrorism” or not.

On 20 January, Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu had a conversation about Palestinian statehood, which again confirmed the US view of a Palestinian state which would be an utter sham.

In particular, it would be permitted no arms or military forces and would not have control of its own borders or foreign policy. Israel would have power over both goods and people entering this “state”, which would be territorially fragmented and powerless in every way.

This, of course, is the ultimate culmination of the apartheid Israel scheme. Time passes, and people mostly do not know how much the vaunted “two-state solution” mirrors the planned apotheosis of apartheid. I had the South Africa desk in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the mid-1980s, and I can tell you.

The Black population of South Africa was to be confined to a number of “homelands”. These were to become “independent states”. One of them, Bophuthatswana, was actually declared as independent. 

Their “sovereignty” was to be limited in exactly the ways Biden and Netanyahu think may make a puppet Palestinian state possible. Ultimately, over 80 percent of Black South Africans were planned in these “independent” states, removing the Black majority from South Africa, for which they would function as a permanent pool of cheap labour with no rights.

Colonial Propaganda

Palestinians had, even before the current hostilities, been ethnically cleansed from 85 percent of their land. A “two-state solution” which cements that and leaves them under permanent Israeli military dominance will not solve this conflict, the answer to which is not the effective entrenchment of the status quo.

The desire to deny the Palestinians the right of a people to self-defence is bolstered by the endlessly recycled atrocity stories of 7 October. Now, I do not doubt that some crimes were committed by Palestinians on that day. They must be thoroughly investigated and if possible perpetrators punished – though strangely it is almost never possible to punish western military perpetrators of crimes in lands they have occupied.

I also do not doubt that Israel’s version of the 7 October attacks has been amplified by the media, although the reality is far more complex and troubling. Strangely, this has been much more openly admitted and discussed in Israeli rather than western media.

But there is of course a point to the systematic and sustained hype over the 7 October atrocities. It portrays the Palestinians as barbarians who should not ever have the right to bear arms or defend their homes and families.

This is a well-recognised pattern of colonial propaganda. Sustained occupation and deprivation of an occupied people leads to occasional frenzied outbursts of resistance, and unconventional warfare due to a disparity of arms. 

Such outbreaks always contain atrocities that mirror the sustained violence to which the occupied people have been subjected. Those atrocities are then endlessly retold and amplified by the colonisers. The Black Hole of Calcutta or the stories of Mau Mau rape and murder are good examples. 

These are, always, characterised as examples of the “bestiality” of the occupied and colonised, and proof of the validity of the civilising mission, and evidence of the moral superiority of the coloniser. There then follows more repression.

It is astonishing to me that postcolonial studies is now such a well-established discipline but that almost none of its core insights have fed through into public, and particularly media, discourse. What is happening in Palestine is perfectly plain.

The tragedy is that the western powers seek to abet it rather than stop it.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and Rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010.

Houthi Red Sea Crisis Rages On as US Admits Its Impotence and Begs China to Help

January 26th, 2024 by Uriel Araujo

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

The Financial Times reported that, over the last three months, Washington has repeatedly asked Beijing to pressure Iran into curbing the Houthi rebels. Both the White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly talked about the matter with their Chinese counterparts. Sullivan is even flying to Thailand to discuss the issue today with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi.

According to Iranian diplomatic sources quoted by Reuters yesterday, Chinese authorities have urged their Iranian counterparts to help curb Houthi attacks on ships traveling through the Red Sea. One such anonymous official said: “basically, China says: If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran. So tell the Houthis to show restraint”. The anti-Israel Houthi operations have disrupted a key trade route between Europe and Asia – one that is also largely used by Beijing. Some ships have been re-routing to a East-West route via the southern tip of Africa – one that is much longer and thus costs more.

China is clearly well-positioned to mediate the crisis. In 2021, Beijing and Tehran signed a 25-year cooperation agreement, for one thing. Iranian-Chinese relations are far from perfect, however: since 2021, Chinese firms have invested merely $185 million in Iran, while committing to invest billions in Saudi Arabia, Iran’s main rival (Riyadh and Beijing signed their own strategic partnership agreement in December 2022). On the other hand, in the context of American sanctions, last year, 90 per cent of the Iranian crude oil exports went to Chinese oil refiners, according to data from trade analytics firm Kpler. Having several alternative suppliers, Beijing in turn does not heavily depend on Iran for crude oil: it amounts to only 10% of the former’s imports. Its diplomatic influence in the region was made evident last year when it helped broker the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement, which was a historic event in itself.

The Chinese thus have a lot of leverage in the Middle East, for sure, but Iran is an emerging power of its own – already in 2018, Benjamin Miller, a professor of International Relations at the University of Haifa’s School of Political Science, argued Tehran had emerged (in the post “Arab Spring” world) as the Middle East’s “dominant power”. Such description is even more defendable today, in light of recent developments in the Pakistan border and the Levant.

The Persian nation can certainly exert pressure on the Houthis, when needed, and does so. It would be far-fetched and basically wrong, however, to assume that, being an “Iranian proxy”, the Houthis will simply dance to Iran’s tune, automatically. With regards to such decision-making, in any case, the Iranian authorities in Tehran must also take into consideration principled ideological deliberations – not to mention the interests of key regional partners and concerned parties in the Levant, including the so-called axis of resistance. Beijing in turn, although defending its interests, will not overuse its leverage: its deputy permanent representative to the UN, Geng Shuang, has consistently described the ongoing crisis as a result of Israel’s war against Gaza, while criticizing the US for further destabilizing the region.

On January 14, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi had in case already called for an end to attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea (without mentioning either Iran or the Houthis), so as to maintain the international trade order and its supply chains. Being the world’s largest trading nation, China is tremendously affected by any shipping disruption in such a key trade route. This makes the American request to Beijing seem even odder with regards to what might have driven it. For one thing, it can certainly be interpreted as a kind of a humiliating gesture of weakness. In a way, Washington basically begged its main geopolitical rival to restore order in a situation the former cannot solve.

It would make much more sense, from an American perspective, to pressure its Israeli ally into de-escalating the crisis. The Jewish state, after all, has “long been the leading recipient of U.S. foreign aid, including military support”, as Council of Foreign Relations’ members Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow write in their article. Since its founding, it has received, according to the two experts, “about $300 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has called on Israel to take measures to avoid civilian casualties (in Palestine), but despite such words, American money keeps flowing to Tel Aviv. And the Houthis crisis keeps getting worse.

In a candid admission of impotence (dressed up as practicality), US President Joe Biden last week, when asked whether the American airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen were working, had this to say: “when you say ‘working’, are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes”. As US journalist Seymour Hersh puts it, “American presidents tend to overreach when they believe they are facing down communism or terrorism”

To sum it up:

China has their own interests in the maintenance of the Red Sea’s trade order (regardless of any American request), but Beijing won’t put too much pressure to “rein” the Houthi issue, as it sees the situation as being mainly a direct spillover effect of the US-backed disastrous Israeli military campaign in Palestine.

Iran is the emerging power in the Middle East, but it does not possess absolute control over its regional “proxies”, the Axis of Resistance including many different players and the issue of Palestine being a polarizing cause that inflames and drives several actors. Although Tehran can’t ignore China, it cannot ignore all of those considerations either.

By resorting to asking the Chinese to help curb the Red Sea crisis, the US shows weakness and attests to the failure of its foreign policy, as an overburdened, declining superpower that should exercise restraint.

Israel, in turn, must be internationally pressured, in a consistent way (including the financial realm), and by the US also, to show restraint in Gaza and the West Bank. Its globally condemned ethnic cleansing campaign there (which caused Israel’s “secret war” with Iran to escalate) is the root cause of crises in the Red Sea and elsewhere.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Uriel Araujo is a researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from InfoBrics

Mesmeric Weapons: South Africa’s Nuclear Program

January 26th, 2024 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

The lessons of the South African nuclear weapons program are deep, profound and largely ignored by non-proliferation dogmatists. They show that a regime, even one subject to sanctions and exiled to the diplomatic cold room, can still show aptitude and resourcefulness in creating such murderous weapons. The white regime of Apartheid South Africa was marginalised, the globe’s notorious pariah, yet managed to chug along, developing a formidable arsenal with external aid and local resourcefulness. Where there is a pathological will, there will be a way.

The South African example also shows that members of the nuclear club are an easily rattled lot. The admission of new members is almost never allowed, tickets rarely granted. If they do, they tend to be done in the breach of a perceived understanding, roguish challengers to the status quo of accepted nuclear-weapons states.

Such an understanding, for decades, has been one of the great confidence tricks of international relations, with the clubbable nuclear powers essentially promising the eventual dismantling of their nuclear arsenals on the proviso that non-nuclear weapon states resist the urge of acquiring them. The result: club members retain their hideous arsenals, modernise and refurbish them with avid seriousness, leaving concerned non-club members either unilaterally defy the status quo (North Korea) or flirt with the prospect of doing so (Iran).

The parallels between South Africa and North Korea are disturbingly and relevantly cogent. They also yield other lessons. For example, if unpopular on the international stage or caught in the crosshairs of a dispute, never claim to have no weapons. If anything, claim to have more, not fewer. Keep such matters close to the chest.

On August 6, 1977, US President Jimmy Carter received a message from Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev. “According to information received, the Union of South Africa (USA) is completing work on the creation of a nuclear weapon and the carrying out of the first experimental nuclear test.” To permit the apartheid state to acquire such weapons would “sharply aggravate the situation on the African continent and, as a whole, would increase the danger of the use of nuclear weapons.” The policy of nuclear non-proliferation, he warned, would be imperiled, necessitating “energetic efforts toward the goals of preventing the emergence of new nuclear states and barring the proliferation of nuclear danger.”

On August 18 that same year, an interagency study coordinated by representatives of the US intelligence community considered the policy considerations of a South Africa nuclear test, suggesting that “domestic political concerns would argue in favor of testing; and that these concerns weigh more heavily than foreign policy considerations in a decision whether or not to test”. That said, there was “no over-riding pressure” on the country’s leadership to test a weapon with any sense of urgency. A more “flexible approach” was being countenanced.

This was not intended to give the non-proliferation sorts any cheer. “While we thus ascribe some flexibility, or ‘give,’ to the South African position regarding the timing of a test, we do not see any circumstances which would lead to a termination of their long-standing program to develop a nuclear weapon.” There was “no credible threat” posed by the West to discourage Pretoria from pursuing a test; indeed, they might have the opposite effect.

Brezinski, in a memorandum to Carter, advises that Washington should “get as much information about what the South Africans are really doing, as soon as possible, and before the Lagos Conference where this will be a key issue.” Doing so would involve “a demand for an on-site inspection of the Kalahari site,” and carried out preferably as a joint US-French effort, and if not, unilaterally by the US. “We will not however wait for the French. It was judged useless to try to get IAEA participation.” Such views reveal snatches of Brezinski’s prickly disposition towards international bodies, preferring, as other national security advisors before and after him have, a freer hand for US power. Such agencies, when required, could be sneered at.

To show that he was also alert to the ceremonial deceptions that accompany diplomacy, Carter scrawled on the same document, “Zbig – what we want is: no test – If they have to lie about what their plans were, let them do so – Let them save face.” The testing, and the lying, duly followed.

Another aspect of the South African nuclear weapons program was its near perfect conditions of secrecy – at least when it came to knowledge among members of the US intelligence community. Throughout the phases of weapons development, there remained a persistent ignorance about how advanced the program was. Pretoria was also insistent in not joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which would have brought them into an international regulatory orbit. Staying outside the NPT regime meant that the program could also flourish without harassment.

Through the 1980s, the apartheid state faced something of a paradox. Domestically, its political-social system was proving increasingly unsustainable. Internationally, Pretoria found Carter’s successor far more accommodating. This was all part of President Ronald Reagan’s notion of “constructive engagement,” another term for calculated hypocrisy. It was a hypocrisy that enabled smuggling to thrive, with outside companies and entities keen to make a buck with the apartheid regime. But as the nuclear enterprise thrived, the political system was ailing.

In 1993, South Africa’s last apartheid President F. W. De Klerk announced that all six operational nuclear weapons had been dismantled. This reassured Western intelligence officials that a country controlled by the revolutionary African National Congress would never benefit. A nuclear-armed Apartheid South Africa, officially condemned for its racialist regime, retained often clandestine collaborative ties with the United States, Israel and a number of European states, including West Germany. But a South African nuclear state run by a black administration was simply too horrendous a notion, an intolerable aberration to the club. Imagine, for instance, the possibility, as the London Sunday Times (August 15, 1993) put it, of South Africa becoming a supplier of enriched uranium “either to Libya, Iran, or the Palestine Liberation Organization, all of which gave the movement support during the years in exile.”

The scenario is certainly worth imagining. Libya would not have been attacked in 2011 under the feeble, fraudulent pretence of humanitarian intervention, leaving the rump state that it is today. A terrified Israel, having ironically aided Pretoria’s own nuclear efforts (it takes one apartheid state to know another), would have been kept in check and compelled to make concessions as never before to the Palestinians. Adding Iran to the mix would have fed the calculus of terror.

As things transpired, a small group of engineers and scientists who had links with the program, rather than any enterprising ANC official, did moonlight on the proliferation stage. They included Gotthard Lerch, Gerhard Wisser, Daniel Geiges and Johan Meyer. Between the mid-1980s and 2004, the group supplied centrifuge equipment to Pakistan, Libya, India, and, it is suggested, Iran and North Korea.

Subsequent studies have seen South African denuclearisation as a miracle, an exemplar of good, humane conscience.  “The case of South Africa shows that nuclear disarmament is possible even after a country has built nuclear weapons,” write David Albright and Andrea Stricker in their 2016 study on the program. “Its extensive cooperation allowed a rigorous verification of denuclearization by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which were aided and supplemented by nations with a special stake in ensuring that all of South Africa’s weapons were dismantled and the highly enriched nuclear uranium accounted for.” But other lessons of the project are equally significant: Why acquire these horrific yet mesmeric weapons in the first place, and under what conditions?

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). Email: [email protected]

Featured image: Bomb casings at South Africa’s abandoned Circle nuclear bomb production facility near Pretoria. These most likely would have accommodated a gun-type nuclear package for air delivery (Licensed under Fair Use)

Yemen Resistance Forces Undeterred by Imperialist Bombing Operations

January 26th, 2024 by Abayomi Azikiwe

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Since the escalation of the liberation war in Palestine in the aftermath of the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7, Washington and London have stepped up their support for the State of Israel.

More than 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), armed and coordinated by the United States, Britain and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) states, have bombarded the civilian population while at the same time imposing a total blockade denying the right of the Palestinian people to water, food, education, medical care, housing and other necessities of life.

This level of military aggression by the IDF has prompted solidarity actions throughout the region and the world. Mass demonstrations, the severing of diplomatic relations by sympathetic states and attacks upon Israeli and U.S. bases in West Asia have continued despite efforts on the part of Washington, Tel Aviv and London to delegitimize opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

The resistance movements in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen have engaged in military operations against IDF and Pentagon forces despite threats from the settler-colonial state and their principal allies in the U.S. government. While on the battlefield in Gaza, the Al-Qassam, Al-Quds and other brigades representing the oppressed people have inflicted casualties on IDF units in defiance of the intensive bombing and shelling of neighborhoods in cities, towns and villages throughout the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip.

Although the most severe military assaults and blockades have been carried out in Gaza, the West Bank has suffered drone attacks, raids upon communities, arbitrary arrests and killings of those labelled as “terrorists.” European settlers armed by the Israeli state are escalating their murderous assaults upon Palestinian communities in the ongoing attempts to drive them completely out of their homeland.

Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) Imposes Blockade on Israeli Ports Demanding an End to the Siege on Gaza

Yemen, which is strategically located in the southern Arabian Peninsula, has posed a monumental challenge to Tel Aviv and Washington. The Ansar Allah resistance movement, which controls large swaths of territory in Yemen, has set out to enforce a people’s blockade of Israeli ports by intercepting shipping vessels owned by Tel Aviv or linked to its economic interests.

The Ansar Allah has pledged to maintain this blockade until Tel Aviv and its allies in Washington halts the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered his administration functionaries to oppose the call for a cease fire within all international fora along any efforts to express solidarity with the Palestinians.

In their defense of the State of Israel, the U.S. has taken the lead once again by announcing what they have described as “Operation Prosperity Guardian”, ostensibly designed to keep the waterways and shipping lanes open to commerce in the Red Sea, the Bab-al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. This U.S. military operation claims to have united dozens of other states committed to halting the Yemeni resistance from its solidarity efforts with the people of Gaza.

However, it is quite obvious that other than the British government, the actual military assaults on Yemen are the responsibility of London and Washington. A series of bombing campaigns have struck Yemen ports and other infrastructure to “degrade” their military capability.

On January 25, the satellite television network Al Mayadeen, gave an update on the situation in the Red Sea area saying:

“The spokesperson of the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said that there was a confrontation today with several American destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden and the Strait Bab al-Mandeb. Saree confirmed that the results of the confrontation included ‘directly hitting an American warship and forcing two American merchant ships to retreat and return.’ The Yemeni armed forces employed ‘a number of ballistic missiles’ in the operation that lasted for more than two hours, Saree revealed. He added that during the confrontation ‘a number of our ballistic missiles reached their targets, despite the attempts of the warships to intercept them.’ He emphasized that the Yemeni Armed Forces continue to enforce a blockade on Israeli navigation in the Red Sea: preventing Israeli ships and Israel-bound ships from reaching the ports of occupied Palestine until the aggression on Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted.”

In addition to this incident on January 25, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO), reported an explosion in the Bab-al-Mandeb Strait which was a cause for concern for major shipping firms which frequents the area. The military operations by the YAF have forced numerous commercial interests to redirect their transport routes away from the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, making it much more expensive to conduct trade.

In this same Al Mayadeen report it notes:

“The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Wednesday (Jan. 24) that it had been notified of an incident off the Yemeni coast in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, with reports of explosions approximately 100 meters off the vessel’s starboard but with no reports of injuries or damage. ‘UKMTO has received a report of an incident 50 NM South of Al Mukha, Yemen (please note updated position). Master reports an explosion approximately 100 meters from the vessel on its starboard side. The vessel and crew are safe, and no injuries or damage were reported. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO,’ the note reads. Maersk Shipping Company said that two ships flying the US flag sailed away from the Bab al-Mandab Strait today after nearby explosions.”

Even though the Biden administration has apportioned blame upon the Yemeni resistance for the expansion of the war into the Red Sea area, the Ansar Allah leadership has placed the responsibility for the regionalization of the conflict squarely upon the U.S. and its allies. The aerial strikes by the Pentagon and the Royal Air Force (RAF) have not deterred the YAF from its commitment to ending the siege of Gaza.

In another article published by Al Mayadeen which featured an interview with the leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed al-Houthi, it says that:

“It is worth noting that Sayyed al-Houthi’s statements coincide with a months-long effective Naval campaign launched by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), aiming at pressuring the Israeli occupation to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian aid in. The Biden administration in Washington has opted to support the Israeli occupation’s genocidal war on Palestinians and launched at least eight strikes on Yemen. In this context, Sayyed al-Houthi said, ‘While the Americans fight for the supplies to reach the Israelis, they prevent food and medicine from reaching Gaza,’ pointing out that ‘[Washington] is the one behind the continuation of Zionist crimes and behind [the incompetence of international organizations].’ The U.S. ‘contributes directly to starving the Palestinian people, causing them to die of hunger, not only with the bombs [it provides the Israeli occupation forces with] to kill them.’”

Since the launching of the Pentagon-led “Operation Prosperity Guardian”, the U.S. has admitted the deaths of two Pentagon Navy SEALs off the coast of Somalia. These Navy SEALs, according to the White House, were attempting to seize Iranian weapons from a vessel headed towards Yemen.

Although the veracity of this explanation in the deaths of these military operatives remains questionable, it represents an indication of the heightening tensions in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden areas. The Biden administration, facing a reelection bid later in November, could easily lose the presidency due to the U.S. position on Palestine and the entire West Asia region.

Shelling of Pentagon Bases by Resistance Forces Prompts Discussions About Possible Withdrawal from Iraq and Syria

More than two decades after the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, the current government in Baghdad has repeatedly demanded the evacuation of Pentagon forces from the country. In neighboring Syria, the Pentagon has occupied the oil-producing areas of Syria in the northeast for the last decade.

Neither of these states asked Washington to intervene. These military occupations are designed for the protection of U.S. interests, the fortification of the settler-colonial regime in Tel Aviv, along with the theft of oil resources.

However, many observers remain skeptical over these leaked reports. These news articles suggesting possible negotiations with the Iraq government over a potential partial withdrawal are by no means a new phenomenon. See this.

Successive White House administrations have declared the end of the Iraq war and the occupation of eastern Syria. However, Pentagon troops remain in the region while there is an escalation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

In all likelihood the end of the U.S. occupations in West Asia will be propelled by the military defeat of its forces. As in Vietnam and Afghanistan, when the domestic opinion turns completely against the wars and the Pentagon cannot see a clear path to victory, these geo-political regions will be freed of imperialist occupation.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

All images in this article are from the author

Israel’s Scream as Performance Art and Palestine’s Agony

January 26th, 2024 by Rima Najjar

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

An art event staged in front of Tel Aviv Museum of Art in January 2024 called on the crowd to perform a sustained scream in unison to dramatize Israeli pain and frustration at the hostage situation. To me, this performance was emotionally and psychologically inauthentic, not only because it is rehearsed — i.e., the scream is not a real-life situation like the scream of agony heard coming from Palestinian crowds in Gaza as they are being shelled — but because it is truthful only in so far as it conforms to the artistic tradition of hasbara and its false narrative of Israeli victimhood.

Within the Zionist framework of victimhood and entitlement, Israeli protesters continue to voice their pain out of fear for the safety of their captives in Gaza and for being driven out of their kibutzim. They scream for “compensation,” whereas Palestinians have been screaming for “restitution” for decades. For those who don’t know the difference between the two terms, compensation refers to payment or something given to make up for a loss or injury, while restitution means restoring something to its original state or returning something that was taken. While both terms involve some form of payment or action, the key difference is in the goal: compensation aims to make up for a loss, while restitution aims to restore what was taken.

Israeli protesters also continue to be deaf and dumb to the real-life situation in Gaza and the West Bank. However, despite repressive methods almost everywhere in the West, the truth is emerging. In a memorandum published on Jan 21, 2024 titled, “Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas explained why there was no choice but October 7, including:

  • The Israeli Judaization plans for the al-Aqsa Mosque and attempts to divide it.
  • The actions of the extremist and right-wing Israeli government, which is taking practical steps toward usurping the entirety of the West Bank and occupied al-Quds [Jerusalem] amid plans to expel Palestinians from their homes.
  • The thousands of Palestinians unjustly detained by the Israeli occupation and deprived of their most basic rights amid paramount assaults and humiliation.
  • The unjust air, sea, and land blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for the past 17 years.
  • The expansion of Israeli settlements across the West Bank in an unprecedented manner.
  • The daily escalations and violence perpetrated by settlers against Palestinians.
  • The seven million displaced Palestinians living in horrific conditions in refugee camps and wish to return to their lands.
  • The international community’s failure to establish and the complicity of major powers in preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Hamas argued that the Palestinian people could not be expected to keep waiting and counting on the United Nations, which it described as “helpless,” saying their only option was to “take the initiative in defending the Palestinian people, lands, rights, and sanctities.” Hamas underlined that its actions fall into self-defense, which is a right enshrined in international laws and conventions. The pain Israel will experience at its inevitable dissolution is real.

Memorandum: “Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” — the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas explains why there was no choice but October 7

Israel is well on its way to becoming a pariah, shunned by both the Global North and South. Whatever the decision is regarding South Africa’s application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stop Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, the consequences for Israel are going to be the same.

As analysts are saying, if the Court grants the South African request, Israel will almost certainly refuse to comply and the US will continue to support it, resulting in civil society anger and an escalation of global solidarity with the Palestinian cause and also of coercive actions taken against Israel. Every week, large and passionate demonstrations against Israel continue to take place in over 150 countries and multiple cities in each country.

If the court does not grant the request for technical or political reasons, the same result is expected, with

further destabilization in the region and a dramatic escalation in the nature and militancy of global solidarity initiatives throughout the world including recourse to sports and cultural boycotts, and calls for an arms embargo and international sanctions. This civil society activism has the potential leverage to transform the discursive approach to the underlying conflict of many governments in the Global South and possibly in Israel and its governmental supporters. This happened to the surprise of many in South Africa, although under very different circumstances.

Unlike the pain staged by the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the real-life pain Israel is likely to experience at its inevitable dissolution will be authentic, driven not by entitlement, but by redemption, by the act of making amends for wrongdoing, thus allowing for personal growth and transformation. In artistic terms, I could express it as breaking with Zionist tradition and creating works of art that are innovative and experimental.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on the author’s blogsite.

Rima Najjar is a Palestinian whose father’s side of the family comes from the forcibly depopulated village of Lifta on the western outskirts of Jerusalem and whose mother’s side of the family is from Ijzim, south of Haifa. She is an activist, researcher and retired professor of English literature, Al-Quds University, occupied West Bank.

She is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Sustained scream performed by Israeli protesters in front of Tel Aviv’s Museum of Art, January 2024 (Source)

The International Court of Justice Did Not Order A Ceasefire”. Called upon Israel to “Prevent and Punish Acts of Genocide”

January 26th, 2024 by Maziar Motamedi

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

It is 4:30pm (14:30 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Here is a recap of some of the main developments you may have missed:

  • The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says that the situation in the Gaza Strip is “nothing less than catastrophic”.
  • The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent and punish acts of genocide, but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.
  • Gaza’s health ministry says Israel is deliberately targeting and besieging the Nasser and al-Amal hospitals in Khan Younis.
  • The Israeli army has confirmed the death of one of its soldiers, bringing the total number of soldiers killed since October 7 to 557.
  • The UN refugee agency has opened an investigation into the alleged involvement of several of its employees in the October 7 attacks in southern Israel by Hamas.

*

Palestine Hails Top UN Court’s Provisional Measures on Israel’s War on Gaza 

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has welcomed provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice on Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

“We call on all states to ensure that all provisional measures ordered by the Court are implemented, including by Israel, the occupying power,” al-Maliki stated, stressing that the world court’s decision constituted a “binding legal obligation”.

“States now have clear legal obligations to stop Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people in Gaza and to make sure that they are not complicit,” he added.

Al-Maliki said that the international court’s decision is “an important reminder that no state is above the law”.

“It should serve as a wake-up call for Israel and actors who enabled its entrenched impunity,” he said.

*

‘Big Win’ for South Africa Despite ICJ Not Calling for Ceasefire: Analyst

The fact that the ICJ went on for almost 36 minutes making the case of why, first of all, there is a dispute between South Africa and Israel, that South Africa has the right to take this up with the ICJ – and second, that the ICJ has jurisdiction in the case of Gaza, then that means it suspects there is genocide taking place inside Gaza.

It will take up the case.

Basically the ICJ was making the case that there is every evidence that could lead to the fact that Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza. South Africa asked first and foremost for a ceasefire. But the principle here for a court of justice to accept the case and the fact that they want reports from Israel moving forward is, in a big way, a big win for South Africa.

I am saddened by the fact that there is no ceasefire, but I am not as saddened because I know that Israel is not going to carry out the ceasefire. We knew from the past two weeks that Israel was not going to abide by any ceasefire ruling.

*

UNRWA Investigates Staff Suspected of Role in Hamas Attacks: Report

The United Nations Palestinian agency (UNRWA) says it opened a probe into the alleged involvement of several of its employees in the October 7 attacks in southern Israel by Hamas, and that it had severed ties with these staff members.

“The Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on October 7,” the Reuters news agency quoted UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini as saying,

“To protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay.”

*

More Grain Ships Divert from Red Sea This Week After Attacks

More ships carrying grain were diverted from the Suez Canal to sailings around the Cape of Good Hope this week after attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, shipping analysts have said.

“Another 16 vessels were confirmed diverted this week, taking the total grain cargoes diverted to some 3.9 million tonnes, up from three million tonnes last week,” said Ishan Bhanu, lead agricultural commodities analyst at data provider and analysts Kpler.

About seven million tonnes of grain cargo normally transit the Suez Canal into the Red Sea each month.

Continued attacks on shipping by the Iran-aligned Houthi group despite US-led air attacks on the group’s positions in Yemen mean more bulk carriers transporting grain are avoiding the Red Sea.

“Many of the diverted ships are carrying US grain cargoes showing caution with this freight,” Bhanu said.

*

ICJ Orders Israel to Prevent, Punish Genocide, Stops Short of Calling for Ceasefire

The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take “all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide”.

The court said Israel must ensure its forces do not commit genocide and take measures to improve the humanitarian situation, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Israel must report to the court within a month on what it’s doing to uphold the order.

Follow our live coverage of the ICJ ruling here.

*

Israeli Soldier Killed in Gaza

Another Israeli soldier has been killed and 11 injured in the fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, Israel’s army says.

In a statement, the army said the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since October 7 has jumped to 557, including 220 soldiers killed since the start of the ground operation on October 27.

The total number of soldiers and officers wounded since the beginning of the ground operation on October 27 has risen to 1,269, an increase from 1,258 reported on Thursday.

The army data indicate that 258 individuals sustained serious injuries, 427 suffered moderate injuries and 584 had minor injuries.

The overall number of soldiers and officers wounded since the start of the war on October 7 now stands at 2,757.

*

Health Ministry Spokesman: Israeli Forces Targeting Nasser and al-Amal Hospitals

Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra says Israeli forces are “deliberately paralysing” the capabilities of the Nasser Medical Complex and al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.

Al-Qudra said the two hospitals are being subjected to Israeli fire and besiegement in addition to Israeli forces preventing ambulance movement.

*

Hundreds of Jordanians Protest in Solidarity with Gaza

Hundreds of Jordanians are protesting in the capital, Amman, in solidarity with Palestinians and calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza.

The protest, organized by the National Gathering for Resistance Support, started from al-Husseini Mosque in downtown Amman, and reached al-Nakheel Square, covering a distance of 1km (0.6 miles), according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent.

Despite heavy rain, the protesters carried banners with slogans such as “Open the Rafah Crossing” and “Break the blockade.”

*

UK’s Cameron Says He Sees Progress Towards Pausing Gaza Fighting: Report

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said after a Middle East tour that progress has been made towards a deal to halt fighting in Gaza, bring in more aid and release Israeli captives held there.

In an interview in Istanbul, his last stop on the tour, Cameron said that Israel is considering a British proposal to open its Ashdod Port to aid shipments to Gaza but that it would “take a lot of pushing” to reach an agreement.

“Achieving a pause where we stop the fighting and start looking at how to get aid in and hostages out, I think there is a prospect of that,” Cameron told Reuters news agency and a Turkish broadcaster.

“That’s what I’ve been in the region talking about. And I think we are making some progress.”

*

UNRWA Warns of Spread of Hepatitis A in Overcrowded IDP Camps

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says the spread of hepatitis A is increasing at a rapid pace in informal camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Gaza due to overcrowding and a lack of clean water and sanitation.

“Suspected cases [are] almost 16 times higher in January so far compared to the whole of November 2023,” UNRWA said in a post on X.

*

How to Watch the ICJ Ruling

We’re about 30 minutes away from the start of the court session.

Follow here as we bring you all the latest developments and reactions from inside and outside the court.

And a reminder that you can watch live the proceedings here and here.

Click here to read the full update.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image source

Britain’s Chief of the General Staff Sir Patrick Sanders: Strangelove on the Warpath with Russia. A Laughable ‘Dad’s Army’ Plan

January 26th, 2024 by Morning Star

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

The lunatics really are running the place. 

—Felicity Arbuthnot, Global Research, January 26, 2024

*

General Sir Patrick Sanders is literally on the warpath. The chief of the general staff is urging the country to brace itself for armed conflict with Russia.

He told an armoured vehicles conference in London — he was speaking to people, the tanks were there to be bought — that Britain would need to enlist a citizens army if it were to give it a go against the menace from the east.

Both major parties have hurried to reassure voters that they are not going to bring back conscription. But neither have started to unpack Sanders’ twisted logic.

The first thing to point out to the head of the army is that if Britain finds itself at war with Russia there is a serious danger that this country would be knocked out of the conflict and, indeed, existence, in a morning.

After a nuclear exchange, there would be no citizens left to form an army of any sort. But presumably, Sanders is somehow envisaging a conventional war between nuclear-armed powers.

He says that the army, presently at around 73,000 soldiers, is too small. Even if it was 120,000 strong, he added, it would still not be large enough to take on Russia.

We have news for Sanders. He could have half a million soldiers in uniform and it would not suffice, particularly if he wanted to march on Moscow.

However, it is inconceivable that in such a catastrophic turn of international events that the US would not also be engaged. And if Russia and the US are at war, the size of the British army is the last thing anyone would be worrying about.

In purely military terms, then, Sanders’ speech is an absurdity. Reviving a Dad’s Army of bank managers, butchers and black market spivs would be a farce.

His friends are, however, briefing the media that his aim was to secure a change in the national mindset and prepare people for war with Russia.

In that, the government is his ally. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps recently said that Britain was “moving from a post-war to a pre-war world,” with war anticipated within five years.

Nor is Labour any different. Its international policy is identical with that of the Tories, and Keir Starmer was recently seen strutting self-importantly in military uniform in Estonia, gesturing towards Russia.

These are the beginnings of a war psychosis, of a conditioning of the population for a future of military conflict. We will shortly be in full Strangelove-land with nuclear drills in every community.

It is impossible to predict the precise political contours of every conceivable conflict in advance, but we may be sure that if Britain finds itself at war it will be to advance the interests of British and US imperialism.

In Ukraine, British politicians and generals are in the lead among those pushing for the continuation of a stalemated war the prolongation of which can only extend the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

In the Middle East, Britain is the only power to join the US in attacking Yemen and is a key enabler of Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza.

This follows wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria in the last quarter-century alone. The ruling class has a war addiction, and General Sanders’ remarks are the latest manifestation of it.

So we must say loud and clear that war with Russia would be an unimaginable calamity from which Britain could not possibly emerge a winner, however big our army.

And that we need politicians who will push for peace rather than serve the aggressive appetites of imperialism.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image is from Morning Star

US, Israel Advancing Major Fighter Jet Deals Amid Gaza Slaughter

January 26th, 2024 by Dave DeCamp

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Amid Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, US and Israeli officials met in Washington this week to discuss the advancement of major weapons deals that will arm Israel with dozens of fighter jets, Apache helicopters, and munitions.

One of the deals includes a new squadron of 25 F-35 fighter jets and is worth about $3 billion. Israel’s Defense Ministry first announced its intention to procure the F-35s last summer and said they would be purchased using US-provided aid.

Sources told The Times of Israel that Israel also intends to procure a squadron of 25 F-15IA fighter jets and a squadron of 12 Apache helicopters. It’s unclear how the F-15s and Apaches will be paid for, but the US is looking to give Israel an additional $14 billion in military aid on top of the $3.8 billion it receives each year.

Israeli Defense Ministry Director General Eyal Zamir met with senior State Department and Pentagon officials to discuss the fighter jets and helicopters. The Times report said the next step for the deals to be signed is for both governments to formally approve them, which will likely happen in the coming weeks. The delivery of the fighter jets and helicopters will take a few years.

Zamir also discussed the continued US supply of bombs and other types of munitions to support the Israeli onslaught in Gaza. The US has delivered over 10,000 tons of weapons to Israel since October 7, demonstrating the strong US support for Israel’s campaign, which has killed over 25,000 Palestinians, including 10,000 children.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Who Is the Antiwar Candidate? “Fuggedaboutit”! Philip Giraldi

January 26th, 2024 by Philip Giraldi

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

I sometimes wonder what the Founders, if they could return to life and see their creation, would think of today’s American Republic. President George W. Bush described the Constitution of the United States as “just a goddamned piece of paper” before he went on a rampage all over the world in what he called the “war on terror.” Of course, he had probably never even read the Constitution or the Federalist Papers and therefore did not understand how the Founders had deliberately made it difficult to go to war, which they regarded as the greatest evil confronting the new nation. Bush proceeded to push through other unconstitutional legislation including the so-called Patriot Act which empowered him to kill some hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings in places like Afghanistan and Iraq without declaring war on anyone after having produced fabricated information to justify the brutality.

But that was then and now is quite different and even worse, with a president who often appears to be lacking any brain cells holding hands behind his furrowed brow. The United States is currently at war in two countries, has illegal occupying military forces based in at least three more, and is quite possibly conniving at adding a few more enemies du jour, namely Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, China and Russia. All of this is being accomplished without declarations of war from Congress and without even compliance with the 1973 unconstitutional War Powers Act, which mandated that the president should be confronting an imminent threat to take such action. Joe Biden and his Secretary of State Antony Blinken have also twice sidestepped the requirement that Congress should approve all arms transfers to foreign nations by falsely claiming an “emergency” to ship $250 million of armaments to Israel, weapons that are being used to carry out a genocide against the Palestinians, making the US totally complicit in that war crime.

I have of course been following the Republican primaries as well as the flow of self-justifying verbiage otherwise known as lying coming out of the mouths of the Democratic Party incumbents, most notably the Zionist-Catholic Commander-in-Chief Joe Biden; his able sidekick Kamala “has anyone seen her lately” Harris; his Antony Blinken who goes to Israel to negotiate and the first thing he tells Bibi is that he is a Jew; his Director of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas who has forgotten that real countries have borders; and his Treasury Secretary Janice Yellen who is happy funding multiple wars simultaneously while running up the already unsustainable federal debt. Behind it all is the apparent belief that the United States should be empowered to tell the rest of the world how to behave. Oh, and the Democrats have decided to base their 2024 campaign on the highbrow principle of free abortions for everyone! Joe Biden’s confessor would like to hear that!

And then there is Congress, which is following the Senator John McCain principle that one should always embrace the possibility for a new war. Congressman Nancy Pelosi and Senator Schumer seem to love Ukraine and Israel so much that it leaves little time to do anything for their actual constituents. Schumer often reminds audiences that his surname is close to the Hebrew word for protector, making him “the Jewish state’s protector in the Senate.”

The problem is that America’s so-called government has been so corrupted by both money pouring in from defense contractors and Jewish/Israeli interests that they have lost sight of the people who have the misfortune of having voted the bastards into office. Opinion polls suggest that the public has gone off both the comedians running Ukraine and the Israeli baby killers in Gaza. The voters have also learned that they have little to no say regarding what the psychopaths in the White House and on Capitol Hill decide to do with their tax money and even their very lives.

Just to show how useless voting has become, it is interesting to look at the policies concerning war and peace that have been enunciated by current and recent presidential candidates to find out if anyone seriously wants to step on the brakes of the war machine. Bear in mind that the Neocons have come to control of the foreign policies of both major parties which means that Israel will always come first in Washington while war will also be a constant element in America’s relationship with the world.

First comes Genocide Joe whose record speaks for itself.

He managed to get out of Afghanistan by abandoning many billions of dollars-worth of military equipment and killing a bunch of American soldiers, but he quickly sought to make up for that by avoiding a negotiated end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict and giving Israel a free hand backed by money and weapons to undertake the slaughter in Gaza. He has made America accessory to both conflicts and has a hit list of other countries he might decide to weaken or attack to demonstrate that he is a strong leader. The possible victims include major nations like Iran, Russia and China. He is now attacking the Houthis in Yemen and has warned that if even a single American is killed at the illegal military bases in Iraq and Syria he might have to go to war with Iran, which he blamed for the incidents without providing any evidence. His Vice President is Kamala Harris, who is married to a Hollywood Jewish lawyer. She is, of course, little more than an affirmative action token in place, but makes noises indicating that she is fully on board with what is going on with Israel and Ukraine.

Trump the GOP nominee-apparent? He is completely ignorant on most issues including foreign policy and wars and he appoints reckless hawks and neocons like Mike Pompeo and John Bolton to senior positions. Christian Zionist Mike Pence, a dispensationalist who wants the world to end so he can be wafted up to heaven, was his Vice President. Trump is totally owned by the Israel Lobby operating through his son-in-law and his former Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. Friedman notably spent his time in the Jewish state supporting Israel rather than working on behalf of American citizens or US interests. Trump moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem in spite of international agreements making such a move illegal after receiving $100 million in political donations from Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. He also recognized Israel’s illegal annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, allowed illegal settlement expansion, and gave Netanyahu a free hand in dealing with the Palestinians. Trump also ordered the killing of Qassim Suleimani, a senior Iranian official who was in Baghdad on a peace mission and staged missile attacks on Syria based on false intelligence. Trump gives lip service to ending “useless wars” but never did so in practice when he was in office. He is prone to throwing around threats and has declared recently that if an enemy in the Middle East spills a “’drop of American blood’ I will spill a ‘gallon of yours.’” This comes from a man who avoided the Vietnam War draft because he found a doctor who discovered that he suffered from “bone spurs.”

And then there is still standing the Republican contender Nikki Haley, former Governor of South Carolina and Donald Trump’s United Nations representative. She has been described as the female version of John McCain and she is a complete supporter of the carnage in Ukraine and is even more so a total Israel firster. She is a hawk across the board and it is believed that the bulk of her political financial support comes from Jewish sources that are tied to Israel. She has said that Israel should eliminate Hamas, which she considers to encompass all Palestinians, and that the US should not take in any Palestinian refugees. She also rejects the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict because the Palestinians, who have rejected several two states solutions according to Nikki, want instead a one-state solution that would eliminate Israel. She also supports the war against Russia in Ukraine.

And then there is good old Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who recently dropped out of the race. He might just be the most vicious Zionist of them all. He has led a number of delegations from Florida to Israel and was one of the first to respond to October 7th Gaza events by banning Palestinian groups at all state universities due to their alleged “antisemitism.”

He did not ban or even criticize a single Jewish group for cheerleading the subsequent slaughter of the Palestinians and even opposes giving Palestinian refugees US visas because he claims they are all “antisemites.” He fully supports everything Israel is doing in Gaza and believes the Netanyahu should have a free hand to do whatever he wants to the Arabs. When DeSantis was a Congressman he notoriously refused to meet with survivors in his district from the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty which killed 34 American crewmen and injured more than 170. The Israelis sought to sink the ship and a cover-up of the incident ensued thanks to President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who declared that he would rather see the ship go to the bottom of the sea and all on board killed than embarrass his Israeli friends. LBJ also ordered the recall of a squadron of US jet fighters that were sent to help the Liberty.

Not much room left! Finally there is Robert F. Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr) who initially did a good job in fooling potential voters into thinking he was a man of peace, but he turned all John McCain after he blundered by praising Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Israel’s friends and partisans quickly informed him that Waters was on their enemies list because of his openly expressed support for the Palestinian cause. Kennedy immediately deleted his praise of Waters and declared him to be a “vicious anti-Semite.” He also claimed falsely that the Palestinian Authority has offered to pay a bounty to any Palestinians who “kill a Jew anywhere in the world” while also claiming that Palestinian children are all “being raised as serial killers. He approves of the demolitions of Palestinians’ homes and argues that in Gaza “Israel is doing more right now to protect human life” while he also praises the IDF’s “unique moral approach” to war.

Kennedy also issued a detailed statement online and has become one of the Jewish state’s most outspoken supporters. He posted on X: “This ignominious, unprovoked, and barbaric attack on Israel must be met with world condemnation and unequivocal support for the Jewish state’s right to self-defense. We must provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself — now. As President, I’ll make sure that our policy is unambiguous so that the enemies of Israel will think long and hard before attempting aggression of any kind. I applaud the strong statements of support from the Biden White House for Israel in her hour of need. However, the scale of these attacks means it is likely that Israel will need to wage a sustained military campaign to protect its citizens. Statements of support are fine, but we must follow through with unwavering, resolute, and practical action. America must stand by our ally throughout this operation and beyond as it exercises its sovereign right to self-defense.”

Kennedy’s inability to separate fact from fiction is evident in his referral to “Palestinian settlements within Israel,” when describing Palestinians living in what is left of their former land that is now under Israeli occupation and subject to constant settlement expansion, as though the Palestinians are the ones colonizing the Israelis. Kennedy is now running as an independent but has lost many of his staffers because of his position on Gaza. Many antiwar Americans were initially thrilled when Kennedy announced that he would be against Joe Biden in this year’s primaries and that he’d hired former Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich, an antiwar progressive, to be his campaign manager. But Kucinich quit in the middle of October. In November, Kennedy’s field team, headed by former California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher’s wife Rhonda, also quit. In December, his foreign policy and veteran’s affairs adviser James R. Webb, Marine Corps veteran of Iraq War II and son of the former senator from Virginia, also submitted his resignation. Webb revealed that his resignation was in disgust over Kennedy’s stance on Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in the Gaza strip and Kennedys’ claim that “collective punishment” of civilians is justified.

One might add that there is another interesting more-or-less independent in the race, namely Jill Stein who will be seeking the nomination of the Green Party. She is a genuine antiwar person whom I have known for eight years and she has criticized the “endless war machine” as well as what is going on in Ukraine and in Gaza, where she has called for an immediate cease fire. Alas, she has no chance of getting more than a couple percentage points of the votes cast.

Other fringe candidates include Cornel West, an independent, and two Democrats who will continue to appear on the primary ballots going ahead. They are Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson. So, there you have it folks. To paraphrase the immortal Donald Trump, peace on earth is for losers!

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [email protected].

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from TUR

Is Britain Ready for World War III? Former Top General Warns Brits Might Have to Serve Conscript Army as Whitehall Examines Using Ukraine Training Plan to Get Volunteers Ready to Fight Russia

January 26th, 2024 by David Wilcock

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Britain has to ‘think carefully’ about conscripting hundreds of thousands of Brits to fight Russia, a former top British Army officer has warned.

General Richard Shirreff, a former Nato commander, warned that the UK might need to introduce a system akin to that used in Finland in the event of a European land war.

It came after the head of the British Army warned in a speech yesterday that a ‘citizen army’ will be needed for any direct confrontation with Vladimir Putin.

Not three weeks of 2024 have passed, and the governments of Estonia, Sweden and now the UK have already warned their respective nations that the prospect of large-scale war is on the horizon. 

Although he stopped short of backing conscription, general Sir Patrick Sanders said preparing for war against Russia should be a ‘whole-of-nation’ undertaking, including what he described as ‘national mobilisation’.

However Sir Richard, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 2011 to 2014, suggested that conscription might well be required, because a large enough volunteer force would ‘need a huge amount of effort and money which is probably not there.’

‘I think Gen Sanders is absolutely right to be talking about a citizen volunteer army. I think now, against all the odds though, is the time to start thinking the unthinkable and really having to think quite carefully about conscription if we are to deliver the numbers needed,’ he told Sky News.

But at the same time Whitehall is believed to be looking at ways of training large amounts of volunteers quickly, based on work done with Ukrainian troops. 

British forces have trained some 30,000 Ukrainians, including civilians, on UK soil under Operation Interflex, the multinational support mission backing the country as it continues to push back against the two-year-long Russian invasion.

But what do these options mean for the average Brit? Here we try to answer some of the basic questions about what the start of World War III might look like. 

Click here to read the full article on Daily Mail Online.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image is a screenshot from Sky News via Daily Mail Online

Video: Commemorating the Ottawa Freedom Convoy. “Something is Wrong, Why All Those Lies”. Justin Trudeau Accused Them of “Violence” and “Racism”.

January 26th, 2024 by Jean-François Girard

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Visit and follow us on Instagram at @globalresearch_crg.

***

 

 

Introduction

We are commemorating an important event in Canadian History which has a bearing on the legitimacy of the Covid-19 “Vaccine” imposed on Canadians, in derogation of our fundamental human rights. 

In recent developments (January 23, 2024), a Federal Court Judge has ruled that the Trudeau government “unconstitutionally and unjustifiably” invoked the Emergencies Act in February 2022 as a pretext and a justification to repress the Canadian Truckers Ottawa protest movement against the Liberal government’s illegal imposition of its COVID-19 vaccine mandates. 

The Trudeau government has announced that it will appeal the Federal Court Judgment.

It is important that Canadians across the land, reveal the evidence regarding the Covid-19 Vaccine. 

While the Federal Court pointed to the violation of several clauses of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it is now established that what we are dealing with far more serious. Amply documented the Covid-19 Vaccine has resulted in an upward trend in excess mortality. 

The Covid Jab is not only “experimental”, it’s a Big Pharma “killer vaccine” which modifies the human genome. 

Peer reviewed reports confirm the causes of vaccine related deaths and “adverse events” (injuries) including among others blood clots, thrombosis, myocarditis, cardiac arrests.

Moreover  Pfizer’s “Confidential  Report” released under Freedom of Information in October 2021 provides data on deaths and adverse events recorded by Pfizer.

Pfizer’s “Secret” Report on the Covid Vaccine. Beyond Manslaughter. The Evidence is Overwhelming. The Vaccine Should Be Immediately Withdrawn Worldwide

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, January 23, 2024

 

The Covid “Killer Vaccine”. People Are Dying All Over the World. It’s A Criminal Undertaking

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, January 23, 2024

The evidence amply confirms that the Pfizer-BioNtech mRNA vaccine is a dangerous substance, resulting in deaths and adverse events. It come’s from the Horse’s Mouth. 

Let us recall what happened in early February 2022. 

Jean François Girard’s incisive and carefully documented Global Research Video (February 9, 2022) produced at the height of the Ottawa Protest Movement confirms that Prime Minister Trudeau was “lying through his teeth”.  

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research,  January 26, 2024 

 

***

Two years ago, On the 31st of January 2022, the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau addressed the nation regarding the Freedom Convoy protest movement at a Press Conference from an undisclosed location which was broadcast live: 

He portrayed the protesters as violent people, racists and more.

On the 2nd of February, he added another layer with a tweet. (Below, See this)

Are the protesters really what he claims them to be?

I was there for four days with my camera, I never saw or witnessed anything close to what he describes. 

Is it possible this is all made up? If it is, what is the purpose?

 

*

Note to readers: Please click the share buttons above or below. Follow us on Instagram, @globalresearch_crg. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Featured image is a screenshot from the video

Watchlisted: You’re Probably Already on a Government Extremism List

January 26th, 2024 by John W. Whitehead

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

“In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught.”—Hunter S. Thompson

According to the FBI, you may be an anti-government extremist if you’ve:

a) purchased a Bible or other religious materials,

b) used terms like “MAGA” and “Trump,”

c) shopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabela’s, or Bass Pro Shops,

d) purchased tickets to travel by bus, cars, or plane,

e) all of the above.

In fact, if you selected any of those options in recent years, you’re probably already on a government watchlist.

That’s how broadly the government’s net is being cast in its pursuit of domestic extremists.

We’re all fair game now, easy targets for inclusion on some FBI watch list or another.

When the FBI is asking banks and other financial institutions to carry out dragnet searches of customer transactions—warrantlessly and without probable cause—for “extremism” indicators broadly based on where you shop, what you read, and how you travel, we’re all in trouble.

Clearly, you don’t have to do anything illegal.

You don’t even have to challenge the government’s authority.

Frankly, you don’t even have to care about politics or know anything about your rights.

All you really need to do in order to be tagged as a suspicious character, flagged for surveillance, and eventually placed on a government watch list is live in the United States.

This is how easy it is to run afoul of the government’s many red flags.

In fact, all you need to do these days to end up on a government watch list or be subjected to heightened scrutiny is use certain trigger words (like cloud, pork and pirates), surf the internet, communicate using a cell phone, limp or stutter, drive a car, stay at a hotel, attend a political rally, express yourself on social media, appear mentally ill, serve in the military, disagree with a law enforcement official, call in sick to work, purchase materials at a hardware store, take flying or boating lessons, appear suspicious, appear confused or nervous, fidget or whistle or smell bad, be seen in public waving a toy gun or anything remotely resembling a gun (such as a water nozzle or a remote control or a walking cane), stare at a police officer, question government authority, or appear to be pro-gun or pro-freedom.

We’re all presumed guilty until proven innocent now.

It’s just a matter of time before you find yourself wrongly accused, investigated and confronted by police based on a data-driven algorithm or risk assessment culled together by a computer program run by artificial intelligence.

For instance, a so-called typo in a geofence search warrant, which allows police to capture location data for a particular geographic area, resulted in government officials being given access to information about who went where and with whom within a two-mile long stretch of San Francisco that included churches, businesses, private homes, hotels, and restaurants.

Thanks to the 24/7 surveillance being carried out by the government’s sprawling spy network of fusion centers, we are all just sitting ducks, waiting to be tagged, flagged, targeted, monitored, manipulated, investigated, interrogated, heckled and generally harassed by agents of the American police state.

Without having ever knowingly committed a crime or been convicted of one, you and your fellow citizens have likely been assessed for behaviors the government might consider devious, dangerous or concerning; assigned a threat score based on your associations, activities and viewpoints; and catalogued in a government database according to how you should be approached by police and other government agencies based on your particular threat level.

Before long, every household in America will be flagged as a threat and assigned a threat score.

Nationwide, there are upwards of 123 real-time crime centers (a.k.a. fusion centers), which allow local police agencies to upload and share massive amounts of surveillance data and intelligence with state and federal agencies culled from surveillance cameras, facial recognition technology, gunshot sensors, social media monitoring, drones and body cameras, and artificial intelligence-driven predictive policing algorithms.

These data fusion centers, which effectively create an electronic prison—a digital police state—from which there is no escape.

Yet this crime prevention campaign is not so much about making America safer as it is about ensuring that the government has the wherewithal to muzzle anti-government discontent, penalize anyone expressing anti-government sentiments, and preemptively nip in the bud any attempts by the populace to challenge the government’s authority or question its propaganda.

As J.D. Tuccille writes for Reason, “[A]t a time when government officials rage against ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ that is often just disagreement with whatever opinions are currently popular among the political class, fusion centers frequently scrutinize peaceful dissenting speech.”

These fusion centers are the unacknowledged powerhouses behind the government’s campaign to censors and retaliate against those who vocalize their disagreement and discontent with government policies.

It’s a setup ripe for abuse.

For instance, an investigative report by the Brennan Center found that “Over the last two decades, leaked materials have shown fusion centers tracking protestors and casting peaceful activities as potential threats. Their targets have included racial justice and environmental advocates, right-wing activists, and third-party political candidates.”

One fusion center in Maine was found to have been “illegally collecting and sharing information about Maine residents who weren’t suspected of criminal activity. They included gun purchasers, people protesting the construction of a new power transmission line, the employees of a peacebuilding summer camp for teenagers, and even people who travelled to New York City frequently.”

This is how the burden of proof has been reversed.

Although the Constitution requires the government to provide solid proof of criminal activity before it can deprive a citizen of life or liberty, the government has turned that fundamental assurance of due process on its head.

Each and every one of us is now seen as a potential suspect, terrorist and lawbreaker in the eyes of the government.

Consider some of the many ways in which “we the people” are now treated as criminals, found guilty of violating the police state’s abundance of laws, and preemptively stripped of basic due process rights.

Red flag gun confiscation laws: Gun control legislation, especially in the form of red flag gun laws, allow the police to remove guns from people “suspected” of being threats. These laws, growing in popularity as a legislative means by which to seize guns from individuals viewed as a danger to themselves or others, will put a target on the back of every American whether or not they own a weapon.

Disinformation eradication campaigns. In recent years, the government has used the phrase “domestic terrorist” interchangeably with “anti-government,” “extremist” and “terrorist” to describe anyone who might fall somewhere on a very broad spectrum of viewpoints that could be considered “dangerous.” The ramifications are so far-reaching as to render almost every American an extremist in word, deed, thought or by association.

Government watch lists. The FBI, CIA, NSA and other government agencies have increasingly invested in corporate surveillance technologies that can mine constitutionally protected speech on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in order to identify potential extremists and predict who might engage in future acts of anti-government behavior. Where many Americans go wrong is in naively assuming that you have to be doing something illegal or harmful in order to be flagged and targeted for some form of intervention or detention.

Thought crimes programs. For years now, the government has used all of the weapons in its vast arsenal—surveillance, threat assessments, fusion centers, pre-crime programs, hate crime laws, militarized police, lockdowns, martial law, etc.—to target potential enemies of the state based on their ideologies, behaviors, affiliations and other characteristics that might be deemed suspicious or dangerous. It’s not just what you say or do that is being monitored, but how you think that is being tracked and targeted. There’s a whole spectrum of behaviors ranging from thought crimes and hate speech to whistleblowing that qualifies for persecution (and prosecution) by the Deep State. It’s a slippery slope from censoring so-called illegitimate ideas to silencing truth.

Security checkpoints. By treating an entire populace as suspect, the government has justified wide-ranging security checkpoints that subject travelers to scans, searches, pat downs and other indignities by the TSA and VIPR raids on so-called “soft” targets like shopping malls and bus depots.

Surveillance and precrime programs. Facial recognition software aims to create a society in which every individual who steps out into public is tracked and recorded as they go about their daily business. Coupled with surveillance cameras that blanket the country, facial recognition technology allows the government and its corporate partners to warrantlessly identify and track someone’s movements in real-time, whether or not they have committed a crime.

Mail surveillance. Just about every branch of the government—from the Postal Service to the Treasury Department and every agency in between—now has its own surveillance sector, authorized to spy on the American people. For instance, the U.S. Postal Service, which has been photographing the exterior of every piece of paper mail for the past 20 years, is also spying on Americans’ texts, emails and social media posts.

Constitution-free zones. Merely living within 100 miles inland of the border around the United States is now enough to make you a suspect, paving the way for Border Patrol agents to search people’s homes, intimately probe their bodies, and rifle through their belongings, all without a warrant. Nearly 66% of Americans (2/3 of the U.S. population, 197.4 million people) now live within that 100-mile-deep, Constitution-free zone.

Vehicle kill switches. Sold to the public as a safety measure aimed at keeping drunk drivers off the roads, “vehicle kill switches” could quickly become a convenient tool in the hands of government agents to put the government in the driver’s seat while rendering null and void the Constitution’s requirements of privacy and its prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures. As such, it presumes every driver potentially guilty of breaking some law that would require the government to intervene and take over operation of the vehicle or shut it off altogether.

Biometric databases. “Guilt by association” has taken on new connotations in the technological age. The government’s presumptions about our so-called guilt or innocence have extended down to our very cellular level with a diabolical campaign to create a nation of suspects predicated on a massive national DNA database.

Limitations on our right to move about freely. At every turn, we’re tracked in by surveillance cameras that monitor our movements. For instance, license plate readers are mass surveillance tools that can photograph over 1,800 license tag numbers per minute, take a picture of every passing license tag number and store the tag number and the date, time, and location of the picture in a searchable database, then share the data with law enforcement, fusion centers and private companies to track the movements of persons in their cars. With tens of thousands of these license plate readers now in operation throughout the country, police can track vehicles in real time.

The war on cash. Digital currency provides the government and its corporate partners with a mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient. This push for a digital currency dovetails with the government’s war on cash, which it has been subtly waging for some time now. In recent years, just the mere possession of significant amounts of cash could implicate you in suspicious activity and label you a criminal. Americans are having their bank accounts, homes, cars electronics and cash seized by police under the assumption that they have been associated with some criminal scheme.

These programs push us that much closer towards a suspect society where everyone is potentially guilty of some crime or another and must be preemptively rendered harmless.

In this way, the groundwork is being laid for a new kind of government where it won’t matter if you’re innocent or guilty, whether you’re a threat to the nation, or even if you’re a citizen.

What will matter is what the government—or whoever happens to be calling the shots at the time—thinks. And if the powers-that-be think you’re a threat to the nation and should be locked up, then you’ll be locked up with no access to the protections our Constitution provides.

In effect, you will disappear.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, our freedoms are already being made to disappear.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on The Rutherford Institute.

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at [email protected].

Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

They are regular contributors to Global Research.

US-NATO Attempts to Destabilise Syria

January 26th, 2024 by Shane Quinn

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Following the year 2000 Syria became a high priority target for the United States and its allies relating to regime change. Diplomatic cables released by the media organisation WikiLeaks outlined that the US State Department had supplied millions of dollars to Syrian anti-government groups, such as bankrolling the satellite channel Barada TV linked to the Movement for Justice and Development, a network of liberal Syrian exiles based in London.

The US State Department dispensed with further millions to bankroll dissident groups and subversive courses in Damascus. The goal was to undermine and overthrow Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, who was refusing to obey Western orders and was acting as an independent leader of a sovereign country.

The former US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, admitted that after the Cold War had ended Syria was a continuous problem for Washington; as the Americans were concerned allegedly that Syria could develop weapons of mass destruction, and due to Syria’s growing relations with Russia and Iran, along with president Assad’s support for militant organisations like Hezbollah and Hamas in the stand-off with Israel. There was the fact too that Syria remained outside of US control and the Western liberal order, and for reasons like these Syria was viewed with suspicion in North America and Europe.

The Western states envisaged that the fall of Assad’s government would hamper the influence of Russia and its military facilities in Syria, at the cities of Tartus and Latakia resting on the Mediterranean Sea; while eliminating weapons supply routes for Hezbollah who were frustrating Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon; stall China’s advance on the oil sources of the Middle East; and further isolate and tighten the noose on Iran.

By undertaking these actions Washington and its NATO allies hoped they would achieve “full spectrum dominance”, control of the sea, air, land and space, including command of the Mediterranean area. This region has been of strategic significance since the era of the Roman Empire, providing a link between the territories of the east and west. When the Byzantine Empire, known also as the Eastern Roman Empire, controlled the Mediterranean it enabled them to project their influence across various lands.

Up until 1945 the Mediterranean was a cornerstone of the British Empire, allowing London to have access to valuable trade routes. The necessity of holding the Mediterranean was part of the reason the British, at the start of World War I, had claimed Egypt as a colony. After decades of decline, the little that remained of the British Empire underwent its final collapse in the post-World War II years.

As with Egypt, Syria is a Mediterranean country and therefore holds strategic importance. The NATO countries were aware of this and they openly encouraged unrest against Assad in order to align Syria with the West.

Allegations by Western governments of human rights violations by Assad’s government, amplified by the liberal mass media, served as a smokescreen to divert public attention away from the West’s imperialist designs towards Syria. In general the apparent US-NATO concerns about human rights should be treated with a very large degree of skepticism, as people can attest to in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and so on.

Assad undoubtedly responded with a strong hand to the upheaval within Syria from 2011, and he had good grounds for doing so. Among those attempting to topple him were terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda and Islamic State whose policy relating to Syria, though for differing reasons, was effectively the same as the Western powers: trying to remove Assad.

The Al-Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden and his successor Ayman al-Zawahiri supported the effort to overthrow Assad’s government. In July 2011, a few weeks after Bin Laden’s death, Zawahiri publicly called for an end to Assad’s reign and for the insurrections to increase in Syria.

Zawahiri was regretful that he could not be in Syria himself, but as he stressed he was satisfied there were enough mujahideen fighters operating in Syria by mid-2011. Zawahiri later said in February 2012 that “the resistance of our people [Al-Qaeda] in Syria is escalating and growing despite all the pains, sacrifices and blood”. The pains, sacrifices and blood meaning that Syrian government forces were inflicting considerable damage on the terrorists rampaging across Syria, who were often portrayed in the West as “moderates”.

It is telling that Western leaders like US president Barack Obama, British prime minister David Cameron and Chancellor Angela Merkel also issued public messages in 2011 and beyond stating that Assad should resign. The ambitions of the Western powers and the terrorist organisations had already converged in 2010 and 2011, with the insurgency against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Bin Laden heavily supported the anti-Gaddafi revolt. On 28 March 2011 Bin Laden wrote that he could not forget the reaction of his “Libyan brothers” and that “new brothers” had joined them over the past week in the insurrection against Gaddafi, with more on the way. Among the Libyan extremists was Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was commanding the terrorist organisation the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which was supported by NATO and had a central role in toppling Gaddafi. By 2012 Al-Libi was the second highest ranking member of Al-Qaeda, subordinate only to the Egyptian-born Zawahiri.

Zawahiri said in November 2007 that the LIFG had joined Al-Qaeda. In April 2011 Zawahiri called for Arabs to oust Gaddafi, at virtually the same time that Obama, Cameron and French president Nicolas Sarkozy released a joint statement outlining that Gaddafi “must go and go for good”. It says much about Western foreign policy that it can align repeatedly with the goals of terrorist groups and far-right organisations.

Since at least 2012 the US State Department was formulating a program to provide military training to Islamic jihadists in Jordan, which shares a 230 mile northern border with Syria. This project cost $60 million and was overseen by CIA operatives and members of the American military organisation, Blackwater.

A significant number of the terrorists from Islamic State would receive combat training in military camps in Jordan, historian Moniz Bandeira wrote, which involved teaching them to use sophisticated hardware like anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

The men who received this training from the CIA, Blackwater, and also the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) and Navy SEALs, were indeed not “Syrian rebels” or “moderates”, as the Western media insisted, but in fact were Sunni jihadists and terrorists from a variety of Middle East and European countries. By 2013 for example hundreds of men previously living in Scandinavian countries, who were of Muslim origin, travelled to Syria where some of them fought alongside Al-Qaeda and Islamic State members.

After the American-led ousting of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in April 2003, the US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld developed contingency plans to extend the war to Syria, which shares a near 400 mile eastern border with Iraq; but the Americans had yet to subdue Iraq and bring the entire country under their control, which never actually materialised, and so an outright Western military invasion of Syria was abandoned.

There are large quantities of natural resources in the Levantine Basin, in the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea, which flows across Syria’s western shores. Scientific studies highlighted that there are 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the waters beside Syria and 107 billion barrels of oil.

According to the US Geological Survey, under the authority of the American government, the Levantine Basin’s natural gas reserves come to 3.5 trillion cubic metres. The discovery of gas fields within Israel’s economic zone such as the Leviathan, Gaza Marine, Tamar and Dalit fields, came to 800 billion cubic metres of gas in 2011.

The exploration of the Leviathan gas field off the coast of Israel went to a depth of 17,000 feet, where the gas sources were calculated at 16 trillion cubic feet. It was expected to reach 24,000 feet in depth where another 600 million cubic metres of gas could be found. Discoveries made by the American corporation Noble Energy, which exploited Israel’s economic area in the Mediterranean, were estimated to contain between 0.9 to 1.4 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The exploitation of this energy is still complicated because of the ongoing instability of the Mediterranean and Middle East regions. The resources of the eastern Mediterranean around the Levantine Basin extend 120 miles from the Syrian coastline to Lebanon and Israel. These energy sources are recoverable with present-day technology.

Over a broader area the oil and gas deposits located astride the Mediterranean states of Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon and Israel, stretching to the Nile Delta in northern Egypt, hold a great deal of geopolitical importance since it could supply raw materials to the NATO and EU states, while reducing their reliance on the resources of the especially volatile Persian Gulf. In the basin of the Nile Delta, the US Geological Survey estimates there are 223 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 1.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

The Levantine Basin’s resources have in part led to heightened tensions between Turkey and Cyprus, and between Israel and Lebanon. For the Western powers, securing control of the Mediterranean’s mineral reserves, including the resources off Syria’s coastline, was another reason behind the attempts to topple Assad’s government either through direct military intervention if possible, or by covert means such as support for terrorists and jihadists.

Syria’s whole landmass is estimated to contain 2.5 billion barrels of oil. The Syrian oil is located mostly in the east of the nation, close to its border with Iraq, along with a few smaller fields in central Syria. Syria’s strategic importance increased further due to the country being an energy corridor in which pipelines have passed through, like the Arab Gas Pipeline.

In 2009 Assad refused to sanction the South Pars/North Dome gas pipeline to pass through Syrian territory. The pipeline was earmarked for construction along Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey, with an estimated cost of $10 billion and a pipeline length of 1,500 kilometres. The gas was to be supplied to EU markets. Bandeira noted that Assad refused to sign the pipeline deal because he was “defending the interests of Russia, which had always been his ally”.

The rivalries between Mediterranean and Middle East states, like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, were also a factor in the unrest occurring on Syrian soil; which made the overthrow of Assad’s government fundamental to the plan developed by the US and European countries such as Britain, France and Germany.

Syria had long been a pivotal country of the Mediterranean. British Army officer and author Thomas Edward Lawrence, commonly known as Lawrence of Arabia, wrote that Syria was a link between the desert and the sea for centuries, joining Africa with Asia and Arabia with Europe. Lawrence observed that Syria was dominated at separate times by Anatolia, Greece, Rome, Egypt, Arabia or Mesopotamian Persia.

The Western powers, with the backing of Persian Gulf autocracies, utilised the same psychological warfare campaign against Syria (with the media’s support) that was used to assist in ousting Gaddafi in Libya during 2011. Syria by comparison, however, was a harder and more complex issue. In Syria the US was directly challenging the interests of powerful countries like Russia, Iran and China.

After the US government lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and NATO’s “humanitarian intervention” in Libya to protect civilians which resulted in many thousands of civilian deaths, the Americans lost international credibility and could depend on full support only from Britain, France and Israel.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on Geopolitica.RU.

Shane Quinn obtained an honors journalism degree and he writes primarily on foreign affairs and historical subjects. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Sources 

Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira, The Second Cold War: Geopolitics and the Strategic Dimensions of the USA (Springer; 1st edition, 23 June 2017)

John Pilger, The New Rulers Of The World (Verso Books, 20 February 2003)

Gabriel Kolko, World in Crisis: The End of the American Century (Pluto Press, 20 March 2009)

Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira, The World Disorder: US Hegemony, Proxy Wars, Terrorism and Humanitarian Catastrophes (Springer; 1st edition, 4 February 2019)

“Western leaders insist ‘Gaddafi must go'”, Al Jazeera, 15 April 2011

“El-Zawahiri urges Arab armies to overthrow Gaddafi”, Al-Ahram newspaper, 15 April 2011

Featured image: U.S. Battalion in eastern Syria in 2019 Photo: Creative Commons / U.S. Army Reserve

This Week’s Most Popular Articles

January 26th, 2024 by Global Research News

Evidence Relating to NASA Moon Landings, Unexplained Flaws: What Is Reality? What Is Illusion?

Mark Keenan, January 16, 2024

The WEF Davos 2024 Circus: Their One Objective is to “Massively Reduce World Population”

Peter Koenig, January 22, 2024

Preparing for Hypothetical “Disease X”: COVID Having Failed to Do the Job, Bill Gates Is Making a Second Run at “Culling the World Population”

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, January 22, 2024

Will Disease X be Leaked in 2025?

Dr. Joseph Mercola, January 23, 2024

Video: Archbishop Carlo Vigano. A False Pandemic and the Imposition of a False Vaccine. A Criminal Plan of World Depopulation

His Excellency Carlo Maria Viganò, January 24, 2024

The West’s Lunatic Woke Agenda

Stephen Karganovic, January 19, 2024

capitalismThe Transnational Capitalist Class. The Billionaires, the Trillionaires. “Stakeholder Capitalism” and the New World Order

Rick Thomas, January 21, 2024

COVID mRNA Vaccine-Induced Turbo Cancer Tsunami Is Underway – And It’s Driven by Young People

Dr. William Makis, January 19, 2024

Is Zelensky Really Out of Control? With the Endorsement of Washington. What Is the End Game? The Privatization of Ukraine?

Drago Bosnic, January 19, 2024

Hypothetical “Disease X”: The WHO Pandemic Treaty Is a Fraud. Demands Compliance for “Next Pandemic”

Steve Watson, January 25, 2024

The Fix Is In – Trump Goes to Prison

Martin Armstrong, January 22, 2024

Israeli Reserve Soldiers Refuse to Fight in Gaza. Disobey Illegal Orders, Abandon the Battlefield

The Cradle, January 19, 2024

Psoriasis After COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination

Dr. William Makis, January 22, 2024

Failed Attempt to Assassinate South Korea’s Leader of the Democratic Party Lee Jae-myung: Trilateral Conspiracy?

Prof. Joseph H. Chung, January 20, 2024

War on Yemen? Don’t Expect a Cakewalk

Mike Whitney, January 22, 2024

WEF – Davos 2024. The World Is Falling Apart But the Show Must Go On…

Peter Koenig, January 15, 2024

Britain’s Chief Rabbi Gives His Blessing to War Crimes in Gaza

Jonathan Cook, January 21, 2024

Are COVID-19 Vaccine Babies Toddling and Babbling Normally?

Dr. Peter McCullough, January 23, 2024

Expanding Middle East War. Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran, the War on Energy, Strategic Waterways

Prof Michel Chossudovsky, January 24, 2024

The World Economic Forum (WEF) –United Nations Partnership Constitutes “A Global Corporate Takeover”

Jacob Nordangard, January 21, 2024

Selected Articles: Will Disease X be Leaked in 2025?

January 26th, 2024 by Global Research News

Will Disease X be Leaked in 2025?

By Dr. Joseph Mercola, January 23, 2024

January 15-19, 2024, global leaders met at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos summit where the key topic of discussion was “Preparing for Disease X,” a hypothetical new pandemic predicted to emerge in 2025 and kill 20 times more people than COVID-19.

CIA’s Openly Declared Spy War on Russia Not Going So Well

By Drago Bosnic, January 26, 2024

Back in mid-May last year, the infamous CIA officially launched a campaign to “capitalize” on what they claim is “an unprecedented opportunity to convince Russians disaffected by the war in Ukraine and life in Russia to share their secrets”.

The Terror Returns: Cuba Discloses Latest Attacks by the U.S.

By W.T. Whitney Jr., January 25, 2024

When the U.S. government launched its so-called “Global War on Terror” after the al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S.-led terror attacks against Cuba had already been ongoing for over 40 years.

Biden Must Choose Between a Ceasefire in Gaza and a Regional War

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies, January 25, 2024

In the topsy-turvy world of corporate media reporting on U.S. foreign policy, we have been led to believe that U.S. air strikes on Yemen, Iraq and Syria are legitimate and responsible efforts to contain the expanding war over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, while the actions of the Houthi government in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran and its allies in Iraq and Syria are all dangerous escalations.

mRNA Injury Stories – Children Who Lost Both Parents…

By Dr. William Makis, January 25, 2024

This is the tragic new reality for COVID-19 Vaccinated families. I believe every family that has at least one mRNA Vaccinated member, must make preparations for sudden deaths and what would happen to their children in such a circumstance.

Top Democrat -Linked PR Firm Tapped by Pro-Israel Groups to Control Gaza War Narrative

By Kit Klarenberg, January 25, 2024

On December 6, it was announced with much fanfare that the 10/7 Project, a new “centralized communications operation to promote continued US bipartisan support for Israel; push for accurate, complete coverage of the Israel-Hamas war,” and achieve a “stronger” media “focus” on the victims of October 7’s Al-Aqsa Flood would be launched, by a quintet of the largest Israeli lobby groups on U.S. soil.

The War on Gaza: How We Got to the “Monstrosity of Our Century”

By Amir Nour, January 25, 2024

A recent Frontline documentary provided a sweeping examination of the most critical moments leading to the ongoing war on Gaza. Starting with the Oslo Accords and continuing through to the current predicament, it draws on years of reporting and takes an incisive look at the long history of failed peace efforts and violent conflict in the region. It also looked at the increasing tensions between Israel and its ally, the U.S., over the war’s catastrophic toll and what comes next.

Are the Houthis Being Punished for ‘Doing the Right Thing’? Mike Whitney

By Mike Whitney, January 24, 2024

Events in the Middle East are spinning out of control. In the last week, the United States has attacked Houthi positions on the Yemeni mainland 7 times while the Houthis have launched 5 attacks on commercial vessels and US warships in the Red Sea. At the same time, Iran has launched multiple attacks on sites in Syria, Iraq and Pakistan, while Israel has hit targets in both Lebanon and Damascus.

Japan’s Growing Militarism: The Drums of War in Support of the American Empire

By Timothy Alexander Guzman, January 24, 2024

It seems that Japan is making strategic decisions to join their US and NATO allies in preparation for a global war against their long-time adversaries, China, North Korea, and Russia. The latest deal Tokyo made with Washington for the purchase of 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles with the promise to increase its national defense spending is alarming, “Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has pledged to double its annual defense spending to about 10 trillion yen (U.S. $68 billion) by 2027.”  

Israel’s Zionists and Settler Colonists Are Genocidal Warmongers

By Irwin Jerome, January 23, 2024

The Zionist Israel’s leader Bibi Netanyahu, the Knesset and their rabid followers have made it clear they never ever will tolerate a Two State Solution. Even if the United Nations could work out some conceivable partition scheme between the two states, Israel would have to agree to give up a certain degree of Ersatz Israel’s entire stolen real estate and all the infrastructure it has developed in the Occupied Territories of Palestine since 1948.

War on Gaza: Israeli Sniper Kills Renowned Palestinian Psychologist Fadel Abu Hein

January 26th, 2024 by Nadda Osman

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Tributes are pouring in to Palestinian academic Fadel Abu Hein, a professor and psychologist at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa University, after he was killed by an Israeli sniper on 23 January. 

Abu Hein’s death comes as Israeli forces encircled the Khan Younis area of Gaza, which is home to Al-Aqsa University.

The university has been damaged in Israeli attacks, but displaced Palestinians continue to shelter there, amid Israeli demands that they leave.

Abu Hein, who was in Khan Younis when he was killed, was considered an expert in treating trauma and mental health conditions resulting from years of war.

His students and those familiar with his work left a series of tributes to him after learning about his death.

“Fadel Abu Hein has been interviewed over the years about his role in his community, you should read his words, recognise his academic work. My heart breaks for the life he has endured, the dignity he displayed and his unnecessary death, huge loss to the people of Gaza,” one academic posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 

“So sad to lose a fellow academic… psychology professor Fadel Abu Hein continued much needed expertise, research, and community activities in the field of trauma and its impact on mental health of Palestinians, especially children in Gaza,” said another.

Abu Hein’s work involved travelling to Europe and the US as part of academic conferences and meetings.

Israel has killed at least 94 other academics in its war on the besieged enclave. A total of at least 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict so far, the vast majority of them civilians.

Abu Hein was a professor of psychology at Al-Aqsa University for over 20 years, and had published several journals and research articles in his field.

He was also the director of the Community Training Centre for Crisis Management (CTCM) in Gaza.

In an interview with The Guardian in 2005, Fadel said that Palestinian children had become “indifferent to death” following the Second Intifada. 

“In the long term, the trauma will grow with the child and becomes part of the personality,” he added, saying that children had become traumatised by Israeli shooting, night raids, demolitions and other people’s stress. 

No Access for Ambulances 

Abu Hein was reportedly arrested by Israeli forces in 2003 during an incursion which resulted in 13 Palestinians being killed, including his three brothers.

A report in the New York Times from the same year said that he pleaded not guilty to charges of weapons possession and incitement, after he was detained.

His family home was later razed to the ground by Israel. 

The Center for Human Rights said Abu Hein had been subjected to sleep deprivation and was forced to remain in painful positions for extended periods of time during his interrogation.

One of Abu Hein’s academic focuses was working to overcome the stigma around mental health issues, especially among men.

He said that continuous conflict had a “disastrous effect” on the psyche of Gaza’s children and that common long-term trauma symptoms included panic, lack of confidence and no sense of safety, which made them more introverted or more aggressive towards others.

“It is difficult to provide psychological treatment [for the children] because Gaza lives in a changing reality from time to time,” he said in an interview in 2022. 

Khan Younis, where Abu Hein died, is the latest focus of Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza, which has left much of the northern area of the territory uninhabitable.

Since the war began, Palestinians have been forced to move from one area to another as Israel looks to uproot Hamas from Gaza.

As snipers and tanks settled into positions in Khan Younis on Tuesday, ambulances were left unable to reach the wounded.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image: Doctor Fadel Abu Hein, a professor and psychologist at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa University, was killed on 23 January 2024 (Screengrab/X)

CIA’s Openly Declared Spy War on Russia Not Going So Well

January 26th, 2024 by Drago Bosnic

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

Back in mid-May last year, the infamous CIA officially launched a campaign to “capitalize” on what they claim is “an unprecedented opportunity to convince Russians disaffected by the war in Ukraine and life in Russia to share their secrets”. To that end, America’s top intelligence agency even created a Telegram channel, hoping to reach a larger Russian audience, as the universal app is highly popular there. One of the first posts on the channel includes a video calling for Russians to betray their country. It’s mostly trying to play into the supposed “disillusionment of common Russians”, allegedly “sick and tired of their corrupt government”, as well as the myth that Moscow started the war in Ukraine and that everything going on there is somehow the Kremlin’s fault. The posts also include instructions on how potential informants can get in touch with the CIA “anonymously and securely”.

However, for over half a year, the reaction of most users has been overwhelmingly negative. To that end, it can only be concluded that the campaign has been unsuccessful. And yet, the mainstream propaganda machine claimed that their intelligence sources said that they’ve achieved “some success”. At the time, high-ranking CIA officials involved in the project stated that the special military operation (SMO) “created a historic opening to have Russians come to us and deliver information the United States needs”. Quite laughably, the recruitment video even tried to appeal to “Russian patriotism”, quoting Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. For some reason, the CIA believes that actual patriots would betray their own country in the middle of a crawling NATO aggression. Worse yet, it offers “solutions”, as the CIA allegedly “knows what Russians are going through”.

Another peculiarity is the propaganda ad’s focus on family themes, which is quite strange given the fact that Washington DC ideologues are obsessed with every anti-family idea in the book. The so-called “woke” extremist, ultra-liberal ideology is at an all-time high in the US, while solid evidence suggests that the troubled Biden administration is even involved in the massive child trafficking in Ukraine and elsewhere. So much for America’s “focus on family values”. However, the target audience in the video is quite clear and includes Russian government officials and employees. According to their own admission, this also refers to people who work in fields such as cybersecurity, high-tech, finance, the military and diplomacy. Top-ranking officials such as James Olson, a former CIA Chief of Counterintelligence, praised the effort, as well as the “perfect timing”.

“There are a lot of disaffected Russians out there now,” he said, adding: “They’re ashamed and disgusted by what [Putin is] doing to their brother and sister Slavs in Ukraine. He’s destroying Russia. He’s killing Russian boys. And there are good people in Russia, including intelligence officers, who want to strike back.”

Statements like this are clear evidence of how beyond hypocritical and delusional US elites are. The belligerent thalassocracy had no issues starting the war in Ukraine back in 2014, resulting in approximately 15,000 dead Slavs that they’re so “concerned” about, not to mention tens of thousands wounded, many of maimed for life. In the last nearly two years, Washington DC and its vassals and satellite states have also been delivering ever more advanced weapons that are used to strike civilians deep within Russia, including in Moscow’s residential areas. This is to say nothing of the decades of crawling biological warfare that the Pentagon has been conducting in Ukraine, including in areas bordering Russia. Where were the crocodile tears for “brother and sister Slavs” back then? However, the CIA doesn’t want to give up on recruiting informants in Russia.

On January 22, the infamous intelligence agency posted a new video that doubles down on the themes of “Russian patriotism”, family, culture, Soviet-era scientific accomplishments, etc. However, the target audience is even more specific this time – the military, particularly military intelligence services such as the legendary GRU. The video effectively calls for Russians to work as double agents by appealing to the aforementioned topics and playing into the supposed “feeling of betrayal”. The latest propaganda ad also uses debunked claims about the alleged “poor performance” of the Russian military, as well as the laughable idea that Russian soldiers are eating “rotten potatoes” and using “prehistoric weapons”. Once again, Tolstoy was quoted, while the CIA insists that “all it wants” is for the Russian people to “use their full potential for personal betterment”.

Somewhat schizophrenically, the video calls for Russians to “end betrayal” by actually committing it, all for “family values” and “the future of Russia”. And again, the CIA claims that they’re “seeing more outreach from Russians as a result of these videos”, without giving any evidence to support the statement. Moscow’s reaction to the video indicates that it’s quite unimpressed. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ridiculed the CIA for trying to reach Russians through X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook, which are banned in Russia. He also said that the US intelligence agency is wasting its time and even “advised” them to try VKontakte, the most popular social media network in the country. The controversy is yet another proof of just how little the US elites know about modern-day Russia that’s anything but drunk on the need for approval and praise by the political West.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Video: Fake Pandemic Triggers Worldwide Economic and Social Collapse. Michel Chossudovsky

January 26th, 2024 by Prof Michel Chossudovsky

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

First published on December 20, 2023

***

The unspoken truth is that a non-existent pandemic has provided a pretext and a justification to powerful financial interests and corrupt politicians to precipitate the entire planet into a spiral of mass unemployment, bankruptcy, extreme poverty and despair.

Destabilizing the social, political and economic structure of 190 sovereign countries cannot constitute  a “solution” to combating a novel coronavirus  which mysteriously emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province (PRC) in late December 2019.

That was the imposed “solution” —implemented in several stages from the very outset: 

-The March 2020 Lockdown, applied Worldwide which has triggered economic and social chaos. 

-The December 2020 Rollout of  the Covid 19 “Vaccine” which has resulted in an upward trend in excess mortality. 

-The Global Debt Crisis which is currently unfolding. 

It’s the destruction of people’s lives Worldwide. It is the destabilization of civil society.

We are at the crossroads of the most serious economic and social crisis in world history. 

It’s a war against humanity.

 

Video: Fake Pandemic Triggers Worldwide Economic and Social Collapse

Michel Chossudovsky Interview with Caroline Mailloux, Lux Media

 

click lower right corner of screen to access Rumble and/or leave a comment

Donate to Lux Media Click Here

***

 

CENSORSHIP:

The original Global Research video produced by Ariel Rodriguez in February 2021, aired by Vaccine Choice Canada in June 2021 was taken down by Vimeo on March 5, 2022

Below is the version on Rumble

6′.40″ to 37’00”

***

Click here to Access The Video on Rumble and/or leave a Comment

Our thanks to Vaccine Choice Canada

 

Michel Chossudovsky’s Message

Dear Readers,

We stand in solidarity Worldwide. My thanks for your support in the course of more than twenty years.

You are welcome to download (free of charge) my Book (15  chapters) which provides a detailed analysis of a crisis which is still ongoing.

The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity

Free of Charge for ALL our Readers. Click here to Download 

 

The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity

by Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.

“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”

Reviews

This is an in-depth resource of great interest if it is the wider perspective you are motivated to understand a little better, the author is very knowledgeable about geopolitics and this comes out in the way Covid is contextualized. —Dr. Mike Yeadon

In this war against humanity in which we find ourselves, in this singular, irregular and massive assault against liberty and the goodness of people, Chossudovsky’s book is a rock upon which to sustain our fight. –Dr. Emanuel Garcia

In fifteen concise science-based chapters, Michel traces the false covid pandemic, explaining how a PCR test, producing up to 97% proven false positives, combined with a relentless 24/7 fear campaign, was able to create a worldwide panic-laden “plandemic”; that this plandemic would never have been possible without the infamous DNA-modifying Polymerase Chain Reaction test – which to this day is being pushed on a majority of innocent people who have no clue. His conclusions are evidenced by renown scientists. —Peter Koenig 

Professor Chossudovsky exposes the truth that “there is no causal relationship between the virus and economic variables.” In other words, it was not COVID-19 but, rather, the deliberate implementation of the illogical, scientifically baseless lockdowns that caused the shutdown of the global economy. –David Skripac

A reading of  Chossudovsky’s book provides a comprehensive lesson in how there is a global coup d’état under way called “The Great Reset” that if not resisted and defeated by freedom loving people everywhere will result in a dystopian future not yet imagined. Pass on this free gift from Professor Chossudovsky before it’s too late.  You will not find so much valuable information and analysis in one place. –Edward Curtin

ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0,  Year: 2022,  PDF Ebook,  Pages: 164, 15 Chapters

Price: $11.50 FREE COPY! Click here (docsend) and download.

We encourage you to support the eBook project by making a donation through Global Research’s DonorBox “Worldwide Corona Crisis” Campaign Page. 

Why Has Belgium Vowed to Back the ICJ’s Verdict on Gaza ‘Genocide’?

January 26th, 2024 by Priyanka Shankar

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

New Year Donation Drive: Global Research Is Committed to the “Unspoken Truth”

***

As the world anticipates a preliminary verdict from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, leaders in the European Union remain divided on how to interpret the decision.

Shortly after the two-day hearing at the world’s top court in the Hague earlier this month, where South Africa told the ICJ that Israel’s actions in the Gaza strip violated the UN’s 1948 Genocide Convention, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic – staunch allies of Israel – rejected these claims. Hungary condemned the case, while Berlin declared that it would intervene on Israel’s behalf at the ICJ.

Last week, France, which is home to Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish minorities and has been in the headlines for banning pro-Palestine protests since October 7, chimed in, saying Paris also does not support the ICJ case against Israel.

“To accuse the Jewish state of genocide is to cross a moral threshold,” said French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.

Other EU nations have remained silent on the court case.

Slovenia is an exception, having announced its support for another ICJ case against Israel regarding Palestinian rights.

And, among the bloc’s more outspoken critics of Israel’s military conduct in Palestine, Ireland has adopted a cautious stance. In Spain, the minority left-wing Sumar party in the coalition government backed South Africa’s case.

Click here to read the full article on Al Jazeera.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Featured image: Hundreds of people gather in front of the Gare du Nord building to protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza [File: Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu]

Video: Palestine: “Just Like the Nazis Did!”. David Rovics Song and Music

January 25th, 2024 by David Rovics

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

 

***

“May Tears Come to Your Eyes.

May Tears of Solidarity and Commitment Contribute to Reversing the Course of History” 

 

M. Ch. Global Research, January 25, 2023

***

To Access the video featuring David Rovics’ Song and Music (2023), click image below

 

 

Just Like The Nazis Did!

After so many decades of patronage By the world’s greatest empire
After so many potential agreements Were rejected by opening fire
After crushing so many uprisings Now they’re making their ultimate bid
Pursuing their Final Solution Just like the Nazis did

They forced refugees into ghettos Then set the ghettos aflame
Murdering writers and poets And so no one remember their names
Killing their entire families The grandparents, women and kids
The uncles and cousins and babies Just like the Nazis did

David Rovics 

They’re bombing all means of sustaining Human life at all
See the few shelters remaining Watch as the tower blocks fall
They’re bombing museums and libraries In order to get rid
Of any memory of the people who lived here Just like the Nazis did

They’re saying these people are animals And they should all end up dead
They’re sending soldiers into schools And shooting children in the head
The rhetoric is identical And with Gaza off the grid
They’ve already said what happens next Just like the Nazis did

Words of war for domestic consumption And lies for all the rest
To try to distract our attention Among their enablers in the West
Because Israel needs their imports To keep those pallets on the skids
They need fuel and they need missiles Just like the Nazis did

They’re using food as a weapon They’re using water that way, too
They’re trying to kill everyone in Gaza Or make them flee, it’s true
As the pundits talk of “after the war” Like with the Fall of Madrid
The victors are preparing for more Just like the Nazis did

But it’s after the conquest’s complete If history is any guide
When the occupying army Is positioned to decide
When disease and famine kills Whoever may have hid
Behind the ghetto walls Just like the Nazis did

All around the world People are trying to tell
There is a genocide unfolding Ringing alarm bells
But with such a powerful axis And so many lucrative bids
They know who wants their money Just like the Nazis did

David Rovics

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

War on Gaza: A Coalition Against Netanyahu’s “Forever War” is Growing in Israel

January 25th, 2024 by Meron Rappaport

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

It is too early to say whether the loss of 21 Israeli soldiers in one day in central Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp will turn out to be a pivotal moment of the war in Gaza.

There are, certainly, precedents. One is the loss of 73 soldiers when two helicopters collided over Northern Galilee in 1997. That was the starting point of a protest movement which led to the withdrawal from Lebanon three years later.

But the loss at Maghazi of soldiers who were mostly reservists could certainly add to the growing war fatigue of the Israeli public, who are increasingly at a loss to understand what the war on Gaza is achieving.

While a majority continue to back the war, they are not buying the army’s claims that 17 out of Hamas’s 24 battalions have “collapsed”, that one-third of the Palestinian movement’s fighters have been killed, and that the Israeli military controls 60 percent of the territory in the Gaza Strip.

The soldiers at Magazi were mining houses for demolition in an area under army control. “Control” is becoming a relative concept, as Hamas’s hit-and-run strikes prove only too clearly.

Nor is it clear what the army is achieving in Khan Younis, more than six weeks after the army spokesman said that they have entered it. Khan Younis is not that big a place, and it’s certainly no Stalingrad.

There are two competing coalitions at play in Israel and yet neither have the decisive upper hand, for the moment.

This is Netanyahu’s war

The first coalition is led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As the conflict drags on, it is very clear that this is his war.

It’s his war because the moment he stops it, his government crashes and Israel will turn on him for having let Israel’s guard down on 7 October.

It’s his war because he has raised the stakes so high, stressing each day that it has been his life’s mission to prevent a Palestinian state being created, and by saying Israel should have a permanent presence in Gaza – an objective that has not been approved by the war cabinet, which contains former rivals.

The army absolutely does not share that objective and is resisting Netanyahu’s wish to reoccupy the Philadelphi Corridor that runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt, without which no permanent Israeli military presence in Gaza can function.

The army’s primary war aim is to restore its lost honour and to restore the principle of deterrence on which the armed forces is built, the concept that heavy strikes deter Hamas and Hezbollah from attacking. The military and its ideology admit that peace does not exist but claim that Israel’s enemies are deterred.

This obviously did not happen on 7 October, or during the three and a half months that followed. Hamas is plainly not deterred from striking Israel at will despite the overwhelming military odds, the total destruction of Gaza and a growing famine.

Families of captives and supporters block a road as they shout slogans during a protest in Tel Aviv, 18 January (Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini)Families of captives and supporters block a road as they shout slogans during a protest in Tel Aviv, 18 January (Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini)

The army high command is not happy with Netanyahu’s political leadership. They are not rushing to fulfil his order to take over the Egyptian border around Rafah, and they have withdrawn some of their forces from the northern part of Gaza.

The army does not have a clear position against a Palestinian state or the Palestinian Authority taking over Gaza post-war, as Netanyahu does. But it is clear about wishing to continue the campaign, because it would hate to see a situation in which war ends without a clear victory.

Once the army turns against Netanyahu, it would be very difficult for the prime minister to continue in power. But that moment has not yet come.

While neither Netanyahyu nor the army has succeeded in their basic war aims, both the army and the embattled prime minister have adopted the concept of endless war.

This coalition is uneasy, and both sides in this partnership have problems.

Netanyahu faces a hunger strike on his doorstep, demonstrations tens of thousands strong in Tel Aviv calling on him to quit, and mounting protest from the families of the 132 remaining captives, who on Monday broke into Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

The army, on the other hand, faces what a leading expert on relations between the army and Israeli society, Professor Yagil Levy, calls a “Blue Collar rebellion”.

Levy says there is an unprecedented level of defiance among the rank and file in Gaza. Soldiers are taking pictures of themselves and Palestinian detainees in defiance of the army’s values. They are taking photographs in mosques, they talk of revenge, reoccupation – all messages that contradict the army’s basic codes.

There is also the suspicion that parts of the army were reluctant to withdraw from Gaza and that the military said the order was delayed “for technical reasons” to mask this.

Mounting doubts

On the other side there is a coalition of interests that leans towards a political outcome to the war.

Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, political opponents of Netanyahu who entered the war cabinet following the 7 October attack, do not in any way endorse the PA’s return to Gaza or a political solution that would create a Palestinian state. But neither have they said anything against it.

They appear at ease with the US push for a two-state solution and with the Saudi initiative, which predicates recognition of Israel on the creation of a Palestinian state.

Eisenkot said at a meeting held on the 100th day of the war that “we need to stop lying to ourselves, show courage and lead to a big deal that will bring the abductees home”, adding: “we are walking in like blind people.”

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant followed him and said openly that “a lack of political decision could harm the progress of the military operation”. And it was reported on Channel 13 that even Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that because a strategy for “the day after” has not been built, “we are facing an erosion of the achievements we have achieved so far in the war”.

The doubts are not just in the war cabinet. Within Israeli society the pressures are mounting. Everyone predicts the economy this year will be disastrous, with skyrocketing deficits and mass layoffs.

Closely related to this are the army’s reservists, whom Gallant warned not to plan any holidays for the summer. Cases of conscious objection to a war, as happened in the First Intifada, are rare, and if a reservist refuses the call-up, he or she may get at most a month in prison.

It’s more often the case that refusers cite personal reasons, such as childcare, the risk of business failure or a pending university examination, and usually they don’t get prosecuted for that. Refusal is kept a private matter. But the reluctance to fight an endless war will inevitably grow.

There is also the reluctance of the population of southern Israel to return to their homes and kibbutzim while a war is raging on the other side of the fence. This can work for both camps. It could easily be used as a reason to prosecute the war until the very end.

The army is telling them they can go back home, but most refuse. They are far from being anti-war, but they don’t want a war of attrition. They want a decisive defeat of Hamas. Dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza or the return of the PA is all the same for them.

In the north, the threat of rockets from Hezbollah is substantial, particularly after the group’s use of long-range anti-tank missiles, for which Israel’s Iron Dome defence is worthless. There were 200,000 Israelis displaced after the Hamas attack. The majority of these will not go back to their homes in the foreseeable future.

Most of these elements are pushing for some kind of political deal to end the war. But the real problem in Israel is that no lobby is strong enough to end the war in a political settlement.

Facing them down are Netanyahu and the extreme right wing in his government, for whom the stakes are very high. An end to the war could lead to a dramatic change in the politics of Israel and the right wing understand what is at stake and will do everything in their power to stop it.

As yet neither coalition – the coalition of endless war, or the coalition which could conceive of a negotiated end to it – are dominant. A very small shift could tilt the balance between them.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Netanyahu Asserts no ‘Two-State Solution’ under his Leadership

January 25th, 2024 by Michael Jansen

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that as long as he is in office there will be no “two-state solution,” no emergence of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. He has said Israel will retain exclusive security control over the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

According to US sources cited by The Guardian, Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden that Israel’s “security needs left no space for a sovereign Palestinian state”.

He stated. “For 30 years, I have been very consistent, and I’m saying something very simple..

This conflict is not about the lack of a state, a Palestinian state, but about the existence of a state, a Jewish state.” Netanyahu meant, of course, a “Jewish state” in the whole of Palestine.

This was the inevitable consequence of British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour’s pledge on behalf of the then government to facilitate the emergence of a “Jewish national home” while Britain occupied Palestine after World War I.

This was strongly resisted by indigenous Palestinians who were 94 per cent of the population.

By 1937, they compelled Britain to propose the partition of Palestine.

This was a very unfair proposal as it gave European Jewish colonists 20 per cent of the country containing most of the coastline and some of the country’s richest agricultural land.

The plan introduced the “transfer” of populations which was again unfair as this involved 225,000 Palestinians and only 1,250 Jews.

The Arabs opposed the plan while key Zionist leaders saw it as the launch of the eventual conquest of Palestine and prepared to achieve this goal.

The Peel Commission plan was followed a decade later by the UN partition plan which gave Israel 56 per cent of Palestine and the Palestinian state 42 per cent with three per cent reserved for Jerusalem which was meant to be internationally administered.

Jewish leaders accepted the plan while Arab governments rejected it as native Palestinians were two-thirds of the population and the one-third Jews owned only six per cent of the land.

While the Peel plan was unfair it was workable.

The UN plan was both unfair and unworkable as the proposed states consisted of a patchwork of Palestine’s 16 districts.

Of the nine awarded to Israel, only one had a Jewish majority and in the other eight the indigenous Palestinian minority constituted 47 per cent.

The Zionists had prepared to remedy this situation by “transfer,” the expulsion of Palestinians.

The Jewish political and underground paramilitary leaderships had drawn up detailed plans for the conquest of territory of allocated to the Arab State.

The offensive began in early April, six weeks before the end of Britain’s mandate on May 14th, 1948, and by the time the war ended Israel had occupied 78 per cent of the country and expelled 750,000 Palestinians from occupied territory, negating the division envisioned in the partition plan.

Israel was able to maintain its grip on conquered territory because in 1948 US president Harry Truman adopted a policy of providing arms to give Israel the ability to defend itself against all Arab antagonists.

This policy has not only persisted but also enabled Israel to defend its occupation of Palestinian and Syrian lands conquered in 1967.

Whenever Israel is challenged militarily, the US and its ally Britain rush in bombs, artillery shells, and other needed weaponry.

This is exactly what the US and Britain have been doing since October 7th to enable Israel to fight Hamas, kill 25,000 Palestinians and devastate Gaza.

By arming Israel to “defend itself” and hold onto the territories it has conquered, the US-led Western powers have empowered Israel to reject sharing Palestine with the Palestinians via the two-state solution: the Arab world’s demand for peace.

Whenever pressed to withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory, Israel refuses on the grounds of “security,” as Netanyahu has done when urged to pull out of Gaza.

If it had not enjoyed this Western guarantee during its early years, Israel might have been prepared to take seriously an initial peace offering which has largely been forgotten.

In 1955, during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, Elmore Jackson, a US Quaker, was asked by the Egyptian leader (later president) Gamal Abdel Nasser to organise secret meetings between Egyptian and Israeli officials to explore the possibilities of making peace.

The effort was backed by the administration and, Jackson wrote in his book, “Middle East Mission”, Israeli prime minister David Ben Gurion and —§ especially — foreign minister Moshe Sharett.

The effort collapsed when Israel responded disproportionately to pin-prick attacks mounted from Gaza by Palestinian fedayeen fighters.

Early mediation was made impossible after October 1956 when Israel joined with Britain and France in trying to topple Nasser and seize control of the Suez Canal which he had nationalsed that July.

During the “Tripartite Aggression” Israel occupied Egyptian Sinai and intended to annex strategic areas, allegedly to provide “security” for shipping through the Canal.

Eisenhower ordered Israel to pull out which it did in 1957.

After the 1967 occupation, Israel occupied East Jerusalem, isolated Gaza, expelled 250,000 Palestinians and planted 720,000 Israeli colonists in East Jerusalem and the West Bank where thousands of Israeli soldiers are deployed to provide security for the colonists.

Their domineering presence makes it impossible for Palestinians to create a sovereign, contiguous state with its capital in Jerusalem unless most if not all Israeli colonists are withdrawn from 44 colonies and 100 outposts and military camps are abandoned.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Gaza: Why is ‘Ceasefire’ considered a Dirty Word?

January 25th, 2024 by Blaise Malley

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

In the weeks leading up to President Joe Biden’s announcement that U.S. forces and a group of allies launched a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, major media outlets were acutely aware of the risk that Israel’s war on Gaza could grow into a wider regional conflict.

Yet, in the breadth of stories that covered the Biden administration’s desire and efforts to avoid such an escalation, mainstream media rarely mentioned the clearest non-military pathway to easing regional tensions: helping to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The Houthi leadership in Yemen has said their attacks will not cease until Israel’s “crimes in Gaza stop and food, medicines and fuel are allowed to reach its besieged population” according to Houthi spokesman Mohammed al-Bukhaiti in December. Who can tell if that’s true, but evidence suggests that the attacks in the Red Sea and in Iraq and Syria all but stopped during an earlier brokered “pause” in Gaza in November.

But this is never discussed. In the first weeks of January, major media outlets maintained that the Biden administration was grappling with how best to manage the conflict and ensure that it did not extend beyond Gaza. Between October 7 and January 14, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal ran over 60 articles that focused on some aspect of the threat of escalation in the Middle East. At least 14 of them focused on the Biden administration’s decision-making process.

“Attacks Heighten Fears of a Wider War for the Middle East and U.S.,” reported the New York Times.

“Tensions in the Middle East are rising beyond Israel. Here’s where,” said the Washington Post.

“U.S. Steps Up Diplomatic Push to Avert Broader Middle East War,” added the Wall Street Journal.

Even following the Jan. 13 strikes in Yemen, media reports contended that the Biden administration was committed to avoiding escalation. “Mr. Biden and his top aides have been loath to take steps that could draw the United States into a wider war in the region, according to the New York Times.

But of those 14 articles, only five mention the demands of U.S. adversaries in the region, namely that Israel allow food and medicine into Gaza and end its bombing campaign. In most cases, the articles only briefly note that the Houthi attacks were being carried out “in solidarity” with suffering Gazans. But nowhere in the series of stories about the potential crisis was the pursuit of a ceasefire mentioned as an option.

Instead, the articles mostly framed the options as maintaining the status quo or pursuing a military solution.

“Senior officials said they must decide whether to strike Houthi missile and drone sites in Yemen, or wait to see whether the Houthis back off after the sinking of three of their fast boats and the deaths of their fighters,” reported the New York Times on December 31, after a U.S. helicopter sunk three Houthi boats in the Red Sea.

“Mr. Biden and his top aides have sought since the Oct. 7 attacks to contain the conflict between Israel and Hamas to the Gaza Strip,” reads the New York Times’ January 3 story on the Biden team’s efforts.

“The Pentagon dispatched two aircraft carriers and doubled the number of American warplanes to the Middle East to deter Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq from widening the war.”

If there were critics of the Biden administration, they always preferred a more aggressive path. “Critics of the administration’s approach have called the retaliatory strikes insufficient,” said the Washington Post on November 8, following U.S. strikes in Syria.

Meanwhile, the reports ignored experts who have been pointing to ceasefire as an option for weeks.

In making an argument for Washington to take the lead in pushing for an end to violence in November 2023, three fellows at the Century Foundation offered that a ceasefire would “reduce tensions regionally, lessening the risk—currently increasing daily—of a broader war that draws in the United States.”

A few hours before the strikes in Yemen on Jan. 11, RAND Corporation researcher Alex Stark made the case that pushing for an end to the war in Gaza was the most effective way for Washington to de-escalate tensions with the Houthis.

“Like it or not, the Houthis have linked their aggression to Israel’s operations in Gaza and have won domestic and regional support for doing so,” she wrote in Foreign Affairs. “Finding a sustainable, long-term approach to both conflicts will be critical to de-escalating tensions across the region and getting the Houthis to call off their attacks on commercial vessels.”

Following the U.S. operations, the New York Times did note that countries like Qatar and Oman “had warned the United States that bombing the Houthis could be a mistake, fearing that it would do little to deter them and would deepen regional tensions. They have argued that focusing on reaching a cease-fire in Gaza would remove the Houthis’ stated impetus for the attacks.”

Experts have said that the inability to link Houthi aggression with the ongoing war is a strategic miscalculation. “That refusal to see the linkage between Gaza and the Red Sea means we also fail to see the overriding security-strategic imperative here: to avoid a further escalation regionally, and to move towards possibilities that are de-escalatory,” wrote the Carnegie Endowment’s H. A. Hellyer on X.

“[I]t’s about avoiding a situation that gets out of control quickly and easily, and which could have the potential to drag much of the region into a destructive war. We have a number of clear good pathways in that regard, but we’ve rejected them.”

To be sure, it is unclear how the Houthis or militias in Iraq and Syria would respond to a pause in hostilities in Gaza. But the short-term humanitarian pauses in Gaza in mid-November led to the only period of relative calm in the region since the outbreak of the war, particularly in terms of attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria.

According to a tracker from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, as of January 16, there have been 152 anti-U.S. strikes since October 18 in those two countries. None of them took place between November 23, when the short-term ceasefire was announced, and December 3, two days after the truce expired.

There was also a notable decrease in Houthi attacks in the Red Sea during that timeframe, according to a timeline compiled by the maritime risk intelligence firm Ambrey Analytics.

“During the ceasefire that was in place in November their attacks dramatically decreased, providing a degree of empirical evidence that the ceasefire had a strong likelihood of being an effective option to stop the attacks,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute. “The media never had to endorse this option. And they could also rightfully be scrutinizing and be skeptical about it. But by not mentioning it at all, they deprived the American public awareness that the option even existed, leaving Americans with the false impression that the only option was to do nothing or to escalate by bombing Yemen.”

Meanwhile, momentum in the push for a ceasefire in official Washington also appears to have hit a snag after Congress’s return from the holiday recess. In the weeks following the start of Israel’s offensive, perhaps influenced by polls that showed strong public support, the number of members who explicitly called for a ceasefire increased steadily, reaching a total of 62 by December 21.

Since then, however, only one new member has joined the calls.

Several lawmakers from both parties did criticize the White House for not consulting Congress before bombing Yemen.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) took it a step further, drawing the direct linkbetween Washington’s unwillingness to call for a ceasefire and the potential for escalation in the region. “This is why I called for a ceasefire early. This is why I voted against war in Iraq,” Lee wrote on X. “Violence only begets more violence. We need a ceasefire now to prevent deadly, costly, catastrophic escalation of violence in the region.”

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

“Israel’s use of Starvation as a Weapon of War”: Continues to Attack Starving Palestinians Awaiting Aid Trucks…

January 25th, 2024 by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

Geneva – While famine spreads in the north of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continues to kill Palestinians who are waiting to receive aid south of Gaza City, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said, confirming Israel’s intention to carry out genocide against the Strip’s civilian population since 7 October 2023.

Euro-Med Monitor documented the Israeli army’s use of artillery shells against hundreds of starving civilians who gathered on Salah al-Din Road near the Kuwait roundabout, southeast of Gaza City, to wait for UN trucks carrying limited aid supplies, killing and injuring a number of them. The Israeli army used artillery shells, live ammunition, and quadcopter drones to attack hundreds of starving civilians who had gathered in the hopes of receiving the meagre aid, as reported by Euro-Med Monitor field teams.

The human rights group further pointed out that Israel has not only used starvation as a tool of war against Palestinians in the northern Gaza Valley for more than three consecutive months now, but has targeted Gazans trying to secure some of the limited aid supplies that began arriving about 10 days ago—killing and injuring many of them as part of its genocidal war against civilians in the Strip.

“My five children have been starving for more than a month, and we do not have any flour,” stated 46-year-old M.F., who requested anonymity due to safety concerns.

“We eat a small amount of rice each day, so when I learned that flour aid was available, I walked for 13 kilometres before the Israeli army opened their machine gunfire. We were hit by shells fired, resulting in several casualties. I managed to survive, without receiving any flour.”

Approximately 400,000 Palestinians remain in the northern Gaza Valley, according to Euro-Med Monitor, suffering from a man-made famine as a result of Israel’s oppressive siege and refusal to allow any relief aid to enter the area since 1 December 2023. Some people have even been forced to grind animal feed and mix it with corn to knead and eat it, while others have been forced to eat tree leaves.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasised that the information gathered by its field team verifies Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war and form of political pressure against civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This is akin to genocide, and immediate action is needed to ensure that Palestinians can access food, water, and other necessities without hindrance, intimidation, or targeting.

The rights organisation said that it holds the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies responsible for the shortcomings and inability to deliver humanitarian aid in a decent and appropriate manner to hundreds of thousands of people who are suffering from real famine for nearly four full months in a row now. Euro-Med Monitor also expressed outrage at the UN’s silence regarding the Israeli army’s targeting of civilians while they were trying to receive aid supplies.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stressed that international humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon; as an occupying power, Israel is obligated by law to provide basic needs and protection to the Gazan people. Further, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides that intentionally starving civilians by “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies” is a war crime, added the Geneva-based rights group.

Euro-Med Monitor stated that Israel has been committing acts of genocide against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023 according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and pertinent international judicial rulings. Israel’s crimes include depriving the civilian population of enough potable water, which has caused serious, intentional harm and trapped them in living conditions meant to destroy them.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Is Turkey leading the Erosion of a Western-led Global Order?

January 25th, 2024 by David Lepeska

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

Soon after the US and Britain started bombing Houthi targets in Yemen earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the strikes, arguing that western powers sought to make the Red Sea “a sea of blood”.

Given Ankara’s stance on Israel-Gaza, few were surprised by the comment, or by Turkey’s leader the next day saying his government would provide evidence in support of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

What has been a bit of an eye-opener, in contrast, is how mainstream such talk has become in just a matter of weeks. In early 2024, anti-westernism is taking over the geopolitical zeitgeist, and it’s easy to see why. 

It’s not just the more than 25,000 Gazans killed. Although now that Israel has killed more than 20 times as many people as Hamas killed in its horrific Oct 7 assault, that data point is beyond troubling. It’s not just that most of those killed have been women and children, sick and elderly, presumably innocent of any crimes and unconnected to Hamas.

It’s not just the nearly two million displaced Gazans, many of whom embark on daily quests for shelter and safety. It’s not just that famine looms, as most of Gaza remains off-limits to aid even as a record nine of 10 Gazans go hungry, or that the World Health Organisation estimates that in the coming weeks the death toll from sickness and starvation could surpass the number of Gazans killed in Israeli strikes.

It’s that amid all this, the world’s most powerful country has essentially stood idly by as Israel has blocked aid and water delivery and refused to even discuss Palestinian statehood, while vowing to continue the war despite vast condemnation. “We are continuing the war until the end,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week. “Nobody will stop us – not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anybody else.”

They have long had their suspicions, but in light of the carnage in Gaza, many in the Muslim world and the Global South, along with liberal-minded people elsewhere, increasingly believe the West cares more about Europeans, like Ukrainians, than Middle Easterners. Recent articles in this newspaper and a slew of top western outlets underscore this growing perception.

“The West needs to value all human life,” a former UN deputy secretary general urged last week in Foreign Policy. “Any vestige of moral authority has been lost forever,” a Guardian column asserted on the weekend, echoing a frequent Erdogan talking point.

“Public opinion across the Middle East, the Global South, and even the West increasingly regards the conflict as the consequence of a decades-long occupation rather than as a response to Islamic terrorism,” two top analysts argued last week in Foreign Affairs.

Criticisms of Israel and the US often centre on occupation and colonisation, which has helped revive discussions about past atrocities – and even genocide – committed in the West.

Of course, westerners have no monopoly on genocide. Rights groups say that in his 1988 Anfal campaign, Saddam Hussein committed genocide against the Kurds. ISIS faced widespread charges of genocide for its killing of Christian Yazidis a decade ago. We humans are all too familiar with genocide.

But right now, the gap between the West’s purported values and principles and the reality in Gaza is so vast and glaring it’s impossible to ignore. Dragoman, a respected Muslim-American analyst who recently left the US for Istanbul, says seeing his homeland’s tacit support for Israel has remade his worldview. “That I ever promoted the virtues of the West is a mark of shame for me,” he wrote last week.

He vowed to look more critically at western writing on China and Russia and consider the merits of those states. China, for its part, has taken a balanced policy stance on Israel-Gaza, likely hoping to leverage growing dissatisfaction with the US into closer ties with the Global South and Muslim-majority states.

“I see no other rational position for any self-respecting Muslim except to work to hasten the demise of West’s ability to project power internationally,” argued Dragoman, adding that it “behooves Muslims to shift their gaze eastward, where the new world is rapidly rising.”

Lebanon, traditionally one of the more US-friendly Arab states, suggests this may already be happening. Support for Hezbollah among Lebanese Shiites has gone from two of three in 2020 to 9 of 10 today, according to polling by The Washington Institute, a think tank based in the American capital. More than a third of Lebanese Sunnis now view the Hassan Nasrallah-led group positively, a stunning increase from 6 per cent, and the share of Christians who accept Hezbollah, the same poll found, has nearly doubled (16 per cent to 29 per cent).

Nothing, it seems, is better for the Palestinian cause than unfathomable Palestinian suffering. It’s Alan Kurdi all over again, and it’s not just Muslims. Polls have found younger Americans – younger voters, in an election year – to be increasingly pro-Palestinian.

To what extent might politicians begin shifting their positions, and might we see increased radicalisation in the region and beyond in the months ahead? These are important questions. But I’m reminded of a clash of civilisations advocate known to parrot the views of Turkey’s governing AKP.

“Humanity has been the West’s colony for centuries – it has been fooled and taken hostage,” Turkish columnist Ibrahim Karagul wrote in April 2022.

“The world must refrain from being dragged into another disaster for the West,” Karagul went on. “Colonised countries are standing up against their old bosses…The world, all of humanity, must unite to stop the West.”

Whether this anti-western shift will be a flash in the pan or usher in a new world order, we can’t yet say. But it’s a safe bet that Turkey will be in the centre of it all.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Downing of Russian Transport Plane with Ukrainian Prisoners of War (POWs) Leaves many Questions Unanswered. It was Downed with an American Patriot Missile

January 25th, 2024 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

A recent incident on Russian borders could indicate a dangerous escalation in the conflict. A Russian transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) was shot down, having no survivors. The case raises a series of questions about what the intention of Kiev and its allies behind such an attack would be.

The incident occurred in the Russian region of Belgorod – which is an undisputed territory of the Russian Federation, outside the special military operation zone. According to sources of the Moscow’s Ministry of Defense, an Il-76 aircraft was hit by an American Patriot missile. There were 65 Ukrainian POWs, six crew members and three other people accompanying the prisoners on board. Due to the efficient actions of the crew, the plane was diverted from the inhabited areas of Belgorod, having only the passengers as victims. The Russian military established a special committee to investigate the case. It is hoped that the reasons for the attack and the real culprits will soon be clarified.

First of all, it must be emphasized that POWs were being transferred to the conflict zone in order to be returned to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange process. In this sense, one of the major suspicions raised by analysts is that Kiev intends to boycott the exchange negotiations, with the attack being a way of provoking Russia, possibly accusing Moscow of false flag, to justify the end of the talks.

On the one hand, it is also important to remember that the projectile used in the attack was an American Patriot missile. This type of equipment is usually handled with the help American instructors and military personnel in Ukraine – and Russian military sources believe this is what happened in the recent case.

It is possible that NATO operators are unqualified and inexperienced to the point that they are unable to correctly identify their targets, making serious mistakes such as shooting down a plane with Ukrainian passengers. Considering that the myth of NATO’s “absolute military superiority” has already been demolished throughout the special military operation, it does not seem surprising that Western instructions are incompetent to such an extent.

However, there is an even more plausible – and worrying – hypothesis, which is a deliberate action on the part of the US to escalate the conflict. Since the shooting occurred within the undisputed territory of Russia, it is possible that from now on NATO’s directive to its instructors and proxies in Ukraine will be to shoot down Russian planes in the demilitarized territory of the Federation, violating the limits of the conflict zone.

If this last hypothesis is proven true, it is possible that there will be an unprecedented escalation of violence in the conflict, as Moscow will not tolerate the lives of its civilians being threatened by NATO-backed Ukrainian terrorism. If the shooting down of Russian planes in the pacified territory is indeed a current “tactic” of pro-Kiev forces, the Russian authorities will certainly respond with various escalatory measures, with the possibility of even expanding the martial law zone or increasing combat mobilization.

Furthermore, retaliatory operations tend to be terrible for the weakened Ukrainian side. To protect its airspace, Moscow could launch an exceptional wave of heavy artillery and aviation bombing raids against strategic Ukrainian targets, destroying key enemy military facilities and decision-making centers. It is necessary to remember that in such a situation many NATO war structures would be neutralized, since they are located precisely in strategic centers far from the front lines.

Soon, Russian authorities will make new statements on the case. The work of the special investigation committee will expose the necessary details to conclude what really happened and what the attack will mean for the future of the conflict. However, some things can already be taken as certain, such as NATO’s co-responsibility for the crime and the negative impact of the incident on the prisoner exchange process.

Furthermore, regardless of which hypothesis is true, the prolongation of the conflict seems an inevitable reality. By allowing criminal attacks like this to happen, the US is making it clear that it is not willing to change its strategy of “fighting to the last Ukrainian” – on the contrary, this appears to be the West’s main priority in this war, despite the impossibility of preventing the final outcome from being a Russian victory.

Also, it is notorious how the neo-Nazi regime does not value the lives of its own citizens, having killed prisoners in a certainly deliberate manner. This is not surprising to those who know the misanthropic ideology behind the Kiev regime, but it is an important fact to debunk Western propaganda about Ukraine as a “democracy”. In practice, the Kiev Junta does not respect the lives of its own nationals and is willing to annihilate all Ukrainians just to meet NATO’s war plans.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

The Terror Returns: Cuba Discloses Latest Attacks by the U.S.

January 25th, 2024 by W.T. Whitney Jr.

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

When the U.S. government launched its so-called “Global War on Terror” after the al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S.-led terror attacks against Cuba had already been ongoing for over 40 years.

They included:

military invasion (1961),

CIA-sponsored counter-revolutionary paramilitaries in the countryside (1960s),

a fully loaded Cuban airliner brought down by U.S. agents (1976),

attacks on coastal towns and fishing boats, biowarfare, hundreds of killings in Cuba and abroad, sabotage, and bombings of hotels and tourist facilities (1997).

With the new century, however, violence and terror seemed to be on vacation. The Cuban media and sympathetic international media were reporting little or nothing about U.S.-based terror attacks that had been their stock in trade.

On Dec. 17, 2023, Cuban Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez released a statement harking back to the violent past. He insisted that the

“U.S. government is very aware of the official, public, and repeated denunciations by the Cuban government of the assistance, protection, and tolerance that promotors and perpetrators of terrorist acts against Cuba enjoy in the United States.”

He added,

“Recently Cuba’s Interior Ministry has reported on the dismantling of destabilization plans developed in the United States by terrorists of Cuban origin in a security operation that led to the detention of several persons tied to this conspiracy.”

Rodríguez’s statement followed a report appearing in the Communist Party’s Granma newspaper on Dec. 9, 2023. A Florida resident, traveling on a jet ski, came ashore near Matanzas on Cuba’s northern coast in late 2023; no date was specified. Carrying pistols, ammunition, and loading clips, the individual headed for Cienfuegos, his province of origin, and was arrested.

The unnamed man “contacted several people in order to recruit them.” He allegedly had ties in South Florida with “terrorists who publicly promote violent actions against Cuba … [and who] have received military training with weapons, have the physical equipment … and other resources to carry out their plans.”

Granma stated that “the terrorists, with their plans for actions aimed at undermining internal order, go beyond a virtual setting; they concentrated on promoting violence so as to cause pain, suffering, and death at the year’s end.”

These “instigators of hate and death … appear on [Cuba’s] National List … [Cuban security officials] have investigated actions they’ve taken in the national territory or in other countries.”

A report on Jan. 4 from Mexican journalist Beto Rodríguez discusses the Interior Ministry’s “National List of persons and entities … associated with terrorism against Cuba.” Since 1999, they “have planned, carried out, and plotted acts of extreme violence in Cuban territory.’’

The List first appeared on Dec. 7 in Cuba’s Official Gazette as  Resolution 19/2023. It names 61 individuals and 19 terrorist organizations, all based in the United States, presumably most of them in South Florida. One of the names on the List belongs to the jet skier, but which one is unspecified.

According to Beto Rodríguez, criminal investigations in Cuba revealed that some of the listed persons targeted “governmental and tourist installations and carrying out sabotage, illegal incursions, human trafficking, and preparations for war.” They “made plans for assassinating leaders of the revolution.”

He also reported that the arrested jet skier “intended to recruit Cubans for burning sugarcane plantations, provoke disturbances, disturb tourist centers, and hand out propaganda.” “[C]itizen denunciation” led to his arrest.

Appearing on the List is Alexander Alazo Baró, who shot at Cuba’s embassy in Washington with a semiautomatic weapon on April 30, 2020. He is still “under investigation.” Two Molotov cocktails exploded at the embassy on Sept. 24, 2023. The perpetrator is unknown.

Beto Rodríguez notes that on Nov. 24, 2023, the U.S. State Department, warning prospective travelers to Cuba of “potential terrorist actions … against the United States,” advised them to avoid “sites commonly used for demonstrations.”

A day earlier, a large pro-Palestinian march headed by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel passed by the U.S. embassy in Havana. Journalist Rodríguez surmises that “Washington already knew beforehand that anti-Cuban groups were planning to enter onto the island to commit acts of terrorism.”

Hernando Calvo Ospina, veteran analyst of U.S. terror against Cuba, reported on Jan. 10 that Cuba’s government referred the National List to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), which deals with crime extending across borders.

Describing the activities of the listed persons, Calvo Ospina highlights their new use of social media to communicate propaganda and to “incite internal violence, the assassination of State personalities, the destruction of common goods and all kinds of sabotage.”

Ospina states that “the objectives now being pursued are similar to those of the so-called ‘historical exile group.’ Only the method has changed. Both have one thing in common: they use terrorist methods.” Some of those whose names appear were carrying out terrorist activities in the 1990s.

He indicates that “Many received direct funding from the U.S. State Department, and also from the CIA, which uses various entities and NGOs to deliver it.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, the government’s so-called “democracy and human rights funding” for Cuba, a reference to support provided for interventionist programming, amounted to $20 million annually from 2014 to 2022. In July 2023, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee, sought “to boost funding by 50% for democracy promotion efforts in Cuba.”

What looks like a revival of the U.S. government’s former anti-Cuba terror campaign may point to one or more of several possibilities:

  • Terror attacks had actually continued during the past two decades, but Cuba’s government, for unknown reasons, opted not to publicize them.
  • Terror attacks did continue, but at a low ebb, and now the Cuban government, at a difficult time, seeks to inform world opinion of illegal and dangerous U.S. actions, the object being to promote multi-national mobilization against prolonged U.S. all-but-war against Cuba.
  • The U.S. government, taking advantage of Cubans’ discouragement aggravated by a terrible economic crisis, has successfully recruited dissidents and once more is capable of mounting terror attacks.
  • The U.S. government, true to its ideologic core, to its imperialist self, stops at nothing while dominating or beating up on lesser peoples of the world.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Biden Must Choose Between a Ceasefire in Gaza and a Regional War

January 25th, 2024 by Medea Benjamin

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

In the topsy-turvy world of corporate media reporting on U.S. foreign policy, we have been led to believe that U.S. air strikes on Yemen, Iraq and Syria are legitimate and responsible efforts to contain the expanding war over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, while the actions of the Houthi government in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran and its allies in Iraq and Syria are all dangerous escalations.

In fact, it is U.S. and Israeli actions that are driving the expansion of the war, while Iran and others are genuinely trying to find effective ways to counter and end Israel’s genocide in Gaza while avoiding a full-scale regional war. 

We are encouraged by Egypt and Qatar’s efforts to mediate a ceasefire and the release of hostages and prisoners-of-war by both sides. But it is important to recognize who are the aggressors, who are the victims, and how regional actors are taking incremental but increasingly forceful action to respond to genocide.

A near-total Israeli communications blackout in Gaza has reduced the flow of images of the ongoing massacre on our TVs and computer screens, but the slaughter has not abated. Israel is bombing and attacking Khan Younis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip, as ruthlessly as it did Gaza City in the north. Israeli forces and U.S. weapons have killed an average of 240 Gazans per day for more than three months, and 70% of the dead are still women and children. 

Israel has repeatedly claimed it is taking new steps to protect civilians, but that is only a public relations exercise. The Israeli government is still using 2,000 pound and even 5,000 pound “bunker-buster” bombs to dehouse the people of Gaza and herd them toward the Egyptian border, while it debates how to push the survivors over the border into exile, which it euphemistically refers to as “voluntary emigration.”

People throughout the Middle East are horrified by Israel’s slaughter and plans for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, but most of their governments will only condemn Israel verbally. The Houthi government in Yemen is different. Unable to directly send forces to fight for Gaza, they began enforcing a blockade of the Red Sea against Israeli-owned ships and other ships carrying goods to or from Israel. Since mid-November 2023, the Houthis have conducted about 30 attacks on international vessels transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden but none of the attacks have caused casualties or sunk any ships.

In response,  the Biden administration, without Congressional approval, has launched at least six rounds of bombing, including airstrikes on Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. The United Kingdom has contributed a few warplanes, while Australia, Canada, Holland and Bahrain also act as cheerleaders to provide the U.S. with the cover of leading an “international coalition.”

President Biden has admitted that U.S. bombing will not force Yemen to lift its blockade, but he insists that the U.S. will keep attacking it anyway. Saudi Arabia dropped 70,000 mostly American (and some British) bombs on Yemen in a 7-year war, but utterly failed to defeat the Houthi government and armed forces. 

Yemenis naturally identify with the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza, and a million Yemenis took to the street to support their country’s position challenging Israel and the United States. Yemen is no Iranian puppet, but as with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s Iraqi and Syrian allies, Iran has trained the Yemenis to build and deploy increasingly powerful anti-ship, cruise and ballistic missiles.

The Houthis have made it clear that they will stop the attacks once Israel stops its slaughter in Gaza. It beggars belief that instead of pressing for a ceasefire in Gaza, Biden and his clueless advisers are instead choosing to deepen U.S. military involvement in a regional Middle East conflict.

The United States and Israel have now conducted airstrikes on the capitals of four neighboring countries: Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Iran also suspects U.S. and Israeli spy agencies of a role in two bomb explosions in Kerman in Iran, which killed about 90 people and wounded hundreds more at a commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the U.S. assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.

On January 20th, an Israeli bombing killed 10 people in Damascus, including 5 Iranian officials. After repeated Israeli airstrikes on Syria, Russia has now deployed warplanes to patrol the border to deter Israeli attacks, and has reoccupied two previously vacated outposts built to monitor violations of the demilitarized zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Iran has responded to the terrorist bombings in Kerman and Israeli assassinations of Iranian officials with missile strikes on targets in Iraq, Syria and Pakistan. Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdohallian has strongly defended Iran’s claim that the strikes on Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan targeted agents of Israel’s Mossad spy agency. 

Eleven Iranian ballistic missiles destroyed an Iraqi Kurdish intelligence facility and the home of a senior intelligence officer, and also killed a wealthy real estate developer and businessman, Peshraw Dizayee, who had been accused of working for the Mossad, as well as of smuggling Iraqi oil from Kurdistan to Israel via Turkey. 

The targets of Iran’s missile strikes in northwest Syria were the headquarters of two separate ISIS-linked groups in Idlib province. The strikes precisely hit both buildings and demolished them, at a range of 800 miles, using Iran’s newest ballistic missiles called Kheybar Shakan or Castle Blasters, a name that equates today’s U.S. bases in the Middle East with the 12th and 13th century European crusader castles whose ruins still dot the landscape.

Iran launched its missiles, not from north-west Iran, which would have been closer to Idlib, but from Khuzestan province in south-west Iran, which is closer to Tel Aviv than to Idlib. So these missile strikes were clearly intended as a warning to Israel and the United States that Iran can conduct precise attacks on Israel and U.S. “crusader castles” in the Middle East if they continue their aggression against Palestine, Iran and their allies. 

At the same time, the U.S. has escalated its tit-for-tat airstrikes against Iranian-backed Iraqi militias. The Iraqi government has consistently protested U.S. airstrikes against the militias as violations of Iraqi sovereignty. Prime Minister Sudani’s military spokesman called the latest U.S. airstrikes “acts of aggression,” and said, “This unacceptable act undermines years of cooperation… at a time when the region is already grappling with the danger of expanding conflict, the repercussions of the aggression on Gaza.”    

After its fiascos in Afghanistan and Iraq killed thousands of U.S. troops, the United States has avoided large numbers of U.S. military casualties for ten years. The last time the U.S. lost more than a hundred troops killed in action in a year was in 2013, when 128 Americans were killed in Afghanistan. 

Since then, the United States has relied on bombing and proxy forces to fight its wars. The only lesson U.S. leaders seem to have learned from their lost wars is to avoid putting U.S. “boots on the ground.” The U.S. dropped over 120,000 bombs and missiles on Iraq and Syria in its war on ISIS, while Iraqis, Syrians and Kurds did all the hard fighting on the ground. 

In Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies found a willing proxy to fight Russia. But after two years of war, Ukrainian casualties have become unsustainable and new recruits are hard to find. The Ukrainian parliament has rejected a bill to authorize forced conscription, and no amount of U.S. weapons can persuade more Ukrainians to sacrifice their lives for a Ukrainian nationalism that treats large numbers of them, especially Russian speakers, as second class citizens. 

 Now, in Gaza, Yemen and Iraq, the United States has waded into what it hoped would be another “US-casualty-free” war. Instead, the U.S.-Israeli genocide in Gaza is unleashing a crisis that is spinning out of control across the region and may soon directly involve U.S. troops in combat. This will shatter the illusion of peace Americans have lived in for the last ten years of U.S. bombing and proxy wars, and bring the reality of U.S. militarism and warmaking home with a vengeance.  

Biden can continue to give Israel carte-blanche to wipe out the people of Gaza, and watch as the region becomes further engulfed in flames, or he can listen to his own campaign staff, who warn that it’s a “moral and electoral imperative” to insist on a ceasefire. The choice could not be more stark.

Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies are the authors of War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, published by OR Books in November 2022.

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

Nicolas J. S. Davies is an independent journalist, a researcher for CODEPINK and the author of Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.

They are regular contributors to Global Research

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. 

mRNA Injury Stories – Children who lost both parents…

January 25th, 2024 by Dr. William Makis

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

Jan.1, 2024 – 2 yo UK boy Bronson Battersby died from starvation and was found curled up next to his dad who had a heart attack

 

 

======

 

Jan.4, 2024 – Canada – 14 year old Simon Keats of Glovertown, Newfoundland, Canada lost both of his parents over the Christmas holidays. His father Jason, age 42, died of cancer on Dec.22 and his mom Robyn, age 40, died unexpectedly on Dec.26 from a heart attack.

 
 

 

======

 

Nov.17, 2023 – White Bear Lake, MN – Tess Natterstad and her two brothers were left orphaned after their mother 61 year old Colleen Natterstad died unexpectedly of a heart attack in August 2023 and their dad Mike Natterstad died unexpectedly in early November 2023.

 

 

Aug.2023 – London, UK – 54 year old Lisa Savell, mom of 5, died suddenly from a brain aneurysm Now her kids ages 24 & 19 are being threatened with eviction from their London apartment

 

Image

 

My Take…

This is the tragic new reality for COVID-19 Vaccinated families.

I believe every family that has at least one mRNA Vaccinated member, must make preparations for sudden deaths and what would happen to their children in such a circumstance.

The tragic story of 2 year old UK boy Bronson Battersby who starved to death curled up next to his dad who had an unexpected heart attack, is as big of a red flag as I’ve seen yet.

***

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Americans Are Paying a Massive Price To Maintain the Empire

January 25th, 2024 by Matthew Hoh

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

***

Two press reports stood out to me this morning: the release of the names of two US Navy SEALs who drowned two weeks ago in the Arabian Sea and the Air Force’s production authorization for the B21 Raider bomber. Both stories symbolize an imperial inertia that defines American national security policies, an inertia that is damaging our democracy and jeopardizing futures.

The SEALs died taking part in a blockade mission against Yemen, a mission that dates back nearly a decade and is part of a two-decade-long history of US military action against Yemen (the US first launched a drone strike in Yemen in 2002).

US policy towards Yemen is part of the larger, [fake] and counterproductive “Global War on Terror”, which itself is part of a larger, failed and counterproductive US Middle East policy.

US Middle East policy, in its current form, goes back to the 1970s and is part of a larger, failed and counterproductive US militarized foreign policy.

False Flags? 

Can anyone go to the families of those two SEALs killed carrying out those policies and explain what their deaths were for without resorting to grotesque and false tropes of freedom and security, the same aspirational and patriotic fairy tales that have been used to justify 250-plus military operations by the US since 1991?

The other story relates to the authorization of production of the B21 Raider, which is set to replace the B1 and B2 bombers but not the 70-year-old B52s.

That the youngest B52 was produced in 1962 and won’t be replaced, but the bombers built in modern times must be replaced, tells you a great deal about the strategy of the American weapons industry.

This fleecing of the American taxpayers by the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) is nothing new. Both political parties have hollowed out the American economy to the benefit of weapons makers. If any citizen has the gall to ask their members of Congress why our living standards are so far below those of the world’s other wealthy nations, the answers come back as some variation of “we can’t afford those things.”

What’s new about the B21 is that the cost for years was classified, even to members of Congress. Budget figures, as well as contract details, production schedules and test results, are still being kept hidden. Reports say Northrup Grumman will produce 100 of the planes, and, with an estimated total program cost of more than $200 billion, keeping quiet about the price tag of $2 billion airplanes is a politically savvy move if not a democratic one.

Alongside the story of the B21 was a reference to the nation’s new intercontinental ballistic missile, the LGM-35 Sentinel, exploding in cost and years behind schedule.

Both the Raider and the Sentinel are part of the $2 trillion modernization of American nuclear weapons begun during the Obama Administration. Cynically it is understandable why both the Pentagon and the weapons makers want to keep the B21 program hidden.

MIC officials often speak of the lessons learned from the gross cost overruns, lengthy delays and failed testing of weapons systems like the F35, the Littoral Combat Ship and the Future Combat System, among many, many others, and those lessons seem to be: don’t let anyone know what’s going on. The roster of weapons that don’t work and have cost us trillions is seemingly infinite and, in a sanely functioning and non-corrupt democracy, Pentagon budgets would be decreasing, generals would be fired and defense industry share prices would be labeled as SELL. It would be far easier to write about the weapons the US taxpayers have funded that have performed as advertised and stayed within budget, but that would probably only amount to a tweet or two.

The only thing more likely than more American families continuing to lose loved ones to failed and counterproductive overseas wars will be a lack of any effective congressional resistance to US Middle East policy, most urgently Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. Likewise, the only thing more likely than the B21 being another poorly performing MIC cash cow will be the lack of meaningful political opposition to the overall MIC gravy train. The inertia of both a militarized foreign policy that, through its actions, creates a circular reality that justifies continued military action and a military-industrial complex that now says the American people don’t have the right to know how much our weapons cost demonstrate a dangerous reality of American democracy and a terrible path ahead.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

The Caliphate Project, Made in America. Declassified U.S. Government Documents Confirm the US Supported the Creation of ISIS

January 25th, 2024 by Washington's Blog

Global Research Editor’s Note:

First published in May 2015, this article reveals not only that the ISIS is a creation of US intelligence, it  also confirms that the Caliphate Project was designed in Washington.

More broadly, it suggests that “the Global War on Terrorism” is “Made in America”.

See Screenshots Below from the title page as well as excerpts:

“… there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist Principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime …. ” (Washington Blog, see below)

October 26, 2019

Judicial Watch has – for many years – obtained sensitive U.S. government documents through freedom of information requests and lawsuits.

The government just produced documents to Judicial Watch in response to a freedom of information suit which show that the West has long supported ISIS.  

Download the declassified documents here

The documents were written by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency on August 12, 2012 … years before ISIS burst onto the world stage.

Here are screenshots from the documents. We have highlighted the relevant parts in yellow:

 

Why is this important? It shows that extreme Muslim terrorists – salafists, Muslims Brotherhood, and AQI (i.e. Al Qaeda in Iraq) – have always been the “major forces driving the insurgency in Syria.”

This verifies what the alternative media has been saying for years: there aren’t any moderate rebels in Syria (and see this, this and this).

The newly-declassified document continues:

Yes, you read that correctly:

… there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist Principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime ….

In other words, the powers supporting the Syrian opposition – the West, our Gulf allies, and Turkey wanted an Islamic caliphate in order to challenge Syrian president Assad.

Sure, top U.S. generals – and vice president Vice President Joe Biden – have said that America’s closest allies support ISIS.  And mainstream American media have called for direct support of ISIS.

But the declassified DIA documents show that the U.S. and the West supported ISIS at its inception … as a way to isolate the Syrian government.  And see this.

This is a big deal.  A former British Army and Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism intelligence officer and a former MI5 officer confirm that the newly-released documents are a smoking gun.

This is a train wreck long in the making.

  • Posted in English
  • Comments Off on The Caliphate Project, Made in America. Declassified U.S. Government Documents Confirm the US Supported the Creation of ISIS