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***

When a new recording of Verdi’s Il Trovatore was released in 1976, whose cast included the rising meteoric tenor Luciano Pavarotti, I listened with enthusiasm. I had heard the tenor several years earlier in concert at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, where he sang to a half-filled house. It was an exquisite recital by a singer who would soon thereafter become a dominant star.

However I noted something a little ‘off’ in the aria ‘Di Quella Pira’, so I played it over and over until I had figured out that the high C had been spliced. (I may be wrong about this particular recording but I’ve learned since that keeping a bank of notes for a singer is now commonplace, to draw upon for insertion when needed.) At the time Pavarotti had been known as ‘King of the High Cs” and I was tremendously disappointed. Fortunately, in the live performance of opera no splicing or alteration of anything is possible, and my affections returned to the great man after I had seen him in a wondrous performance of Puccini’s La Boheme, also in Philadelphia, during which his bright high C rang out as the culmination of the famous aria ‘Che Gelida Manina’.

Certainly we all knew that songs — particularly those that featured in the popular charts of the day — were mostly studio confections, and we accepted the tracks and inserts and modifications that made for the polished public production without a thought. But the incident in Il Trovatore had disturbed, had unsettled, had soured me, as if a rancid aftertaste persisted after a posh dining experience in one of the best and most expensive restaurants of the city.

Two decades later I purchased an orthophonic victrola — the last and best of the old-style playback machines manufactured by RCA Victor — principally because I loved Caruso and I wished to hear as near as possible what his great voice really sounded like. At the time he recorded the process was analog and mechanical, and the machine I had used to play his heavy 78 rpm discs on was hand-wound. The voice that emerged from the large horn was immense, and although the clarity of electronic recording could not be achieved, one felt the power and strength of the core of the magnificent voice, even though that voice was veiled as if by a layer of cheese-cloth that had interposed itself between it and its full sparkling brilliance. When Caruso recorded it was impossible to interpolate anything into the ‘take’, so a ‘take’ was what we got, for good or ill, with every glory and imperfection. A ‘take’ was an honest and genuine reproduction of an undoctored moment of time.

Although I have been dimly aware of the practice of pitch-correction in the modern-day music industry — a process by which a singer’s voice or an instrumentalist’s notes are brought precisely in tune — I had had no idea of the extent of its adoption and use and dissemination. It is a process which, thanks to progress in digitization and computing technology, is even applied to live performances!

I chanced in my YouTube meanderings upon the following video:

And if what I felt was distress after my experience with the Pavarotti Trovatore of 1976, what I feel now is a deepening sense of how the world around us — our world, the world, whatever — has become a duplicitous confection that is now shaping our minds, secretly and relentlessly.

To think that the human voice — the soul made sensible, the breath of our lives, the resonant expression of our plaints and our joys, our miseries and our delights, and infinite palette of our very essence — is being subjected to an artificial standard that fills our ears wherever we go.

In the wake of covid and its depredations and the logarithmic ascension of digital technology’s sway over everything from banking and shopping to surveillance, this really should come as no surprise. But it did and it does. And this quest for pitch perfect perfection is anathema to genuine human expression. Musically speaking, the subtle play above and below a note, the minute changes in pitch that are inevitable from the human hand or throat, shed light and color and nuance and magnificence.

Compare for example the popular artist featured above, with her voice snapped artificially into line with a mechanic’s notion of tune, with a singer who antedated our digital era with a voice that possessed an infinitude of expressive capabilities:

I grew up in the city where Lanza was born, and in fact my mother went to high school with this wondrous singer and told me a few tales about his powerful and beautiful vocal instrument. They both hailed from a neighborhood bursting with the energetic vitality of second generation Italian-Americans looking to make good in a new country of opportunity. Their parents weathered the Great Depression by working themselves to the bone so that their children might enjoy a less onerous life.

The South Philly of my growing up was a little easier but no less vital. Authority — and particularly the government, local or national — was an entity that everyone viewed with suspicion. Imagine yet another disappointment when, in correspondence with family members there during the covid incursion, I discovered that the army of rebels and individualists who populated my youth had fallen in line like lemmings for the mask, and for the jab, and for every other insanely ridiculously oppressive covid measure meant to ‘safeguard’ their health. Mostly, but not entirely … at least one of my cousins has had the great good sense to resist, which means that the embers of hope still glow.

And as for this subtly sneaky attempt to annihilate our voice(s) by mechanizing them and creating an aural firmament that surrounds and infects us with its concocted and sterile idea of music, I say I’ll bring my own earplugs.

Yes, I know about the more glaringly terrible things going on, the murders, the wars, the forced slow-march to ill-health via a manufactured pathogen and its harmful manufactured ‘antidote’ … but it’s all of a piece, and the more aware we are the better.

Maybe what we need to do is sing, in real time, live, together, in or out of tune, and have some fun for the holidays and show these overlordlings just how empty their digital spaces really are.

*

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Dr. Garcia is a Philadelphia-born psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who emigrated to New Zealand in 2006. He has authored articles ranging from explorations of psychoanalytic technique, the psychology of creativity in music (Mahler, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Delius), and politics. He is also a poet, novelist and theatrical director. He retired from psychiatric practice in 2021 after working in the public sector in New Zealand. Visit his substack at https://newzealanddoc.substack.com/ where this article was first published.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from the Public Domain

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).

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***

One man’s death is another man’s bread. Real estate company Harey Zahav, known for building homes for settlers in the West Bank, has announced a new project that will make a profit from the genocide in Gaza.

In the past, plans had already been leaked to expel all Gaza residents. Far-right forces in Israel show less and less restrain and openly declare their intention to carry out large-scale ethnic cleansing.

For example, David Azoulai, council head of Metula, a city in the north of Israel. According to him, the entire Gaza Strip must be “emptied and leveled flat, just like Auschwitz.”

Now real estate company Harey Zahav is planning to build houses on the Gaza coastal strip. The ads feature slogans such as “Wake up, a beach house is not a dream.”

Sketches have already been made of where these homes will be located and there is speculation as to how the reconstruction will proceed. Pre-sale prices are even mentioned.

Another illustration also shows the names of future settlements: Maale Atzmona, Oren and Neve Katif. These names refer to those of pre-existing settlements in the Gaza Strip.

The advertisement reads:

“We, Harey Zahav, are working to prepare the ground for the return to Gush Katif. Our employees are working on the rehabilitation of the region, cleaning up waste, and deporting the occupiers (Palestinians). We hope that in the near future, the kidnapped and our soldiers will somehow return to their homes, and we can start construction in the entire Gush Katif area in the Gaza Strip.”

Gush Katif was a block of Israeli settlements established in the Gaza Strip in the early 1970s, but whose residents were forced to withdraw in 2005 as a result of the withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip.

Implicitly, the real estate company suggests that it is working with Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

Building settlements on the ruins of destroyed Palestinian homes brings back painful memories of the Nakba, when more than 500 Palestinian towns and villages were razed to the ground by Zionist militias and 750,000 Palestinians were deported.

*

This is no longer about a war against Hamas. It is a war against the Palestinians. October 7 is the excuse to realize the ancient messianic dream of Greater Israel, from the sea to the river.

While the genocide is taking place before our eyes, Western countries are taking no action and allowing weapons to be delivered from our ports to be used in this genocide. Yes, there are some tentative condemnations, but that’s it. There are no diplomatic sanctions, let alone economic sanctions.

That makes the West complicit. Wir haben es gewusst. (We did know.)

*

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Marc Vandepitte is a Belgian economist and philosopher. He writes on North-South relations, Latin America, Cuba, and China. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Sources

Israeli company announce controversial housing project in devastated Gaza

As genocide unfolds, Israel settlers plan ‘dream’ beach house in Gaza

Un promoteur israélien suscite l’indignation en diffusant des projets de constructions à Gaza

Gaza death toll is accurate, scientists say, as Israel massacres civilians

All images in this article are from the author

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***

Back in March, I had the opportunity to participate in an on-line forum where a well-known Russian expert provided a briefing on the “ground truth” as he saw it from Moscow.

Following the briefing, the floor was opened for questions. I had noted that the briefer, the moderator, and indeed the audience made repetitive use of the term “invasion” to describe what Russia has called a “Special Military Operation.” 

I brought up the limited objectives of the Russian military effort at the time of its initiation, namely the goal of compelling Ukraine to agree to a negotiated settlement and asked if the term “Special Military Operation” was not a more accurate description of reality.

The expert understood my question and agreed that the term “Special Military Operation” carried with it a specific connotation which distinguished it from a classic military invasion. However, in the group chat, where participants were able to comment on the proceedings, one individual offered the following observation: “‘Special Military Operation?’ What’s that? I don’t speak Putin.”

This forum was intended as a way to better inform the participants about one of the most pressing issues of the day — the conflict between Russia and Ukraine — and to better prepare them for assessing the consequences of this conflict globally.

Given the failure of the collective West to impose its will on Russia through what is widely considered a proxy conflict, one would think that some form of retrospective analysis would be in order. However, to engage in such an activity constructively, an agreed-upon lexicon would be needed to communicate effectively.

Since Russia is prevailing in the conflict, one would also think that a modicum of interest should be given to how Russia defines the conflict. In short, anyone who is interested in learning the lessons of the collective West’s failure in Ukraine should learn “to speak Putin.”

Worn-Out Cold War Thinking

Berlin Wall in 1961. (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

The problem is, those in the West who should be preparing a proper lexicon from which the Russian-Ukraine conflict could be more accurately assessed are instead operating from an outdated lexicon rooted in the language and mindset of a time that no longer exists, born of a Cold War mentality that prevents any deep-seated and relevant analysis of the true situation between Russia and the West.

Both the United States and NATO have described the Russia-Ukraine conflict as possessing existential consequences for Europe and the world, with the secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, going so far as to declare in October 2022 that

“Russia’s victory in the war against Ukraine will be a defeat of NATO,” adding ominously, “This cannot be allowed.”

Bad news, Mr. Stoltenberg — Russia has won. While the “Special Military Operation” has yet to be concluded, Russia has seized the strategic initiative across the board when it comes to conflict with Ukraine, forcing the Ukrainian military to terminate a counteroffensive, which the government of Ukraine and its NATO allies had invested tens of billions of dollars in military resources, and tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives in hopes of achieving a decisive victory over the Russian military on the battlefield.

Stoltenberg laying a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine on  Sept. 28. (NATO, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Today, Ukraine finds its military decimated by the fighting and unable to sustain itself as a cohesive combat force on the field of battle. The U.S. and NATO likewise find themselves unable and/or unwilling to continue supplying Ukraine with the money and material needed to continue to maintain a viable military presence on the battlefield.

Russia is in the process of transitioning away from a posture of flexible defense, and instead initiating offensive operations along the length of the line of contact designed to exploit opportunities presented by an increasingly depleted, and defeated, Ukrainian army.

U.S. President Joe Biden has likewise argued that a Russian victory was unacceptable.

“We can’t let Putin win,” Biden said earlier this month to put pressure on a U.S. Congress that has allowed the Ukrainian conflict to become wrapped up in domestic American politics, with key Republicans in both the Senate and House refusing to support a funding bill that lumps some $60 billion in Ukraine assistance together with money for Israel and immigration reform.

“Any disruption in our ability to supply Ukraine clearly strengthens Putin’s position,” Biden concluded.

Biden’s articulation of the quandary faced by his administration underscores the extent to which the U.S. and its European allies have personalized the Russian-Ukraine conflict. In their eyes, this is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

Indeed, Russia itself has been reduced to being a mere appendage of the Russian president. In this, Biden is not alone. An entire class of erstwhile Russian “experts” — including the likes of former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul; the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Anne Applebaum; and a host of so-called national security experts, including former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia Andrea Kendall-Taylor and the former Russia Director for the National Security Council Fiona Hill — have all made the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia all about Putin.

In a recent interview with Politico, Hill, the co-author of Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin, published in 2015, mirrored the statements by Stoltenberg and Biden that defined the Russia-Ukraine conflict as an existential crisis.

March 2018: Fiona Hill, at far end of left side of table, at a meeting between U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton — beside Hill — and Putin in Moscow. (Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)

Kendall-Taylor, who in 2022 co-authored an article in Foreign Affairs titled “The Beginning of the End for Putin?” likewise views the conflict as an extension of Putin’s needs as an individual, more than Russia’s needs as a nation.

“Putin,” Kendall-Taylor told NPR in January 2022, before the start of the Special Military Operation, 

“really is looking to keep Ukraine in Russia’s orbit. After 20 years of him being in power, he’s thinking about his legacy, and he wants to be the leader who returned Russia to greatness. And to do that, he has to restore Russian influence in Ukraine.

And for him, I think it’s really personal. Putin, over his 20 years — 22 years now in power, has tried and failed repeatedly to bring Ukraine back into the fold. And I think he senses that now is this — his time to take care of this unfinished business.”

Such an outcome, of course, is unacceptable, according to Kendall-Taylor.

“I don’t think it’s overstating it to highlight how important the U.S. assistance is,” she recently told The New York Times. “If the assistance doesn’t continue, then this war takes on a radically different nature moving forward.”

Applebaum in November penned an article in The Atlantic titled “The Russian Empire Must Die,” wherein she argued that “a better future requires Putin’s defeat — and the end to imperial aspirations.” She recently gave her opinion of Putin’s legacy in the aftermath of the Ukraine conflict.

“I don’t think there’s any question that Putin will be remembered as the man who really set out to destroy his own country,” Applebaum told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in an interview last August. Putin, Applebaum declared, 

“is somebody who has worsened the living standards, and freedom, and culture of Russia itself. He doesn’t seem to care about the well-being or prosperity of ordinary Russians. They’re just cannon fodder to him. He’s not interested in, you know, Russian achievements in infrastructure or art or in literature and in anything else. He has impoverished Russians. And he’s also brought back a form of dictatorship that I think most Russians had thought they’d left behind.”

What the Russian president is doing, Applebaum said, “is really destroying modern Russia. And I think that’s what he’ll be remembered for overall.”

‘Russia Is the Problem Because It Empowers Putin’

Touring Red Square in Moscow in May 2013: McFaul, when he was U.S. ambassador to Russia, is third from right. From left: Russian Chief of Protocol Yuriy Filatov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry  (State Department, Public domain)

McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, wrote a memoir, From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador to Putin’s Russia. In a recent interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, McFaul stated that, “I changed my views as a result of this horrific, barbaric war in Ukraine, because Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine.” Russia, McFaul now claims, is the problem because Russia has empowered Putin.

McFaul backs up his assessment with a bit of revisionist history. 

Calling Putin “a completely accidental leader of Russia,” McFaul labeled Putin “a creature of the existing regime” appointed by Boris Yeltsin, the first president of Russia, and lacking in any meaningful political constituency. 

Putin, McFaul claims, “wants to create this myth that ‘there was the chaos of the ‘90s, and I came in as the hero.’ That’s complete and utter nonsense,” McFaul asserts. “That’s not the history the way it was in real time.”

Given Putin’s lack of political pedigree, McFaul says,

“we don’t necessarily know if Russians support him. How do you know when there’s not real free and fair elections, when there’s no real media? You can’t know if he’s popular or not in those conditions.”

McFaul says that “I changed my views” about the culpability of the Russian people for Putin

“as a result of this horrific, barbaric war in Ukraine, because Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine. There was no vote; there’s no referendum. We don’t know what Russians actually thought about that decision. There is public-opinion polling before it to suggest that they didn’t want that fight, including by independent organizations, even Western organizations.

But once he went in, there was support — as there usually is when countries go to war — and now there are Russians that are raping Ukrainian women and children; there are Russians that are committing massive atrocities inside Ukraine. So Putin can’t do those things without the support of Russians. And therefore, this excuse that Russians are not guilty and they shouldn’t be treated badly, and they shouldn’t be sanctioned because of autocracy, I disagree with that.”

Putin’s war, McFaul concludes, is now Russia’s war.

McFaul’s unsubstantiated allegations of Russian atrocities provide a clear picture of the fact-free foundation used by the former ambassador to shape his narrative of Putin’s Russia.

McFaul’s assertion of rape is particularly egregious, considering that, at the time of his interview — July 2023 — these allegations had been quashed by Ukraine itself following the revelations that Lyudmila Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament’s commissioner for human rights, had issued official statements using unverified information.

In a letter to the Parliament, Ukrainian journalists said Denisova’s reports were harmful to Ukraine, noting that the information put out by Denisova’s office was regarded as factual by the media, and was “then used in articles and in speeches by public figures.”

Denisova was fired in May 2022 — more than a year before McFaul echoed her discredited allegations in a living manifestation of the caution set forth by the Ukrainian journalists.

McFaul premised much of his altered view regarding the co-responsibility of the Russian people for the conflict with Ukraine on his understanding of the events of the 1990’s, and how these events shaped the rise to political prominence of Vladimir Putin. 

Curiously, McFaul asserts that any notion of the decade of the 1990s as being one of “chaos” for Russia is a myth. What makes this assertion particularly curious is that McFaul himself was personally involved with the Russia of the 1990s, and should know better.

McFaul arrived in Moscow in 1990 as a visiting scholar at Moscow State University. He later took a position as a consultant with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), self-described as “a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization that has supported democratic institutions and practices in every region of the world,” blurring the line between academic and activist.

The NDI was founded in 1983 to promote “public diplomacy” operations in furtherance of U.S. national security interests. As the NDI’s representative in Moscow, McFaul actively supported “Democratic Russia,” a coalition of Russian politicians led by Yeltsin, whom McFaul later dubbed the “catalyst for the Cold War’s end.”

In his 2001 book, Russia’s Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin, McFaul openly espoused the concept of “democracy” as it was manifested in the form of Yeltsin, even though McFaul knew only too well that Yeltsin was little more than the hand-picked puppet of the United States.

McFaul took umbrage at Putin’s rise to prominence and power, proffering instead an alternative reality which had Yeltsin, who resigned from the Russian presidency on New Years Eve 1999, appointing Boris Nemtsov (whom McFaul describes as the “heir apparent”) instead of Putin as his replacement.

McFaul never forgave Russia the sin of Putin’s appointment — in Russia’s Unfinished Revolution, he declared that the former KGB officer had “inflicted considerable damage to democratic institutions” in Russia, a remarkable example of personal prejudice, given that Putin took power in 2000, and McFaul’s book was published in 2001.

Moreover, McFaul engaged in a good deal of historical revisionism, given that there were no “democratic institutions” in Russia under Yeltsin — Russian tanks firing on the Russian Parliament in October 1993 on the orders of Yeltsin, combined with the open rigging of the 1996 election with the support of the United States, guaranteed that.

McFaul was more than familiar with this history — he helped shape the conditions that produced it — making his present-day amnesia suspect.

*

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Scott Ritter is a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties, in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm and in Iraq overseeing the disarmament of WMD. His most recent book is Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika, published by Clarity Press.

Featured image: Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. (Ramil Sitdikov, RIA Novosti Host Photo Agency, Kremlin)

‘Sacrificial Lamb’: US Troops in Syria and Iraq. Colonial-Style Occupation Ready to Sacrifice Their Lives for Israel in a Future Middle East Conflict

By Timothy Alexander Guzman, December 20, 2023

The Yemen News Agency (SABA) reported that “A U.S. military official has revealed that U.S. and coalition forces have been subjected to at least 97 attacks in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17 until Wednesday.” 

A Merry AUKUS Surprise, Western Australia!

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, December 21, 2023

The secretive Australian government just cannot help itself. Clamouring and hectoring of other countries and their secret arrangements (who can forget the criticism of the Solomon Islands over its security pact with China for that reason?) the Albanese government is a bit too keen on keeping a lid on things regarding the withering away of Australian independence before a powerful and spoiling friend.

Gaza Genocide: Hezbollah Confronting and “Inflicting Serious Damage” on Israel. “Expect Escalation…”

By Karsten Riise and Hindustan Times, December 20, 2023

Hezbollah is not sitting passively watching Israel completing its genocide on Gaza. The real and vast scale on which Hezbollah is causing damage on Israel is hidden by the US media, but the Hindustan Times reports on it. With over 500 attacks so far, Hezbollah is inflicting serious damage on Israel – all the time.

Latest China-EU Summit Exposes Brussels’ Complete Lack of Sovereignty. EU Foreign Policy Controlled by Washington

By Drago Bosnic, December 20, 2023

Earlier this month, China and the European Union concluded a bilateral summit, the first one since 2019. One usually wouldn’t expect that four years could change much, but that was precisely the case during the recent meeting. While the previous summit was largely focused on questions of economic cooperation and calls for the improvement of overall relations, this one was much more (geo)political, with the EU reiterating a near-carbon copy of American talking points.

Military Deaths After Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination

By Dr. William Makis, December 20, 2023

US Army Lt. Col. Jered Little, commander of Public Health Activity (Hawaii) died suddenly on Nov. 24, 2023. Got his 1st Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine on Dec. 23, 2020 & was the poster boy for illegal COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine mandates in the US Military.

Ukraine Weapons Fund Will Run Out on December 30, Pentagon Claims. What Next? Ukraine Is Totally Bankrupt According to the IMF

By Ahmed Adel, December 20, 2023

For the first time, the Pentagon announced an exact date for the exhaustion of resources intended to support Kiev, according to Bloomberg. The remaining amount, estimated at $1.07 billion, will include several weapons and equipment acquisitions.

“Victory Over Russia Is Impossible”: Zelensky Can’t Eschew Responsibility for Rising Public Anger at Ukraine’s Conscription Crisis

By Andrew Korybko, December 20, 2023

Zaluzhny knows better than anyone else in Ukraine that his side’s envisaged maximum victory over Russia is impossible, but it’s still being sought in spite of that because it’s ultimately Zelensky’s decision whether or not to continue the conflict. His order to fortify the entire front instead of resuming peace talks with Russia per reported Western pressure and unilaterally complying with its requested security concessions in defiance of his patrons is why more conscription is needed.

Born in a Police State: The Deep State’s Persecution of Its Most Vulnerable Citizens. “What if Jesus had been born 2,000 years later?”

By John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead, December 20, 2023

What if, instead of being born into the Roman police state, Jesus had been born at this moment in time? What kind of reception would Jesus and his family be given? Would we recognize the Christ child’s humanity, let alone his divinity? Would we treat him any differently than he was treated by the Roman Empire?

“Facing the Beast: Courage, Faith, and Resistance in a New Dark Age.” New Book by Naomi Wolf

By Dr. Naomi Wolf, December 20, 2023

“Before” the years 2020 to 2022, when a set of policies based on abject lies posed an existential threat to our democracy and our way of life. “Before” this likely AI-deployed set of lies, dispensed globally, targeted our West with its core traditions of free speech—and in the US, with its First Amendment—with arrant censorship.

Propaganda Roundup: Hillary Claims Climate Change™ Targets Pregnant Women

By Ben Bartee, December 20, 2023

At any rate, transhumanist technocrats should love Climate Change™, in such a case that it targets pregnant women, because they hate legacy fronthole women getting pregnant anyway. Human reproduction the old-fashioned way — as in, not in a lab — viscerally repulses them.

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***

Abstract

A comprehensive examination of the evidence available, contained in U.S. government statements, English-language media accounts, and hacked Telegram chats among Brazilian prosecutors, indicates that the United States was closely involved in the “long coup” that removed the left from power in Brazil in 2016 and secured the election of the far-right in 2018. Just as after Brazil’s U.S.-backed 1964 coup, this evidence has largely been ignored by U.S. scholars. Latin Americanists would do well to return to the anti-imperialist tradition that established our field as a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy.

U.S. Imperialism and Its Denialists in Historical Context: The 1964 Brazilian Coup

It should come as no surprise that U.S. media and many scholars have ignored (or applauded) U.S. involvement in the long coup. For over half a century, intervening against democratically elected governments has been only half the story; the second half involves justifying, minimizing, or denying U.S. involvement. Cold War justifications for U.S. intervention privileged anticommunism as the United States destabilized progressive governments, installed friendly dictators, funded brutal military regimes, and provided expert training in repression of leftist dissidents (Livingstone, 2011: 2). As with recent interventions, such actions have generally only been belatedly, if ever, acknowledged by important sectors of U.S. journalism and academia.

In 1961, President Jânio Quadros resigned, leaving vice president João Goulart as his successor. The U.S. government disliked Goulart for his Cold War neutrality, land reform initiatives, 1962 profit remittance law, and promotion of industrial nationalization. By 1962, John F. Kennedy and Ambassador Lincoln Gordon had decided that Goulart should be removed (Green, 2010: 29). Key fronts in the crusade against Goulart included the Alliance for Progress (Green, 2010: 6–27) and the American Institute for Free Labor Development, which worked to steer unions toward anticommunism (Corrêa, 2021). Meanwhile, CIA-produced propaganda portrayed an imminent communist takeover (Black, 1977: 131). As Phyllis Parker (1979) revealed, the United States organized Operation Brother Sam, which positioned U.S. ships off Brazil’s coast, ready to help the plotters if needed. The conspiracy involving the Kennedy administration, business interests, and right-wing Brazilian politicians and military officers came to fruition in 1964. During the two decades of military rule that followed, the United States remained allied with the Brazilian generals.

U.S. opposition to Goulart had little to do with communism; the financial and geopolitical interests that motivated the coup were apparent early on. Corporations had much to lose from Goulart’s reforms. For example, in 1963 the Hanna Mining Company objected to Goulart’s expropriation decree. Hanna board member, John J. McCloy, led Gordon to the office of Brazil’s first military president, Humberto Castelo Branco, to explain that restoring Hanna’s concession “might be a condition for receiving U.S. economic assistance” (Black, 1977: 88). Financial motivations are further suggested by corporate responses to Senator Frank Church’s hearings on U.S. support for torture in Brazil. Worried about exposure, U.S. corporations requested that congressional hearings be “closed and discreet” (Green, 2010: 238–241).

All along, the U.S. government denied involvement, repeating the mantra that the coup had been a “revolution” preventing a fall to communism (Green, 2010: 43). The U.S. media uncritically parroted this. Before the coup, the New York Times’s Rio correspondent, Tad Szulc, warned against “rising Leftist influence” and supposed Marxist organization of peasants (Green, 2010: 25). Meanwhile, the headline in Life’s April 17, 1964, issue stated, “Arrested: A Big Yaw to the Left.” The 23-page Reader’s Digest screed by the noted anticommunist Clarence W. Hall, rife with undocumented claims, was made into a pamphlet with instructions for mailing abroad (Hall, 1964). James Green (2010: 39) calls it “almost a caricature of bad, early 1960s Cold War propaganda.” Michael Weis (1997) concluded that “the U.S. government was able to manage the news to hide U.S. involvement in the coup and to present a skewed version of reality” that would soon justify coups across Latin America.

Despite overwhelming evidence uncovered by Brazilian and U.S. scholars, the record has barely been corrected. At the level of political and popular discourse, false narratives about the coup and military regime continue to mislead a public conditioned to interpret U.S. foreign policy positively. Furthermore, writers connected to the institutions crucial to narrative management—the U.S. military, intelligence agencies, the media, and Wall Street—are often responsible for what becomes “common knowledge” about Latin America (Swart, 2022: 224–226). For example, entries about the coup in the 2008 edition of the Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture read like Cold War propaganda. In the entry “Revolution of 1964,” Marshall C. Eakin (2008) limits U.S. involvement to mere “support,” repeating the pretext of U.S. concerns about “a leftist revolution.” Lewis A. Tambs’s entry on the regime’s first dictator, Castelo Branco, limits U.S. relations with Brazil to “financial aid and investment.” He states that the regime’s series of repressive institutional acts “insured internal order” and “purified the government” (2008: 14). Notably, Tambs cites John W. F. Dulles, son of John Foster Dulles and nephew of former CIA director Allen Dulles. Dulles’s own entry on Luís Carlos Prestes faults “violence-minded leftists” and the Brazilian Communist Party for the coup. Dulles (2008: 362–363) sneers at the existence of U.S. “imperialism” by putting it in scare quotes.

Recent textbooks have not done much better. Both Latin America and the Caribbean and Latin America since Independence: A History with Primary Sources reproduce tropes about communism and omit U.S. intervention. The former lauds dictator Ernesto Geisel (1974–1979) as a champion of democracy and calls the coup a “revolution” (Goodwin, 2013: 93). The latter draws parallels between Castro’s Cuban Revolution and the region’s right-wing dictatorships (Dawson, 2014: 202). Neither text mentions the United States’ role in Brazil’s dictatorship. It is thus not surprising that recent U.S. collaboration with anticorruption investigators has been ignored in most U.S. reference sources. Two unsigned articles, for instance, mislead readers into believing that Dilma Rousseff was impeached for corruption.1 An entry in ABC-CLIO’s World Geography: Understanding a Changing World incorrectly connects Rousseff’s impeachment to the Petrobras corruption scandal that Lava Jato uncovered (World Geography, n.d.).2

Although we are not claiming that the United States was directly involved in Rousseff’s impeachment, these examples illustrate how segments of the U.S. intelligentsia were complicit with Lava Jato’s crusade to weaken the PT. Significantly, they primarily cite mainstream Anglophone media outlets, showing the shape of the echo chamber inhabited by U.S. corporate media and the authors of popularly oriented academic accounts. In effect, Kevin Young (2013) notes that “even the nation’s leading liberal media almost never acknowledge U.S. support for [repressive] regimes.” His analysis of five years of reporting by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and NPR on three dictatorships reveals that the U.S. role is mentioned only 6 percent of the time. When discussing the abuses committed by U.S. allies, U.S. support is rarely mentioned or is glossed over as “a force for democracy and human rights” (Young, 2013). Yet despite denials or justifications for U.S. meddling from government and media sources, evidence invariably surfaces in official documents, legal proceedings, lapses in the standard media narratives, and leaks.

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Featured image: A war tank (M41 Walker Bulldog) and other vehicles of the Brazilian Army near the National Congress of Brazil, during the Coup d’état of 1964 (Golpe de 64) (Licensed under the Public Domain)

A Merry AUKUS Surprise, Western Australia!

December 21st, 2023 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

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Israel is declaring genocidal intent to make Gaza look like Auschwitz and kill and drive out all Palestinians from Gaza.

Under international law, the crime of genocide is defined by “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such,” as noted in the December 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Hezbollah is not sitting passively watching Israel completing its genocide on Gaza.

The real and vast scale on which Hezbollah is causing damage on Israel is hidden by the US media, but the Hindustan Times reports on it.

With over 500 attacks so far, Hezbollah is inflicting serious damage on Israel – all the time.

 

The Hezbollah attacks on Northern Israel are many times every day. See list of how much Hezbollah hits in just one day:

The video links above prove that Hezbollah is a strong force inflicting serious devastation on Israel with destruction of military buildings and Israeli soldiers every day.

Since October 2023, Israel has had to evacuate whole towns near the border with Lebanon.

Israel cannot sustain this. Israel cannot sustain its hurt pride of being hit daily by Hezbollah.

Israel also cannot sustain the long-term social and economic costs of having a mobilized force of more than 100 thousand soldiers permanently tied up in northern Israel.

And Israel’s citizens cannot bear that their military cannot keep them secure anymore, and never will be able to do so.

Benny Gantz, the First Alternate Prime Minister of Israel, has promised to “do something” about Hezbollah and Lebanon. Israeli Defense Minister Galant is equally foreseeing starting an Israeli war into Lebanon.  

Israel’s Netanyahu and his generals have threatened mass-murder in Lebanon by turning Beirut into one more “Gaza”.

Hezbollah knows this and has therefore so far been holding back the scale of its attacks on Israel in order to protect civilians in Beirut from Israeli mass-killings.

But Hezbollah has also received Russian made Pantsir air defense systems. We may speculate, that Hezbollah with more Russian and Iranian supplies of air defense to protect Beirut is making itself ready for a big conflict with Israel, just as Israel on its side is preparing to attack into Lebanon.

This will expand to a very – very – big war.

And not only in the Middle East.

Russia’s president Putin has just made clear, that after dealing with Ukraine, Russia will also do something against Finland for joining NATO and thus breaking with Finland’s treaty-obligation to end the war post-1945 with an obligation that Finland must stay neutral forever. Meanwhile, in Asia, the US is stoking the Philippines to provoke their much-bigger neighbor China in the South China Sea. – and the US continues to build up for a war with China with arms deliveries to Taiwan.

Look forward to global war.

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Karsten Riise is a Master of Science (Econ) from Copenhagen Business School and has a university degree in Spanish Culture and Languages from Copenhagen University. He is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Mercedes-Benz in Denmark and Sweden.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.  

Os houthis conseguiram fazer o que Israel e Estados Unidos tentaram evitar a todo o custo até agora: transformar o genocídio em Gaza numa crise mundial. Atingiram o calcanhar de Aquiles do inimigo: a economia, ao bloquear o trânsito pelo Mar Vermelho de qualquer embarcação israelense ou com destino a Israel.

Pelo lado de Israel, os prejuízos à sua economia já contam bilhões de dólares. O jornalista libanês Khalil Harb destacou, em artigo no The Cradle, que Israel importa e exporta “quase 99% das mercadorias por via fluvial e marítima” e que mais de ⅓ do seu PIB depende do comércio de mercadorias, segundo o Banco Mundial. Esse é um duro golpe e compromete diretamente a continuidade da matança desenvolvida pelas forças sionistas em Gaza, que já custaram a vida de 20 mil pessoas.

Mas a ação houthi não é espetacular somente porque atinge a coluna vertebral da máquina genocida de Israel, e sim, sobretudo, porque está paralisando a economia mundial – isto é, o próprio funcionamento do regime capitalista, que está na raiz do problema da guerra de agressão no Oriente Médio. E quem admite isso é nada menos que o principal órgão de imprensa dos banqueiros internacionais, The Economist: “uma nova crise de Suez ameaça a economia mundial.” Um artigo em tom preocupante do veículo destaca que o bloqueio naval imposto pelos houthis tem o potencial tanto de escalar a guerra e expandi-la para o restante da região como também prejudicar radicalmente o comércio global. A principal alternativa para Israel e EUA seria atacar militarmente o território do Iêmen que é governado pelos houthis, mas estes poderiam retaliar não apenas com ataques a Israel, como também aos aliados árabes dos EUA, como Arábia Saudita, Emirados Árabes Unidos (EAU) e Jordânia, principalmente contra seus campos petrolíferos, o que elevaria brutalmente a crise econômica com uma crise do petróleo (que já se iniciou). Por isso mesmo, enquanto os EAU querem uma ação contundente contra os houthis, os sauditas estão receosos. Mas isso não impede que Riad participe, junto com o Egito, de ações marítimas lideradas por Washington para tentar conter os ataques houthis, contra quem a Casa de Saud tem guerreado há quase dez anos, devastando o Iêmen e tornando o país, que já era o mais pobre do Oriente Médio, numa terra onde ocorre a maior catástrofe humanitária dos últimos cem anos, segundo os próprios organismos das Nações Unidas.

Para se ter uma ideia do estrago que os houthis estão fazendo, basta observar alguns dados. Cerca de 12% do comércio mundial anual depende da rota que passa pelo Canal de Suez e o Estreito de Bab al-Mandab. É por ali que chegam à Europa e à América as embarcações que vêm da Ásia, e vice-versa. A rota Cingapura-Roterdã tem duas alternativas: a passagem pelo Canal do Panamá ou pelo Cabo da Boa Esperança, na África do Sul. Mas elas são 40% mais longas (pelo menos 10 dias a mais de viagem), o que eleva dramaticamente os custos das viagens, acarretando o aumento das tarifas e dos preços dos materiais transportados, que são transferidos para os consumidores do mundo todo. Além disso, o Canal do Panamá está secando, o que obrigou a reduzir quase pela metade o número de navios que passam por ali a cada dia. Assim, os preços de todas as mercadorias que passariam pelo Mar Vermelho e agora deverão passar pelo Cabo da Boa Esperança aumentarão significativamente, atingindo todos os países do mundo. Existe uma terceira alternativa: o Mar do Norte, cuja rota entre Ásia e Europa é mais curta que pelo Suez. A grande ironia é que o país com maior controle sobre essa rota é a… Rússia. Os neocons devem infartar!

Pelo Mar Arábico (entre a Índia e a Península Arábica) passa ⅓ do suprimento de petróleo marítimo e o bloqueio do Mar Vermelho, mesmo que os houthis tenham garantido que só vale para navios relacionados com Israel, na verdade faz com que todas as empresas temam ser atingidas, causando o aumento do preço do petróleo devido ao desvio de rota – a British Petroleum já anunciou que não passa mais por ali. Mais de 60% das linhas de navegação internacionais já suspenderam o transporte para Israel pelo Mar Vermelho e as empresas que decidiram mudar de caminho (como Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM e Hapag-Lloyd) representam mais da metade do transporte global de contêineres.

A hora da verdade para os regimes árabes

A ação houthi representa um divisor de águas não apenas para a guerra de agressão israelense contra os palestinos, mas também para a correlação de forças no Oriente Médio. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, porta-voz do movimento Ansar Allah (o nome oficial da organização houthi), indicou qual é o caráter da operação: “a causa palestina não está aberta para negociação e nós não podemos aceitar o que está acontecendo com o povo de Gaza.” Trata-se de uma ação inteiramente solidária e internacionalista, motivada pelos mais nobres sentimentos de irmandade com os palestinos. Os houthis, neste momento, são a expressão máxima do sentimento de todos os muçulmanos do mundo inteiro – e de milhões de não muçulmanos humanistas, progressistas, democráticos e socialistas. Sendo assim, têm um respaldo moral inabalável e inatingível.

Todas as palavras que os demais países de maioria muçulmana têm emitido demagogicamente nos últimos dois meses estão sendo confrontadas pela ação concreta e extremamente corajosa dos houthis, que sequer controlam todo o território do pequeno e miserável Iêmen. E, embora os houthis tenham a vantagem de não dever justificativas a nenhum outro governo, exatamente pelo seu caráter excepcional de ser um governo paralelo que já está em guerra, portanto não têm nenhum rabo preso, isso não significa que não haja consequências para suas ações. A primeira delas já está valendo e passou despercebida: no início do mês, o Programa Mundial de Alimentos das Nações Unidas anunciou a suspensão do fornecimento de ajuda alimentar para as zonas controladas pelos houthis, o que significa uma sentença de morte pela fome para mais de 13 milhões de iemenitas que dependem dessa ajuda. Foi uma clara retaliação dos EUA e de Israel ao bloqueio naval no Mar Vermelho, com a marca do imperialismo, ou seja, a vingança contra os civis e os mais vulneráveis.

Agora os Estados Unidos vão patrulhar o Mar Vermelho para tentar impedir as confiscações de navios e os ataques vindos dos houthis. O secretário da Defesa americano, Lloyd Austin, anunciou, após chegar a Tel Aviv, que a operação “Guardião da Prosperidade” vai contar com a participação do Reino Unido, França, Canadá, Itália, Holanda, Espanha, Noruega, Bahrein e Seychelles. O porta-aviões nuclear Dwight D. Eisenhower já está no Golfo de Áden.

Muhamed al-Bajiti, membro do Conselho Político Supremo do governo houthi, chamou a coalizão de a “aliança mais suja da história”, que será combatida na “batalha mais honrosa da história”. A Jihad Islâmica Palestina, por sua vez, declarou: “as declarações de Austin são uma descarada bênção estadunidense para o inimigo sionista, permitindo a continuidade de seus crimes bárbaros e nazistas contra nosso povo palestino. A incitação de Austin contra o irmão Iêmen é uma tradução descarada da arrogância estadunidense. É uma vergonha para os regimes árabes e os povos de nossa nação que não tomem medidas para responder à agressão estadunidense e sua inclinação a continuar a guerra de extermínio.”

A participação do Bahrein revela que os regimes subservientes ao imperialismo no Mundo Árabe não apenas não tomam medidas contra EUA e Israel, mas que são seus cúmplices ativos no genocídio do povo palestino e na opressão contra todos os povos árabes. Bahrein, Jordânia, Emirados Árabes Unidos e Egito (o quinto maior fornecedor de petróleo para Israel) são grandes parceiros comerciais do regime de Tel Aviv. Diante do bloqueio do Mar Vermelho, Arábia Saudita, EAU, Bahrein e Jordânia já começaram a operar conjuntamente para transportar as mercadorias por caminhão, do Mar Arábico para Israel, através de seu território. Eles participam, na prática, da coalizão imperialista anti-houthis, mas pela via terrestre. Afinal de contas, a demagogia pró-Palestina desses regimes é só perfumaria para encobrir o fétido apoio ao massacre, um apoio obrigatório, porque, não sendo assim, esses regimes desaparecerão, pois quase absolutamente sustentados pelos EUA e seus aliados europeus. O fechamento do Canal de Suez vai acabar com a já combalida economia egípcia e Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, para se manter na posição de poder que lhe foi entregue pelo imperialismo, tem de se mexer para romper o bloqueio, unindo-se abertamente a Israel, que já controla o regime egípcio há 50 anos. O mesmo vale para os estados artificiais do Golfo Pérsico.

Muhamed al-Bajiti levantou o grande X da questão para os países árabes: “como serão vistos os países que correram para formar uma coalizão internacional contra o Iêmen para proteger os perpetradores do genocídio israelense? E como será visto o Iêmen, que atuou com vontade oficial e popular para deter o genocídio israelense contra o povo palestino?”

Os houthis já tinham uma grande popularidade no Iêmen, sendo apoiados pela maior parte de seu povo, o que foi o fator determinante para manterem uma guerra de resistência à agressão saudita (com todo o imperialismo mundial por trás) durante dez anos. Seu posicionamento firme, como representante de um dos povos que mais têm realizado manifestações multitudinárias em defesa da Palestina, os coloca definitivamente no Eixo da Resistência ao imperialismo no Oriente Médio com um destaque monstruoso. Assim como o heroico Hamas, demonstra aos milhões de árabes e ao bilhão e meio de muçulmanos (mais de 20% da população mundial) que somente um posicionamento radical e o levantamento armado das massas podem fazer frente à esmagadora opressão que sofrem das potências imperialistas. O governo fantoche que controla a outra parte do Iêmen, apoiado pelos sauditas e americanos, se recusou publicamente a tomar parte da coalizão marítima contra os houthis, com medo de precipitar a sua queda pela rebelião popular no território onde ainda governa.

De fato, muitos iemenitas têm se voluntariado para combater ao lado da Resistência Palestina em Gaza. Se Israel e os EUA temiam que a guerra se expandisse, isso parece ser inevitável. Confrontos com o Hezbollah são diários na frente norte, enquanto as bases militares ilegais dos EUA na Síria e no Iraque já sofreram dezenas de ataques nos últimos dois meses. Além da já mencionada possibilidade de ataque dos houthis contra a Arábia Saudita, a Jordânia e os EAU. Já o Irã, que tem atuado como um enxadrista na atual situação, indiretamente apoiando o Hamas, o Hezbollah e o Ansar Allah, também pode ser compelido a se envolver diretamente no conflito: um agente do Mossad foi preso e executado por se infiltrar no país e, na semana passada, Teerã sofreu ataques hackers a partir de Israel. A “guerra fria” entre a nação persa e o estado judeu artificial pode se transformar em uma guerra aberta com a coalizão imperialista ameaçando a segurança nacional do Irã e escalando a guerra Israel-Gaza/Oriente Médio/comercial.

A abertura de uma crise revolucionária

“As Forças Armadas do Iêmen vão tornar o Mar Vermelho um cemitério para a coalizão dos EUA se a aliança decidir tomar qualquer ação contra o Iêmen”, disse o ministro da Defesa do Ansar Allah, major general Mohammad al-Atifi. Segundo a revista Newsweek, os houthis detêm grande estoque de mísseis antiblindagem e podem atacar mais barcos do que a Armada dos EUA pode defender. Se as forças imperialistas fracassarem em liberar o Mar Vermelho, isso será uma derrota monumental e evidenciará a sua fragilidade, fortalecendo ainda mais o Eixo da Resistência e elevando o nível da crise não apenas no Oriente Médio, mas mundial.

A situação econômica da Europa se tornou extremamente difícil após o início da Operação Militar Especial da Rússia na Ucrânia, com as grandes massas europeias sofrendo a inflação, o desabastecimento, o encarecimento das tarifas de energia e saindo às ruas em enormes manifestações nas principais capitais. Ninguém mais aguenta a guerra fomentada pelos EUA e a União Europeia contra a Rússia e esse sentimento, que no fundo é um sentimento anti-imperialista, se aprofundou diante das imagens de crianças sendo mortas como baratas pelas tropas israelenses em Gaza. As manifestações foram retomadas, em solidariedade aos palestinos e contra o apoio dos governos europeus ao genocídio. Agora as reivindicações econômicas serão amplificadas, devido à crise do comércio global derivada do bloqueio ao Mar Vermelho.

Não é mais segredo para toda essa massa populacional que a culpa pela crise no Oriente Médio, que se tornou uma crise mundial, é de Israel e, sobretudo, de seu patrão americano.  De acordo com uma análise realizada pela empresa Mig AI, 83% das publicações na Internet sobre a situação na Palestina são contrárias a Israel, sendo também negativos para o regime sionista 28% dos mais de 370 mil artigos publicados em sites com mais de um milhão de visitas mensais. Ainda que os grandes conglomerados monopolísticos da imprensa internacional mantenham uma linha editorial pró-Israel, a realidade se impôs às manipulações. A pressão da opinião pública é um dos dois fatores (o outro é a crise com o bloqueio do Mar Vermelho) que obrigaram os governos imperialistas a buscar uma solução para a carnificina executada por Israel, criticando Tel Aviv após lhe ajudar no massacre.

A França entrou em um conflito diplomático com Israel após um funcionário de seu Ministério das Relações Exteriores ter sido morto por um ataque israelense em Rafah e a Itália e o Vaticano também entraram em contradição com Tel Aviv por um ataque mortal a uma igreja católica em Gaza. O Reino Unido e os EUA manifestaram preocupação com o morticínio desenfreado de civis e outros países europeus vão sancionar colonos israelitas. A China possivelmente será obrigada a tomar uma posição mais ativa na busca pelo fim do genocídio, porque é um dos países mais afetados pelo bloqueio naval. Enquanto que dentro de Israel a execução de três reféns do Hamas pelas mãos das próprias “Forças de Defesa de Israel” gerou um clima insustentável para Benjamin Netanyahu. Soma-se a isso a resistência imposta pelo Hamas e as demais forças em Gaza, que tornou a Faixa em um atoleiro para os soldados israelenses.

Israel havia sinalizado que não haveria mais um cessar-fogo com o Hamas. Agora, declarações oficiais já indicam que essa posição mudou e Israel possivelmente vai implorar um cessar-fogo ao Hamas. Essa seria mais uma vitória monumental e estratégica da Resistência. Mais do que tudo, no entanto, seria uma afirmação de que os imperialistas e sionistas foram jogados para as cordas. Ou aceitam a derrota em sua investida contra Gaza, com um cessar-fogo que pode resultar no fim da incursão atual, para liberar o Mar Vermelho, ou mantêm o genocídio arcando com as catastróficas consequências econômicas. De qualquer forma, sairia perdendo e essa demonstração de fraqueza pode ser vista como a oportunidade da vida de todo o Eixo da Resistência para pôr um fim em mais de 70 anos de ocupação israelense da Palestina. Não pode ser descartado um ataque coordenado em todas as frentes contra Israel.

As contradições políticas afetarão sobretudo os países do Oriente Médio, onde os governos terão de romper ao menos parcialmente com seus amos imperialistas para garantir sua manutenção ou cairão pela indignação das massas contra a traição à causa palestina. Já na Europa e nos Estados Unidos, o principal fator de desestabilização são as contradições econômicas, com a acentuação da queda brutal na qualidade de vida da maioria da população pelas consequências da insistência de seus governos em manter as guerras de agressão imperialistas.

Com um simples bloqueio marítimo, uma organização de rebeldes esfarrapados e esfomeados conseguiu sacudir os pilares de todo o sistema capitalista mundial, expondo claramente a sua extrema fragilidade. O grande barril de pólvora mundial – o Oriente Médio – está começando a explodir e a demolir todo o sistema em sua volta.

Eduardo Vasco

 

 

Eduardo Vasco é jornalista especializado em política internacional, correspondente de guerra e autor dos livros-reportagem “O povo esquecido: uma história de genocídio e resistência no Donbass” e “Bloqueio: a guerra silenciosa contra Cuba”

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).

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Earlier this month, China and the European Union concluded a bilateral summit, the first one since 2019. One usually wouldn’t expect that four years could change much, but that was precisely the case during the recent meeting. While the previous summit was largely focused on questions of economic cooperation and calls for the improvement of overall relations, this one was much more (geo)political, with the EU reiterating a near-carbon copy of American talking points. Although Brussels’ sovereignty and independence were always highly questionable, its subservience during this year’s meeting was more obvious than ever before. Beijing was faced with an implicitly hostile attitude that made it virtually impossible to accomplish any breakthroughs. Expectedly, China wasn’t the one making unreasonable demands.

As previously mentioned, the 2019 summit dealt with closer economic cooperation that also included technological cooperation (particularly in terms of 5G development), while the (geo)political side of things was limited to largely ceremonial calls for the ease of tensions in the South and East China Seas, as well as “continued support for the Minsk Accords”. However, as we all know now, the EU’s commitment to both has been patently false. Worse yet, the troubled bloc is now openly engaged in America’s so-called “China containment” strategy, while its much-touted “commitment” to the Minsk Accords is laughable at best, given that top European leaders openly admitted that this was just a ruse to give the Kiev regime enough time to prepare for war against Russia.

And yet, Chinese President Xi Jinping still tried to keep the atmosphere as friendly as possible and even stated that the EU was a “key partner”, reiterating the importance of trade and technological cooperation between Beijing and Brussels. He also said that China and the EU had no reason to consider each other “rivals”. However, Xi Jinping’s peaceful overtures were not only ignored, but openly rejected, echoing the identical behavior of the United States in recent years. Instead of dealing with its mounting problems, the troubled bloc insisted that the Asian giant should prevent the mythical “Uyghur genocide”. This was also followed by threats of tariffs for Chinese electric vehicles, while Germany, the EU’s top member, effectively banned Huawei from the development of its 5G network.

In addition, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen complained that Brussels’ trade deficit with Beijing doubled, amounting to $390 billion in 2022. Von der Leyen accused China of economic protectionism and excess production that supposedly undercuts European manufacturers. Somewhat ironically, the EU’s complaints and blame games were almost identical to those of former president Donald Trump, when his administration kept accusing Beijing of the same practices. It should be noted that the troubled bloc heavily criticized Trump precisely for these statements (among many other things), but was now repeating exactly the same talking points. Obviously, the political West is simply ignoring the history of the development of China’s economic system.

Namely, while Beijing always had a strong production economy (more precisely, the strongest in the world since at least 2014), the likes of the US and EU have shifted their economic base to tertiary industrial sectors, severely undercutting their ability to compete with China. The Asian giant has an extremely robust economy that includes a fine balance between primary and secondary industries, while the tertiary sector is growing at an astonishing rate. Realizing that it won’t be able to compete with China fairly, the political West is now trying to find excuses to prevent or at the very least slow down Beijing’s unprecedented development. However, it should be noted that the Asian giant never had any ambitions of global domination, much unlike its Western rivals and their vassals and satellite states.

China is now faced with the prospect of having to contend with not only the US’s “containment” strategy (QUAD, AUKUS), but also with the EU’s meddling in its backyard, as well as calls for the globalization of NATO and the formation of its Asia-Pacific variant. Instead of focusing on the economic aspects of its relations with Beijing, Brussels kept insisting on (geo)political matters, including those that are outside of China’s control. Namely, von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel urged Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Qiang to put pressure on Russia and President Vladimir Putin. As evidenced by Xi Jinping’s recent statements, this request was completely ignored, demonstrating China’s continued commitment to keeping close Russia ties.

The EU insisted that the “diplomatic solution” to the Ukrainian conflict was necessary and threatened China with “consequences” if it ever decided to sell weapons to Russia or “assist” Moscow with circumventing sanctions. Needless to say, none of these requests apply to the troubled bloc itself, as the EU is “allowed” to send weapons to the Neo-Nazi junta, as well as to steal Russian foreign exchange (forex) assets. However, this unrivaled hypocrisy (the sheer magnitude of which can hardly be described with words) didn’t stop there, as European “leaders” once again brought up the aforementioned myth of the “Uyghur genocide” and accused China of alleged “human rights abuses” in its northwestern province of Xinjiang. They also threatened consequences if Beijing intervened in Taiwan.

Xi Jinping’s and Li Qiang’s attempts to nudge the talks more toward economic topics were ignored by von der Leyen and Michel. What China even suggested was the cooperation between its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the EU’s Global Gateway, a project that the troubled bloc envisioned as a rival undertaking. To call the summit a failure would be a gross understatement. Virtually every Chinese offer of cooperation was not only rejected, but was also met with completely unreasonable demands that had nothing to do with economic relations. Political considerations were the only thing the EU was interested in. All this only demonstrated and confirmed that Russia’s concerns about the political West’s crawling aggression are not unfounded and that China should be worried about the same.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

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

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***

Dec. 16, 2023 – Ft Jackson, SC – US Army Staff Sgt. Zachary L.Melton, age 30, was found deceased in his car on Saturday Dec. 16, 2023.

Dec. 8, 2023 – Ft Jackson, SC – US Army Staff Sgt. Allen Burtram, age 34, didn’t report for work, was later found dead by med services. No foul play suspected.

Dec. 2, 2023 – US Air Force Veteran – 42 year old Michael Snyder, father of 6, died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack while rocking his baby to sleep.

Nov. 24, 2023 – US Army Lt. Col. Jered Little, commander of Public Health Activity (Hawaii) died suddenly on Nov. 24, 2023. Got his 1st Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine on Dec. 23, 2020 & was the poster boy for illegal COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine mandates in the US Military.

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Nov. 24, 2023 – 58 year old John Leon Gerard Legere – served in the Royal Canadian Navy, Subsee Engineering, Volunteer Firefighter, died after battling Craniopharyngioma, a ‘rare’ type of Brain Tumor.

Nov. 18, 2023 – US Air Force Veteran Clairesa Robinson died suddenly on Nov. 18, 2023.

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Nov. 16, 2023 – Montrose, MI – 36 year old US Army Veteran and Medic Melissa Portillo died suddenly. She was an Iraq War Veteran.

Nov. 13, 2023 – Bryan Herzog, US Army Soldier, Operations Officer was found collapsed on a running path near Sherman Army Airfield, while training & died in hospital on Nov. 13, 2023.

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Nov. 9, 2023 – Fredericksburg, VA Dr.Jayson Tappan, 53 year old emergency doctor and US Navy Veteran died suddenly on Nov. 9, 2023.

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Nov. 4, 2023 – Davie, FL – 14 year old Knox MacEwen is a Western High School Air Force Junior ROTC (Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) student. On Nov. 4 he was running at a Army Junior ROTC exercise when he suffered a cardiac arrest during a 5K run and died in the hospital. His mother is recovering from a hard fought battle with cancer this past year.

Oct. 30, 2023 – Australia – 60 yo Mario Collavino, teacher who served in Australian Army and police officer died suddenly on Oct. 30, 2023.

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Oct. 25, 2023 – Brockton, MA – US Navy Veteran Richard Ledoux died unexpectedly on Oct. 25, 2023. His wife is a nurse who rushed to get COVID-19 mRNA Vaccinated.

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Oct. 23, 2023 – US ARMY NURSE DEAD – Liberty Hill, TX – 42 year old Krista Labbe, Lieutenant Colonel US Army Nurse Corps died suddenly on Oct. 23, 2023.

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Oct. 10, 2023 – CANADIAN ARMY MAJOR DEAD – Ottawa, ON – 37 year old Nicholas Fysh hated “Freedom Convoy”, loved COVID-19 Vaccines, mandates & passports “so important for encouraging holdouts to get vaccinated” Died Oct. 10, 2023 from “unexplained medical event.”

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Oct. 4, 2023 – 36 year old Captain Patrick John Cassidy, Westhill School Board Member, NY Army National Guard. Passed away at home after a 9-month battle with Lung Cancer.

Oct. 2, 2023 – 39 year old US Air Force Veteran, Brandon Daniel Calderon, died suddenly.

Sep. 26, 2023 – Brazil – 35 year old Wilsonsander da Silva Dias, Sergeant of Navy and Marine died suddenly Sep. 26, 2023 after getting sick during special training.

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Sep. 15, 2023 – AK – 57 yo Scott Frederick was a lawyer & US Navy Vet. Had stroke on Aug. 23 & was found to have Glioblastoma. He died Sep. 15, 2023, 3 weeks after diagnosis.

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Sep. 10, 2023 – 51 year old Dax Bakken was a Desert Storm Iraq Veteran and dad of 3 kids. He collapsed during Ironman Wisconsin bike portion of the race and died suddenly on Sep. 10, 2023. 

Click here to read the full article.

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Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.


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

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***

The United States Department of Defence has notified Congress that funds allocated to resupply weapons for Ukraine will be exhausted by December 30, as reported by Bloomberg, citing a letter from Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord sent to members of the American Parliament. At the same time, the IMF has announced that Ukraine can hold out for only “a couple of months” without Western financial support.

For the first time, the Pentagon announced an exact date for the exhaustion of resources intended to support Kiev, according to Bloomberg. The remaining amount, estimated at $1.07 billion, will include several weapons and equipment acquisitions.

According to McCord’s letter, $635 million will be allocated to purchase missiles, while $210 million will be allocated for high-explosive 155mm M795 shells, as well as fuses and primers for the fragmentation projectiles. In addition, $129 million will be directed to the Navy’s classified financing in other missile types.

The Pentagon also plans to use $17 million to replace acoustic sensors supplied to Ukraine, $4.3 million to replace tactical vehicles, metal fences and barriers for the Air Force, and $737,000 to acquire camouflage jackets for the Air Force.

McCord emphasised in the letter that once these funds are allocated, the US Department of Defense will have exhausted the resources available to assist the Ukrainian military.

On December 18, the White House strategic communications coordinator, John Kirby, stated that Washinton would announce a new military assistance package for Ukraine at the end of December, which would be the last. He highlighted that the US has already sent the remaining funds to assist Ukraine in replenishing its military reserves.

Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder indicated earlier this month that Washington would have to choose between their own readiness to combat and the supply of weapons to Ukraine due to a lack of financial resources.

It is worth mentioning that in relation to such transfers, Russia has already sent a note to NATO warning about arms deliveries to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that any shipment containing weapons to Kiev would be considered a legitimate target, while the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that Western countries are “playing with fire” by providing military resources. Lavrov also accused the US and NATO of being directly involved in the conflict, not only through the supply of weapons but also by training personnel in several European countries.

Meanwhile, Kristalina Georgieva warned of difficulties in financing Kiev. According to the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, as quoted on December 17 in the British newspaper Financial Times, Ukraine can withstand the absence of external financial aid for only “a couple of months” and will face difficulties if the European Union and the US fail to resolve the issue of financing.

Georgieva said Ukraine’s economic recovery would be harmed if the country was forced to adapt to the absence of new financial assistance. She warned against the consequences of policies such as money printing, which Kiev would be obliged to follow in case of further delays.

“What is important is not to prolong this period, because then it would put more pressure on Ukraine to adjust,” she pointed out during a visit to South Korea.

Georgieva assured that work will continue in the US and Europe about new aid packages and that “Ultimately,” she remained “optimistic they will secure the funding.”

It is recalled that the US Congress failed to approve on December 13 a $60 billion financing package for Kiev, even after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Washington to lobby lawmakers. Furthermore, at a summit in Brussels, European Union leaders could not agree on a financing plan of four years of €50 billion for Ukraine after Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, vetoed the proposal.

The question remains as to what effect this funding will have for Ukraine since there is little hope that Ukrainian forces can reverse their predicament, especially when Russia decides to launch a major offensive, something it has not done for the entirety of 2023 as it instead preserved its forces and completely repelled the much-lauded NATO-backed summer counteroffensive. Although it is expected that the US and EU will ultimately send more money, it is very unlikely it will have much of an impact to swing the war in Ukraine’s favour, especially the longer it is delayed.

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Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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***

Zaluzhny knows better than anyone else in Ukraine that his side’s envisaged maximum victory over Russia is impossible, but it’s still being sought in spite of that because it’s ultimately Zelensky’s decision whether or not to continue the conflict. His order to fortify the entire front instead of resuming peace talks with Russia per reported Western pressure and unilaterally complying with its requested security concessions in defiance of his patrons is why more conscription is needed.

Zelensky revealed during a press conference on Tuesday that the military wants to mobilize up to half a million more conscripts, but he said that he’s holding off on authorizing any decision on this for the time being until he receives more information from them about what these new troops will be doing. His announcement followed senior advisor Podolyak’s candid declaration on national TV earlier this month that the state will soon unleash a self-described “propaganda” campaign to help with conscription.

The counteroffensive’s failure crushed Ukrainian morale, weakened Western support, and exacerbated preexisting political rivalries in Kiev, which altogether led to an explosion in public anger that Zelensky sought to preemptively discredit last month by alleging that Russia is planning a “Maidan 3” against him. The powerful Atlantic Council didn’t buy his lie, however, and one of their experts just demanded in a piece for Politico that he form a “government of national unity” to help manage and mitigate this anger.

The Financial Times’ chief foreign affairs columnist went a step further after citing an unnamed former US official in their recent piece who said that “We have to flip the narrative and say that Putin has failed” in order to establish the ‘publicly plausible pretext’ for advancing a ‘land-for-peace’ deal with Russia. President Putin strongly signaled this month that he’s not interested in simply pausing the conflict, but he’s still open to political means for achieving Russia’s security-centric goals in this conflict.

Zelensky isn’t interested in restarting such talks despite reported Western pressure while the West is reluctant to approve the concessions that Russia requires for agreeing to a “land-for-peace” deal. That’s why the first is bracing for a possible Russian offensive by fortifying the entire front while the second might be plotting a false flag against Belarus to escalate the conflict with a view towards coercing Russia to walk back its required concessions. Amidst this impasse, Ukraine’s conscription crisis has worsened.

The New York Times (NYT) published an extremely unsavory piece last week titled “‘People Snatchers’: Ukraine’s Recruiters Use Harsh Tactics to Fill Ranks”, which was followed this week by the Wall Street Journal’s one titled “Ukraine’s Front-Line Troops Are Getting Older: ‘Physically, I Can’t Handle This’”. Interspersed between them, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Budanov candidly admitted that the “efficiency” of his country’s conscripts is “almost zero”, and it’s not difficult to understand why.

Another recent piece by the NYT reported that “Ukrainian Marines on ‘Suicide Mission’ in Crossing the Dnipro River”, within which a whiff of mutiny pervaded seeing as how those primary sources risked charges of insubordination for going behind their superiors’ backs to inform foreign media about this suicidal situation. Time Magazine also revealed in late October that some front-line commanders had begun refusing the presidential office’s orders to advance due to a dearth of arms and troops.

As Ukraine’s conscription crisis worsens, Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny’s popular appeal has exploded as proven by a mid-November poll that was cited by The Economist in one of their articles from the end of that month, which was referenced by the previously mentioned Atlantic Council expert. Russian foreign spy chief Naryshkin shared a scenario forecast last week about Western plans to replace Zelensky with Zaluzhny or one of several other leading figures, which preceded that expert’s piece by exactly a week.

His popular appeal has risen in parallel with public anger against the authorities that’s largely driven by Zelensky’s forcible conscription policy that he just implied might soon attempt to snatch another half-million people off the streets if he agrees with what he claims is the military’s latest demand. Therein lies the contradiction, however, since it was Zaluzhny’s admission to The Economist in early November that the conflict had entered a stalemate which exacerbated his preexisting rivalry with Zelensky.

The Commander-in-Chief knows better than anyone else in Ukraine that his side’s envisaged maximum victory over Russia is impossible, but it’s still being sought in spite of that because it’s ultimately the President’s decision whether or not to continue the conflict. Zelensky’s order to fortify the entire front instead of resuming peace talks with Russia per reported Western pressure and unilaterally complying with its requested security concessions in defiance of his patrons is why more conscription is needed.

In response to these military tasks placed upon him against his implied will, Zaluzhny presumably informed Zelensky that it can only be accomplished with half a million more troops, but Zelensky dishonestly made it seem like his top rival made this demand on his own. This twisting of the truth was meant to redirect public anger against Zaluzhny even though it’s Zelensky who’s entirely responsible for trying to perpetuate the conflict for self-serving political reasons as it finally begins to wind down.

The only reason why he’d resort to such trickery is because he seemingly fears that a bonafide “Maidan 3” is brewing together with an impending mutiny, the first of which could be encouraged by the West to establish the ‘publicly plausible pretext’ for the second, provided of course that the decision is made. That hasn’t yet happened, but these interconnected scenarios are deemed credible enough by Zelensky for him to preemptively attempt to redirect public anger against his top rival in order to impede them.

The takeaway from this scandalous revelation during Tuesday’s press conference is that the Ukrainian leader is feeling pressured from all sides but is still clinging to what Time Magazine described as his messianic delusions of maximum victory over Russia per an unnamed senior aide. This further intensifies the country’s converging crises and moves all key players closer towards the seemingly inevitable climax wherein one of them either finally buckles or makes a power play against another out of desperation.  

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This article was originally published on Andrew Korybko’s Newsletter.

Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.  

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***

The Yemen News Agency (SABA) reported that “A U.S. military official has revealed that U.S. and coalition forces have been subjected to at least 97 attacks in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17 until Wednesday.” 

A US official confirmed “that the attacks came at 45 attacks in Iraq, in addition to 52 attacks in Syria.”

In a statement provided by the Islamic Resistance, it said that “the targeting of the US occupation base in al-Shadadi comes in response to the crimes of the enemy in the Gaza Strip.”

The Iraqis and Syrians are legitimately angry that Israel is getting away with genocide in Gaza and that the US government still has troops occupying their lands. Since the war in Iraq began, the US and its allies including Israel has brought more death and destruction to the Middle East and Africa including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Palestine. 

They see US troops as occupiers just like the Israelis who have been occupying Palestinian land since 1948, so why is the mainstream media surprised that there has been an increase of attacks since the October 7th incident between Hamas and Israel. The US government has violated international laws and even their own constitution by allowing US troops to remain in Syria. In Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter 

“All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”

The US government’s own constitution states that

“The Congress shall have Power . . .] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.”  

Since Washington’s political establishment is beholden to Israel’s agenda, it decided to illegally occupy Syria when war criminal and former US President, Barack Obama declared that Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad had lost his legitimacy and that he “must go.” Since then, the US congress still has not declared war, so why are US troops still in Syria? 

Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad never invited US troops to help fight the “Islamic State” known as ISIS, besides it was the US and Israel who funded and armed the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, and other terrorist organizations in the first place. So, fighting so-called “terrorism” was not the intended goal. 

The US is in Syria to play a significant part of a future war against the Syrian and Iraqi governments and the rest of the Middle East including the resistance on behalf of Israel. The other reason that US troops are still in Syria is what the former US President Donald Trump had admitted publicly, to Take the Oil.”    

There are about 900 US troops, including an unspecified number of private contractors and US Special Forces who have been deployed to Syria’s northeastern oil fields including Al-Tanf in the south blocking the Syrian government’s energy supplies. 

The pretext of fighting terrorism is pure propaganda. The US-NATO Alliance, Israel, and to an extent, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, all played a significant role against Syria that began in 2011 that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians thus turning millions more into refugees in the process. It is internationally known that it was mainly the Russian military, Iranian-backed militias who played a major role in the defeat of ISIS. One of the main reasons that the US is still in Syria is ‘Regime Change’ since it was Washington’s bi-partisan bureaucrats who allocated billions of dollars’ worth of arms to ISIS since the war began. It is well known that members of ISIS are mostly veterans from Al Qaeda and other linked terrorist organizations from Iraq, Afghanistan and other war zones from around the world.

US Troops in Syria and Iraq Are Open Targets, Seen as Illegitimate

The corporate mainstream media reports daily on US occupation troops in Syria and Iraq being open targets by various resistance groups since Israel declared war on Hamas. Al Mayadeen recently had a report based on numerous attacks on US bases in Syria, ‘Iraqi Resistance targets three US occupation bases in Syria ‘reported on several attacks on US bases in Syria and “confirmed that the US occupation military base in the Conoco gas field north of Deir Ezzor in Syria was targeted twice in less than an hour.” It was also confirmed that “US forces at the al-Shadadi base in Syria was also targeted” and that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced in a statement that it targeted the Tanf occupation base and another occupation base in the Rukban camp using drones and achieved direct hits.” The resistance said that “the drones directly hit their targets in the two American bases.”  

The Resistance in Iraq targeted the Tanf base and the US occupation base in Rukban camp in Syria using drones.

Image of a drone launched by the Iraqi resistance (screengrab via Al Mayadeen English)

The attacks have become a regular occurrence since Israel declared war on Gaza which means war on everyone who is Palestinian.

“Hashem al-Kindi, the head of the Naba Strategic Studies Group, told Al Mayadeen that “the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has carried out more than 70 strikes on American bases, and the escalation is ongoing” adding that “the Resistance in Iraq “used new weapons with long ranges, and it will also escalate by targeting Israel,” confirming that it “can push the confrontation to ranges unknown to the enemy.” 

The Iraqi resistance considers “US occupation bases in Syria and Iraq as legitimate targets” since the US supports Israel unconditionally including its genocide of the Palestinian people. “On a similar note, the Pentagon said in a statement that the rate of attacks carried out against US personnel in Iraq and Syria has increased by 45% in the past three weeks.” 

FOX News, CNN Ignores Illegal US Occupation and Promotes a War Against Iran

The US mainstream media reports daily on how US troops are being targeted by “Iranian proxies.” A report by the Zionist-run FOX News, ‘US military bases in Iraq, Syria attacked again, bringing total to at least 90 since Oct. 17’ blames Iran who is Washington’s and Israel’s main adversary in the Middle East,

“Iran holds considerable sway in Iraq, and a coalition of Iran-backed groups brought Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to power in October 2022. At the same time, there are some 2,000 U.S. troops in Iraq under an agreement with Baghdad, mainly to counter the militant Islamic State group.”  

In another article by FOX News from May 26, 2023, ‘Iran regime close to getting nuclear bomb, but what’s the holdup?’, that

“Iran has moved dangerously close to enriching weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb, but the regime has not yet crossed the critical threshold of declaring it has built an atomic weapon.”  

Fox News reached out to Lisa Daftari, an Iran expert and editor-in-chief of the Foreign Desk and said that

“If there is reason to believe that there are a number of retardants that have put a pause in their weapons development, they’d relate back to targeted attacks by the U.S. and Israel, who clearly are very much concerned about stopping the mullahs” she continued “Israel has reportedly conducted at least two dozen targeted operations on Iran’s regime in the last 15 or so years, including drone attacks, cyberattacks, if you recall Stuxnet and assassinations of key players in Iran’s nuclear program.” 

Jason Brodsky, policy director of the U.S.-based United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), was also interviewed by FOX News and said that

“I think Iran’s leadership to date has calculated the costs of doing so would outweigh the benefits at this juncture — mainly a destructive attack which targets its entire nuclear infrastructure,” he said that Iran’s leadership is emboldened and will cross international red lines, “But my concern is that calculus risks changing as the U.S. and Europe’s non-response to Iran’s nuclear escalation over the last two years — for example 60% enrichment and production of uranium metal — has emboldened Tehran’s leadership to continue testing international red lines.”  

The article mentions that

“The United States military and Israel Defense Forces launched a joint drill, Juniper Falcon, in February. The IDF’s website stated, “The exercise tested collective U.S.-Israel readiness and strengthened the interoperability between the two militaries,” the IDF stated on its website after the drill.” 

An article from CNN published on December 8th follows the same line, ‘Iran-backed militia vows more attacks after US Embassy in Iraq comes under fire’ said that

“On Friday morning local time, a multi-mortar attack was launched against the US Embassy compound in Iraq, a US official told CNN. There were no injuries or infrastructure damage reported. Hours later, US and coalition forces came under attack three more times – once in Syria, and twice in Iraq – in a mix of rocket and drone attacks.” 

The article mentions a man by the name of Abu Alaa al-Walae who is the commander of the Iraqi Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada and said that he “did not claim responsibility for the attacks but said later Friday that they “reject talk about stopping or easing operations as long as Zionist crimes continue in Gaza and the American occupation continues in Iraq.” 

Syrian and Iraqi resistance groups do not need permission from Iran to attack US bases who are illegally occupying their territories to supposedly fight terrorists, it’s all a lie.  They know that the US troops who are in Syria and Iraq are there to counter Israel’s enemies once a major war breaks out.  Stealing the oil and controlling the political landscape is a bonus for Washington and its Big Oil conglomerates.

Washington is Sacrificing their Own Troops at the Behest of Israel

The bottom line is that Washington is preparing for a major war in the Middle East to save Israel by sacrificing its own US troops.  The Jerusalem Post published what US Air Force Third Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Richard Clark had said in 2018:     

Washington and Israel have signed an agreement which would see the US come to assist Israel with missile defense in times of war and, according to Haimovitch, “I am sure once the order comes we will find here US troops on the ground to be part of our deployment and team to defend the State of Israel.”

And those US troops who would be deployed to Israel, are prepared to die for the Jewish state, Clark said, “We are ready to commit to the defense of Israel and anytime we get involved in a kinetic fight there is always the risk that there will be casualties. But we accept that – as every conflict we train for and enter, there is always that possibility,” he said.

The US occupation in Syria and Iraq is about assisting Israel’s geopolitical agenda and we must include the US strategic goal to control the abundant natural resources and the political landscape of the Middle East.

If the US and Israel were to be victorious in a world war which is highly unlikely, governments in the Middle East and Africa will be forced to accept Western and Israeli dominance indefinitely, if not, those who want their country to be free and sovereign will be subject to regime change or will face threats of being bombed back to the stone age just like what they are doing to Gaza. The obvious is right in front of our eyes.

*

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Timothy Alexander Guzman writes on his own blog site, Silent Crow News, where this article was originally published. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from SCN

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***

 

 

 

 

Below is an excerpt from the book.

*

This story begins in the “Before” world.

“Before” the years 2020 to 2022, when a set of policies based on abject lies posed an existential threat to our democracy and our way of life.

“Before” this likely AI-deployed set of lies, dispensed globally, targeted our West with its core traditions of free speech—and in the US, with its First Amendment—with arrant censorship.

“Before” the Left—the subculture that used to stand for human rights, freedom of speech, real science, critical thinking, and skepticism about Big Government and Big Corporations, let alone about their merger, and that used to fight against  discrimination and inequality—fell into a trance in which that same group became champions of censorship, and of a two-tier society in which some people, as the pigs declared in Animal Farm, are “more equal” than others; and fell prey to magical thinking and cultlike behavior.

“Before” the media—which used to see itself as the source of investigation of elite powers; which used to ask questions about received narratives; which used to demand that its journalists produce evidence and independent verification before drawing conclusions in print—were bought out by Big Government via the CARES Act, and by Big Pharma directly, and by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to the extent that almost all legacy media became unquestioning stenographers for interested parties aligned with the global powers who dictated the harmful nonsense.

I miss the “Before Times.”

Because I have studied the histories of the overthrowing of past democracies, and learned that many democracies have died incrementally; that tyrants’ attacks on liberty are often executed surreptitiously, or attributed to benign motives, and thus succeed in draining people’s freedoms; or by enforcing bit by bit tiny compliances that add up to huge compliances, any of which would never have been considered by the same population without revolt, if the curtain was brought down all at once—I thought it was important to keep a kind of journal of these changes as I witnessed them.

This book is a memoir of how our “Before” world—that lasted up until March 2020—became, through a slow boil and through various shocks to its core institutions—this “After” world of tyranny, sadism, and forced inequality.

I have been an activist defending the Constitution for the past three-plus decades. As a result of my work identifying and fighting earlier threats to democracy and free speech, I was able to see, early in 2020, the inevitable implications for our democracy and for our country as a whole, in the rollout of pandemic and lockdown and then mandate narratives and policies.

Given my previous work, it was easy to guess what all these policies would quickly do to us. It was easy for me to foretell that the immediate deployment of mass censorship of critics of these policies; the ramped-up State surveillance; the forced closures of schools, places of worship, and businesses; the unconstitutional declarations that we must not assemble, beyond a certain small number of people, even in private homes; the violation of the Nuremberg Laws and the most basic international human rights laws that guarantee bodily integrity and informed medical consent, represented mRNA vaccine mandates—would utterly transform our nation, and the nations of the West, into post-democratic societies; into societies that may look pretty much the same on the surface (as I argued in my 2008 bestseller The End of America that post-democratic societies would)—but that the heart of their freedom would be annihilated, leaving intact pretty-looking vassal states, with no real autonomy left for their citizens, where the nations of the free West so recently prevailed.

I saw early what a dangerous time it was and is: 2020 to 2023.

In my 2008 book about dying democracies, I had described the threats to liberty that prevailed at that time, in the George Bush Jr. era, as deriving primarily from the Right. But even then I was not deceived by partisanship assumptions about fascism, as I learned from my study of earlier totalitarian and fascist regimes and leaders that authoritarians of the Left and the Right are exactly the same; they take the same ten steps to ensure the death of democracies, and do the same things to propagandize their subject people, to silence dissent, to arrest opposition leaders, to create surveillance societies and prisons outside the rule of law, and eventually to bring about emergency law, which is Step Ten.

Since 2020, in America at least, these threats to our country have been deployed largely from the Left. Though I come “from the Left,” I had no problem recognizing this.

The threats to liberty worldwide had no partisan quality as they were “metapartisan,” being handed down from the WEF (World Economic Forum), the WHO (World Health Organization), the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), nongovernment foundations such as Bill Gates’s, and allied Big Tech leaders, as I described in my 2022 book The Bodies of Others.

You could see the exact same pandemic, lockdown, and mandate policies rolled out in conservative-led Australia, in conservative-led UK, in liberal-led Canada, in liberal-led France, and so on.

Other people also spoke up, as the dark shadow of fascism descended on our nation under the cloak of a “public health emergency.”

Some others who had been identified with the US Left were also speaking out against the public health response to the pandemic. They also spoke out about the censorship regime that so visibly descended on us. Glenn Greenwald, Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying, Joe Rogan, Robert Kennedy Jr., and others, though identified with the Left, held the principles of the Constitution and basic human rights above partisanship.

Other heroes, too, arose in this dark time, in ways that also transcended partisanship. Many of these were heroes of real medicine, real science, real public health. Some were doctors: Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Pierre Kory, Dr. Paul Alexander, Dr. Henry Ealy, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, and many others. Some were scientists and economists; the signatories and the convener of the Great Barrington Declaration, for instance: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Dr. Sunetra Gupta, and economist Jeffrey Tucker. These all refused to tolerate, or even accept as settled “science,” policies that they knew would destroy schooling, damage the development of children, and lead to mass starvation.

Some heroes for truth came from the world of finance—critics such as Ed Dowd, formerly of BlackRock, who raised an early alarm about data showing excess deaths and disabilities post-mRNA vaccination.

Or Steve Kirsch, an entrepreneur who also crunched the numbers on these harms, independently confirming the “democide”—death by government—that Mr. Dowd had found. These critics, whose training was in the world of hard data, perhaps spoke out because they simply could not tolerate the fibs and bad math that undergirded “the narrative”; as well as out of concern for their fellow human beings’ health, and even survival.

There were—are—many heroes and heroines.

But not nearly enough.

There were—are—many millions more quislings and colluders, as I learned upon this painful journey.

*

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Facing the Beast: Courage, Faith, and Resistance in a New Dark Age

By Naomi Wolf

Publisher: ‎ Chelsea Green Publishing (November 9, 2023)

Language: ‎ English

Paperback: ‎ 240 pages

ISBN-10: ‎ 1645022366

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1645022367

Reviews

“When Western leaders abandoned reason and embraced the ideology of force several years ago, Naomi Wolf was one of few who understood instantly what was happening. She decided to tell the full truth about it all the time, no matter what. The result has been a thrilling inspiration to those of us who’ve followed it, and for the first time is collected here in one place. Read Facing the Beast to understand what bravery looks like.”―Tucker Carlson

“In the crisis of our lives and of everything we call civilization, Naomi Wolf has been a prescient observer, a keen analyst, and brave fighter for truth and freedom. Everything in her life and career prepared her for this moment. We all owe her a debt of gratitude for what she has done and continues to do for the great cause. Like her last book, Facing the Beast stands as a testament to truth in times gone mad.”―Jeffrey Tucker, president, Brownstone Institute

“Today’s world has been constructed to divide us. Naomi Wolf has seen through the lies and deception. In her personal journey, described in Facing the Beast, she unequivocally came to understand the universal principle―that all of humanity is connected. Dr. Wolf fights for our God-given rights and freedoms. I am honored to call her friend.”―Edward Dowd, author of Cause Unknown

Click here to purchase.

Birds No Longer Grace Gaza’s Sky

December 20th, 2023 by Batoul Mohamed Abou Ali

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***

I adore the blue sky and white clouds over Gaza.

Gaza! City of beauty, creativity, dignity, rebellion, strength, determination, steadfastness, ambition and triumph.

Gaza! City of agony, bitterness, humiliation, waste, displacement, and both physical and psychological disrepair.

In Gaza, the sky’s color triggers memories.

Israel’s genocidal violence in Gaza started on 7 October. Until today, we have experienced every form of torment.

Even the sky has been changed, its color speaks of pain. It is never pure any more, only adorned with rockets, missiles and artillery shelling.

Birds still fly across the sky, but those that have not been killed, fly free of Gaza due to the merciless Israeli occupation.

Missiles are thrown everywhere without discrimination. Babies are murdered, men wounded, and women carry their constant sorrow in their eyes.

Even the cats seek refuge under our clothes or behind our houses.

Instead of bird chatter, we hear laments.

“Uncle, I waited for my sister to bring a sip of water for three days, but now she lies under the rubble. She only tasted a cup of grief,” a little girl says.

A woman mourns her martyred son.

”I named him Ayoub to supply me with tolerance. God, grant me patience.”

A tired man invokes God’s generosity as the rain comes down.

“My children have not had water since last night. Today, they quench their thirst with the winter rain.”

The Laments of Gaza

Here, a mother shares her sorrow.

“I endured 350 injections to give birth after 12 years of waiting. Israel has deprived me of my long-awaited child.”

There, a mother shares her joy. “Sister! Kamal! He is alive!”

A man stands in the rubble of his house. “I lost my home. I lost all the memories there.”

A young girl is defiant. “World! I am proud that my family has been martyred.”

A 13-year-old confesses to being numb. “I lost my feelings.”

A father tells his daughter he searched for four days to find her some bread. A mother pines for death to join her children. A child cries for water. A tired doctor barks orders.

A young woman Khuloud says, “The night was horrible. We could not call our father and seek his advice on where to go. The bombing was everywhere. We are scared.”

“We escaped to the end of Gaza, but there is no safe place here,” a woman says in anger.

A child says, “We have aged beyond our years.”

“Are we not human?” This woman has lost her children. “We are created from flesh, blood, heart and mind. We experience happiness and sadness. We love our life. We want to live.”

A mourning father does not want to be known as a hero. “We are strong people. We have become exhausted and we want peace.”

Solace in Prayer

The sky is somber, the air rings with lament.

I hate the night. I hate it!

On 11 December my husband and I were suddenly jolted awake to the dreadful sound of artillery shelling. Windows shattered.

The sky was painted in a bleak red hue from the fires and explosions.

We rushed out of our room and joined a family huddled in a small space just big enough to hold us all.

A mother with a month-old baby prayed out loud, “God, if we die, please let me die with my baby. I cannot bear the thought of leaving him alone in this world.”

Her tears affected me deeply.

Amid the chaos, my family reassured one another and I found solace in prayer.

Israel has no right to take innocent lives. It has no justification. We are living with dead souls and dead bodies. How dare they?

At night, our area was bombed again, leaving us without internet connection or electricity. They targeted ambulances and journalists.

We tried to return to sleep but I found it impossible. When the sun rose, I wished for just half an hour of rest.

On 15 December at 7 pm, the sky lit up with ominous light, foreshadowing another night of fear.

Mentally exhausted, I avoid sleep to prevent waking in panic.

The night is like a grave. We are never certain if it will open or close its door on our souls and bodies.

I have no wish to pass away without first seeing my mother, father and siblings.

We thought we would be safe in Khan Younis. We thought wrong. Israel commits massacres against civilians even in the south.

No birds grace the sky. There is no pure color to it any more. A veil of smoke hangs heavy and gray, broken only by the red hue from Israel’s attacks.

The sky reflects our bloodshed and our desperation.

*

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Batoul Mohamed Abou Ali graduated recently from the Islamic University of Gaza.

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***

…and thinks for a moment an angel is there


bringing back love


If I must die


let it bring hope


let it be a tale.

-final lines from martyr Refaat Alareer’s “If I must die”
 

As logic and law fail us, we ruefully, desperately, turn to poetry and our humanity at this awful point in the war against Palestine.

I am not a poet; yet I have to overcome this failing to try to write beyond quotidian facts and analyses. As best I can, I am driven to compose some raw personal emotions that this historical moment demands of me.

Given U.S.’s recent shameful veto on a UNSC resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, given resupplies of American weapons to Israel for its murderous assault, given dismissed worldwide pleas for a ceasefire, watching individuals turn away in shame, we are driven to search beyond logic, law and statistics.

Today I want to simply impart my sensation upon waking every morning, every one of the past 10 weeks’ mornings. What is kept at bay as I sleep emerges into my semi-aroused consciousness. Before I open my eyes, it rises. Resolute.

Feeling it may relieve the pressure of this wedge I inhabit, I draw my limbs closer to my body. This flattened cavity where I wait is somewhere inside a building that collapsed around me, inside tens of thousands of shattered, splattered, erased homes. Exactly when this happened doesn’t matter. My room where mementoes and books and clothes are buried, are nearby, somewhere, somewhere inside this darkness. I know their scent. Sometimes I hear someone calling a name. Close, yet like a fading star. Inshallah it is Aba. Maybe big sister? No; it’s a new voice – this one doesn’t know my name, doesn’t know I am here.

“Wa! Way-neek, ya binit, ya walid?” it calls. “I am here”, I murmur while knowing no sound can pass over my lips.

My throat is so dry. The only wet I can feel is between my legs, either blood, or my urine. I have soiled myself.

Does this shame mean I am still a person? I suck at my shirt collar and swallow. An instant’s relief.

More explosions—maybe police are coming to save me.

Maybe a big machine to lift all this concrete that’s hiding me. How long I’ve been here, I can’t count.

Some nights, I hear others cry; I answered. Afterwards, they went away. Maybe, I thought, they left to fetch Umo’s car, to pick up Khalti. I sometimes hear planes— they come and go the same as when we were together; when Abi and Immi debated. “Stay inside. No. Go, go out. Better up to the roof. No. Outside is safer. Try to reach the hospital grounds.” Sirens wailed. Ambulances rushed here and there. All through the night. Maybe all day; I didn’t know. Now nothing except big bangs, sometimes near, sometimes far, far away.

“Maybe, if I manage to free my feet, I can scramble out, and, even in this darkness, I can find Immi. She would never abandon me; she must be not far from here. I can give her warmth; she will say again and again ‘Ya binti, ya binti. Humdulillah, you are safe beside me’.

My eyes open. I stretch my arms into New York’s winter air as I slowly awaken. I should find relief emerging from that dim space. Crawling out from under warm blankets, my feet touching soft carpet, my eyes finding blue sky– things I take for granted.

Yet, they won’t allow me to escape the knowledge that bombings and shootings continue their murderous work. I don’t need a reality check from the morning news.

Men and women, if surviving death, are still rounded up – every hour – taken away, wantonly brutalized. Sisters will still wander along the lines of corpses to retrieve little Lena and Umo Khalil. Brother Mahmoud, growing thinner by the day, still riffles through rubbish for a pot of some kind to collect any water or food. It doesn’t matter the neighborhood; men still carry pregnant wives for burial.

There’s nothing different in international news. Except that the vindictive merciless bombing of Palestinians continues, that living conditions worsen, that diplomacy withers. News from Gaza and The West Bank diminishes as heroic journalists there are targeted, and fall.

What is different these past days is the rush of poems and agonized testimonies, among them, appeals from three journalists who have been particularly resolute and piercing in their analyses of the history of Israeli plunder, capitalism, imperial hubris.

One day last week each confessed to being stymied and at a loss. Their personal pleas reveal anger – no, raw anguish and utter helplessness. “I Will Not Look Away” announces the fierce critic, Caitlin Johnstone. Then Craig Murray, former diplomat and human rights advocate, reviewing the Genocide Convention drawn up 75 years ago, ends with: “Is there anybody reading this who really is doing enough to halt so great an evil?” A steadfast moral voice in journalism Chris Hedges channels his anger towards us, ourselves.

“We become drunk on violence; we unleash an orgy of slaughter and destruction…” he charges. All of us.

Images of shameful moments in human history are posted alongside new verses composed from the souls of women and men numbed by the vision of the catastrophe underway. Among them, Lamees Al Ethari declares

“When I can’t speak, I write: …Motherhood in Crisis: Motherhood in these times is/precious and confusing. We watch your fingers/bleed, lifting rubble/rocking bundles of/shrouds, holding firmly to bolted/gates…”

*

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Barbara Nimri Aziz whose anthropological research has focused on the peoples of the Himalayas is the author of the newly published “Yogmaya and Durga Devi: Rebel Women of Nepal”, available on Amazon

She is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from the author


“Yogmaya and Durga Devi: Rebel Women of Nepal”

By Barbara Nimri Aziz

A century ago Yogmaya and Durga Devi, two women champions of justice, emerged from a remote corner of rural Nepal to offer solutions to their nation’s social and political ills. Then they were forgotten.

Years after their demise, in 1980 veteran anthropologist Barbara Nimri Aziz first uncovered their suppressed histories in her comprehensive and accessible biographies. Revelations from her decade of research led to the resurrection of these women and their entry into contemporary Nepali consciousness.

This book captures the daring political campaigns of these rebel women; at the same time it asks us to acknowledge their impact on contemporary feminist thinking. Like many revolutionaries who were vilified in their lifetimes, we learn about the true nature of these leaders’ intelligence, sacrifices, and vision during an era of social and economic oppression in this part of Asia.

After Nepal moved from absolute monarchy to a fledgling democracy and history re-evaluated these pioneers, Dr. Aziz explores their legacies in this book.

Psychologically provocative and astonishingly moving, “Yogmaya and Durga Devi” is a seminal contribution to women’s history.

Click here to order.

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***

“Here comes an avalanche of [Climate Change™] bullshit.” -Marla Singer

Mother Nature is a known domestic terrorist misogynist.

“We know, and estimate*, that we probably could measure about 500,000 deaths [from climate change last year], and the majority of those are women and girls, and particularly pregnant women,” Hillary Clinton declared at a climate change summit recently — one she almost certainly transported herself to via private jet.

*For the record, not to mansplain to the esteemed First Lady, “knowing” and “estimating” are definitionally not the same thing.

Via The Independent:

“’Hillary Clinton has said that the lack of women around the negotiating tables at Cop28 is a major concern and that the ‘tide has been turned’ against the voices of women being heard in recent years.

’In many of the governments that are represented here at Cop, there are no women,’ the former US secretary of state told a packed audience at an event at the Dubai Expo centre. ‘How do we get the concerns of women to be heard? That’s what events like these are about.

‘We also have to be cautious of the fact that now we are swimming against the tide, and the tide has been turned against women in many parts of the world,’ she added.

Ms Clinton was speaking at an event highlighting the critical role of women’s leadership in tackling the climate crisis, and also the growing impacts of extreme heat on women and girls in vulnerable communities.

The former Democratic presidential candidate referenced ‘visible pushback” against women’s rights and opportunities, pointing to a recent statement from Chinese leader Xi Jinping calling on women to “actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing.’”

Imagine being so high on your own neoliberal identity politics supply that, at a conference ostensibly designed to fend off a literal extinction event, you instead pivot to gender equity talking points — demonstrating, yet again, the uniquely Hillary-esque way in which she managed to lose the 2016 race to a real estate guy/game show host with no political experience despite having the entire Deep State and corporate media at her back to the extent that, on election day, the atmosphere in the press was more of an aborted coronation than an election.

At any rate, transhumanist technocrats should love Climate Change™, in such a case that it targets pregnant women, because they hate legacy fronthole women getting pregnant anyway. Human reproduction the old-fashioned way — as in, not in a lab — viscerally repulses them.

And what is this transphobic “pregnant women” bullshit? Your ideological kin call them “birthing persons” now, bigot. Get with the program.

Anyway, thankfully a brave and stunning Indian surgeon is devising a solution for all of the pregnant women killed by Climate Change™: get rid of them and transplant their uteruses into transgenders.

Via WION News:

An Indian surgeon is looking to carry out a never-seen-before procedure by transplanting a womb into a trans woman. As the person would have been born as a man, the risky and highly expensive procedure will help biological men become pregnant. In the procedure, the reproductive organs of a dead donor or a woman going in for sex change will be used. It would entail the use of IVF and a C-section as no fully functional vagina is present in the case. 

Earlier, an attempt was made for the same procedure but it had resulted in the death of the patient after complications in some months…

Every transgender woman wants to be as female as possible — and that includes being a mother. The way towards this is with a uterine transplant, the same as a kidney or any other transplant. This is the future. We cannot predict exactly when this will happen but it will happen very soon,’ Kaushik told The Mirror.”

Human Breathing Is Now in the Crosshairs of Climate Change™ Technocrats: Study

You might recall this little genocidal ditty from 2010, issued to sycophantic fanfare by the unofficial commissar of the global depopulation movement, Bill Gates:

“The world today has 6.8 billion people. That’s headed up to about nine billion. Now, if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by, perhaps, 10 or 15 percent…

Now, we put out a lot of carbon dioxide every year — over 26 billion tons… And somehow, we have to make changes that will bring that down to zero… This equation has four factors, a little bit of multiplication…

So you’ve got a thing on the left, CO2, that you want to get to zero, and that’s going to be based on the number of people, the services each person is using on average, the energy, on average, for each service, and the CO2 being put out per unit of energy. So let’s look at each one of these, and see how we can get this down to zero. Probably, one of these numbers is going to have to get pretty near to zero. [audience laughter]”

In case you missed the forest for the trees, Gates was declaring a fatwa on human life itself there, albeit with plausible deniability.

In 13 short years, the rhetoric has become more explicit.

Via Daily Mail:

“Whether it’s eating less meat or cycling instead of driving, humans can do many things to help prevent climate change.

Unfortunately, breathing less isn’t one of them.

That might be a problem, as a new study claims the gases in air exhaled from human lungs is fueling global warming.

Methane and nitrous oxide in the air we exhale makes up to 0.1 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, scientists say.

And that’s not even accounting for the gas we release from burps and farts, or emissions that come from our skin without us noticing.

The new study was led by Dr Nicholas Cowan, an atmospheric physicist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Edinburgh.

‘Exhaled human breath can contain small, elevated concentrations of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), both of which contribute to global warming,’ Dr Cowan and colleagues say.

‘We would urge caution in the assumption that emissions from humans are negligible.’”

We are the carbon they want to eliminate.

Environmental Activists Want to Give Nature Human Rights

I write in my memoir, Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, extensively about the weird proliferation of “rights” in the West and the obsession with the same among the Social Justice™ left. Everything and everyone gets awarded things called “rights,” even as the most basic ones like freedom of speech for humans are disregarded at will by the government.

But sure, assigning more random human rights to humans and, apparently, to nature itself will probably solve everything.

Via New York Post:

Legislation that grants nature similar rights to humans is becoming more popular across the globe, with multiple countries and localities approving nature rights laws and several more considering similar legislation.

Panama, Ecuador and Bolivia have all moved to recognize the rights of nature with national legislation, a movement that has gained traction around the world and in the United States, with 10 states having some form of legal protections for nature, according to a report by CBS News…

Behind the effort in [Panama] was Callie Veelenturf, a 31-year old American marine biologist from Massachusetts who has spent much of her career studying and advocating for the protection of sea turtles…

The marine biologist said a book, ‘The Rights of Nature: A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World,’ helped solidify the idea in her mind, causing her to make it ‘a mission’ to advance the concept across the globe.

‘It prioritizes the needs of the ecosystems and not the needs of humanity,’ Veelenturf said.”

And there you have it: as well-intentioned as this lady may be in wanting to protect sea turtles by “any means necessary,” as Malcolm X might say, the true power-brokers backing these kinds of laws have decidedly less altruistic motives: to cheapen the entire concept of human rights by assigning them to all manner of non-human entities. This is lawfare waged in the service of transhumanism.

*

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This article was originally published on the author’s Substack, Armageddon Prose.

Ben Bartee, author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. He is a regular contributor to Global Re

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***

As Israelis we demand an official commission into the events of October 7. Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza in the name of Israeli victims and we still do not know who was killed, how they were killed, and who killed them. We demand answers and so should you.

*

The following statement was written by a group of Israeli citizens who want to remain anonymous for their safety and out of fear of government reprisal.

*

To our fellow Israelis,

We call to you from the fog of genocide. We grieve and we fret for “our own”, as well as those most of you ignore or regard as “animals.”

When Israeli military officials began spreading rumors through English-speaking Israeli media about “beheaded babies,” we were immediately struck. We realized our government’s propaganda would not be the same as it was in previous murderous attacks on Gaza. 

While Israel continues churning out images of supposed ‘Hamas buildings’ in the Gaza concentration camp (what isn’t, in Israeli eyes?), to excuse their bombing, Israel’s domestic and international rhetoric now contains something much more akin to Nazi extermination propaganda. 

We know what the purpose of this propaganda is. More than 8,500 indigenous Palestinian children, women, and men have been exterminated – and the number rises as we write. Many are trapped under the rubble of their homes, dying slowly. Others are facing thirst, starvation, and infectious diseases. At the same time, senior Israeli figures, even our president, keep howling that there are ‘no innocent civilians’ in Gaza. 

Make no mistake, what Israel is doing in Gaza now will haunt Israelis for decades. Now is the time to make sure all Israelis understand this. And this understanding should start with full disclosure about the events of October 7, 2023.

Here are a few demands that each Israeli should be making right now, even if they deny the ongoing Gaza genocide. The first one is a comprehensive list of all the Israeli victims who have been identified. There is no comprehensive list on an official government website. The list published by Ha’aretz is partial. Some names are waiting to be “cleared for publication,” and we would like to know what this means. 

The lack of a comprehensive list, three weeks in, leads to the next demand Israeli citizens must make — the establishment of an official investigation commission. Massive failures on the part of intelligence and combat units, as well as the Israeli insistence on turning Gaza into an open-air prison in the preceding decades, should obviously be addressed by such a commission. We would like to know how these failures contributed to civilian fatalities on October 7 and the following days. 

Furthermore, according to Hamas’s spokesperson, 50 Israeli captives have already been killed as a result of our government’s decision to carpet-bomb Gaza. You may or may not find the Hamas spokesperson to be a reliable source, but we know that Israeli captives, loved ones of many here, have been dispersed throughout the strip and Israel does not seem to know their precise location. 

Israeli citizens should ask themselves whether they support indiscriminate bombing that threatens the lives of captives. An exchange deal is on the table. We know that Hamas has been offering this from day one. Israel’s blind genocidal revenge ignores the well-being of Israeli captives. 

And while our military exterminates human beings in Gaza, Israeli Hasbara (propaganda) platforms are in overdrive, especially abroad. The charred remains of loved ones are paraded around, nameless, contextualized only by dehumanizing calls to eradicate the inmates of the Gaza concentration camp. Upon seeing these images, aimed at a Western audience and with complete disregard for survivors’ families, we note once more that all of us deserve precise information as to who these victims are and how they died. 

Without an independent investigation, we can only hope to piece together sporadic articles and testimonies of survivors. Conspiracy theories will flourish. We’re already seeing attempts to deny the very fact of Israeli civilians being killed by Hamas fighters

Moreover, we reject Israeli attempts to label its fallen soldiers and other security operatives as terror victims equivalent to civilian fatalities. If an Israeli soldier is just an Israeli civilian, an Israeli civilian is just a soldier. We reject this dangerous equation. 

Lastly, the question of who killed some Israeli civilians haunts us. It emerges from several reports that some were killed by the Israeli military. Whether they were caught in the crossfire, or deliberately shot at with tanks or helicopters in order to eliminate Hamas fighters or prevent Hamas from taking more captives, we deserve an answer. 

We demand answers because a genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza in the name of Israeli victims, even though bereaved families are strongly opposed to this vengeful atrocity. We demand answers and so should you.


אנו קוראות אליכם מערפל רצח העם. אנו מתאבלים ואנו דואגים ל”שלנו” כמו גם לשלום אלה שרובכם מתעלמים מהם או מחשיבים ל”חיות אדם“.

כאשר אנשי בטחון ישראלים החלו להפיץ שמועות באמצעות תקשורת ישראלית דוברת אנגלית על “תינוקות ערופי ראש”, הופתענו. הבנו שהתעמולה של ממשלתנו לא תהיה זהה לזו שראינו בהתקפות רצחניות קודמות על עזה.

ישראל ממשיכה להציג תמונות של ‘בנייני חמאס’ כביכול במחנה הריכוז בעזה (איזה בניין אינו כזה, בעיניים ישראליות?), כדי לתרץ את ההפצצה שלהם, אך השיח הפנימי והבינלאומי של ישראל מכיל כעת משהו הרבה יותר דומה לתעמולת ההשמדה הנאצית.

אנו יודעות מהי מטרת התעמולה הזו. יותר מ-8,500 ילדים, נשים וגברים פלסטינים ילידים כבר הושמדו – והמספר עולה עם כתיבת שורות אלו. רבות לכודות מתחת להריסות בתיהם, גוססות באיטיות. אחרים סובלים  מצמא, רעב ומחלות זיהומיות. במקביל, בכירים בישראל, אפילו הנשיא שלנו, ממשיכים לצעוק לעולם כי “אין אזרחים חפים מפשע” בעזה.

בל נטעה, מה שישראל מעוללת כעת בעזה עכשיו ירדוף את הישראלים במשך עשרות שנים. עכשיו הזמן לוודא שכל ישראלי/ת מבינים זאת. והבנה זו צריכה להתחיל בחשיפה מלאה של אירועי 7 באוקטובר 2023.

הנה כמה דרישות שכל ישראלי/ת צריכים להציב עכשיו, גם אם הם מכחישים את הג’נוסייד המתחולל בעזה. הראשונה היא רשימה מקיפה של כל הקורבנות הישראלים שזוהו. אין רשימה מקיפה באתר ממשלתי רשמי. הרשימה שפרסם עיתון “הארץ” היא חלקית. חלק מהשמות ממתינים ל”אישור לפרסום”, ואנו תוהים מתי יאושרו לפרסום.

היעדר רשימה מקיפה, שלושה שבועות לאחר האירועים, מוביל לדרישה הבאה שאזרחי ישראל צריכים להציב – הקמת ועדת חקירה רשמית. ועדה כזו תידרש כמובן לכשלים עצומים מצד יחידות מודיעין וצבא, אך עליה לעסוק גם בהתעקשות הישראלית להפוך את עזה למכלאה הגדולה בעולם במשך עשרות שנים. ברצוננו לדעת כיצד כישלונות אלו תרמו למספר הגבוה של הרוגים אזרחיים ב-7 באוקטובר ובימים שלאחר מכן.

יתרה מכך, לפי דובר חמאס, 50 שבויים ישראלים כבר נהרגו כתוצאה מהחלטת ממשלתנו על הפצצות שטיח בעזה. בין אם דובר חמאס מקור מהימן או בלתי מהימן בעיניכם, אנו יודעות ששבויים ישראלים, אהובים על רבים כאן, פוזרו ברחבי הרצועה ונראה שישראל לא יודעת את מיקומם המדויק.

אזרחי ישראל צריכים לשאול את עצמם האם הם תומכים בהפצצות חסרות הבחנה המאיימות על חייהם של שבויים. הצעה לעסקת חליפין מונחת על השולחן. אנו יודעים שחמאס מציע זאת מהיום הראשון. נקמת רצח העם העיוורת של ישראל מתעלמת משלומם של שבויים ישראלים.

ובעוד הצבא הישראלי משמיד בני אדם בעזה, ערוצי ההסברה הישראלית נכנסו להילוך גבוה, במיוחד בחו”ל. שרידיהם המפוחמים של יקירי ישראלים רבים מוצגים לראווה, חסרי שם, כאשר ההקשר הוא רק קריאות לחיסול הכלואים במחנה הריכוז בעזה, שעברו דה-הומניזציה מוחלטת. בראותנו את התמונות הללו, המיועדות לקהל מערבי, ותוך התעלמות מוחלטת ממשפחות הניצולים, אנו מציינים שוב כי לכולנו מגיע מידע מדויק מי הם הקורבנות הללו וכיצד הם מתו.

ללא חקירה עצמאית, אנו יכולות רק לקוות לחבר כתבות מפה ומשם ועדויות של ניצולים. תיאוריות קונספירציה כבר פורחות. אנו כבר רואים ניסיונות להכחיש את עצם עובדות ההרג של אזרחים ישראלים על ידי חמאס.

יתרה מכך, אנו דוחות את הניסיונות הישראלים לתייג חיילים ואנשי כוחות צבאיים שנהרגו כקורבנות טרור שקולים להרוגים אזרחיים. אם חייל ישראלי הוא רק אזרח ישראלי, אזרח ישראלי הוא רק חייל. אנו דוחים את המשוואה המסוכנת הזו.

לבסוף, השאלה מי הרג אזרחים ישראלים במקרים מסוימים מטרידה אותנו. מכמה דיווחים עולה כי חלקם נהרגו על ידי הצבא הישראלי. בין אם הם נלכדו באש צולבת, או שכוחות ישראלים ירו לעברם באמצעות טנקים ומסוקים כדי לחסל אנשי חמאס או למנוע מהם לקחת עוד שבויים, מגיעה לנו תשובה.

אנו דורשות תשובות כי בעזה מתבצע רצח עם בשם קורבנות ישראלים, למרות שמשפחות שכולות מתנגדות נחרצות לזוועת הנקמה הזו. אנו דורשות תשובות וגם אתם צריכים לדרוש תשובות.

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Featured image: Photo released by the Israeli military from the events of October 7, 2023. (Photo: Israeli Defense Forces) 

Disruption of Maritime Trade: Yemen Resistance Prompts Companies to Suspend Shipping Through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal

By Abayomi Azikiwe, December 19, 2023

Another major concern by Washington and Wall Street is the actions carried out by the Yemen Naval Forces which have targeted ships linked to Israeli business interests and those utilizing ports controlled by Tel Aviv. Austin has confirmed during December that the U.S. is establishing a task force to challenge the Yemeni resistance forces led by the Ansar Allah in the Red Sea region.

Canada Is Escalating the Conflict by Joining US-led Military Operations in the Red Sea

By Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, December 20, 2023

For months, Canadians have put massive public pressure on their elected representatives to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and bring an end to the bloodshed in Gaza. Canadians have made it abundantly clear that they expect their government to push for the de-escalation of military hostilities in Gaza and the broader Middle East.

Russia’s $300 Billion “Frozen Assets”: Is the West Contemplating the Transfer of Russia’s Confiscated Assets to the Kiev Regime?

By Drago Bosnic, December 19, 2023

When the political West insists on the so-called “rules-based world order“, it’s perhaps the most laughable claim of our time, as this supposed “international community” doesn’t abide by its own rules and laws which formally state that private property is protected.

America’s “Terror Watchlist” Prepares “The Way to Tyranny”

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, December 19, 2023

The National Security Council claims most are not Americans, but the Department of Homeland Security admits that there have been tens of thousands of Americans who have been treated like terrorists.  It does not occur to the National Security council that there are no terrorist events corresponding to two million terrorists.  If there truly were two million terrorists, the US would be in chaos.

Brain Aneurysms and Brain Bleeds After Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination

By Dr. William Makis, December 19, 2023

Aneurysms can be potentially fatal if they rupture. Death can occur within minutes. About 25% of people who experience a brain aneurysm rupture die within 24 hours. Around 50% die within 3 months of the rupture due to complications.

Ukraine’s Intelligence Chief Admits There Are No More Troops Without “Forced Mobilisation”

By Ahmed Adel, December 19, 2023

Forced mobilisation in Ukraine will continue, said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, Kyrylo Budanov, on December 17. His statement came only days after it was announced that women would begin being conscripted, showing the chronic shortage in manpower the Ukrainian military is experiencing as Russian forces are methodically destroying it.

The Red Sea and False Flags? Yemen’s Ansar Allah Movement Launches a Barrage of Missiles Against Israel

By Gavin OReilly, December 19, 2023

On the 31st of October, Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement launched a barrage of missiles towards the southern Israeli settlement of Eilat, with the group formally declaring the launch of a military operation in defence of Palestine shortly afterwards.

BREAKING: “Later this week, Denmark and the US will sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement”

By Jan Oberg, December 19, 2023

It’s a damn good thing we have Washington to inform the Danes about what’s coming, right before Christmas when people are thinking about everything else. The procedure is completely obscene: An agreement is first signed (as with Norway, Finland and Sweden), and then it must (possibly) be approved by the Danish parliament: How on earth would it be possible for Denmark to withdraw and say that “thanks to our democracy, we unfortunately have to cancel the agreement again”?

Video: The World Is at a Very Dangerous Crossroads. U.S. Nuclear Doctrine, “Seeking Peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Dr. Kiyul Chung, and Dr. Young Woong Kim, December 18, 2023

In June 2017, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan held a press conference with Dr. Young Woong Kim, Dr. Michel Chossudovsky and Dr. Kiyul Chung concerning the tension in the Korean Peninsula. 

Devastating Economic and Social Crisis: A Majority of Germans Want a New Government and Early Elections

By Ahmed Adel, December 18, 2023

More than half of German voters are so dissatisfied with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government that they want early elections. The decline of Scholz’s coalition government also comes as German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that it would take Europe between five and eight years to recover its defensive capacity after disarming itself by sending weapons to Ukraine.

Canada Is Escalating the Conflict by Joining US-led Military Operations in the Red Sea

December 20th, 2023 by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

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In response to the announcement that the Canadian military has joined a US-led naval force in the Red Sea, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) issued the following statement by CJPME’s Vice President Michael Bueckert:

For months, Canadians have put massive public pressure on their elected representatives to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and bring an end to the bloodshed in Gaza. Canadians have made it abundantly clear that they expect their government to push for the de-escalation of military hostilities in Gaza and the broader Middle East.

Instead, Canada’s decision to join the US-led military operation in the Red Sea represents an alarming escalation of conflict, and risks pushing us further into a regional war. Rather than joining the US in protecting Israeli interests, Canada should focus on protecting Palestinian civilians from indiscriminate slaughter by pressuring for a ceasefire and imposing an arms embargo on Israel.

For several weeks, the Yemeni Houthis have been firing projectiles at Israeli-linked civilian cargo ships in the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Red Sea. While the attacks have not caused any casualties, this has had a major economic impact, forcing at least 12 shipping companies to suspend their routes. The Houthis have stated that their goal is to pressure Israel to end its war and siege of Gaza, after which their attacks will end.

Canada should be pushing for an immediate ceasefire and political negotiations that would bring an end to the hostilities in both Gaza and the Red Sea. Instead, the purpose of the US-led naval force is to reduce the pressures on Israel and bolster its capacity to continue waging war on Gaza. This is the opposite of supporting a ceasefire, it is providing military cover for genocide while becoming directly involved in escalating the war.

Since 2015, Canada has sent billions in weapons to Saudi Arabia. UN experts have warned that these exports are fueling Saudi’s devastating war on Yemen, which has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis through indiscriminate airstrikes and the creation of famine conditions. Now Canada itself risks becoming a junior partner to the US-backed conflict itself, and may be putting itself in direct military confrontation with the Houthis and its regional allies. Trudeau must refuse to play sidekick to Biden in the march to war with Iran.

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Start the video production at 6′.30′

Click Here to access the Video on Rumble and/or Leave Comment

Our thanks to Vaccine Choice Canada 

See also Michel Chossudovsky’s Interview: 

Video: There Never Was a “New Corona Virus”, There Never Was a Pandemic

 


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.”

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

Price: $11.50 Get yours for FREE! Click here to download.

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

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First published on December 4, 2022

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Medical Doctors for Covid Ethics International (MD4CE International) is grateful to His Excellency, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, for speaking to us and sharing his thoughts on the current global crisis, which began with the fraudulent concocted Covid-19 pandemic emergency, supported by and maintained by an evil military grade psychological operation, complete with the unashamed use of fear and shame propaganda, which was unleashed in a coordinated manner on the unsuspecting people of the entire world by their own governments in early 2020, with predictably cataclysmic results.

MD4CE International is an international group of medical doctors, scientists, lawyers, journalists, economists, historians, politicians, philosophers, data analysts, bankers, military/intelligence experts and others from all over the world, working determinedly together to expose the terrible truth of what has happened during the past three years to the people of the world, their families, their communities, their countries, and to hold those responsible for the great crimes committed properly to account.

His Excellency Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano is the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America (19 October 2011 to 12 April 2016).

Dr. Stephen Frost

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Below is Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s address to Medical Doctors for Covid Ethics International (MD4CE International).

Dear and distinguished friends,

Allow me first of all to thank Dr. Stephen Frost for the invitation he has extended to me to speak to you. Along with Dr. Frost I also thank all of you: your commitment to fighting the psychopandemic propaganda is commendable.

I am well aware of the difficulties you have had to face in order to remain consistent with your principles, and I hope that the damage you have suffered can be adequately repaired by those who have discriminated against you, depriving you of work and salary and labeling you as dangerous no-vaxxers.

I am pleased to be able to speak and share with you my thoughts about the current global crisis. A crisis that we can consider to have begun with the pandemic emergency, but that we know has been planned for decades with very specific purposes by well-known personalities.

Stopping at the pandemic alone would in fact be a serious mistake, because it would not allow us to consider the events in their full coherence and inter-connectedness, thus preventing us from understanding them and above all from identifying the criminal intentions behind them.

You too – each with your own expertise in the medical, scientific, legal or other fields – will agree with me that limiting yourselves to your own discipline, which in some cases is extremely specific, does not fully explain the rationale for certain choices that have been made by governments, international bodies, and pharmaceutical agencies.

For example, finding “graphene-like” material in the blood of people who have been inoculated with experimental serums makes no sense for a virologist, but it does made sense for an expert in nanomaterials and nanotechnology who understands what graphene can be used for.

It also makes sense for an expert in medical patents, who immediately identifies the content of the invention and relates it to other similar patents. It also makes sense for an expert in war technologies who knows about studies on the enhanced man (a document of the British Ministry of Defense calls him “augmented man” in transhumanistic terms) and is therefore able to recognize in graphene nanostructures the technology that enables the augmentation of the war performance of military personnel. And a telemedicine expert will be able to recognize in those nanostructures the indispensable device that sends biomedical parameters to the patient control server and also receives certain signals from it.

Once again: the assessment of events from a medical point of view should take into account the legal implications of certain choices, such as the imposition of masks or, even worse, mass “vaccination,” made in violation of the fundamental rights of citizens. And I am sure that in the field of health governance the manipulations of the classification codes of diseases and therapies will also emerge, which have been designed to make the harmful effects of measures taken against COVID-19 untraceable, from placing people on respirators in intensive care to watchful waiting protocols, to say nothing of the scandalous violations of regulations by the European Commission which – as you know – has no delegation from the European Parliament in the field of Health, and that is not a public institution but rather a private business consortium.

Just in the past few days, at the G-20 Bali summit, Klaus Schwab instructed heads of government – almost all coming from the Young Global Leaders for Tomorrow program of the World Economic Forum – about the future steps to be taken in view of establishing a world government. The president of a very powerful private organization with enormous economic means exercises undue power over world governments, obtaining their obedience from political leaders who have no popular mandate to subject their nations to the delusions of power of the elite: this fact is of unprecedented gravity. Klaus Schwab said:

“In the fourth industrial revolution the winners will take it all, so if you are a World Economic Forum first mover, you are the winners” (here).

These very serious statements have two implications: the first is that “the winners will take it all” and will be “winners” – it is not clear in what capacity and with whose permission. The second is that those who do not adapt to this “fourth industrial revolution” will find themselves ousted and will lose – they will lose everything, including their freedom. In short, Klaus Schwab is threatening the heads of government of the twenty most industrialized nations in the world to carry out the programmatic points of the Great Reset in their nations.

This goes far beyond the pandemic: it is a global coup d’état, against which it is essential that people rise up and that the still healthy organs of states start an international juridical process. The threat is imminent and serious, since the World Economic Forum is capable of carrying out its subversive project and those who govern nations have all become either enslaved or blackmailed by this international mafia.

In light of these statements – and those of others no less delusional than Yuval Noah Harari, Schwab’s adviser – we understand how the pandemic farce served as a trial balloon for imposing controls, coercive measures, curtailing individual freedoms, and increasing unemployment and poverty. The next steps will have to be carried out by means of economic and energy crises, which are instrumental to the establishment of a synarchic government in the hands of the globalist elite.

And here, dear friends, allow me to speak as a bishop. Because in this series of events that we are witnessing and will continue to witness, your commitment could risk being thwarted or limited by the fact of not being able to see its essentially spiritual nature. I know that two centuries of Enlightenment thought, revolutions, atheistic materialism and anticlerical liberalism have accustomed us to thinking of Faith as a personal matter, or that there is not an objective Truth to which we all must conform. But this is the fruit of a propaedeutic indoctrination, one that happened long before what is happening today, and it would be foolish to believe that the anti-Christian ideology that drove the secret sects and Masonic groups of the eighteenth century had nothing to do with the anti-Christian ideology that today drives people like Klaus Schwab, George Soros, and Bill Gates. The driving principles are the same: rebellion against God, hatred for the Church and humanity, and destructive fury aimed against Creation and especially against man because he is created in the image and likeness of God.

If you start from this evidence, you will understand that it is not possible to pretend that what is happening before our eyes is solely the result of profit-seeking or the desire for power. Certainly, the economic part cannot be disregarded, considering how many people have collaborated with the World Economic Forum. And yet, beyond profit, there are unstated purposes that stem from a “theological” vision – one that is turned upside-down, it’s true, but still theological – a vision that sees two opposing sides: the side of Christ and the side of the Antichrist.

There can be no neutrality, because when there is a clash between two armies, those who choose not to fight are also making a choice that affects the outcome of the battle. On the other hand, how is it possible to recognize in your noble and high professions the admirable order that the Creator has placed in nature (from the constellations of stars to the particles of the atom) and then deny that man is also part of this order, with his moral sense, his laws, his culture, and his discoveries? How can man, who is God’s creature, presume to not be subject himself to eternal and perfect laws?

Our battle is not against creatures made of flesh and blood, but against the Principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of evil that dwell in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).

On the other front, we must recognize that the City of God is more difficult to identify. Even the religious authorities appear to have betrayed their role of giving guidance to the faithful, preferring to serve power and propagate their lies. The very people who ought to be protecting and sanctifying souls are scattering and scandalizing them, calling good Christians rigid fundamentalists. As you can see, the attack is on several fronts, and thus it is a mortal threat for humanity, striking at both the body and the soul.

And yet, precisely at a time when it is difficult to find authoritative points of reference – both in the religious sphere as well as the temporal one – we see an ever-increasing number of those who are understanding, opening their eyes, and recognizing the criminal mind behind the evolution of events. It is now clear that everything is linked together, without having to dismiss those who say so as “conspiracy theorists.” The conspiracy is already there: we are not inventing it, we are simply denouncing it, hoping that people wake up from this suicidal narcosis and demand that someone put an end to the global coup.

The operations of social engineering and mass manipulation have demonstrated beyond any doubt that this crime was premeditated, and how it is consistent with a “spiritual” vision of the conflict that is now unfolding: it is necessary to take sides and fight, without giving in. The Truth – which is an attribute of God – cannot be cancelled by error, and Life cannot be defeated by death: remember that the Lord, who has said of Himself, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” has already defeated Satan, and what remains of the battle serves only to give us the opportunity to make the right choice, to choose to do those actions which place us under the banner of Christ, on the side of Good.

I trust that this great work you are undertaking will soon bear its expected fruits, putting an end to a time of trial in which we see how the world will become if we do not turn to Christ, if we continue to think that we can coexist with evil, lying, and self-worship. After all, the City of God is the model of those who live in God’s love, self-control, and contempt for the world; the city of the devil is the model of those who live in self-love, conforming to the world and despising God.

I thank you and bless you all.

+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop

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Biography of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò was born on January 16, 1941 in Varese, Italy.  He was ordained a priest on March 24, 1968 and incardinated in the Diocese of Pavia (Italy). He has a Doctorate in both Canon and Civil Law (Utroque Iure).

His Excellency started his service in the Diplomatic Corps of the Holy See as Attaché in 1973 in Iraq and Kuwait. In 1976 he was transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature in Great Britain. From 1978 until 1989 he worked at the Secretariat of State of Vatican City. On April 4, 1989 he was nominated Special Envoy with the functions of Permanent Observer to the European Council in Strasbourg.

He was elected Archbishop on April 3, 1992. On April 26, 1992 he was consecrated and made Titular Archbishop of Ulpiana. He was nominated Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Nigeria, on April 3, 1992. On April 4, 1998 he was nominated Delegate for the Pontifical Representations.

Archbishop Viganò served as Secretary General of the Governorate of the Vatican City State from July 16, 2009 until September 3, 2011. On October 19, 2011 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.

He speaks Italian, French, Spanish and English

 

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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.”

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

Price: $11.50 Get yours for FREE! Click here to download.

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When the political West insists on the so-called “rules-based world order“, it’s perhaps the most laughable claim of our time, as this supposed “international community” doesn’t abide by its own rules and laws which formally state that private property is protected.

The nominally capitalist power pole has no problem using what it usually calls a “communist practice” of illegal confiscation of the said property. In the aftermath of the special military operation (SMO), the United States and its numerous vassals and satellite states illegally froze hundreds of billions in Russian foreign exchange (forex) reserves. Estimates vary, but the most commonly cited number amounts to approximately $300 billion in assets.

The original idea was to cause an artificial default in Russia. In turn, this was supposed to result in massive financial destabilization. Namely, when a country defaults, it disposes of (or ignores, depending on the viewpoint) its financial obligations towards its creditors. The immediate consequence for the country is a reduction in its total debt and a reduction or even cessation of payments on the interest of that debt. A credit rating agency then takes this into account in its gradings of capital, interest, extraneous and procedural defaults, and failures to abide by the terms of bonds or other debt instruments. In short, the country in question becomes a geoeconomic pariah, which then affects its diplomatic standing.

Precisely this was what the political West wanted to ensure for Russia. With no access to its forex reserves, Moscow was expected to bleed dry financially, forcing it into a default that would then isolate the country and make trading with it not just hard, but nearly impossible. This geopolitical tool has been the mainstay of non-kinetic segments of Western hybrid warfare against the world for well over half a century now. And it might work against small to medium-sized countries. However, the Eurasian giant is neither of those. Russia is an energy superpower and a net exporter of natural gas, oil, rare earth metals and nonmetals, fertilizer, food and many other commodities that are absolutely essential to the world.

It’s also an industrial power that produces heavy machinery, chemical products, manufacturing tools, etc. Trying to isolate such a country is simply impossible. What’s more, even much smaller and less powerful countries targeted by US sanctions are finding ways to circumvent them, simply because others need their commodities. This is true for Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, Syria and even North Korea, which bore the brunt of Western sanctions before the SMO. Rather schizophrenically, even the political West itself is trying to find ways to circumvent its own sanctions. Still, it’s trying to make Russia’s life as difficult as possible by attempting to turn it into a failed state or at the very least making it look like one.

All this accomplishes little more than propaganda “wins”, effectively serving only for optics purposes. Thus, the US-led power pole is now trying to find other uses for frozen Russian forex reserves. Namely, according to the Financial Times, G7 is moving closer to approving a plan that would funnel approximately $300 billion in stolen Russian assets to the increasingly cash-strapped Kiev regime. According to the FT’s own admission, the proposal constitutes “a radical step that would open a new chapter in the West’s financial warfare against Moscow”. The troubled Biden administration is yet to announce that this is their official stance, but FT posits that American officials are “actively engaging G7 countries to see it through”.

“A US official said Washington was engaged in active conversations on the use of Russian sovereign assets and believed there was a short timeline to make a decision,” the FT report reads, adding: “They suggested it could be discussed at a possible G7 leaders’ meeting to coincide with the second anniversary in February of Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine.”

In other words, the “exclusive club” of closest Anglo-American vassals and satellite states is being given instructions on how to handle their own financial and foreign policy, including the theft of other countries’ forex assets. As previously mentioned, the sanctions warfare has not only been a miserable failure, but has also backfired. Thus, the political West is trying to hurt Russia by not only stealing its reserves, but also illegally transferring them to the Neo-Nazi junta. The obvious goal is to “adequately” substitute US funding that is now virtually guaranteed to run out thanks to the peculiarities of America’s political system, as the growing Republican-Democrat divide turns into an even bigger headache for the Kiev regime.

Apart from the halt in Washington DC’s financing, the EU is also having major issues in finding consensus about continued support for the Neo-Nazi junta. Namely, last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked another “aid” package worth €50 billion. This happened on the same day Budapest abstained from a vote on starting formal EU membership talks with the Kiev regime. It can be argued that Brussels is its last chance to stay afloat financially, although this is virtually guaranteed to break Europe’s already fledgling economy. In other words, the political West is risking the dismantling of its entire financial system and stability for the sake of the Neo-Nazi junta that is bound to lose anyway.

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United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Tel Aviv on December 18 to discuss the ongoing siege of Gaza and other military operations being carried out against the Palestinian people.

Although the major talking point from the Pentagon which aired over western media sources was that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) must carry out its blanket bombing and ground operation in Gaza utilizing precision tactics.

Such statements have been advanced by the White House spokesman and cabinet members as the opposition to the siege on Gaza mounts internationally. Pressure from below throughout North America, Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific has compelled most imperialist states to pay lip service to a long-term ceasefire by the IDF.

Although President Biden has reportedly whispered to private audiences that he disagrees with the way in which the war is being waged by the IDF against the 2.3 million people of Gaza, the reality is without U.S. shipments of weapons to the settler-colonial state the carnage being imposed upon the Palestinians would not exist. It has been well-documented even within corporate and government-sponsored western media networks that thousands of tons of weapons including bombs sent by the U.S. have caused havoc in Gaza.

Nearly 20,000 people have been killed in the strip by mid-December. Tens of thousands more have been injured while the entire population of Gaza have been dislocated, deprived of housing, medical care and security by the State of Israel backed by the government and ruling class in North America and Western Europe.

Yemeni Resistance and Palestine Solidarity  

Nonetheless, another major concern by Washington and Wall Street is the actions carried out by the Yemen Naval Forces which have targeted ships linked to Israeli business interests and those utilizing ports controlled by Tel Aviv. Austin has confirmed during December that the U.S. is establishing a task force to challenge the Yemeni resistance forces led by the Ansar Allah in the Red Sea region.

Yemen resistance forces are in complete solidarity with the people fighting the Zionist regime in Palestine. They are representative of the anti-imperialist sentiment throughout the West Asia, Horn of Africa and North Africa geopolitical regions.

Resistance forces in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon have engaged both Israeli and Pentagon bases and settlements. On a political level, there have been large demonstrations against Israel and the U.S. throughout the impacted region as well as around the globe.

This overall atmosphere of solidarity with Palestine and a growing commitment to facilitate substantive change has created a strategic dilemma for the leading imperialist states seeking to continue their domination of the shipping lanes in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. As Austin announced the redeployment of aircraft carriers from the Perian Gulf to the Red Sea areas, the threats of direct military confrontation with the Yemeni resistance will become a reality.

The threats of U.S. military strikes against Yemen are only inflaming tensions throughout West Asia and the Persian Gulf. Major shipping companies transporting goods and oil have suspended their operations in the Red Sea. Insurance corporations are gaging their risks as Yemeni Naval Forces escalate military operations against Israeli interests.

In a report published by Al Mayadeen it notes that:

“After repeated operations from Yemeni Armed Forces in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, announced Saturday (Dec. 16) they were suspending passage through the Red Sea. The declaration by MSC, an Italian-Swiss conglomerate, and CMA CGM, a French shipping company, follows a similar move by the world’s second-largest shipping company, A.P. Moller-Maersk, who announced, on Friday (Dec. 15), the suspension of all container traffic through the Red Sea until further notice. This decision comes in response to an attack by the Yemeni Armed Forces on container ships heading to Israeli-occupied Palestine in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Simultaneously, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that their Naval forces carried out a military operation against the Maersk Gibraltar cargo ship, which was en route to the Israeli occupation entity.”

These shipping firms are essential in the profit-making capabilities of global commerce, particularly in the energy industry. Any effective blockade by the Resistance units operating within the Red Sea and Arabian Sea would be extremely costly for the world capitalist system.

Not only are the substantial risks incurred by shipping and energy interests of concern to the U.S., if Washington was compelled to engage in military strikes in Yemen, it could very well open up other avenues of attacks by the Resistance in various areas along the Red Sea. Even among Axis of Resistance forces in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, an attack on Yemen could bolster their willingness to confront U.S. and Israeli military units.

In the same above-mentioned article in Al Mayadeen the publication says:

“On Saturday morning, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed a U.S. missile destroyer in the Red Sea shot down 14 drones fired from Yemen, adding that regional allies had been notified of the incident. In addition, the spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree publicly announced that the Yemeni Naval Forces targeted the MSC Alanya and the MSC PALATIUM III with anti-ship missiles, dealing direct hits to the two vessels, on Friday. Two U.S. officials recently stated that the Biden administration has conveyed messages to the Yemeni Armed Forces in Yemen through various channels, cautioning them to cease their operations on ships in the Red Sea and against Israel. The operations in Yemen have posed a threat to Israeli and Israeli-affiliated ships sailing one of the key commercial shipping routes in the region, in solidarity with Palestine.”

Therefore, the U.S. is compelled to confront the Yemeni Resistance in an effort to reinforce its status as the facilitator and guardian of trade. The outcome of this expanded phase of the war may prove disastrous for Washington since the worldwide opposition to the war on Gaza has weakened the political posture of the Biden administration.

The Palestinian Question and the 2024 U.S. Elections

On December 18, there was yet another World Day of Action against the Israeli regime and its backers in the White House and Congress. In New York City thousands marched through the streets blocking entrances to businesses and transportation hubs.

After more than two months of the IDF siege on Gaza and the West Bank, within the U.S. and around the world there are mass demonstrations, rallies and other forms of protest directed towards the acquisition of a ceasefire and halting of all military, diplomatic and economic support to the Zionist state. Since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood in early October, the Palestinians have maintained the ideological and psychological advantage over the governments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Biden.

The Democratic Party president has suffered huge losses in public support in less than one year leading up to the national elections. A recent CNN opinion poll indicated that Biden was facing a 63% disapproval rating among U.S. voters. In a race against Trump, if the elections were held in mid-December, Biden would lose by several percentage points.

Undoubtedly, the disapproval of Biden is fueled by the proxy wars in Ukraine against the Russian Federation and in Palestine. The war against the Palestinians in Gaza has expanded to the West Bank where thousands have been arrested and dozens killed since October 7. On a regional level there are threats of deepening involvement by the U.S. in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and the Red Sea.

Moreover, the U.S. propaganda on the West Asia region is based upon the false notion that the Islamic Republic of Iran is directing the entire Axis of Resistance in its every move. The purpose of making these assertions against Tehran by the Biden administration is aimed at building support among the U.S. electorate for its increasing hostility towards the country.  

This approach by the Biden administration will only enhance its disapproval ratings within the U.S. and abroad. In the ever-expanding opposition to Biden’s vetoing of ceasefire resolutions at the United Nations Security Council, many more workers, youth and oppressed peoples domestically and internationally will turn against the president.

Consequently, the path to re-election by Biden is becoming narrower each month. The U.S. electorate is being forced to choose between the neo-fascism of former President Donald Trump and the warmongering of the incumbent. What is needed is an alternative political movement geared towards realizing the emancipation of the workers and oppressed while ending the imperialist antagonisms and wars.  

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America’s “Terror Watchlist” Prepares “The Way to Tyranny”

December 19th, 2023 by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

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***

Did you know that there are 2,000,000 names on the Federal government’s terror watchlist? 

The National Security Council claims most are not Americans, but the Department of Homeland Security admits that there have been tens of thousands of Americans who have been treated like terrorists.  It does not occur to the National Security council that there are no terrorist events corresponding to two million terrorists.  If there truly were two million terrorists, the US would be in chaos.

So what is the list for?

It expands the security bureaucracy.  The list has grown from 120,000 to two million, seventeen times larger than its original figure.  Is this in response to terrorists events?  You name the events.

The list enables the FBI to pressure people into becoming informants and false witnesses in frame ups by threatening to add them to the terror list,

The list allows authorities to punish and to silence truth-tellers who expose the official narratives for the lies that they are.

You can add your own explanations.

Remember, the Nazi-sounding Department of Homeland Security and the terror watchlist were the creations of 9/11, which was blamed without any evidence on Muslim terrorists when all evidence points to an inside job so that the US could remake the Middle East for Israel.

In other words, a false flag attack was used to strip Americans of their rights to travel.

It is unclear to me how the watchlist can continue to exist after Federal Judge Anthony Trenga declared the watchlist unconstitutional.  Did the federal nazis  appeal his decision and get it over-ruled?

The watchlist is just a way of controlling people.  Its other useful function is to acclimatize Americans to the warrantless  invasion of their privacy  and accustom them to obeying arbitrary orders.  The watchlist is a way of preparing Americans for tyranny.

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Paul Craig Roberts is a renowned author and academic, chairman of The Institute for Political Economy where this article was originally published. Dr. Roberts was previously associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan Administration.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

The Death of Israel: Chris Hedges

December 19th, 2023 by Chris Hedges

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Israel will appear triumphant after it finishes its genocidal campaign in Gaza and the West Bank. Backed by the United States, it will achieve its demented goal. Its murderous rampages and genocidal violence will exterminate or ethnically cleanse Palestinians. Its dream of a state exclusively for Jews, with any Palestinians who remain stripped of basic rights, will be realized.

It will revel in its blood-soaked victory. It will celebrate its war criminals. Its genocide will be erased from public consciousness and tossed into Israel’s huge black hole of historical amnesia. Those with a conscience in Israel will be silenced and persecuted

But by the time Israel achieves its decimation of Gaza — Israel is talking about months of warfare — it will have signed its own death sentence. Its facade of civility, its supposed vaunted respect for the rule of law and democracy, its mythical story of the courageous Israeli military and miraculous birth of the Jewish nation, will lie in ash heaps.

Israel’s social capital will be spent. It will be revealed as an ugly, repressive, hate-filled apartheid regime, alienating younger generations of American Jews. Its patron, the United States, as new generations come into power, will distance itself from Israel the way it is distancing itself from Ukraine. Its popular support, already eroded in the U.S., will come from America’s Christianized fascists who see Israel’s domination of ancient Biblical land as a harbinger of the Second Coming and in its subjugation of Arabs a kindred racism and white supremacy. 

Palestinian blood and suffering — 10 times the number of children have been killed in Gaza as in two years of war in Ukraine — will pave the road to Israel’s oblivion. The tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of ghosts will have their revenge. Israel will become synonymous with its victims the way Turks are synonymous with the Armenians, Germans are with the Namibians and later the Jews, and Serbs are with the Bosniaks. Israel’s cultural, artistic, journalistic and intellectual life will be exterminated. Israel will be a stagnant nation where the religious fanatics, bigots and Jewish extremists who have seized power will dominate public discourse. It will find its allies among other despotic regimes. Israel’s repugnant racial and religious supremacy will be its defining attribute, which is why the most retrograde white supremists in the U.S. and Europe, including philo-semites such as John Hagee, Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene, fervently back Israel. The vaunted fight against anti-Semitism is a thinly disguised celebration of White Power.

Despotisms can exist long after their past due date. But they are terminal. You don’t have to be a Biblical scholar to see that Israel’s lust for rivers of blood is antithetical to the core values of Judaism. The cynical weaponization of the Holocaust, including branding Palestinians as Nazis, has little efficacy when you carry out a live streamed genocide against 2.3 million people trapped in a concentration camp.

Nations need more than force to survive. They need a mystique. This mystique provides purpose, civility and even nobility to inspire citizens to sacrifice for the nation. The mystique offers hope for the future. It provides meaning. It provides national identity. 

When mystiques implode, when they are exposed as lies, a central foundation of state power collapses. I reported on the death of the communist mystiques in 1989 during the revolutions in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania. The police and the military decided there was nothing left to defend. Israel’s decay will engender the same lassitude and apathy. It will not be able to recruit indigenous collaborators, such as Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority — reviled by most Palestinians — to do the bidding of the colonizers. The historian Ronald Robinson cites the inability to recruit indigenous allies by the British Empire as the point at which collaboration inverted into noncooperation, a defining moment for the start of decolonization. Once noncooperation by native elites morphs into active opposition, Robinson explains, the Empire’s “rapid retreat” is assured. 

All Israel has left is escalating violence, including torture, which accelerates the decline. This wholesale violence works in the short term, as it did in the war waged by the French in Algeria, the Dirty War waged by Argentina’s military dictatorship and during Britain’s conflict in Northern Ireland. But in the long term it is suicidal.

“You might say that the battle of Algiers was won through the use of torture,” the British historian Alistair Horne observed, “but that the war, the Algerian war, was lost.”

The genocide in Gaza has turned Hamas fighters into heroes in the Muslim world and the Global South. Israel may wipe out the Hamas leadership. But the past — and current — assassinations of scores of Palestinian leaders has done little to blunt resistance. The siege and genocide in Gaza has produced a new generation of deeply traumatized and enraged young men and women whose families have been killed and whose communities have been obliterated. They are prepared to take the place of martyred leaders. Israel has sent the stock of its adversary into the stratosphere.

Israel was at war with itself before Oct. 7. Israelis were protesting to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s abolition of judicial independence. Its religious bigots and fanatics, currently in power, had mounted a determined attack on Israeli secularism. Israel’s unity since the attacks is precarious. It is a negative unity. It is held together by hatred. And even this hatred is not enough to keep protestors from decrying the government’s abandonment of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Hatred is a dangerous political commodity. Once finished with one enemy, those who stoke hatred go in search of another. The Palestinian “human animals,” when eradicated or subdued, will be replaced by Jewish apostates and traitors. The demonized group can never be redeemed or cured. A politics of hatred creates a permanent instability that is exploited by those seeking the destruction of civil society.

Israel was far down this road on Oct. 7 when it promulgated a series of discriminatory laws against non-Jews that resemble the racist Nuremberg Laws that disenfranchised Jews in Nazi Germany. The Communities Acceptance Law permits exclusively Jewish settlements to bar applicants for residency on the basis of “suitability to the community’s fundamental outlook.” 

Many of Israel’s best educated and young have left the country to places like Canada, Australia and the U.K., with as many as one million moving to the United States. Even Germany has seen an influx of around 20,000 Israelis in the first two decades of this century. Around 470,000 Israelis have left the country since Oct. 7. Within Israel, human rights campaigners, intellectuals and journalists — Israeli and Palestinian — are attacked as traitors in government-sponsored smear campaigns, placed under state surveillance and subjected to arbitrary arrests. The Israeli educational system is an indoctrination machine for the military.

The Israeli scholar Yeshayahu Leibowitz warned that if Israel did not separate church and state and end its occupation of the Palestinians, it would give rise to a corrupt Rabbinate that would warp Judaism into a fascistic cult. “Israel,” he said, “would not deserve to exist, and it will not be worthwhile to preserve it.”

The global mystique of the U.S., after two decades of disastrous wars in the Middle East and the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, is as contaminated as its Israeli ally. The Biden administration, in its fervor to unconditionally support Israel and appease the powerful Israel lobby, has bypassed the congressional review process with the Department of State to approve the transfer of 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale.” At the same time he has cynically called on Israel to minimize civilian casualties.

Israel has no intention of minimizing civilian casualties. It has already killed 18,800 Palestinians, 0.82 percent of the Gazan population — the equivalent of around 2.7 million Americans. Another 51,000 have been wounded. Half of Gaza’s population is starving, according to the U.N. All Palestinian institutions and services that sustain life — hospitals (only 11 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are still “partially functioning”), water treatment plants, power grids, sewer systems, housing, schools, government buildings, cultural centers, telecommunications systems, mosques, churches, U.N. food distribution points — have been destroyed. Israel has assassinated at least 80 Palestinian journalists alongside dozens of their family members and over 130 U.N. aid workers along with members of their families. Civilian casualties are the point. This is not a war against Hamas. It is a war against the Palestinians. The objective is to kill or remove 2.3 million Palestinians from Gaza. 

The shooting dead of three Israeli hostages who apparently escaped their captors and approached Israeli forces with their shirts off, waving a white flag and calling out for help in Hebrew is not only tragic, but a glimpse of Israel’s rules of engagement in Gaza. These rules are — kill anything that moves.

As the retired Israeli Major General Giora Eiland, who formerly headed the Israeli National Security Council, wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth, “[T]he State of Israel has no choice but to turn Gaza into a place that is temporarily or permanently impossible to live in…Creating a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a necessary means to achieve the goal.” “Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist,” he wrote. Major General Ghassan Alian declared that in Gaza, “there will be no electricity and no water, there will only be destruction. You wanted hell; you will get hell.” 

Settler colonial states that endure, including the United States, exterminate through diseases and violence nearly the entirety of their indigenous populations. Infectious diseases brought by the colonizers to the Americas, such as smallpox, killed an estimated 56 million indigenous people over about 100 years in South, Central and North America. By 1600 less than a tenth of the original population remained. Israel cannot kill on this scale, with nearly 5.5 million Palestinians living under occupation and another 9 million in the diaspora.

The Biden presidency, which ironically may have signed its own political death certificate, is tethered to Israel’s genocide. It will try to distance itself rhetorically, but at the same time it will funnel the billions of dollars of weapons demanded by Israel — including $14.3 billion in supplemental military aid to augment the $3.8 billion in annual aid — to “finish the job.” It is a full partner in Israel’s genocide project.

Israel is a pariah state. This was publically on display on Dec. 12 when 153 member states at the U.N. General Assembly voted for a ceasefire, with only 10 — including the U.S. and Israel — opposed and 23 abstaining. Israel’s scorched earth campaign in Gaza means there will be no peace. There will be no two state solution. Apartheid and genocide will define Israel. This presages a long, long conflict, one the Jewish State cannot ultimately win.

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Dec.7 (photo above right) – Dancing With the Stars judge Derek Hough revealed that his wife Hayley Erbert underwent emergency brain surgery after a cranial hematoma from a “burst blood vessel”

 

Nov.28 (photo above) – Petaling Jaya, Malaysia – 37 year old Malaysian actress and star Queenzy Cheng died suddenly on Nov.28, 2023. Ruptured brain aneurysm. It was blamed on her “blow-drying hair”

 

Dec.14, 2023 – Altoona, PA – Brittany Boyles suffered a brain aneurysm on Dec.8, 2023.

 

Dec.5, 2023 – Ana Carolina Aquino suffered a cerebral aneurysm while working at her job as a chef at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood

 

Dec.3, 2023 – Scottsdale, AZ – 55 year old Regina “Reg” Brewer Sandoval suffered a brain aneurysm and had a car wreck. She died on Dec.5.

 

Dec.2, 2023 – Dec.2, 2023 – Seattle, WA – Sonya Denise Holden has suffered a brain aneurysm. “I had COVID 4 times and three COVID shots.”

 

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Nov.24, 2023 – Gloucester, UK – 40 year old House of Piri owner Wayne Miller died suddenly after suffering a brainhemorrhage (brain bleed) on Nov.24, 2023

 

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Nov.21, 2023 – Yonkers, NY – Priscila De Jesus suffered a brain aneurysm

 

Nov.14, 2023 – Kent, UK – Robert Everitt-Barden is severely ill with a brain aneurysm. “they have operated and managed to fix the large bleed”

 

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Nov.14, 2023 – Reston, VA – Cinelle survived a brain aneurysm on Nov.14, 2023.

 

Nov.7, 2023 – Social media influencer Samara Maloney died unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm on Nov.7, 2023 There are many fake obituaries regarding her death, claiming car crash

 

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Nov.4, 2023 – Hamden, CT – Tiara suffered an aneurysm on Nov.4, 2023. She remains in stable but critical condition.

 

Oct.31, 2023 – Binan City, Philippines – Jen Palma-Toribio, business owner, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm.

 

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Oct.31, 2023 – IN – Marie Love had a ruptured brain aneurysm causing a large subdural hematoma. She’s in the ICU.

 

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Oct.29, 2023 – Doral, FL – Drea Carolina’s mother suffered a brain aneurysm.

 

Oct.27, 2023 – Brazil – Alex Gurjao, Amateur football coach, died suddenly from an aneurysm

 

Oct.17, 2023 – Detroit, MI – Shannon Elizabeth is upset. Her mom died unexpectedly after cognitive decline Her dad died of brain aneurysm She has new colon cancer & Multiple Sclerosis

 

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Oct.14, 2023 – Warner Robins, GA – Tammy Lancaster is in the hospital fighting for her life. “She had a blood clot that caused a stroke, brain bleed and swelling”

 

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Oct.13, 2023 – TX – 19 year old Adelina “Addy” Angel Martinez died suddenly from a Brain aneurysm

 

Oct.12, 2023 – New York, NY – Evamay Oria Lilagan is having a “brain aneurysm procedure”

 

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Oct.10, 2023 – Uniontown, OH – Matthew Michael Skinner died suddenly from a ruptured aortic aneurysm

 

Sep.30, 2023 – OH – Kristin Velovitch became ill on Sep.30, 2023 and was found to have a brain aneurysm. Fortunately she survived.

 

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Sep.25, 2023 – UK – 42 year old Zoe Wilson, mom of 3 had a stroke on Sep.18. She then had a brain bleed & another stroke in Hospital & died on Sep.25, 2023

 

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Sep.15, 2023 – ITV “This Morning” Celebrity Dentist 53 year old Dr.Uchenna Okoye died suddenly of brain bleed on Sep.15, 2023

 

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Sep.4, 2023 – UK – 48 year old professional soccer player and Newcastle United academy director Steve Harper suffered a hemorrhagic stroke (brain bleed) on Sep.4, 2023

 

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Sep.1, 2023 – PA – 17 year old Mason Martin, Karns City High School football quarterback collapsed during a game due to brain bleed, on Sep.1, 2023

 

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Sep.2023 – Western Australia – Julie Grandini is a patient care assistant. She had a “small bleed on my brain” in Sep.2023.

 

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Aug.30, 2023 – Santa Clara, CA – 44 year old Lucinda Daniels collapsed while tending to her injured high school football player son had a brain aneurysm and died suddenly on Aug.30, 2023

 

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Aug.28, 2023 – Pryor, OK – 40s year old Andrea Stamper has Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis and was COVID-19 mRNA Vaccinated as many people with auto-immune issues were “I have 3 blood clots in and around my brain…and a small brain bleed

 

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Aug.26, 2023 – Reno, NV – Jeannie had a brain aneurysm and stroke

 

Aug.23, 2023 – Italy – 29 year old auto parts company worker and soccer enthusiast Luca Gualtieri collapsed at work and died from a ruptured aneurysm

 

Aug.20, 2023 – Sierra Madre, CA – Dr.Mona Delahooke is a best selling author and child psychologist She had a ruptured brain aneurysm on Aug.20, 2023 and almost died.

 

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Aug.19, 2023 – Munich, Germany – 54 year old German singer Andrea Pancur died suddenly from a brain aneurysmon August 19, 2023

 

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Aug.18, 2023 – Kyle, TX – 46 year old Rita Vargas died suddenly from a brain aneurysm

 

Aug.18, 2023 – Clint, TX – Elizabeth Huerta died suddenly from a brain aneurysm.

 

Aug.4, 2023 – Houston, TX – 35 year old Meredith Staggers, an influencer was driving when she suffered a life-threatening brain aneurysm on August 4, 2023

 

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Aug.2023 – Illinois – Mary Boch had a brain bleed in August 2023 and survived.

 

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July 24, 2023 – Salahuddin Ayub died suddenly due to an aneurysm

 

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July 20, 2023 – Huddersfield, UK – 45 year old mother of 4 kids died suddenly on July 21, 2023 after suffering a “catastrophic brain bleed” on July 20

 

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July 20, 2023 – Franklin Township, NJ – 35 year old Ana Florentino died suddenly from a brain aneurysm, leaving behind 2 kids

 

July 8, 2023 – July 8, 2023 – Pico Rivera, CA – 49 year old NURSE Annette Patino, died suddenly from a brain aneurysm She was COVID-19 vaccinated

 

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July 8, 2023 – 52 year old ex-Netherlands international goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is in intensive care after suffering a brain bleed

 

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July 2023 – Crookston, MN – Shirley Houston suffered a brain aneurysm.

 

June 30, 2023 – 30 yo Jo Lindner died suddenly on June 30, 2023, allegedly from a brain aneurysm

 

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The German fitness guru had built an impressive Instagram following of 8.4 million by posting often about his gym workouts and training regimen.

He was on a podcast a couple of weeks ago on June 6, 2023 (video above – Bradley Martin’s Raw Talk) where he admitted that he was pressured into taking four COVID-19 vaccines and then had an abnormal D-dimer (indicating blood clots) and other abnormalities in the blood.

His girlfriend, Nicha, known as @immapeaches online, shared a bittersweet tribute to the late bodybuilder Saturday on Instagram, reporting an aneurysm caused his death.

Jo is believed to have died from a suspected brain aneurysm, however, this has not been officially confirmed. (click here)

June 28, 2023 – Manchester, CT – Town Clerk Darryl Thames Sr. died suddenly on June 28, 2023 after suffering a brain aneurysm.

 

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June 28, 2023 – Liverpool, UK – 19 year old University student Harvey Edwards died suddenly on June 28, 2023. The media is very misleading with this story. He didn’t die from a sinus infection. He died from a brain bleed and stroke.

 

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June 10, 2023 – Phoenix, AZ – Healthcare worker Kristan Marie James-Frazier died suddenly of brain aneurysm on Jun.10, 2023 She just got a Masters degree in Health Services Administration at Strayer University

 

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June 6, 2023 – Garner, NC – Matthew Savage who works at CHapel Hill post office had a brain aneurysm which ruptured

 

June 4, 2023 – Alfredo Vasconcelos, Brazil – 36 yo mayor Mauro Cesar de Oliveira, aka Maurinho, died suddenly at home while eating lunch. He had a ruptured carotid artery aneurysm.

 

June 3, 2023 – New York, NY – Salvino Luis Ceballos, 2nd grader, died suddenly on June 3, 2023 from a brain aneurysm

 

June 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

 

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June 2023 – June 2023 – Houston, TX – Dionicia Elizarras suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm at work. She stayed overnight roaming around her workplace, not realizing what had happened!

 

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May 25, 2023 – Houston, TX – Police Officer Fredrick Portis was found dead in his patrol car, parked on the side of the road, lights still flashing Autopsy showed brain bleed due to aneurysm

 

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May 18, 2023 – California Instagram influencer 35 yo Jackie Miller James, 39 weeks pregnant, collapsed on May 18, 2023 with a ruptured brain aneurysm, was in 5 week coma (click here)

 

Jackie Miller James

May 11, 2023 – St.Catharines, ON – 35 year old Vanessa Belding suffered a fatal brain bleed on her 35th birthday on May 11, 2023

 

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May 9, 2023 – Petrie Terrace, QLD, Australia – Claudia Liu had a brain aneurysm rupture

 

May 3, 2023 – Bellwood, IL – Elvira Delgado, mom of 5, had a cerebral aneurysm, 5 operations, multiple seizures

 

May 2, 2023 – Halifax, NS – 57 year old Phillip Roach, father of a Jeopardy! TV show winner Mattea Roach, died suddenly from brain aneurysm.

 

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May 1, 2023 – Wiarton, ON – 39 year old Emily Bradley Roos, a Cafe owner, died suddenly on May 1, 2023 from a burst aneurysm. Emily was a mother of three who trusted health leaders. No COVID-19 mRNA vaccines = no hugs.

 

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May 2023 – Callahan, FL – Jamie DeMarata had a double brain aneurysm and a stroke

 

My Take….

 

An aneurysm is an abnormal swelling or bulge in the wall of a blood vessel, such as an artery. It begins as a weak spot in the blood vessel wall, which balloons out of shape over time by the force of the pumping blood.

Aneurysms can be potentially fatal if they rupture. Death can occur within minutes. About 25% of people who experience a brain aneurysm rupture die within 24 hours. Around 50% die within 3 months of the rupture due to complications.

Aneurysms are a well known complication of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, that doctors are currently in denial about.

 

Vaccine Spike protein damages blood vessels.

One Japanese study looked at 3 cases of brain aneurysms that ruptured after Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. All 3 were women. (click here)

US Pathologist Ryan Cole on Dr.Drew Show

 

 

Professor Sucharit Bhakdi (German Microbiologist) has been warning about blood vessel wall damage since 2021:

 

 

 
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Forced mobilisation in Ukraine will continue, said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, Kyrylo Budanov, on December 17. His statement came only days after it was announced that women would begin being conscripted, showing the chronic shortage in manpower the Ukrainian military is experiencing as Russian forces are methodically destroying it.

“As of today, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have over a million soldiers. Without mobilisation, no recruitment will meet these needs,” said Budanov at the discussion panel of 2024: Challenges and Perspectives. Budanov explained that the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not have enough personnel, warning that the number of soldiers in the army must be maintained despite continued losses.

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate admitted that “everyone who wanted” joined the Army within the first six months of the war, but now Ukrainians are not motivated to serve and are trying in every way to avoid mobilisation.

“The majority of our people, although everyone shouts ‘I am Ukrainian, Ukraine is above all,’ never felt like citizens of Ukraine,” he complained.

In Ukraine, a martial law regime and a decree on general mobilisation have been in force since February 2022. Men aged between 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country, and evasion from military service is punishable by criminal liability with a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Due to major losses since the launch of the failed counteroffensive, Ukrainian authorities have resorted to a new method to recruit, such as raiding public places, which has intensified in recent months. Ukrainian Security Service officers went to restaurants in Kiev and Krivoy Rog and handed out summonses. Previously, raids on gyms in Odessa were reported.

Employees of the military recruiting office and representatives of the Airborne Forces “are carrying out a series of activities to inform citizens about the advantages of military service under contract,” announced the press service of the Centre Territorial Recruitment of Lviv.

In the greatest demonstration of the chronic manpower shortage the Ukrainian military is experiencing, it was announced on December 14 that Ukraine could begin mobilising women, presumably for service, in the rear units of the Ukrainian Army.

Maryana Bezuhla, member of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine, declared that the recruitment age for mobilisation would be lowered from 27 to 25 years. According to her, the draft law on mobilisation abolishes compulsory military service in the army and introduces basic general military training for all citizens between 18 and 25 years old.

“The bill contains changes aimed at achieving gender equality in Army matters. Women will continue to have a single postponement, pregnancy. If she is pregnant, they do not have the right to mobilise her,” said Bezuhla.

At the end of August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered a complete review of all mobilisation exemptions granted by military medical commissions as of February 24, 2022. Zelensky also fired the heads of regional recruitment commissions amid corruption allegations.

According to a report cited by a Western analysis based on Eurostat data, 650,000 men of military age have fled Ukraine, thus further weakening the recruitment pool.

Full mobilisation in Ukraine, the supply of Western weapons and the introduction of reserves have not only failed to change the situation on the battlefield but have also increased the number of casualties among Ukrainian troops. In early June 2023, Ukraine launched its much-hyped counteroffensive and sent NATO-trained brigades into battle and armed with Western materiel, including Leopard and Challenger tanks. However, just three months later, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Kiev’s attempt failed and that Ukraine suffered huge casualties, whilst the Russian Defence Ministry estimated the cost of the counteroffensive for Ukraine to be more than 125,000 soldiers and some 16,000 pieces of weapons.

It is recalled that The Washington Post wrote on December 8 that Ukraine is rapidly running out of professional military personnel. An increasing number of men of fighting age are dying in Kiev’s failed counteroffensive, abandoning active service, or evading the draft. No one wants to suffer a pointless death on a suicide mission, the article noted.

Morale across Ukrainian society is at an all-time low as the intense propaganda can no longer hide the realities that Ukraine faces – a destroyed country, more loss of territory, and an entire generation traumatised by war. Under such conditions, it can be seen why the Kiev regime is resorting to forcibly conscripting women. As Budanov attests, there are no more troops without forced mobilisation.

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Since the launch of Al-Aqsa Flood on the 7th of October and the subsequent Israeli onslaught on the beleaguered Gaza Strip, what has perhaps been most notable is the response of Yemen to the ongoing slaughter.

On the 31st of October, Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement launched a barrage of missiles towards the southern Israeli settlement of Eilat, with the group formally declaring the launch of a military operation in defence of Palestine shortly afterwards.

In the following weeks, this military operation would expand to include further strikes against Israeli targets, and would culminate in the closure of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait to all ships destined for Israel, with the group announcing that any vessel defying this order would become a target.

In response, a number of global shipping giants announced that they would no longer be travelling through the Red Sea en route to Israel, and would be taking a far more costly route around Africa instead. A highly-impactful military operation by Ansar Allah it would seem, and one that’s all the more significant considering that like Gaza, Yemen itself has been subjected to an almost nine-year long genocidal war and blockade.

In March 2015, following Ansar Allah’s seizure of the capital Sana’a, neighbouring Saudi Arabia would launch an air campaign in a bid to restore their favoured Presidential candidate, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, to power.

Targeting mainly Yemen’s agricultural sector with US and British-supplied bombs, this air campaign would lead to widespread starvation and famine in what is already the poorest country in the Arab world. The subsequent collapse of Yemen’s health, water and sanitation infrastructure, would lead to the largest Cholera outbreak in recorded history, a situation exacerbated even further by a Saudi blockade preventing food and medical supplies from entering the country. A situation that bears a grim similarity to the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza in response to Al-Aqsa Flood.

Thus, for Yemen to engage in a military operation on behalf of Gaza, in spite of the horrors that they themselves have faced, is an undeniably admirable stance.

It also increases the likelihood that a direct US military intervention in Yemen, appears increasingly imminent.

On Saturday, a report by the website The War Zone outlined how US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin would announce the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian on a visit to west Asia next week, an initiative intended to militarily counter Ansar Allah’s ongoing operations in the Red Sea. A subsequent report by POLITICO also detailed how White House officials had mulled over options on military strikes against Ansar Allah, having being previously reluctant to do so out of possible escalations with Iran.

The possibility of a deliberately-staged provocation, intended to precipitate a US military response in Yemen, now appears increasingly likely. Indeed, similar occurrences have a historical precedent.

In 1915, amidst the first World War, Germany had announced that all ships travelling to Britain would be attacked, placing advertisements in US newspapers to inform would-be travellers of this situation, with Washington having been a neutral party in the conflict at this stage.

On the 7th of May however, the British ocean liner Lusitania, sailing from New York to Liverpool, would be torpedoed by a German submarine off the southern coast of Ireland, resulting in the loss of almost 1,200 lives, with a significant number being US citizens.

Conspicuously, the British Naval escort that was standard for ships such as the Lusitania at the time was absent on the day. The ensuing public revulsion in the United States at the sinking of the Lusitania would galvanise support for the subsequent entry of the US into WWI in 1917, despite the strong anti-interventionist sentiment that had been present beforehand.

Now, more than a century later, the grim possibility that a similar situation may occur in the Red Sea, a popular cruise ship destination, appears increasingly likely, as well as the ensuing chaos that will inevitably follow.

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It’s a damn good thing we have Washington to inform the Danes about what’s coming, right before Christmas when people are thinking about everything else.

The procedure is completely obscene: An agreement is first signed (as with Norway, Finland and Sweden), and then it must (possibly) be approved by the Danish parliament: How on earth would it be possible for Denmark to withdraw and say that “thanks to our democracy, we unfortunately have to cancel the agreement again”?

It’s not going to happen. Public debate until later this week?? The Danish historically uniquely authoritarian government wants no debate – can’t tolerate it intellectually or morally.

Two to four decades ago, this fundamental Danish security policy issue would have been the subject of a public, broad-based commission report that would have analysed the pros and cons of various imagined conflict and war scenarios.

And then there would have been a reasonable public debate.

Now, the Frederiksen government is fixing Denmark’s American future during the Christmas holidays. It’s completely irresponsible, but they don’t realise that; to them, everything is so damn simple.

It can only go wrong one day. Even the failure of NATO’s expansion and the rearmament of Ukraine or other blind loyalty policies in favour of the US apparently doesn’t make anyone responsible stop and think.

Danmarks Radio – DR public ‘service’ – of course only interviews one military person dressed in military uniform inside and outside. It doesn’t strike them that this man from the Danish Defence Academy is a clear party to the case, obviously positive, and certainly not an impartial expert.

He has the nerve to say that American weapons should now be pre-stocked in Denmark because it would “take far too long to get things transported here from the US, says Anders Puck Nielsen.”

Oh – and you find this out just like that now after Denmark’s 74-year NATO membership where the cornerstones have always been: No foreign bases, no foreign troops, no pre-storage, no nuclear weapons on Danish soil and no cooperation with the NATO nuclear planning group?

All this will be cancelled over Christmas. Just so you know. As a trifle, an expedition case

The journalists don’t ask questions but hold a megaphone; they don’t ask what this means: that the US can conduct “military operations in our neighbourhood, thereby improving our own security!” (my italics)

Interesting too?  TFF’s report on the West’s China Cold War Agenda, CCWA, reaches millions on China’s national television

Which operations? And how exactly do pre-stocking and these military operations in Denmark’s neighbourhood contribute to improving “our own security”? It’s clear-cut propaganda without the slightest analysis or relation to the real world. An empty claim.

Whatever the US and the Frederiksen government do over people’s heads – in worse than Putin-style – is simply and by definition good for “our security”.

In no time at all, I would be able to provide solid arguments that all of this increases Denmark’s insecurity, that it is much more complex and deserve analysis before any decision is made:

That it shortens the warning and possible negotiation time in a crisis; that this is a further provocation that Russia will view negatively; that this agreement in its consequences will force Denmark into war earlier than otherwise and reduce the Danish government’s first duty: To enforce Denmark’s legal and political sovereignty and decision-making rights over its own future, etc. (The most important question for any government is: Should we or should we not participate in war?)

Furthermore, that any US base – now 30-40 in the Nordic region? – will be an immediate target for Russian rockets in the first hours of a war, and death and destruction for miles around is guaranteed. That the US already has 600+ bases around the world and is a sick militaristic system that has lost all its wars and can never get enough weapons and bases.

And that Denmark will be even less allowed to promote mediation, the UN, international disarmament, confidence-building measures, international law, etc. because it is, in practice, the extended arm of the US and not (in this area) a sovereign state.

At DR, they have no idea how important this issue is. Or maybe someone is pulling the strings from above and doing it this way, precisely because they know that this is the biggest break with Danish foreign and security policy since 1949 and that critical questions about the US will not be raised with impunity.

This agreement will be made with the most belligerent and mass-murdering country since 1945. At a time when that country is fully behind – actively supporting – what is indisputably the largest genocide in the West since the war.

Interesting too?  Jack Matlock, last Ambassador to the USSR: NATO’s Expansion Was A Mistake

If you sleep in a democracy, you risk waking up in a dictatorship – as a wise man is said to have said.

This is – I repeat – indecent and highly security-reducing. With 45 years of scientific experience in theory and practice in these areas, I know a little about these things. I must sound the alarm – even though I know that no Danish media, also not DR, would seek my and others’ critical analyses and perspectives.

This is militarism. This is how the cancer-like MIMAC works – the Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex – which has never had such a tailwind in the West, in Denmark, as it has today.

Danish policy promotes the risk of World War III at a time when anything else would be both conceivable and possible. Denmark is on the wrong side of history; the world wants a different path than that of the US. And Denmark.

Now, every honest, peaceful Dane (regardless of their opinion on the matter as such) must simply take to the streets and protest against the government’s ever-increasing abuse of power and ever-increasing blind loyalty to the US as it continues to recklessly jeopardise Denmark’s future well-being.

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No Donbass, a vida gradualmente volta ao normal

December 19th, 2023 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

Pouco mais de um ano após a reintegração com a Federação Russa, a vida das pessoas comuns nas Novas Regiões está claramente melhorando. O comércio está regressando à normalidade, o abastecimento de água e energia está se estabilizando e o nível de segurança é cada vez mais elevado, trazendo bem-estar à população e reforçando boas expectativas para o futuro.

Recentemente, tive a oportunidade de visitar a República Popular de Lugansk como jornalista. A experiência no terreno foi preenchida não só com observações e visitas, mas também com entrevistas a líderes políticos locais, oficiais de Estado, militares e civis. Os dados recolhidos apontam para uma realidade muito diferente daquela veiculada pelos grandes meios de comunicação ocidentais, que costumam descrever estas regiões como “capturadas”, sem ter em conta os interesses e opiniões dos residentes locais.

Em Lugansk, o apoio à reintegração e o sentimento de unidade com a Federação Russa é absoluto. Em muitos lugares é possível ver slogans e símbolos de apoio à operação militar especial e à libertação dos territórios de maioria russa – escritos pelos próprios civis. Não parece haver qualquer tipo de “processo de transição” ou “adaptação” – é como se estas regiões tivessem sempre pertencido à Rússia, sendo o referendo de 2022 uma mera formalidade.

Conversando com os residentes, ouvi de muitos que eles nunca tiveram realmente o direito de fazer parte da sociedade ucraniana. Embora a perseguição tenha sido lançada apenas em 2014, quando a junta neonazista chegou ao poder num golpe de estado, os civis dizem que desde a queda da URSS tem havido um claro processo de marginalização e exclusão social, com a intenção de separar os russos étnicos do resto da nação.

Sinal disso é a própria infraestrutura da cidade. As estradas e edifícios são todos muito novos ou muito antigos. Ao perguntar aos habitantes locais, disseram-me que as novas infraestruturas foram construídas pela Rússia desde a libertação militar e a reintegração no ano passado, enquanto as antigas remontam aos tempos soviéticos.

“Os ucranianos nunca construíram nada aqui – nunca houve interesse em promover o desenvolvimento da região”, afirma uma fonte local.

Também tive a oportunidade de conversar com o Ministro das Relações Exteriores de Lugansk, Vladislav Deinego, que confirmou estas alegações. Segundo ele, Kiev promoveu deliberadamente uma política de enfraquecimento econômico da região, principalmente através da desindustrialização. Com a diminuição das atividades industriais, outros setores estratégicos foram consequentemente afetados, como a mineração – que tem sido historicamente a atividade econômica mais importante no Donbass, mas atualmente está debilitada devido à ausência de maquinário moderno e eficiente.

As expectativas, porém, são positivas de que tudo isso será revertido em breve. À medida que a área se torna totalmente pacificada, são feitas reformas nas infraestruturas e, consequentemente, o investimento económico cresce. Hoje, as atividades comerciais em Lugansk estão regressando à normalidade graças ao elevado nível de segurança alcançado pelas forças russas. A defesa aérea tornou quase inexistentes os ataques de mísseis e drones ucranianos à capital do oblast e às cidades vizinhas, permitindo o fluxo de pessoas e mercadorias. À medida que a vitória militar russa se aproxima, cada vez mais cidades irão adquirir níveis de segurança semelhantes.

“Acredito que haverá um grande desenvolvimento no Donbass após o fim do conflito. Algo como a recuperação econômica na Chechênia do pós-guerra – ou ainda mais”, disse Andrea Palmeri, cidadão russo nascido na Itália e veterano das milícias do Donbass.

Conversando com os políticos locais, o otimismo é semelhante. Eles acreditam que haverá investimento russo no setor industrial para melhorar as condições econômicas e permitir o desenvolvimento. O chefe da federação sindical de Lugansk, Igor Ribushkin, comentou que o principal sector a investir é a metalurgia, pois isso permitirá produzir equipamentos para a retomada da mineração – o setor econômico com maior potencial de crescimento na região.

Em verdade, atualmente as zonas libertadas do Donbass estão num rápido processo de estabilização. As preocupações das populações locais passam gradualmente pela segurança e pelas necessidades básicas para o crescimento econômico e o desenvolvimento. Cada vez mais pessoas param de pensar nas necessidades imediatas e começam a pensar no futuro. Até recentemente, Lugansk e outras regiões de Donbass estavam tão afetadas pelo conflito e pelos anos de opressão neonazista que a principal preocupação do povo era com a sobrevivência, mas atualmente a proteção garantida pelas forças russas está tornando esta preocupação desnecessária. As pessoas se sentem seguras e começam a trabalhar por um futuro melhor.

Obviamente, ainda existem muitos problemas em Lugansk. Vários edifícios bombardeados ainda precisam de ser restaurados. As posições perto das zonas fronteiriças ainda precisam ser totalmente consolidadas militarmente, a fim de livrar o oblast das hostilidades. O mesmo se pode dizer das outras regiões recém-libertadas, onde os problemas do conflito ainda são claramente visíveis. Contudo, é possível afirmar que a tarefa mais difícil já foi cumprida. A reintegração foi alcançada e as condições de vida da população já foram significativamente melhoradas.

Devido às ações militares russas no Donbass, há agora desenvolvimento econômico e social onde antes havia guerra e genocídio. A experiência no terreno revela a qualquer observador o que os meios de comunicação ocidentais tentam disfarçar: a vida do povo do Donbass melhorou após a operação militar especial russa.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

 

Artigo em inglês :

https://infobrics.org/post/40072/

Imagem : InfoBrics

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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

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In June 2017, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan held a press conference with Dr. Young Woong Kim, Dr. Michel Chossudovsky and Dr. Kiyul Chung concerning the tension in the Korean Peninsula. 

Michel Chossudovsky at 5′.oo

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Add going out for dinner to the lengthening list of things Gen Z simply can’t — or won’t — do like the rest of us.

A surprising majority of young people reported suffering from “menu anxiety” while eating in a public setting, a study conducted by British restaurant chain Prezzo found.

Researchers asked more than 2,000 people how relaxed they felt while eating out, hoping to gauge how enjoyable the experience is for everyone.

About 86% of Gen Z adults (aged 18 to 24 in this study) admitted they have suffered from “menu anxiety” when dining in restaurants — compared to 67% of all respondents.

Some of these young adults (34%) reported feeling so anxious, they wind up asking other people at the table to speak to waiters on their behalf. 

“[While] most people look forward to dining out during the [holiday] season, we know — as our research shows — it can be stressful for some,” Dean Challenger, CEO of Prezzo, told The Post in a statement.

The frequent occurrence of this very specific fear appeared to be triggered by the increasingly exorbitant cost of a meal out, along with the respondent worrying about not being able to find something they like on the menu, or, after the fact, regretting what they ordered. 

Some even took it to the extreme, with almost 40% of Gen Z customers saying they simply wouldn’t go out for dinner — if they couldn’t check the menu first.

A similar study, this one conducted in the United States, found that three in 10 Americans have “menu anxiety” with — surprise — Gen Zers being more nervous than older generations.

The survey of 2,000 adults found younger generations were far more likely to have anxiety while ordering — 41% of Gen Z and millennials (aged 18–43), compared with only 15% of Gen X and baby boomers (aged 44–77).

Gen Z has continuously reported alarming rates of general anxiety, which has trickled down to impact typically inconsequential and enjoyable activities such as taking vacations and dining.

Gabriel Rubin, Professor of Justice Studies at Montclair State University, recently released a study reporting that Gen Z is more afraid of the world than than previous generations.

He explained that many Gen Zers he’s studied have trouble socializing in real world conditions.

“They are digital natives but, between COVID and other factors, they have missed out on important in-person social skills,” Rubin told The Post.

“Because so many Gen Zers are anxious and because so many have trouble in non-digital social spaces, even activities as simple as ordering food sometimes become things to be avoided.”

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More than half of German voters are so dissatisfied with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government that they want early elections. The decline of Scholz’s coalition government also comes as German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that it would take Europe between five and eight years to recover its defensive capacity after disarming itself by sending weapons to Ukraine.

According to a survey by the German newspaper Bild and published by Bloomberg on December 16, 59% of Germans would prefer elections for a new parliament in 2024, while 27% oppose such a measure. Regular elections are scheduled for the fall of 2025.

The German government’s Advisory Council of Economists, known as the Five Sages, said,

“Germany’s current economic development continues to be affected by the energy crisis and the drop in real incomes.”

“That’s why our annual report this year is titled ‘Overcoming weak growth, investing in the future’,” said Monika Schnitzer, president of the Five Sages, when handing the document to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November.

Berlin is currently the worst-performing large developed economy in the world, and the IMF and the European Union predict the German economy will contract this year. According to Euronews, the recession arose from the loss of cheap Russian natural gas because of the sanctions imposed by the European bloc. Due to this, industries felt an unprecedented shock.

It is recalled that Christian Kullmann, CEO of major German chemical company Evonik Industries AG, said in October that Germany risks “de-industrialisation” as high energy costs and government inaction on other chronic problems threaten to send new factories and high-paying jobs abroad.

The loss of cheap Russian natural gas needed to power factories “painfully damaged the business model of the German economy,” Kullmann said. 

Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat; the Minister of Economy, Robert Habeck of the Greens; and the head of finance, Christian Lindner, leader of the Free Democrats, have not had an effective working relationship, raising questions about the viability of the three-party alliance formed after the 2021 elections.

Scholz’s governing coalition recently suffered crushing electoral defeats. In a context of growing voter frustration, the three government parties lost support in Bavaria and Hesse, where around a fifth of the German electorate resides.

At the same time, a candidate from the Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a city mayoral election for the first time on December 17. Tim Lochner won the second round of voting in Pirna, a town in the eastern state of Saxony, despite the state’s domestic intelligence agency attempting to deter voters from AfD by deeming the party to be right-wing extremists.

This again highlights the growing backlash against the ruling coalition, which not only significantly weakened Germany’s economy by imposing sanctions on Russia but weakened the collective strength of Europe’s defensive capabilities by sending weapons to Ukraine for a futile war effort.  

According to German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, it will take Europe five to eight years to restore its defence capabilities because it must compensate Ukraine for the aid it lacks from the US.

“The defence industry will take time to get going. Right now, we have between five and eight years left to catch up in the military, industrial and social spheres,” Pistorius declared to the German newspaper Welt on December 16.

Pistorius added that in the next ten years, the United States will show more interest in the Pacific region than in Europe, so the Europeans themselves must become more involved in guaranteeing security in the region. To the question of whether Europe is preparing for the “worst case scenario,” in which Europeans compensate Ukraine for the aid it stopped receiving from the US, the minister said that the EU is discussing the issue. The fact that the discussions are still ongoing despite Europe demilitarising and ruining its own economy for a failed war effort against Russia shows that there are still large corners within the bloc in denial about the current situation.

The EU has been trying to reach a deal on €20 billion in military aid to Ukraine and aims to include another €50 billion in the EU budget to provide macro-financial assistance to Kiev over the next four years. However, the plans have met opposition from some Member States, notably Hungary.

Germany, under Scholz, has been a leading campaigner in Europe to impose sanctions on Russia and facilitate weapon movements to Ukraine. His predecessor, Angela Merkel, for 16 years helped Germany prosper through cordial trade relations with Russia, but only two years of Scholz has resulted in hostile ties with Moscow, an economy performing worse than sanctioned Russia, and political instability.

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Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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An Open Letter to Israelis from Israelis: We Deserve the Truth About October 7 

“Make no mistake, what Israel is doing in Gaza now will haunt Israelis for decades. Now is the time to make sure all Israelis understand this. And this understanding should start with full disclosure about the events of October 7, 2023……

The question of who killed some Israeli civilians haunts us. It emerges from several reports that some were killed by the Israeli military. Whether they were caught in the crossfire, or deliberately shot at with tanks or helicopters in order to eliminate Hamas fighters or prevent Hamas from taking more captives, we deserve an answer. 

We demand answers because a genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza in the name of Israeli victims, even though bereaved families are strongly opposed to this vengeful atrocity. We demand answers and so should you.

See this.

Genocide: Nakba 2023

It is becoming increasingly clear that the events on and around the Israel-Gaza border on 10/7, October 7, 2023, were designed to create the pretext for “finishing off” the Nakba initiated in 1948. The “Nakba” describes from the Arabic perspective the catastrophic project to kill and uproot indigenous Palestinians in order to make way for the ascent of a replacement population composed primarily of European Jews claiming divine sanction for their genocidal project.

This lethal project has pushed on the Palestinians an unbroken trajectory of genocide since 1948 when UN General Assembly of the United Nations instituted a new Convention to prohibit and punish the previously unnamed crime of Genocide. Many scholars and public official have emphasized that the current Zionist assault unleashed on Gaza and the West Bank accurately fulfills the UN’s legal definition of genocide. By majority vote in 1948, the UN General Assembly declared,

“In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group”

Thus the 75 years of the Genocide Convention, as well as, for that matter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, corresponds with the 75 years of the genocidal Nakba now culminating in Operation Swords of Iron. This current high-tech assault on a mostly unarmed civilian population is being speciously presented as if it constitutes a spontaneous response to the supposedly surprise events of 10/7.

Day by day the claim is coming to appear increasingly ludicrous that this very dramatic sequence of cause and effect was conjured up instantly out of the clear blue sky. The events of 10/7, it seems, emerged from much elaborate planning and preparation most likely involving the crossing of many lines of demarcation among a broad array of intertwined interests, institutions, and influential individuals.

The evidence is growing that an elaborate conspiracy, rather than a random convergence of instantaneous events, lies behind the current military campaign. This Swords of Iron campaign kicked into high gear during the 75th year of a sustained effort to depopulate the indigenous Palestinian population throughout the expanding region controlled by Israel.

This depopulation campaign is being led by Benjamin Netanyahu, a politician who since 1979 has built a formidable career in government by advancing his favoured agendas through cunning manipulation of expertly engineered deceptions concerning Islamic terrorism. Everything about his current conduct in Office announces that Netanyahu’s current schtick as the would-be slayer of Hamas has finally cast the widely distrusted politicians in an especially weird role in the theatre of the absurd.

The decision to initiate the Swords of Iron military operation, the world was told, was to lash back at Hamas fighters for succeeding in a surprise prison break followed by what was initially described as a savage and vengeful killing spree of Israelis. On October 7 Hamas fighters famously broke through the heavily-monitored and defended walls of the Israeli-policed Gaza enclosure. After moving through all the sophisticated devices, miraculously left open and unguarded by the Occupation Forces, the Hamas escapees then proceeded on courses of action whose nature is currently the subject of much contention.

To the government and most of its harnessed media collaborators, the Hamas fighters engaged in an orgy of unbridled atrocities slashing, killing and raping Israelis, including 40 beheaded babies that, we now know, never were. The other view is that the Hamas fighters, also known as the Qassem Brigades, engaged, possibly with some few exceptions, in a disciplined operation aimed primarily at taking Israeli captives, but especially military personnel.

Once Israelis were captured, the main imperative of the Hamas operation was to keep the hostages alive and well as they were transported back to Gaza to become bargaining chips in negotiations. The early stages of this objective have already been transacted in the exchange of hostages that took place during the ceasefire of late November.

Another area of contention concerns revelations about the large numbers of Israeli citizens that were killed by members of the IDF equipped with highly sophisticated weaponry including missiles launched from US-Israeli Apache Helicopters. As explained by Max Blumenthal and others, the imperative of the IDF was to eliminate whole groups of people including Israeli citizens and soldiers to prevent soldiers from becoming captives of Hamas.

The mounting disclosures from whistle blowers, concerned insiders, and credible researchers are already sufficient to reveal that the government rationale for the Israeli military response to the events of October 7, cannot stand up to close scrutiny. No honest and credible court could accept the position of the Israel government that the events of October 7 came out of the blue as a total surprise. No honest and credible court could accept the all-purpose explanation currently on offer that the events of 10/7 transpired as they did because of “intelligence failures.”

No credible court could overlook that many people had various forms of prior knowledge concerning what would take place on October 7, 10/7. As in 9/11, this prior knowledge was reflected in much short selling of certain vulnerable stocks on the stock market. Similar to 9/11, there is clear evidence of prior knowledge as reflected in the content of intelligence reports originating inside and outside Israel.

Especially volatile are the strident allegations and denials that journalists had prior knowledge so that they could be in the right place at the right time to capture photographs, videos and eye-witness stories on 10/7. Rather than ignore or downplay these stories, government officials have implicated themselves and their colleagues by basically making threats that media officials with prior knowledge of 10/7 will face dire consequences if they do not shut up and join the cover-up. This fix is already in, so it seems. See this and this.

Israeli citizens are feeling the need to petition the government for full disclosure on the events of 10/7. In an open letter from Israelis to other Israelis, some of them wrote,

Make no mistake, what Israel is doing in Gaza now will haunt Israelis for decades. Now is the time to make sure all Israelis understand this. And this understanding should start with full disclosure about the events of October 7, 2023.

It is possible that at the heart of the matter concerning how 10/7 came to happen, there was some kind of secret interactions between factions of Hamas with Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s intimate and “symbiotic relations” with the the Israeli-funded Hamas has been frequently observed by many including Israeli historian, Adam Raz. Raz has commented that “in the last 10 years, Netanyahu worked to block any attempt at demolishing Hamas in Gaza.” See this and this.

Netanyahu needs this so-called ‘war” for a number of reasons including his ongoing struggle to stay out of jail for corruption charges. He has many enemies that Netanyahu can only fend off by staying in the Office of Israeli Prime Minister. Netanyahu is currently representing an extremist constituency that shares and even exceeds his longstanding obsession with de-Palestinianizing both the land as well as the legal and cultural identity of Israel.

The Palestinians as a Symbol of Dignity and Hope for Oppressed People Worldwide

Hamas has never renounced its embrace of armed struggle as a legitimate means of self-defence. Indeed, since Hamas represents the occupied people where the Israeli government represents the occupying group, the former’s right of self-defence trumps that of the latter in international law.

In upholding this principle against great odds, Hamas and its allies are injecting added vitality into a growing global movement seeking long overdue justice for the abused Palestinians. Lara Elborno, a Palestinian lawyer living in “forced exile” in Paris, is emerging as a compelling voice for many principles. These include the inherent nature of the right of return for her fellow “forcibly displaced” Palestinians. In her person and with her words, Elborno makes a compelling case that the intergenerational resistance of the Palestinian people has become “a symbol of the dignity and hope for all oppressed people worldwide.”

This Zionist inheritors of the Anglo-American Empire’s most deleterious legacies are meeting an increasingly well-organized resistance that share many of Elborno’s conceptions about the symbolic importance of the Palestinians struggle. The plight of the Palestinians embody an iconic representation of the dilemmas facing the largest part of the global population. More and more the incursions of disentitlement, disempowerment and dispossession are becoming common themes in the relationship of most human beings on the planet with their irresponsible and unaccountable governors.

The current manifestations of the Palestine-Israel conflict are becoming the world’s most dangerous flash point in the intensifying conflict between the fast-declining West and a growing “resistance” aligning the core polities of China, Russia, and Iran and with the growing array of countries lining up to join the BRICS. The high stakes in this clash exceed anything we have seen so far in history. Global society has become so interdependent that the global population is vulnerable to domino effects of collapses in life support systems in ways never before seen.

The schemers on high prominently include the Rothschild dynasty. Some of its most influential Zionist members financed and stick handling the founding, consolidation and expansion of Israel. The primary money making-technique of the Zionist banking cabal lies in funding both sides in warfare, an old practice that represents the origins of today’s ubiquitous hedge funds.

Accordingly, there are wheels within wheels, together with untold ironies spinning throughout the scheme to depopulate Israel of the indigenous Palestinians. Many of those at the top tiers of authority on the Israeli side of the equation are not accustomed to taking orders from anyone. They are certainly not subject to the operations of their puppet institutions like the much discredited United Nations and the related systems of international courts in an era when the cat is out of the bag that might makes right. Money is often the measuring stick for might… for the exercise of coercive power.

The institutions of law enforcement, including the legal profession and its judicial branches, have become little more than very expensive ornaments and make-work-projects. For the most part, law enforcement agencies are mostly staffed by corrupted servants of ill-gotten wealth and power.

The primary purpose the system of so-called law enforcement is to present a very elaborate veil of deception to cover over the bloody realities of how the world actually works. The core dynamic of this system is to reward the most ruthless psychopaths in the contest for control and then to protect them from their victims, their critics, and their most strident accusers.

The failure of the international system to intervene on the ground as the Gaza Massacre grinds deeper into the realm of genocidal atrocities, is presenting humanity with a vivid illustration that the very concept of some kind of international rule of law is nothing but a sad hoax.

Making Gaza Uninhabitable to Help Along the Forced Deportation of Palestinian Survivors to Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and Yemen

Since October 7 the extermination policies developed by the US and Israeli governments have been pushed into overdrive through forced starvation, forced dehydration, the creation of conditions conducive to plagues of contagious disease, and the cutting off of power sources including electricity, cooking fuel, and gasoline.

High-tech bombardment from the air, land and sea is targeted to destroy housing to the point that almost the entire population of Gaza has become homeless. The bombardment of other infrastructure is designed to destroy sewage systems, roads, businesses, telecommunications, mosques, churches, schools, heritage sites, libraries, key government buildings, and hospitals.

The IDF is even resorting to face-to-face mass executions of Palestinian civilians. Among the victims are dozens of children and women shot in cold blood, execution-style. Such a fate was visited on Palestinian family units seeking refuge at the Shadia Abu Ghazala School— a United Nations School in Northern Gaza. The building where the family executions took has not been hit with any major projectile.

See this.

As in earlier bombardments of Gaza, there is evidence to indicate the Israeli Armed Forces are hitting the population with enriched uranium devices that are neutron bombs designed for “genetic destruction warfare against the Palestinians.” See this.

On December 13 the Wall Street Journal reported that US officials briefed reporters that the IDF is beginning to flood the Gaza tunnels with seawater. The elaborate tunnel network dug beneath Gaza has provided the main means for Hamas to resist succumbing to the massive force deployed in the Israeli invasion. This tactic is arousing huge added anxieties in Israel from those that fear more Israeli hostages will be killed by drowning as well as by the often indiscriminate Israeli bombardment.

Source

Already on 5 November Hamas indicated that 60 Israeli hostages had been killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Hamas added that 23 of the 60 bodies lie under the rubble and cannot be retrieved at this point. See this.

The purpose of this many-faceted invasion is clear. It is to make Gaza uninhabitable and thereby reduce the options available for survivors who intend to continue their lives as well as those of their remaining family members.

The fate being prepared for the survivors of the holocaust of Zionist fury, is that they will flee the Gaza morgue and leave behind the kleptocratic replacement population. This replacement population will thereby be left free to bask in the irredeemable infamy of their genocidal monument to the ruthlessness of Jewish supremacy.

Various disclosures are removing any doubt that planning has been underway for sometime to “finish off the job” that began with the Nakba of 1948. Already in early November, Israeli Agricultural Minister Avi Dichter announced, “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba.” See this.

The Zionist regime that dominates government in both Israel and the United States has long been engaged in preparing the apparatus for the factory-like operation of the industrialized genocide currently underway. This initiative extends the trajectory of Zionist audacity displayed in pulling off the international coup d’état initiated on 11 September, 2001.

The aim of both 9/11 and 10/7 was to open up new frontiers in the manipulation of mass murder to further centralize the control of financial structures integrated with Israel-based instruments of Zionist command and control. This fascistic vision is very much in line with the historic role of the Rothschild dynasty in the creation, elaboration, and expansion of Israel. This trajectory of expansionism helps explain much about many of the working parts in the current campaign to eliminate all life support systems in Gaza.

The goal is to eliminate choices for the Palestinian survivors of the carpet bombing, chemical contamination, mass famine and the proliferating plagues currently underway. Plans are advancing in the US Congress to enlist Zionist politicians to participate in the project of greasing the wheels to complete the genocide by deporting survivors of the Gaza extermination. According to the present plans, the survivors are to be deported into Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, and Yemen.

Of course the US branch of the network planning this operation is expected to pay for it. As Marc Vandepitte reports in Global Research.ca,

“The plan has been submitted to key figures in the US House of Representatives and Congress and has the support of both Democrats and Republicans. The planned large-scale ethnic cleansing is cynically presented as a “moral and humanitarian” aid plan.”

Vandepetitte goes on to cite as follows the document submitted to Congress:

“It is now clear that in order to free the Gazan population from the tyrannical oppression of Hamas and to allow them to live free of war and bloodshed, Israel must encourage the international community to find the correct, moral and humane avenues for the relocation of the Gazan population.”

More Fog or More Illumination? Will Al Jazeera Step Up to the Plate of Genuine Investigative Journalism? 

The need to investigate the background and the duration of the events of 10/7 is pressing. This imperative described by the Israeli authors of the letter to Israelis makes this point very succinctly. To my way of thinking the need for an understanding of what is at stake in the interpreting 10/7 involves everyone, not just Israelis. We all have an enormous stake in how the Gaza Massacre unfolds and ends.

We cannot sustain the imposition of yet another onslaught of nonsensical outcomes on average people based on the unsubstantiated claims put forward by the world’s most powerful groups. These powerful groups, but most notoriously Jews, often assert victimhood status in order to justify the most audacious grabs for many forms of financial enhancement and augmented centralized authority by agencies they control.

There is a modern-day holocaust underway and answers to the question of how the events of 10/7 came to be, would do a lot to clarify who are the protagonists and who are the victims in the present conflagration.

In this spirit I am calling attention to the need for genuine investigative reporting in the public domain into the events leading up to October 7. The investigation would also explore exactly what happened during that fateful day. The fact that the big media venues are themselves suspects in the matter, has all sorts of major implications. When do the big media venues ever investigate themselves?

The abandonment of genuine investigative reporting by mainstream media venues forms a huge cause of the lawless murder and mayhem that presently permeates the human condition. So many aspects of life these days are classified as aspects of “national security” to be hidden from public view.

The result is that the public is inundated with false cover stories disseminated by the media to explain away what is really going on to create the human condition through which we all must navigate. The resulting tsunami of 24/7 disinformation amounts cumulatively to a particularly heinous crime against humanity.

The legacy media’s role in sabotaging even the possibility of a decent public role in rational decision making, runs very deep. The public is not equipped to perform its democratic functions if the relevant information about the most crucial facets of our society are held back, replaced with disinformation, or altered to serve the interests of power.

Before us now is what appears to be a massive deception that is pointing humanity very fast towards a worldwide Nakba of monumental proportions. As I see it, the Al Jazeera television network based in Qatar, the country whose officials mediated the ceasefire of late November, could and should play a decisive role in getting to the bottom of the possible psyop of 10/7.

One might think that Al Jazeera was created with the goal of playing a significant role in bringing about some kind of resolution to the Palestine-Israel antagonism. The fact that Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, told a Jewish audience he had tried to intervene politically in an effort to “rein in” Gaza coverage, speaks pointedly to the possibility that the Qatar-based broadcaster is breaking new ground. Its a good sign that journalists are doing their job when establishment figures feel threatened.

In my view, the leadership of Al Jazeera might consider assigning investigative journalists to look deeply into the unfolding 10/7 controversy and report on their findings regularly in an ongoing series.

The alternative is to leave the subject alone and simply trust officialdom’s pronouncements.

This choice runs against the imperatives of sound journalism especially given the nature of this particular story. Right now, the unfolding of the Gaza Massacre is by far the biggest story in the world. If Al Jazeera was to leave unaddressed the the unresolved controversy over the content of 10/7 at this crucial moment, then the Qatar-based broadcaster would answer an important question. Is Al Jazeera really breaking new ground or is the broadcaster simply another variation of a limited hangout creating more fog rather than illumination?

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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).

Featured image: Abandoned and damaged cars parked at the festival (12 October) (Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Israel Attacks Hospitals in Gaza’s North and South

December 18th, 2023 by Maureen Clare Murphy

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Israel continues to pound Gaza by air, land and sea, killing scores of people from individual families in what has become a horrific daily occurrence in the long-suffering territory.

Areas in southern Gaza are being hit after hundreds of thousands fled from the north to those areas, with human rights groups affirming that “there is no safe place” in the entirety of the territory.

In recent days, Israeli forces have attacked a Catholic church complex in Gaza City, executed three captives who were seeking safety, and stormed hospitals in both the north and south of the territory.

Israeli forces shot and killed two women – a mother and daughter – inside the Holy Family Parish complex in Gaza City, “where the majority of Christian families [have] taken refuge since the start of the war,” the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Saturday.

The women, identified as Nahida and Samar Anton, “were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the parish, where there are no belligerents,” the patriarchate added.

An Israeli tank crew also fired at a convent in the church compound, the patriarchate said, destroying its generator and fuel resources and causing an “explosion and massive fire.”

The attack displaced 54 people with disabilities who are now “without access to the respirators that some of them need to survive.”

During his weekly blessing, Pope Francis condemned the attack as “terrorism”:

Also on Saturday, Israeli forces hit the YMCA building in Gaza City’s al-Rimal neighborhood, “reportedly killing six Palestinians and injuring many others,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Around 250 internally displaced people were sheltering at the facility at the time.

The most intense airstrikes on Saturday were reported in Khan Younis, in the southern half of the territory, as well as in the Shujaiya, al-Tuffah and al-Daraj areas of Gaza City, according to OCHA.

The UN office added that “intense ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continued on 16 December, especially in Khan Younis and Rafah, in southern Gaza,” while Palestinian fighters continued to fire rockets towards Israel.

Gaza was subjected to its fifth and longest blackout of telecommunications and internet services yet, beginning on Thursday. Communication services were partially restored on Sunday.

18,800 Killed, 8,000 Missing

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said on Thursday – the last day that casualty figures were updated — that nearly 18,800 Palestinians had been killed in the territory since 7 October, around 70 percent of them women and children. More than 50,000 people have been reported injured.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said last week that 8,000 people were missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Around 120 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the ground invasion of Gaza.

On Friday, the Israeli military killed three captives held in Gaza since 7 October. The three young men, who had either escaped from or had been released or abandoned by their captors, were shirtless and waving white flags before they were executed by troops in Shujaiya, east of Gaza City.

They had also hung up an SOS message on a white sheet reading “Save 3 abductees” in Hebrew at the building where they were killed:

At least one other captive was killed during a failed rescue attempt and others reported dead by the military may have lost their lives in similar circumstances.

The fate of the captives killed by Israeli troops on Friday highlighted the military’s lax open fire regulations in Gaza.

Sarah Leah Whitson, the director of the Washington-based human rights watchdog DAWN, said that it was hardly the first time that the military has gunned down civilians in Gaza waving white flags.

“Literally every single Israeli policy we have criticized for [the] past 20 years as a violation of international humanitarian law is many magnitudes worse today,” she added. “This is what impunity begets.”

Israel Under Pressure to Negotiate

Some family members of the captives and those who were released during a temporary truce have called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet to secure their release by returning to negotiations for a prisoner swap with Hamas.

Israel insists that only military pressure will free the captives while the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, says that the captives will only be released on their terms.

The head of the Mossad, Israel’s domestic spy agency, met with Qatar’s prime minister over the weekend to renew prisoner swap negotiations. The Gulf monarchy along with Egypt mediated a deal that saw the handover of dozens of captives in November in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children held by Israel.

Egyptian security sources told Reuters on Sunday that “Israel and Hamas are both open to a renewed ceasefire and hostage release, although disagreements remain on how it would be implemented.”

Hamas insists on drawing up the list of captives to be released unilaterally “and demanding that Israeli forces withdraw behind pre-determined lines,” Reuters reported.

Israel is demanding a timeline and to see Hamas’ list “before setting the time and duration of the ceasefire,” according to the agency. “Israel refuses to withdraw, the sources added.”

Both the Qassam Brigades in a psychological warfare video published on Telegram and the family members of captives and those who were released say that time is running out for the some 130 captives who remain in Gaza.

The execution of three captives by the Israeli military will only increase domestic and international pressure to resume negotiations to secure their release, with Hamas requiring a ceasefire as a precondition.

UN Security Council Considers New Resolution

While Israel’s campaign is increasingly losing international support, the Biden administration has bought Netanyahu and his war cabinet time by vetoing a UN Security Council resolution on 8 December calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The Security Council is expected to vote as soon as Monday on a resolution demanding that Israel and Hamas allow the delivery of aid to Gaza by air, land and sea, as well as an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities.”

Citing diplomats, Reuters reported on Sunday that the fate of the proposal “hinges on final negotiations between Israel ally and council veto power, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, which has drafted the text.”

The US is seeking to “tone down language on a cessation of hostilities,” Reuters added, with the draft text currently calling for “an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access.”

Meanwhile, Yemeni rebel group Ansar Allah has imposed an effective naval blockade in the Red Sea, with major freight firms saying that they would avoid the Suez Canal.

Ansar Allah – also known as the Houthis – have attacked and intercepted cargo ships and fired drones and missiles towards Israel in recent weeks.

The rebel group said in a statement published on Telegram that it will continue to prevent ships destined for Israeli ports from voyaging until food and medicines are brought to “our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip.”

With unprecedented famine and disease borne from Israel’s siege causing a secondary wave of mortality, the military has ramped up its attacks on hospitals in multiple areas in Gaza.

For weeks, independent human rights experts have warned of “a genocide in the making” against the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza.

In mid-November, those rights experts said that Israel’s destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including tens of thousands of housing units, in addition to “hospitals, schools, mosques, bakeries, water pipes, sewage and electricity networks … threatens to make the continuation of Palestinian life in Gaza impossible.”

Those experts said that “intentional starvation amounts to a war crime.”

Under US pressure, Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) commercial crossing in southern Gaza on Sunday, which would allow for the transfer of additional humanitarian aid stockpiling in Egypt.

Aid agencies say, however, that Israeli airstrikes make it impossible to deliver aid.

Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, recently told the BBC that “you can’t deliver aid under a sky full of airstrikes.”

Meanwhile, crowds have stopped trucks entering Gaza via Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border and offloaded aid – an indication of the severe desperation that has set in after more than 70 days of intensive bombardment and siege.

Israeli Forces Hindering Medical Aid, Preventing Burials

The humanitarian situation is particularly dire for Palestinians “stranded in areas where the Israeli occupying forces are deployed,” three prominent human rights groups said on Sunday.

The Israeli military is denying the Palestine Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross access to those areas, threreby “hindering the crucial delivery of medical aid” and preventing the evacuation of casualties.

Nearly three dozen Palestinian Civil Defense workers have been killed and over 100 injured since 7 October.

On Friday, Israeli forces targeted and killed three civil defense workers, along with Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, while attempting to evacuate a family in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, even after the military gave permission for them to enter the area.

Abu Daqqa bled out for hours as Israeli forces obstructed paramedics from reaching him and rendering assistance. Al Jazeera bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh was injured in the drone strike that killed Abu Daqqa.

Elsewhere in Gaza, another journalist – al-Mashhad correspondent Mohammed Balousha – was shot in both of his legs shortly after Abu Daqqa was fatally injured. He had to wait hours before rescuers were able to reach and evacuate him. He is reportedly in stable condition.

Weeks earlier, Balousha documented the grim discovery of the decomposing bodies of several babies who died in their hospital beds, still attached to medical devices, 17 days after Israel forced the evacuation of al-Nasr pediatric hospital at gunpoint.

Three Palestinian human rights organizations – Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights – say they have documented incidents in which Palestinians died from their injuries after Israeli ground forces blocked ambulances from reaching them.

“In these dire circumstances, civilians find themselves unable to access any medical treatment for their injuries,” the three groups said.

Rescue teams are unable to reach those in need or “retrieve the bodies of those killed,” the rights groups added.

“In certain areas, thousands of Palestinian bodies remain under the rubble and on the streets, inaccessible and unretrieved,” the groups said.

“This not only leaves their families in anguish, unable to ascertain their whereabouts and grieve properly but also presents a significant risk of the spread of serious diseases among the population.”

Bodies that are recovered are being buried in the nearest available sites, according to the groups, including “gardens, marketplaces and roadway medians.”

Israeli Forces Attack Hospitals

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said late Sunday that Israeli artillery fire had hit the maternity ward of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, “leading to several casualties.”

The health ministry in Gaza, Al Jazeera and Palestinian outlets reported that 13-year-old Dunya Abu Muhsen, who was being treated for an amputated foot, was killed in the strike:

Video recorded inside the hospital showing a chaotic scene in a smoke-filled room as men carry away an evidently killed person:

Photos of the site of the strike show holes blown into the walls and a pillow stained with blood:

Also on Sunday evening, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza stated that Israeli forces had stormed Al-Awda Hospital, which has been under siege for several days.

Medical staff, as well as patients and their companions, have been shot by Israeli military snipers at the hospital, killing a nurse and a pregnant woman’s sister-in-law as they arrived at the facility for medical services.

The ministry said on Sunday that medical staff had been stripped, detained and interrogated for four hours before being released. The hospital’s director, Ahmad Muhanna, was detained and taken to an unknown destination.

On Thursday, the ministry said that Israel was holding 38 health workers from Gaza, including Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of al-Shifa hospital.

Kamal Adwan Hospital Stormed

In northern Gaza, Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya on Saturday after storming it on Tuesday and detaining its director and medical staff.

Medical staff came under fire while delivering a press conference in the hospital’s courtyard on Sunday. Video shows the staff ducking for safety as shots ring out while one of them was reading out a statement about an Israeli attack the previous day:

On Saturday, the Israeli military reportedly used a bulldozer to raze tents belonging to displaced people sheltering in the hospital courtyard.

Al Jazeera interviewed witnesses who said “civilians were deliberately targeted” in the bulldozer attack and “buried alive.”

Videos shared on social media show body parts sticking out of the rubble in front of the hospital and tire tracks from heavy machinery in the sand.

The Palestinian groups Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that Israeli forces had “carried out extensive excavations inside the hospital courtyard” on Saturday. They exhumed “a mass grave in which the bodies of 26 people” were buried.

The rights groups called for an independent international investigation into the “serious violations” at Kamal Adwan hospital and Israel’s targeting of health facilities across Gaza.

Israeli shelling destroyed the hospital’s pharmacy, doctors at Kamal Adwan told Al Jazeera, and some patients died during Israel’s siege due to a lack of medical supplies and a lack of clean water.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, said that during the attack on Kamal Adwan, “many patients had to self-evacuate at great risk to their health and safety, with ambulances unable to reach the facility.”

Of the at least eight patients who perished during the siege, “several died due to lack of adequate health care, including a 9-year-old child.”

Ghebreyesus said that WHO is “extremely concerned” for the displaced people who are sheltering at the hospital but did not comment on the reported bulldozer attack in the facility’s courtyard.

“Gaza’s health system was already on its knees, and the loss of another even minimally functioning hospital is a severe blow,” he added.

The Israeli military published a crude propaganda video purporting to show weapons that were hidden incubators in Kamal Adwan’s neonatal intensive care unit, claiming that the hospital “was used by Hamas as a command center.”

The military released similarly unconvincing staged propaganda videos following its attack on al-Shifa hospital during November.

“Bloodbath” at al-Shifa Hospital

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that it delivered supplies and medicines to the now “minimally functional” al-Shifa hospital.

Al-Shifa was “once the most important and largest referral hospital in Gaza,” WHO stated. Today, only a “handful of doctors and a few nurses” are present, along with 70 volunteers, working in dire conditions.

“The hospital is only able to provide basic trauma stabilization, has no blood for transfusion, and hardly any staff to care for the constant flow of patients,” WHO said.

The health workers at the site say that the emergency department is a “bloodbath, with hundreds of patients inside and new patients arriving every minute.”

WHO said that a “multi-pronged humanitarian response is needed” to provide “tens of thousands of displaced people” sheltering at the hospital grounds with “food, water and shelter.”

Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City is the sole hospital out of 24 in northern Gaza that remains partially functional after more than two months of Israeli strikes and siege. Three other hospitals remain only minimally functional, according to WHO.

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Featured image: Dr Suleiman Qaoud surveys the damage at the Rantisi Specialist Hospital, part of the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza City, following Israeli missile attacks on November 6, 2023 [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

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***

An agent of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was executed in Iran on December 16, according to IRNA news agency. In addition, an Israeli hacker group has claimed to have paralyzed gas stations across Iran in a cyber attack.

So much has been written on the Israeli campaign on Gaza and the West Bank, the humanitarian disaster, and its consequences. However, there is yet another angle to it, namely the escalation of the long going fuel war and of the so-called shadow war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Jewish state, with even farther-reaching potential impacts globally way beyond the Red Sea and North Africa or the Middle East. One example of that is the fact that two of the largest shipping companies on the planet (Mærsk, and Hapag-Lloydhave) have just announced they are temporarily suspending their Red Sea routes after strikes carried out by the Iran-backed Houthis. This is no small matter: we are talking about one of the world’s main routes for fuel and oil shipments.

Speaking to the BBC on December 16, Mærsk stated that:

“following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice.”

The Bab al-Mandab strait, also known as the Gate of Tears, is located between Yemen (on the Arabian peninsula) and both Djibouti and Eritrea on the coast of Africa. It is through this route that ships reach the Suez Canal from south – all ships coming from the Indian Ocean, for example, have to pass through it. To avoid it means taking considerably larger routes, such as navigating around southern Africa – with larger costs.

The Houthi rebels control a large part of Yemen, and have been launching attacks on waterways almost daily as part of their campaign against Israel, which in turn has responded by deploying missile boats. Warships from the US, UK, and France have also shot down various missiles launched by the rebels. On December 15, a member of Houthi’s Ansarullah politburo, Ali al-Qahoum stated Yemen is “ready” to respond to any military actions made by Israel or the US, adding that the operations will go on. Commenting on Maersk halting Red Sea journeys, Marco Forgione, director general at the Institute of Export & International Trade, said:

“This impacts every link in the supply chain… and will only increase the chances of critical products not making their destinations in time for Christmas.”

As I wrote before, Israel has high stakes in Africa, way beyond its “spyware” diplomatic endeavors (often described as “buying friends by selling weapons”), the Red Sea particularly being its “back door” to coastal states such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen etc. The 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords and subsequent normalization agreements with Israel signed by countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UEA) paved the way for security and military cooperation, which materialized itself in the Israel-UAE joint naval drill in November 2021, for instance, thus increasing Red Sea tensions.

There has been an energy and fuel crisis in the Levant (made worse by US Treasury sanctions and the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019), affecting Lebanon particularly, and this context has empowered Iranian oil diplomacy, as well as Iranian-supported Hezbollah, with Tehran supplying fuel to allies abroad such as Syria, Lebanon, and even Venezuela.

As part of such economic warfare, long before the bold ongoing Houthi campaign, several clandestine attacks on vessels had been taking place, with Syria accusing Israel of being behind them – this is the context of today’s Red Sea crisis. The Houthis seem to be willing to take this maritime proxy fuel war (and the proxy “shadow war”) to a whole new level, though.

For years now, a non-official war has been going on between Israel and Iran, two dominant powers in the Middle East. In July 2022, I asked whether such a local cold war could escalate into a major regional conflict, potentially even spiraling into a global confrontation. The current situation has arguably taken us a bit closer to such a catastrophic scenario.

It would be ill-informed to think of the Houthis in Yemen (or Hezbollah in Lebanon, for that matter) as mere Iranian pawns. Such groups obviously have their own popular base, agenda and agency as political and social actors. In any case, Iran does lend its support to them in a number of ways, and a larger Iranian-Israeli proxy war is indeed one of the angles to it.

The level of alignment between the Islamic Republic and Hezbollah (also a Shiite organization) cannot possibly be compared to that between Iran and Hamas (a Palestinian Sunni group). However, Tehran’s cooperation with Hamas has been on the rise, with the latter’s leader Ismail Haniyeh having met with Iran’s foreign minister in Qatar last month. How far this cooperation goes still remains to be seen. Tehran cannot “control” its “proxies” – much the same way Washington cannot do so with its Israeli ally.  In this complex equation, there is a large degree of unpredictability and ample room for backfiring.

It should be noted that the Persian nation is an emerging power and should not be underestimated. Due to its strategic location, for thousands of years, it played a key role as a route along the Silk Road for transporting goods from west to east. In the last decades, due to conflicts, sanctions and all kinds of infrastructures problems, such a potential has not been exploited.

Current conditions are changing, though. The aftermath of Washington’s failed neocolonial nation-building in Iraq for one thing has been an empowered Tehran. There is also the promising North-South Transit Corridor (NSTC), which does have the potential not only to counter US endeavors to isolate Iran and Russia economically, but actually to create a new promising route and an alternative to the Suez Canal.

In any case, the West does not want full escalation: top US military leaders have traveled to Tel Aviv to pressure Israel into avoiding major combat and a wider regional war by restraining itself and maintaining a more limited campaign. It remains to be seen whether a radicalized and emboldened Jewish state will refrain from crossing yet another redline – and whether the other actors involved will do the same: managing tensions from fully exploding is no simple task.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has always been a polarizing issue in Africa and the Middle East, particularly, and now it is also dividing the West, with European authorities crushing pro-Palestine demonstrations. The intensification of it plus the escalation of the Israel-Iranian “shadow war” will offer the Western and pro-Israel political elites an opportunity to further push its demands for “alignmentism” (while eroding the Western narrative on “human rights”, as Tel Aviv’s campaign is facing unprecedent criticism), much the same way it will pose a diplomatic challenge to nations worldwide. There is just too much at stake, in humanitarian, ethical, religious, ideological, geoeconomic and geopolitical terms.

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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

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***

Barely a day has passed since the 7 October attack by Hamas when the western media has not revisited those events, often to reveal what it claims are new details of astonishing atrocities carried out by the Palestinian group.

These disclosures have served to sustain public indignation in the West, and kept Palestinian solidarity activists on the back foot.

In turn, the outrage has smoothed Israel’s path as it has levelled vast swaths of Gaza; killed more than 18,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children; and denied the enclave’s population of 2.3 million access to food, water and fuel.

Critically, it has also made it far easier for western governments to throw their weight behind Israel – and arm it – even as Israeli leaders have repeatedly engaged in genocidal talk and carried out ethnic cleansing operations.

Israel’s intense bombing campaigns have herded nearly two million Palestinians into a small section of Gaza, pressed up against its short border with Egypt, while starvation and fatal disease start to take their toll.

Many of the claims about 7 October have been shocking beyond belief, such as stories that Hamas beheaded 40 babies, baked another in an oven, carried out mass, systematic rapes, and cut a foetus from its mother’s womb.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken even described in graphic detail – and wholly falsely – a Hamas attack on an Israeli family:

“The father’s eye gouged out in front of his kids. The mother’s breast cut off, the girl’s foot amputated, the boy’s fingers cut off before they were executed.”

Little Evidence

Atrocities were undoubtedly committed that day by Hamas and other gunmen in Israel, as groups like Human Rights Watch have been documenting.

They have continued to occur in Gaza every day since, not least through Israel’s continuing and relentless bombing of civilians, and through Hamas’ refusal to free the remaining Israeli hostages without an exchange of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

But in respect of the more shocking allegations against Hamas promoted by the western media – which have bolstered the case for Israel’s two-month rampage in Gaza – often little or no evidence has been forthcoming beyond claims made by Israeli officials and highly partisan and unreliable first responders.

Last week the BBC and others led again with stories of systematic Hamas mass rapes on 7 October. Efforts by the United Nations to investigate these claims are being obstructed by Israel.

Nonetheless, once more, coverage of the growing devastation in Gaza was sidelined.

Media readiness to re-examine 7 October long after those events took place has operated within strict limits, however. Only claims that support Israel’s narrative about what happened that day are being aired.

A growing body of evidence suggesting a far more complex reality, one that paints Israel’s own actions in a far more troubling light, is being ignored or suppressed.

This deeply dishonest approach from the western media indicates that they are not, as they declare, fearlessly pursuing the truth. Rather, they are regurgitating talking points being fed to them by Israel.

That is not only unconscionable – particularly given Israel’s long track record of promoting lies, both small and large – but it violates all basic journalistic codes.

And, worse still, the media’s credulous amplification of Israel’s version of 7 October continues to breathe life into the Israeli case that wrecking Gaza to eliminate Hamas is morally justified.

Active Cheerleaders

Unknown to most western audiences, there has been a steady trickle of evidence from Israeli sources over the past two months implicating Israel’s own military in at least some of the killings attributed to Hamas.

This week the Israeli military finally conceded that it had killed its own civilians on October 7 “in immense and complex quantity”. Given the large numbers, it added with transparent non-logic: “It would not be morally sound to investigate these incidents.”

How is it possible, given their continuing interest in scrutinising the events of 7 October, that none of the western media has picked up on any of this distressing evidence, let alone investigated it?

It is hard not to conclude that the western media are only interested in stories – and largely indifferent to whether they are true or false – that portray Hamas, but not Israel, as the bad guys. That would mean the media are not dispassionate reporters, but have been recruited by Israel as its active cheerleaders.

Israel’s official story, echoed by the western media, is that Hamas had long planned a crazed, barbaric rampage through communities in Israel – driven by a mix of primitive, religious bloodlust and Jew hatred.

The group’s chance to realise this goal came on 7 October, according to the Israeli narrative, when Israel let down its guard momentarily and Hamas broke through the hi-tech fence meant to keep it and Gaza’s other 2.3 million inhabitants permanently imprisoned.

During the breakout, Hamas focused on the slaughter of civilians, killing babies by beheading them and using rape as a weapon of war and defilement. They fired into the homes of neighbouring Israeli communities, often leaving them in ruins and burning their victims alive.

Admittedly, the claim about 40 beheaded babies has been quietly shelved, because there is precisely zero evidence for it. According to Israel’s own published figures, only two infants died that day.

Nonetheless, the media rarely challenge Israeli spokespeople, or western politicians, when they make this long-discredited allegation.

But many of these other allegations are no less evidence-free and need scrutiny too.

Although they are rarely given a voice, Palestinians have their own, alternative narrative of what happened that day – and parts of it are being bolstered by accounts from Israeli sources.

Challenge to Official Story

In this telling, Hamas long trained for its breakout, and with a strategic aim in mind. The goal was to launch a commando-style assault on four military bases surrounding Gaza to kill or take hostage as many Israeli soldiers as possible, and a similar assault on local Israeli communities to seize civilian hostages.

The aim, according to this narrative, was to trade the hostages for Palestinian prisoners, thousands of whom are in Israeli jails, including women and children, often held without a military trial or even charges.

To the Palestinian public, these prisoners are no less hostages than the Israelis held in Gaza.

Hamas stormed military bases and the Israeli communities of Be’eri and Kfar Azza. That is why about a third of the 1,200 Israelis killed that day were soldiers, police or armed guards – and why many of the 240 hostages were serving in the Israeli military too.

According to most accounts, even Israeli ones, Hamas accidentally stumbled on to the Nova music festival, which had been relocated to an area close to the fence with Gaza. There were unexpected clashes with security guards, while the attack on festivalgoers turned especially chaotic and gruesome.

So why did Hamas depart from its plan by killing so many civilians? And why did it do so in such a savage, gratuitous and time-consuming fashion that involved burning Israelis alive, using its firepower to blast their homes into ruins, and setting fire to hundreds of cars on the highway near the music festival?

What did Hamas have to gain from expending so much energy and ammunition on horror-show theatrics rather than its plan to seize hostages?

For many western leaders and journalists, it appears no rational answer is needed. Hamas – and possibly all Palestinians – are simply barbarians for whom murdering Israelis, Jews or maybe all non-Muslims comes as second nature.

But for those whose minds are less bent by racist assumptions, an alternative picture of events has been steadily cohering, prompted by the testimonies of Israeli survivors and officials, as well as reporting from the Israeli media.

Because they contradict Israel’s official story, these testimonies have been studiously ignored by the western media.

Burned Alive

Surprisingly, the person whose statements have most confounded the official narrative is Mark Regev, the spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In an interview on MSNBC on 16 November, Regev noted that Israel had reduced the official death toll by 200 after its investigations had shown that the charred remains it had counted included not just Israelis but Hamas fighters too. The fighters, burned alive, had been too disfigured to easily identify.

Regev told MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan:

“There were actually bodies that were so badly burned we thought they were ours. In the end, apparently, they were Hamas terrorists.”

There was an obvious problem with Regev’s disclosure that went unchallenged by the MSNBC interviewer, and has been ignored by the media since. How did so many Hamas fighters end up burned – and in exactly the same locations as Israelis, meaning their remains could not be identified separately for many weeks?

Did Hamas fighters carry out some strange ritual, self-immolating in cars and homes alongside their hostages? And if so, why?

There is a likely explanation, confirmed by an Israeli survivor of the 7 October events, as well as by a security guard, and a variety of military personnel. But these accounts starkly undermine the official narrative.

Shelled by Israel

Yasmin Porat, who fled the Nova festival and ended up hiding in Be’eri, was one of the few to survive that day. Her partner, Tal Katz, was killed. 

She has repeatedly explained to the Israeli media what happened. 

According to Porat’s account to Kan radio on 15 November, the Hamas fighters in Be’eri barricaded themselves into a house with a group of a dozen or so Israeli hostages – either planning to use them as human shields or as bargaining chips for an exit.

The Israeli military, however, was in no mood for bargaining. Porat escaped only because one of the Hamas fighters vacated the house early on, using her as a human shield, before giving himself up. 

Porat describes Israeli soldiers engaging in a four-hour firefight with the Hamas gunmen, despite the presence of Israeli civilians. But not all of the hostages were killed in the crossfire. Israel ended the clash with an Israeli tank firing two shells into the house. 

In Porat’s account, when she asked why this had been done,

“they explained to me that it was to break the walls, in order to help purify the house”.

The only other survivor, Hadas Dagan, who was lying face down on the lawn in front of the house during the firefight, reported to Porat what happened after the two shells hit the house. Dagan saw both of their partners lying near her, killed by shrapnel from the explosions. 

A 12-year-old girl, Liel Hatsroni, who had been screaming inside the house throughout the firefight, also fell silent. 

Hatsroni and her aunt, Ayalan, were both incinerated. It took weeks to identify their bodies.

Notably, Liel Hatsroni’s charred remains have been one of the emotive pieces of evidence cited by Israel for accusing Hamas of killing and burning Israelis.

In reporting the deaths of Liel, her aunt, her twin brother and her grandfather, the Israeli news website Ynet stated that Hamas fighters “murdered them all. Afterwards, they set the house alight”.

Confused Pilots

Porat’s testimony is far from the only source showing that Israel is likely to have been responsible for a significant proportion of the civilian deaths that day – and for the burned bodies. 

The security coordinator at Be’eri, Tuval Escapa, effectively confirmed Porat’s account to the Haaretz newspaper. He said:

“Commanders in the field made difficult decisions – including shelling houses on their occupants in order to eliminate the terrorists along with the hostages.”

The burnt-out cars at the Nova festival and their occupants appear to have suffered a similar fate. Worried that Hamas gunmen were fleeing the area with hostages in cars, it seems, helicopter pilots were told to open fire, incinerating the cars and all the occupants.

There is a likely explanation for this. The Israeli army has long had a secret protocol – known as the Hannibal directive – in which soldiers are instructed to kill any captured comrades to avoid their being taken hostage. It is less clear how this directive applies to Israeli civilians, though it appears to have been used in the past

The goal is to prevent Israel from facing demands to release prisoners.

In at least one case, an Israeli military official, Col Nof Erez, has stated that “the Hannibal directive was apparently applied”. He called the Israeli air strikes on 7 October “a mass Hannibal”.

Haaretz has reported that police investigators concluded that “an IDF combat helicopter that arrived at the scene and fired at terrorists there apparently also hit some festival participants”.

In a video released by the Israeli military, Apache helicopters are shown randomly firing missiles at cars leaving the area, presumably on the assumption that they contained Hamas fighters trying to smuggle hostages back into Gaza.

The Ynet news website cited an Israeli air force assessment of its two dozen attack helicopters in the skies above the Nova festival:

“It was very difficult to distinguish between terrorists and [Israeli] soldiers or civilians.” Nonetheless, pilots were instructed “to shoot at everything they see in the area of the fence” with Gaza.

“Only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow their attacks and carefully choose the targets,” the outlet reported.

Another Israeli publication, Mako, noted that

“there was almost no intelligence to assist in making fateful decisions”, adding that the pilots “emptied the ‘belly of the helicopter’ in minutes, flew to re-arm and returned to the air, again and again”.

In another Mako report, the commander of an Apache unit is quoted stating:

“Shooting at people in our territory – this is something I never thought I would do.” Another pilot recalled of the attack: “I find myself in a dilemma as to what to shoot at.” 

Secrets to the Grave

Quite extraordinarily, in reporting the devastation of ravaged houses and burnt and crumpled cars, reporters have completely ignored the visual evidence staring them in the face and simply amplified the official Israeli narrative.

There are plenty of more-than-obvious questions no one is asking – and for which no answers are ever likely to be forthcoming.

How did Hamas wreak such widescale and intense devastation when its fighters’ own videos show them mostly bearing light arms? 

Were those carrying basic RPGs capable of accurately tracking and hitting hundreds of fast-moving vehicles fleeing the festival – and doing so from ground level? 

Video footage from Hamas body-cams shows cars leaving the Nova festival with both gunmen and hostages inside. Why would Hamas risk incinerating its own people?

Given Hamas’ keenness to film its triumphs, why is there no footage of such actions? And why would Hamas waste its most prized ammunition on random attacks on cars rather than save it for the far more difficult task of attacking Israeli military bases?

Israel appears not to be interested in investigating the burnt-out cars and wrecked homes, possibly because it already knows the answers and fears that others may one day find out the truth too.

With religious organisations demanding that the cars be hurriedly buried to preserve the sanctity of the dead, the metal skeletons will take their secrets to the grave.

Grotesque Fables

What seems certain from this growing body of evidence – and from the trail of visual clues – is that on 7 October many Israeli civilians were killed either in the crossfire of gun battles between Israel and Hamas or by Israeli military directives to stop Hamas fighters returning to Gaza and taking hostages with them. 

This week, an Israeli commentator in the Haaretz newspaper called the testimonies “earth-shattering”, and added: “Was the Hannibal directive applied to civilians? An investigation and public debate need to happen now, no matter how difficult they are.” 

But as the army has made clear, it has no intention to investigate when its whole genocidal campaign against Gaza is premised on lurid claims that appear to bear a limited relationship to reality. 

None of that justifies Hamas’ atrocities, especially the killing and taking hostage of civilians. But it does paint a very different picture of that day’s events.

Remember, Israel and its supporters have sought to compare the Hamas attack on 7 October with the Nazi Holocaust. They have concocted grotesque fables to present Palestinians as bloodthirsty savages deserving of any fate that befalls them. 

And those fables have served as the basis for western indulgence and sympathy for Israel as it has carried out ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza. 

The truth is it would have been much harder for western governments to sell Israel’s rampage in Gaza to their publics had Hamas’ crimes been seen, sadly, as all too typical of modern militarised confrontations in which civilians become collateral damage. 

What western governments and institutions should have done is demand an independent investigation to clarify the extent of Hamas atrocities that day rather than echo Israeli officials who wanted an excuse to trash Gaza and drive its inhabitants into neighbouring Sinai.

The western media’s performance has been even more dismal – and dangerous. It professes to be a watchdog on power. But it has repeatedly amplified the Israeli occupier’s evidence-free claims, peddled libels against Palestinians with little or no scrutiny, and actively suppressed evidence challenging Israel’s official narrative.

For that reason alone, western journalists are entirely complicit in the crimes against humanity currently being perpetrated in Gaza – crimes being committed right now, not two months ago.

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Jonathan Cook is the author of three books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His website and blog can be found at www.jonathan-cook.net

Featured image: An Israeli man whose cousin was taken hostage during the 7 October attack visits family house in Kibbutz Nir Oz on 5 December, 2023 (Source: MEE)

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***

In Ukraine, Russia is advancing on nearly all fronts, the West’s armament deliveries have fallen 87% in 2023 compared to 2022, with a fall in the supply of artillery shells of 30% as the USA diverted supplies to Israel. In Congress, Biden’s Democrat party cannot get a $61bn package for Ukraine passed since the Republicans demand, as part of the total, sums for the existential crisis on the USA’s southern border (where some 2m migrants are crossing yearly) and because Biden cannot say what the war aim in Ukraine is.

The Ukrainian losses now amount to about 400,000 troops killed or missing while some independent estimates put Russian losses at up to 50,000. The Ukrainian “counteroffensive” has been a disaster with Russia gaining more ground than Ukraine since it began.   

The extent of the sudden realisation that the West has foolishly believed its own propaganda but must now recognise impending defeat is clear from the hopelessly naive Daniel Hannan in the Sunday Telegraph: On 15th July 2023 he wrote: 

“Take away Russia’s nuclear weapons – for  Putin is finished and his country may soon collapse.”

But on 9th December 2023 he was forced to admit: 

“Putin’s Russia is closing in on a devastating victory. Europe’s foundations are trembling”

Even where (in the Kherson area and around Rabotino) Ukraine has made ground their troops are either being decimated in Krynki on the East bank of the Dniepr or retreating again around Rabotino. 

The Odessa publication “Dumskaya” writes that: 

The operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to maintain a bridgehead on the left bank of the Dniepr is meaningless and only leads to large losses. Marines cross the river and most are killed as they approach the shore. Those who survived and crossed over will be ironed with everything that is in the Russian arsenal. People are just constantly being thrown across the river – wave after wave. There is no talk of any further breakthrough; now the forces are being wasted simply on staying there. For what?

In this regard, the ongoing attempts to throw the Marines onto the left bank are something beyond good and evil,”

Following the pattern of hopeless resistance in other battles (Mariupol, Bakhmut) Zelensky refuses the advice of his generals to retreat and consolidate and instead throws decreasingly effective troops to their deaths for the sake of “heroic” media headlines.

No wonder so many have died and Zelensky is at loggerheads with the Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi with whom he no longer communicates directly. Increasingly other Ukrainian leaders like former President Poroshenko and the Mayor of Kiev, Klitschko are taking Zaluzhnyi’s side and the massive losses at the front have led to demonstrations in Kiev and elsewhere by the relatives of the dead and missing. 

Zelensky Replacement

Following Zelensky’s failed trip to Washington and the frosty reception he got, he is now threatened both by insurrection at home and lack of both military and political support from his western allies.

The former CIA Intelligence Officer Larry Johnson, still with evident contacts within the Agency, says Zelensky  has asked for security guarantees for his escape from Ukraine. The Italian publication Antidiplomatico writes that the Ukrainian leader was found a “safe” successor in the person of his head of administration Andrey Yermak.

So desperate is the Biden administration to finance and arm Ukraine for the further slaughter of its citizens that the Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin actually threatened congressmen in a closed committee session that if they did not authorise more funds for Ukraine “we will send your uncles cousins and sons to fight in Ukraine”. Needless to say this disgraceful threat further turned Congressmen and women against the government.

In Ukraine there are already 62,000 women in the Ukraine Armed Forces and women are now working down mines, replacing the men conscripted into the army!

The desperation of the Kiev Government can be seen not just in the recruitment of men up to the age of 70 and the vicious pressgangs dragging men off the streets but in this Ministerial Order which states that

“In order to avoid suicide attempts in combat positions, new arrivals do not issue ammunition to mobilised (ie conscripts) military personnel”

Zelensky’s former spokesman Arestovich has admitted that there are some 100 deserters per day by troops in the field.

“Our problem is that, let me give you some figures – 100 people who have arbitrarily left military units per day in Ukraine. 100 people per day – that’s a brigade per month.”

UK Will Return Ukrainian Refugees to Fight

There are 650 thousand Ukrainians of conscription age living in the European Union who fled from mobilisation after Russian troops entered Ukraine, with 190,000 in Germany and also thousands in the UK.

Following my correspondence with my MP and the UK Home Office it is now clear that the UK Government is prepared to extradite Ukrainian refugees to fight. In the text of the letter from the Security Minister to my MP about extradition;

“A requested person will not be extradited if doing so would breach their human rights, if the request issued politically motivated or if they would be at risk of facing the death penalty. The dual criminality test also applies meaning that the criminal offence for which an individual is ought must be an offence in both the requesting State and the UK”

What is clear from this letter and in particular the above paragraph, is:

1. there is no policy not to extradite.

2. since all Ukrainian refugees would not be subject to the death penalty, extradition to a country the UK is aiding in war would not breach their human rights and draft dodging is a common misdemeanour to both the UK and Ukraine therefore they would be extradited.

We know that Kiev is sending to the front lines new recruits with only a few weeks training and we know from Ukrainian commanders that this is not sufficient. But the almost hysterical Ukraine supporting British government is prepared to extradite Ukrainians whom it has granted refugee status to fight on the murderous font lines in Eastern Ukraine.

USA Begins to Recognise a Futile War

The Council on Foreign Relations is the most influential organization in the US when it comes to US foreign policy and its president until June 2023, Richard Haas, has pointed to the futility of Ukraine’s sacrifices in this war:

“Even if we give everything we need to give to Ukraine it still won’t lead to success… Therefore the U.S. needs to have some very direct conversations with Ukraine and talk about reducing their emphasis on liberating land, increasingly put their emphasis on holding onto what they’ve got… The idea that 1 or 2 or 3 more years of this is going to result in success, I simply don’t see it… Anytime in life there’s a big gap between what you’re trying to do and your ability to do it, you either need to increase your means or lower your goals: here the only realistic option is to lower our goals.”

Were it not for the USA’s perceived threats from Iran, Hezbollah, Yemen, Gaza and China the Biden administration would blindly ignore this advice but times are a changing and the weakness of Biden in an election year, the precarious state of Zelensky in Kiev, the massive Ukrainian losses and growing opposition to the war in Europe mean that Washington will soon be forcing Kiev to negotiate with Russia. Since Zelensky has legislated against any such negotiations he will have to be replaced. Russia will not agree to pause the war during any such negotiations.

I remind our readers of this post on the most credible of the peace proposals.

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Featured image is from Geopolitical Economy Report

Cardinal Crimes: Absolute Rule and Fleecing the Holy See

December 18th, 2023 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

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***

Like a bank with branches everywhere, the Catholic Church will go after its own when circumstances permit, wherever they are. In other instances, it will take the opposite tack, shielding the detractors or deviants from local scrutiny, and concealing them from the burden of accountability.

Italian Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, former adviser to Pope Francis and the second ranking official in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, could not count on the latter, though his prosecution had a pungent whiff of scapegoating to it. After some two-and-a-half years of tense church drama and institutional intrigue, a Vatican court sentenced the Pope’s former chief of staff to five-and-a-half years in jail for financial crimes, permanent disqualification from holding public office and a fine approximating to $8000 euros.

In 2020, a displeased Pope Francis accused Becciu of appropriating the equivalent of US$100,000 in Vatican funds via a non-profit outfit run by the cardinal’s brother. This, as things transpired, was merely the beginning. Proceedings against Becciu commenced in 2021, with the prosecution’s brief heaving with charges of embezzlement, abuse of office, conspiracy and witness tampering. The punishment sought was not inconsiderable: a prison term of seven years and three months, a fine of 10,329 euros, and a ban from holding office.

An important focus of the case centred on the development of a London investment property costing the Vatican Secretariat of State an eye-popping total of 350 million euros between 2014 and 2018.  A former Harrods warehouse, the property was intended as a site for luxury apartments. Instead, much fleecing took place, with very financially minded brokers pocketing tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions, topped by a bill of 15 million euros for ceding control of the building.

The property, subsequently sold at considerable loss, was seen as nothing less than a mechanism for fraud. The court was convinced that the crime of embezzlement had been proven, with the amount coming “to about one-third of the availability at the time of the Secretariat of State because it violated the provisions of the administration of ecclesiastical property.”

Showing himself to be very a much a brotherly sort, Becciu was also found guilty of embezzlement for transferring 125,000 euros to a charity run by his brother Antonio in the cardinal’s home diocese of Sardinia and using Vatican money to pay a Sardinian security consultant (one dare not call her an intelligence analyst), Cecilia Marogna.

The number of defendants involved in this enterprise suggest scope, scale and complexity. They include former Vatican employee Fabrizio Tirabassi, convicted of extortion and money-laundering, and Enrico Crasso, who earned his crust offering financial advice to the Vatican, found guilty on a number of charges including embezzlement. Both defendants received sentences of seven-and-a-half years and seven years respectively.

This crowded cosmos of heady corruption also featured the exploits of Raffaele Mincione, an investment manager closely connected to the London investment, and businessman Gianluigi Torzi, the glue in brokering the final stage regarding the purchase of that property. Torzi was found guilty of extortion and sentenced to a six-year prison sentence iced with a six-thousand-euro penalty; Mincione, convicted on embezzlement and money laundering charges, received five years and six months.

Marogna also found herself with a sentence of three years and nine months, with her company receiving a penalty worth 40,000 euros. Her case proved to be a particularly salty one, given her receipt of 575,000 euros via her Slovenian-based front company from the Vatican’s Swiss bank account, ostensibly to provide Becciu advice on securing the release of Sister Gloria Celia Narvaez, who had been kidnapped by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. But the amount in question was a double payment; Becciu and Marogna had already been furnished a separate amount of 1 million euros to facilitate the release of the Colombian nun using the services of the British security firm Inkerman. (Narvaez was released in October 2021.)

With some extra cash to stroke and burn, Marogna proceeded to, according to Slovenian bank records linked with her front company Logsic Humanitarne Dejavnosti, purchase luxury goods and enjoy well pampered resort vacations.

Other defendants, albeit of the less colourful variety, also featured. Fines of less than US$2000 were handed out to Tommaso Di Ruzza and René Brülhart for failing to report what amounted to a suspicious transaction, while lawyer Nicola Squillace received a slap on the wrist with a suspended one year and ten months sentence.

Throughout these lurid proceedings, lawyers for the defence expressed agitation at what they saw as a lack of due process and a conspicuous absence of respect for human rights on the part of the prosecutors. In one notable example, the prosecutors, defying an order by tribunal president Giuseppe Pignatone, refused to make available the taped video testimony of their star witness and supergrass Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, the individual whose hands most dirtied the London real estate investment.

Some of these concerns stand to reason: the long shadow of absolutist power in the form of Pope Francis, whose office fuses executive, legislative and judicial authority, was ever cast throughout. The Holy See, mindful of such power, has also been assiduous in avoiding subscribing to human rights conventions that would provide an avenue of review to the European Court of Human Rights. As Becciu’s attorney, Fabio Viglione, declared in October 2021, “These are harmful to the right of the defence that affect the right to a fair trial.”

Marogna’s own legal team also noted that the prosecution’s refusal to produce court ordered documentation would be intolerable in the formal Italian court system. As a defence memorandum authored by international law specialist Riccardo Sindoca remarked, “In a normal situation, in all countries having a judicial system that could be considered autonomous and impartial and structured in a way to safeguard a fair trial, the refusal would have been immediately sanctioned.”

All exercises of calculated scapegoating or selected sacrifice suggest a cleansing of the collective social and political body. The body, duly purified, can ignore the corrupting ailments it was afflicted with. In the past lay disease; now, glorious pink health awaits.  But institutions such as the Catholic Church, and any large corporate entity spanning the globe, use such instruments less as matters of purification than distraction. The rot often goes deeper. In the meantime, the ledger of distractions will likely bulk; expect further appeals, a rapidly scribbled film script or a Becciu Netflix special.

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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 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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***

Click here to watch the video.

Transcript

0:00

Can you tell us your name?

0:02

My name is Nicole King and I’m a registered nurse in the Central Florida area.

0:06

And so this, we’re going to talk about what happened to you as a nurse during COVID.

0:11

So talk us through where you were and what you did.

0:13

So for starters, everything I say is of my own accord.

0:16

It does not represent any other hospitals that I’ve worked for.

0:19

These are all my comments.

0:22

In 2020 we were told probably around March, April that a virus was coming from China and that there was a lot of individuals that were becoming extremely ill and were passing away and that we were to get geared up as a hospital system to be aware that this is coming and that we need to kind of brace ourselves that people that are getting this are dying at rapid rates and so to prepare

0:47

We had a lot of protocols and different things that were coming from China and Italy to kind of guide us what they were doing to try to help the situation with these patients that were getting sick.

0:58

And then by the summer, you know, a couple months into it, we really didn’t have a lot of patients that were coming to the hospital.

1:05

It became kind of eerily slow.

1:07

because I think the fear that was pumped out into the communities was to not come to the hospital because this is where you could have or contract this virus and so we came to a point where a lot of nurses were pulled from non-essential areas and furloughed and then or used in different in a different capacity so by probably August or September we started to see the waves of patients coming in with this respiratory illness and even then because I think the hospitals were trying to avoid overcrowding the system

1:37

that we were not admitting patients like we should have and so I think that was kind of the first look into how we could have done things differently because these patients still had respiratory symptoms but they were not severe enough so they were being sent home and told to come back

1:53

when symptoms got worse or they were unable to breathe.

1:57

And then within the next, you know, so many days of patients being sent back home, they were coming back to the hospital system in such bad shape.

2:06

And by that point, we had had a lot of nurses and people in healthcare leave the profession.

2:11

A lot of them got let go.

2:12

Some of them went to go travel to different states that were having more of a crisis.

2:17

And so our staffing, which was already low, became even worse.

2:21

And so these patients were coming in to us.

2:23

And by the time they came back to us, they were so badly, you know, decompensated that a lot of them were not making it.

2:31

And so the ones that were coming through the door were immediately, you know, put on a ventilator.

2:36

You know, different protocols are being utilized and we started to notice very quickly that the success rate of these patients getting better was next to zero.

2:44

And so we also had quite a few protocols that involved medications like remdesivir and limiting the exposure that nurses had with their patients because we were so short staffed.

2:56

They didn’t want us to

2:57

really be in with the patients as much as we could have been or usually are to decrease exposure and so from that point on we continue to have patients just kind of coming in and you know the vaccine was being discussed and we were told you know if we did not get vaccinated that we were going to be let go and so as a nurse you know who’s been in the field almost two decades and has always been told that we can question science and discuss what’s going on in our communities and how we can make things better for our patients

3:26

We were immediately met with resistance.

3:28

You know, we were segregated.

3:31

We were told that we could not have these conversations and they kept discussing how we had to get vaccinated.

3:36

So a lot of people were so scared because people had already lost their jobs and you know, the country was essentially shut down.

3:44

People had to put food on the table.

3:46

So a lot of individuals felt that they had to get this vaccine.

3:49

And so a lot of them were being kind of co-horsed if you will.

3:53

because we were going to lose everything.

3:54

We were going to have to walk away from our professions.

3:57

And so as this continued, we had more and more people getting vaccinated, I guess, in the Christmas time of that year, people were becoming

4:07

sick after they got vaccinated.

4:08

They were coming down with flu like symptoms.

4:11

And so we started to see this trend where it appeared people that had had the vaccine were actually coming in sick.

4:20

They were the ones that were also coming in with the flu like symptoms and immune systems that really could not keep up with what was going on.

4:26

So at that point I had decided I was not going to get the vaccine.

4:30

I didn’t like the way it was being handled.

4:32

We were getting emails.

4:33

We were told that if you’re unvaccinated that we were the reason why people were dying.

4:37

You know, in the hospital setting with our empathetic and, you know, caring communities with our profession, you know, we were told that we could not participate in meetings.

4:44

We had to be in zoom.

4:45

If we weren’t vaccinated, we couldn’t eat in the same, you know, uh, break room as other people that weren’t vaccinated or were vaccinated.

4:51

And so we were just really treated on a day-to-day basis, completely like we were lepers and just lacked empathy all around.

5:00

And I started to see that kind of infiltrate and how we cared for our patients.

5:04

People that were not vaccinated did receive different care, whether it was even more lack of empathy or just in general, being told that, you know, they shouldn’t be allowed to take up a bed.

5:16

You know, they shouldn’t be allowed to come to the hospital and waste our resources.

5:21

And when I started to see people that I’ve trusted my life with and, and, you know, professions, professionals that are extremely intelligent, just become so vile towards people that we took an oath to do no harm to.

5:33

It really just kind of solidified my fact that I was not on board with what was happening.

5:37

I did not agree with how we were addressing these things.

5:40

And so I became the minority because a lot of nurses at that point did get vaccinated.

5:45

And so we were made to feel that we were not welcomed.

5:47

We were not part of the team and they did everything, meaning the hospital systems, did everything they could to get us to want to quit or get vaccinated.

5:56

So it really kind of pushed this culture

6:00

that created a very hostile work environment.

6:04

It was very, very toxic.

6:05

And so I remember being told by December 4th of 2020, you know, and a little bit past that, that if we didn’t get vaccinated, you know, when they were starting to talk about the vaccines, if we didn’t get vaccinated, then we were going to be let go.

6:18

And so I talked to my husband and I said, are you okay with this?

6:21

And he says that I trust you.

6:22

And I said, because I don’t feel right.

6:24

It doesn’t, it’s not the right thing to do.

6:26

We shouldn’t be forced to do things that we don’t feel comfortable with.

6:29

Nobody was given informed consent.

6:31

I had pages of packets that we would print out to give to patients for the vaccine that we used to give in the hospital system.

6:40

We do not COVID vaccinate in the hospital system anymore.

6:43

So that should tell you something.

6:44

A 15 page packet that basically said we don’t know what this vaccine can do.

6:49

We’re not sure what it can cause.

6:50

These are some of the adverse side effects.

6:52

If you have them, report it to VAERS.

6:55

and sign here and your second dose has to be given on the outside of the hospital and there was nothing else the inserts of the vaccines were blank 110 pharmacy would have to draw them up they were time sensitive they would have to send them to us and they could get probably five or six vaccines out of one vial

7:14

so the controlled method method of this was very kind of still not really hashed out and of course signing something that you don’t know what you’re getting was really unfortunate because people were so fear-mongered that we would have other health issues going on that under normal circumstances would not allow you to vaccinate somebody

7:34

and doctors were just waving that did not matter give them the vaccine this is what we’re doing and as some of us we would question it you know these patients are not well could we not defer this and we were told vaccinate so it became just kind of this method of it didn’t matter what else was going on and again people that had a different opinion they did not want us there it was very apparent and we were told

7:58

You know, indirectly, directly that, you know, we were people that were who are unvaxxed, that were going to infiltrate the system and skew people to feel that we needed to be anti-science, anti-vax.

8:11

And a lot of the things that we do in the health freedom movements in Florida now,

8:16

with Health Freedom Florida and Florida Freedom Keepers, you know, and many other grassroots organizations.

8:21

We try to explain to people that where there is risk, there must be choice.

8:25

And a lot of times informed consent is non-existent.

8:28

Though we are not an anti-vax, anti-science organizations, we are trying to offer people and make them understand you should have pro-choice.

8:38

You know, you have to be given the opportunity to make those best decisions for your health.

8:43

and a lot of people that we were seeing come in that had been vaccinated were having issues with autoimmune they had autoimmune issues that were exacerbated just like you know Britt Galvin we had people that were coming in with myocarditis pericarditis you know young individuals in their 20s and 30s that had no other health history but had recently been vaccinated with blood clots and pericarditis myocarditis

9:06

You know, tremors, you know, issues with their heart rate, just things that you can’t even fathom.

9:11

And people would not talk about it.

9:13

And if we did, we were immediately told that that was insane.

9:16

That’s not happening.

9:17

These are safe and effective.

9:19

And part of why I come forward is because I am still a nurse that works in the hospital system that time and time again has been declined to work in certain facilities because I would not get vaccinated.

9:30

Someone who has ample experience and has never had any

9:34

bad you know judgment against them was being offered jobs and then told I could not work because I would not vaccinate and again when your patients have more rights than your health care workers and first responders people should really question that and to to assume that we are part of the problem because people will come and say well if you’re still working in the hospital system and you knew what was going on you should have left well if every person who cares and is empathetic leaves you don’t want those people

10:03

taking care of you that are left.

10:04

And I and I don’t say that everyone is like this and to group all of us would be foolish.

10:09

But there was a culture change.

10:11

There were things that happened in healthcare that I had never seen before in my entire life.

10:15

And I want people to understand that we cannot undo what happened.

10:19

And I am deeply sorry that our profession failed many, many people.

10:24

But hopefully, you know, moving forward, we can try to work together to have our communities trust us again, and that we could have done things a lot better.

10:33

And hopefully we can grow from this, but there are a lot of vaccine injured patients that we are seeing.

10:39

We are seeing people that have had two, three, four plus vaccines, boosters, whatever you want to call them, that are coming in with heart attacks, strokes, neurological issues.

10:49

And now the link that never made sense as a cardiac nurse, I would always take patients that were coming in

10:56

that had heart issues because that’s my specialty and probably a year and a half ago we started to see patients require oncology consults.

11:06

I had no idea why and now we’re seeing that there is a derivative component whatever you want to call it and some of these batches of COVID-19 vaccines called SV40 that has now been linked to mutate cells and cause patients to be more apt to

11:22

how their cells attack it and turn into some sort of you know cancer that we’re now seeing exploding and so again it’s always pushing informed consent and letting people know what are your rights you know what can you agree to you know the fact that we’ve passed SB 252 with the governor it needs work but it’s a medical freedom bill

11:45

but to let people know that you can decline and that you still should be able to be a valued member of society.

11:51

And so part of why I feel like I’m a little, little unique in this aspect is because I still work in the hospital system after many, many times of them not wanting us to be there.

12:01

I think there’s a misconception in Florida that we are a free state that is debatable and we are still struggle.

12:08

You know, I, now this year,

12:11

had a job offered to me.

12:12

I was the most outstanding candidate.

12:14

I was the one that they wanted.

12:16

I was not, it was not disclosed to me during the, um, hiring process or anything up until I accepted it, that I was required to get a flu vaccine.

12:25

I’ve always exempted from the flu vaccine.

12:27

I have never taken it.

12:28

Um, past probably eight years ago, I stopped taking it.

12:31

I’ve always just declined it.

12:33

And that was always offered to me.

12:35

And now we have nurses across the country,

12:38

that are being denied work because of our flu vaccine status or lack thereof.

12:43

We are told that it’s okay if we don’t have the COVID-19 vaccine.

12:47

We are told that that’s not relevant at this point.

12:49

They’re not worried about it.

12:50

And now they’re saying that it’s due to the flu vaccine that we may not be able to get hired.

12:55

And in the state of Florida a month ago, when I was offered the job for the first time ever in 18 years as a nurse, I was declined a religious exemption.

13:05

for a flu vaccine and was told the only thing I could do was a medical exemption.

13:09

So they’re finding loopholes in the bills, they’re finding ways to work around the law and allowing these companies and organizations to further drive our workforce shortages and everything is a trickle-down effect and so if you don’t have people in the workforce and you’re creating unnecessary barriers

13:28

Because at the end of the day, if you were to stop breathing, you’re not going to ask me what my vaccine status is.

13:33

You want people there to help you.

13:36

They are creating it so that we don’t, we’re not allowed to work in these systems and driving the nursing shortage through the roof.

13:44

And we need the governor to understand that yes, SB 252 was a great start, but there are thousands and thousands of people that rely on work, going to school, etc.

13:58

that it goes beyond COVID-19 vaccines.

14:01

Now they’re coming after other vaccines to hold us accountable to work and go to school and be members of society.

14:08

And that that just can’t be, you know, mRNA technology has changed.

14:11

It is proven to cause issues in people.

14:15

and they’re changing the the mechanism of how these vaccines work and so without informed consent most individuals do not know that when you’re being offered these other vaccines that the technology has been changed the CDC will tell you when they change them what they’re putting in them but you do not get that when you go

14:33

to Publix or to your doctor’s office.

14:35

They don’t explain these things to you.

14:37

And that’s why nurses like me have come forward because I’ve seen the girls that you just interviewed, you know, I’ve seen what it’s like to have patients be gaslit.

14:46

I’ve seen what it’s like to have healthcare workers that you should trust turn their back on you and go against their oath and, you know, talk badly about you.

14:55

I’ve seen all of that.

14:56

And to be able to not speak up is just, to me, really unfortunate.

15:03

really wish more people would come forward but what the communities don’t understand is when we get hired by hospital systems and other private companies they have you sign forms to say it’s almost like an NDA if you will that if we’re caught on camera talking about it etc that you are immediately terminated you know you can’t even be seen with a shirt on you can’t even be seen at a governor’s rally nothing so people really feel like we’re part of the issue because we’re not coming forward but people who do

15:31

have lost everything, you know, doctors, nurses, healthcare workers.

15:35

They have lost everything trying to come forward and help their patients.

15:39

And, you know, doctors are still terrified to write, you know, medical exemptions because they’ve lost their licenses, they’ve had their privileges revoked, you know, just multiple things.

15:48

So it’s just really important that

15:51

You know, the public knows that we are out here and there are thousands of us that are trying to fight for not only your rights, but your children’s rights.

16:00

And to know that even those same people that wished me harm, wished for my life to end, wished that I would never be allowed to take care of patients and that I should be removed from the profession altogether, that despite all of that, I’m still out here fighting for you to have those rights to say that you want something or you don’t.

16:19

That bodily autonomy

16:21

and sovereignty, you can’t lose that, you know, and we’re trying our best to advocate so that that right is not taken away from you.

16:29

So, you know, how important it is to show face or at least be supportive.

16:35

We don’t always have to agree.

16:36

We don’t always have to, you know, see eye to eye on everything, but to know that without it, they will not stop.

16:44

They’re going to keep going, you know, as we see now, they’re changing vaccines that we’ve had for 50 plus years and

16:51

You know, everything has a consequence.

16:53

So, you know, that’s really the message is trying to make sure that people understand that we’re out here and that, you know, we’re trying to change the laws to accommodate everybody.

17:03

And that just because you choose differently does not mean that your life is less valued.

17:08

Thank you for all of that information.

17:10

Does anyone have any questions?

17:13

I think she’s covered everything.

17:17

You know, the flu shots… Do you want to come and sit here so we can see?

17:36

So the flu shots have been grandfathered in every year so they’re not tested the way any other shots, the COVID excluded, are and I wonder if the rules and regulations that were issued by the FDA to make that possible

17:51

DR. WILLIAM MAKIS speaking

18:13

for the COVID vaccines there’s no body of evidence and I’m just wondering if the whole process itself it’s only used it was only ever used for the flu shots and now it’s been applied to the COVID shots and you know maybe there’s some legal avenue to stop it

18:32

I do know that it’s very possible.

18:35

I know that I reached out to a local law firm to just kind of understand how I could be denied a religious exemption for the flu vaccine.

18:44

And what I was told was that because there’s no

18:50

You know, fetal aborted cells in that particular vaccine that it would be very difficult to prove.

18:58

And that a lot of times that’s not a case they’re willing to take.

19:02

So it becomes again, a very muted kind of gray area where they don’t want to discuss it.

19:09

A lot of these lawyers and law firms don’t want to go up against these organizations.

19:14

And so it poses a problem where we’re left alone.

19:17

and we don’t have that support.

19:19

I just know that prior to 2022 I was able to exempt from the flu vaccine with no problem.

19:27

Never an issue because yes it is true that nurses are required to be vaccinated for certain things prior to working in hospital systems and the flu was one of them.

19:50

that they wouldn’t offer it to me because they knew where I was going with this that the medical exemption was all I could have and that’s when I started hearing other nurses in other states say all of a sudden now they don’t care if we have the COVID vaccine or not which last year we were crucified for people lost everything

20:08

If they didn’t have it and now they don’t even bat an eye but the flu vaccine they’re coming at us and saying you will not be hireable.

20:15

So what’s next year?

20:17

Like we just have to set some sort of precedent to say when is enough enough and and to make sure that we all have the options to work and go to school.

20:27

So thank you so much, Nicole.

20:29

I really appreciate all that you’ve said.

20:31

I’m just talking about it from a legal perspective.

20:35

The reason they didn’t want to put that in writing is presumably because they knew that that was unlawful.

20:40

If Florida has religious exemptions, which to the best of my knowledge it does, then you have to be given that opportunity.

20:49

Now whether a law firm takes that or they don’t want to go up against the hospital, that’s a totally different issue.

20:55

But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that relates to fairness in employment has made it very clear that there are valid religious exemptions to the flu vaccine.

21:05

And you absolutely do not have to have as your only basis for a religious exemption, the existence of fetal cell lines in the shot.

21:13

That is for many people, particularly Catholics, often a reason, but that surely is not the only valid reason.

21:20

And I think you were being gaslit

21:23

about the unavailability of a religious exemption and I would encourage you to reach out to others in the legal community to submit that religious exemption and put them in that position where they actually have to do something unlawful and have it be in the record so that it can be challenged and I can help you with that if you want.

21:42

Well let me repeat, you need to submit it.

21:45

So what they’ve done is gaslight you and say you can’t even submit it, we’re not going to accept it.

22:14

And the EEOC changed that at the start of the COVID shots.

22:20

They issued an opinion and said, you know, we’re going to push everybody into COVID shots basically.

22:26

But they, as far as I know, they didn’t issue that opinion for flu shots and they have a considerable amount of case law existing where they have given nurses

22:37

the right to refuse flu shots on a religious basis.

22:40

And just to say, our colleagues at Informed Consent Action Network are challenging in all of the states that have denied religious exemptions, they’re challenging the lack of existence of religious exemptions.

22:52

There’s also other lawyers who are challenging that in Connecticut.

22:56

We have the right to freedom of, you know, we have, we have First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, to freedom of conscience.

23:04

And I believe, as many people do, that

23:07

course that entails your right to make your own decisions.

23:12

Like you, I also believe as a matter of bodily integrity and as basic freedom of bodily sovereignty, you do not have to have a religious exemption.

23:22

You can have any reason you want not to take an injection that can kill you.

23:26

but the pushback is absolutely there and I would encourage you and others to submit religious exemptions and to make this a point rather than simply let them sort of say oh we’re not going to write it down but you can’t have a religious exemption that’s nonsense.

23:42

So the other thing I’d like people to know too and it may be for other professions as well but

23:48

uh if we do not fill out an exemption and the company allows which i don’t think you should be required to fill out an exemption anyways if you don’t want something that’s it period amen um but for the ones that offer the exemptions uh they will increase your premiums on your insurance they can also um you know kind of during COVID we had things withheld from us if we

24:11

did not get the vaccine because we were considered more high risk and more of a cost issue to them.

24:16

So a lot of things happened also outside of that.

24:20

The unique situation about what I was faced with, not only was I not offered the religious exemption and I tried very, very hard to get everything so that I could prove it.

24:29

The interesting part is it only applies to new employees.

24:32

You were only allowed a medical exemption for a new employee.

24:35

However, if you’ve been employed, you were offered a religious, a medical, or a right to refuse, knowing that the right to refuse would increase your premiums for insurance, and that the other two were also required every year.

24:48

So again, it’s just all of these things that I don’t think people understand is going on.

24:53

and creating a lot of problems and so people are being coerced into making these decisions um and unfortunately you know adding to the thing where they say that we’re a minority you know they say well it’s not enough of you that are declining for it really to make a difference but that’s false and health care it takes we can’t even have one call in for us to be short so again it’s just so important that the public knows what is going on

25:16

and that this is not acceptable and it is a trickle-down effect in our communities.

25:21

Anything that happens in law or anything that happens in our communities will eventually come to us in the hospital setting.

25:27

You know, we see these patients that, you know, can’t afford to put food on the table, can’t afford their medications, you know, have lost their jobs and now there’s domestic violence in the home.

25:35

Like, we see these people.

25:36

So, I think people are always saying to themselves, well, this doesn’t really apply to me.

25:41

or this doesn’t really affect me because I’m not somebody that works in the hospital but when it’s you and your family that gets brought to us and you don’t have that person there to care for you it will it will affect you you know so again it’s just trying to let people understand this is much much bigger it’s still happening and yes in the great state of Florida

26:00

And let me say that the mandates start first with the health care workers and then expand the rest of the population.

26:08

So and nobody is willing to fight for that in the sense that some of us who have declined it have asked, you know, what form can you give to me that says that you are liable if something was to happen to me?

26:21

You know, again, it was rhetorical, but and a lot of times they just look at you like you’re crazy, but it truly is.

26:28

You know, we are not protected in that aspect.

26:32

So, you know, I just want to say that

26:36

Particularly in New York, we’ve been fighting the health care mandates.

26:39

And New York, the health care mandate was found to be unconstitutional in New York and violated law.

26:46

And that decision that the mandate was null and void, because the shots, the COVID shots didn’t stop transmission or infection, that still stands, even though the appeals court dismissed the case because they said it was moot.

27:00

But we totally understand that these mandates are

27:04

affecting the frontline people health care workers firefighters teachers and we have been working for the last four years on behalf of those groups because they’re so important to the the whole society as you point out we appreciate it we just want to make sure people know too that it’s not it’s not just stopping at COVID every every turnaround you know year it’s becoming another type of vaccine and and so we just want to make sure that everyone has the same rights so that we can all be protected so thank you for your hard work well thank you that was wonderful yes ma’am

*

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Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.


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

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.

***

In early 2021, Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., warned that the replacing of uracil with synthetic methylpseudouridine in the COVID shots — a process known as codon optimization — could cause severe health problems

Recent research confirms this, showing that the use of methylpseudouridine can cause a glitch in the decoding, thereby triggering the production of off-target aberrant proteins. The antibodies that develop as a result may, in turn, trigger off-target immune reactions

According to the authors, off-target cellular immune responses occur in 25% to 30% of people who have received the COVID shot

According to an anonymous source, there’s evidence suggesting Pfizer and BioNTech fabricated data to hide this “glitch” from regulators

Previous research has demonstrated that codon optimization can result in misshaped and misfolded proteins that don’t match the natural protein being emulated, and that these misshapen proteins can trigger immunogenicity that in some cases may not become apparent until years later

*

Yet again, warnings from the earliest days of the COVID jab rollout prove prescient. In May 2021, I interviewed Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at MIT for over five decades, about the likely hazards of replacing the uracil1 in the RNA used in the COVID shots with synthetic methylpseudouridine.2 This process of substituting letters in the genetic code is known as codon optimization, which is known to be problematic.

At the time, she predicted the shots would cause a rise in prion diseases, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases at younger ages, blood disorders and heart failure, and one of the primary reasons for this is because they genetically manipulated the RNA in the shots with synthetic methylpseudouridine, which enhances RNA stability by inhibiting its breakdown.3

Scientists have now demonstrated that about half of those who have received a COVID shot are still producing the genetically modified spike protein six months post-jab, but according to health authorities, and even the inventors of the COVID shots themselves, this was not supposed to happen.

Is mRNA Tech Inventor Really This Clueless?

In October 2023, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the University of Pennsylvania won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their nucleoside base modification discoveries that enabled the development of the mRNA COVID shots.4 In the 2021 video above, Weissman had the following to say about this technology:

“The mRNA in the vaccine is identical to the RNA in your cells. The RNA in your cells isn’t causing long-term adverse events so the RNA in the vaccine won’t either. The RNA is degraded, probably within a week it’s completely gone … Nothing of the vaccine is left after days two to a week or so … The only really serious adverse event is this anaphylaxis-like reaction.”

None of that was true, and it’s hard to believe Weissman didn’t know it, considering several independent scientists who had looked at the research were able to point out the flaws from the get-go.

Now, researchers at Cambridge University and the Universities of Kent, Oxford and Liverpool, have discovered5,6,7 that the use of methylpseudouridine results in a high rate of ribosomal “frameshifting,” which causes your cells to produce off-target proteins with unknown effects.

mRNA Tech Turns Out to be Error-Prone

The findings of Mulroney et. al. were published in the December 6, 2023, issue of the journal Nature. As explained in that paper:8

“A key feature of therapeutic IVT [in vitro-transcribed] mRNAs is that they contain modified ribonucleotides, which have been shown to decrease innate immunogenicity and can additionally increase mRNA stability, both of which are favorable characteristics for mRNA therapies …

Pseudouridine (Ψ) is known to increase misreading of mRNA stop codons in eukaryotes, and can affect misreading during prokaryotic mRNA translation. 1-methylΨ does not seem to affect codon misreading, but has been shown to affect protein synthesis rates and ribosome density on mRNAs, suggesting a direct effect on mRNA translation …

Here we demonstrate that incorporation of N1-methylpseudouridine into mRNA results in +1 ribosomal frameshifting in vitro and that cellular immunity in mice and humans to +1 frameshifted products from BNT162b2 vaccine mRNA translation occurs after vaccination.

The +1 ribosome frameshifting observed is probably a consequence of N1-methylpseudouridine-induced ribosome stalling during IVT mRNA translation, with frameshifting occurring at ribosome slippery sequences …

[T]hese data highlight potential off-target effects for future mRNA-based therapeutics and demonstrate the requirement for sequence optimization.”

In layman English, the inclusion of synthetic methylpseudouridine causes the ribosomes (which are responsible for reading the code) to misread the RNA’s instructions. RNA code consists of groups of three bases (codons) that must be read in the correct order for a desired protein to be created.

Because the methylpseudouridine is not a perfect fit, it causes the decoding process to stall and shift (hence the term “+1 ribosomal frameshifting”). There’s basically a stutter in the decoding process, as your cells don’t understand what’s being asked for, and this stuttering causes the decoding to skip a letter, thereby garbling the entire code.

As a result, unintended “nonsensical” proteins are produced instead of the desired SARS-CoV-2 spike. That, in turn, means that your immune system will not produce antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, but rather against these aberrant proteins.

Up to One-Third of COVID Jab Recipients May be Affected

According to the authors, off-target cellular immune responses occur in 25% to 30% of people who have received the COVID shot. And, while they claim these garbled proteins are “harmless,” they admit that they can cause unintended immune reactions. And, as noted by molecular virologist David Speicher Ph.D., told Trial Site News reporter Sonia Elijah:9

“Whenever our cells create an abundance of unintended proteins or prevent production of appropriate proteins it could lead to an unintended immune response with a huge potential to cause harm.”

Did Pfizer/BioNTech Fabricate Data to Hide This ‘Glitch’?

While these findings are disturbing enough, Elijah, an investigative reporter for Trial Site News and former BBC researcher, claims there’s evidence suggesting Pfizer and BioNTech fabricated data to hide this “glitch” from regulators.10 She writes:11

“Early this year, the ‘Blotgate’ scandal erupted … My in-depth investigative report for Trial Site News (part 1 and part 2), revealed evidence strongly suggesting that BioNTech fabricated their Western Blot tests, which were used to prove the fidelity of their product to the regulators.

A Western Blot is used to identify certain proteins, in this case it was the vaccinal spike protein expressed by the modified mRNA in the Pfizer/BioNTech shots.

An anonymous source provided evidence revealing how BioNTech’s automated (computerized) Western Blots had appeared to be ‘copied and pasted’ across four different batches of the vaccine, transfected at six different concentrations.

pfizer biontech western blots quantified

This expert was able to quantify the bands using an image analysis software, the NIH-sponsored, open-source ImageJ and plotted them in graphs shown above.

The vertical axis measures the darkness of the band, in a scale from 0 (black) – 255 (white) and the horizontal axis plots the position. The bands are color-coded and identified by a letter. Where the same letter and colored band is seen repeated, demonstrates how these bands have been copied and pasted, either as a group or individually.

A possible reason for the researchers at BioNTech to fabricate their results could be to hide the fact that other unintended proteins were being produced- as proven by the recent Mulroney et al. paper.

A group of leading researchers and scientists published12 a detailed response to the Mulroney et al. paper. An extract from their response reads:

‘The premise for the study reveals a developmental and regulatory failure to ask fundamental questions that could affect the safety and effectiveness of these products. This is no better exemplified by Pfizer’s retired head of vaccine R&D who was quoted in Nature as saying: ‘We flew the aeroplane while we were still building it.’

The package insert for COMIRNATY states (3): ‘Each 0.3 mL dose of COMIRNATY (2023-2024 Formula) is formulated to contain 30 mcg of a nucleoside modified messenger RNA (modRNA) encoding the viral spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant lineage XBB.1.5 (Omicron XBB.1.5).

There is no mention of any other kind of protein. The finding that unintended proteins may be produced as a result of vaccination is sufficient cause for regulators to conduct full risk assessments of past or future harms that may have ensued.’”

Codon Optimization Known to be Problematic

What’s so frustrating about all this is that it was entirely predictable. Previous research has demonstrated that codon optimization can result in off-target proteins, as well as misshaped and misfolded proteins that don’t match the natural protein being emulated, and that these misshapen proteins can trigger immunogenicity that in some cases may not become apparent until years later.13,14

Even a principal investigator at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Chava Kimchi Sarfaty, Ph.D., in 2011 stated:15

“We do not believe that you can optimize codons and have the protein behave as it did in its native form. The changed form could cause immunogenicity, for example, which wouldn’t be seen until late-stage clinical trials or even after approval.”

If the FDA knew all of this back in 2011, why did they not raise objections against codon optimization being used in the making of the COVID jabs?

Decoding Errors Can Have Serious Repercussions

As for Mulroney et.al. claiming the aberrant proteins created in one-quarter to one-third of all COVID jab recipients is “harmless,” I would not take that at face value. Two of the researchers on the team have a pending patent application for mRNA technology,16 so they certainly have reason to downplay the problem and propose all we need to do is a bit of tweaking and all will be well moving forward.

I don’t think it’s that easy. Codon optimization with pseudouridine has been hailed as a key factor that makes the COVID shots “work”17 (even though we now also have ample evidence they don’t work, even with codon optimization), and Mulroney et. al.’s primary suggestion is to identify a better code substitute.

But what’s to say that won’t cause the decoding to stutter as well? What’s more, ANY code substitution can trigger protein misfolding and splicing anomalies, which have been linked to a variety of serious pathologies, including heart failure and the neurodegeneration seen in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.18 As noted in a March 2021 paper:19

“BNT162b2 vaccine against COVID-19 is composed of an RNA having 4284 nucleotides, divided into six sections, which bring the information to create a factory of S spike proteins, the ones used by SARS-CoV-2 … to infect the host. After that, these proteins are directed outside the cell, triggering the immune reaction and antibody production.

The problem is the heavy alteration of the mRNA: Uracil is replaced to fool the immune system with pseudouridine; the letters of all codon triplets are replaced by a C or a G, to extremely increase the speed of protein synthesis; replacement of some amino acids with proline; addition of a sequence (3’-UTR) with unknown alteration …

An eventual mistranslation has consequences on the pathophysiology of a variety of diseases. In addition, the mRNA injected is pre-mRNA, which can lead to the multiple mature mRNA’s; these are alternative splicing anomalies, direct source of serious long-term harm on the human health.

In essence, what will be created may not be identical with protein S spike; just an error in translational decoding, codons misreading, production of different amino acids, then proteins, to cause serious long-term damage to human health, despite the DNA is not modified, being instead in the cell nucleus and not in the cytoplasm, where the modified mRNA arrives.”

Add to this the fact that synthetic mRNA may be able to integrate into the human genome,20 and we could be looking at serious intergenerational problems. The whole mRNA push is reckless beyond belief.

Resources for Those Injured by the COVID Jab

Data from across the world testify to a singular fact; that the COVID shots are the most dangerous drugs ever deployed. If you already got one or more COVID jabs and are now reconsidering, you’d be wise to avoid all vaccines from here on, as you need to end the assault on your body. Even if you haven’t experienced any obvious side effects, your health may still be impacted long-term, so don’t take any more shots.

If you’re suffering from side effects, your first order of business is to eliminate the spike protein — and/or any aberrant off-target protein — that your body is producing. Two remedies shown to bind to and facilitate the removal of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein are hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. I don’t know if these drugs will work on off-target proteins as well, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to try.

The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) has developed a post-vaccine treatment protocol called I-RECOVER. Since the protocol is continuously updated as more data become available, your best bet is to download the latest version straight from the FLCCC website at covid19criticalcare.com.21

For additional suggestions, check out the World Health Council’s spike protein detox guide,22 which focuses on natural substances like herbs, supplements and teas. Sauna therapy can also help eliminate toxic and misfolded proteins by stimulating autophagy.

*

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Notes

1 WikiDiff, Uracil vs Uridine

2 International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice and Research May 10, 2021; 2(1): 402-444

3, 17 Front. Cell Dev. Biol. November 4, 2021; 9

4 Nobel Prize Press Release October 2, 2023

5, 8 Nature December 6, 2023

6, 9, 11, 16 Trial Site News December 7, 2023

7 The Telegraph December 6, 2023

10 Twitter Sonia Elijah December 8, 2023

12 OSF Preprints December 12, 2023

13, 15 Ehden Substack August 20, 2021

14 Nature Medicine December 6, 2011; 17: 1536-1538

18 Autophagy August 2008; 4(6): 821-823

19 Authorea March 25, 2021 DOI: 10.22541/au.161668243.35142344/v1

20 Medical Hypotheses February 2023; 171: 111015

21 Covid19criticalcare.com

22 World Council for Health Spike Protein Detox Guide November 30, 2021 

Featured image is from Children’s Health Defense


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

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.

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Contempt for the Arab population is deeply rooted in Zionist thought. — Noam Chomsky, The Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians, 2015.

This is the holiday season for various groups of people. Some people will celebrate Xmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc during the winter season. Others will celebrate just because celebrating is fun.

Noting that it is Hanukkah, Sportsnet published an article titled “Oilers’ Zach Hyman: We must ‘eradicate antisemitism’.”

The article is extremely one-sided and insensitive because the Jewish State is in the midst of trying to eradicate Palestinians.

Obviously, antisemitism must be eradicated from any moral universe. But what does Hyman’s statement imply? It is not “We must ‘eradicate every form of bigotry’.” It is explicit to one group: Jews. Do Jews face bigotry targeted at them? Undoubtedly they do. But is the biotry faced by Jews the worst form of bigotry, so heinous that subordinating other forms of bigotry is acceptable? And is it the case that Jews do not engage in bigotry against Gentiles?

Hyman is a prideful, skillful forward for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League.

Mark Spector of Sportsnet writes of Hyman:

“I’m very proud of who I am. I’m proud of being Jewish. I’m proud of growing up in the Jewish community … and I’m proud of where we come from,” began Hyman, a 31-year-old product of Toronto’s Jewish community. The Oilers forward is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, schooled in Judaism from kindergarten all the way through Grade 12.

Why has he chosen to speak out during the eight days of Hanukkah?

To shed light on what he is seeing at home. To shine a candle on a growing sense of antisemitism right here….

“It’s very clear that antisemitism as a result of what’s going on has been on the rise. Jewish people … don’t feel safe. There are attacks on synagogues. My high school [in Toronto] has had two bomb threats. This is just for being Jewish. It’s just because you’re Jewish. There’s no other reason.

“There’s no other reason”? Apparently, Spector and Hyman are seemingly unaware that people in their self-declared Jewish State are engaged in a genocide against Palestinians and that the genocide has been in progress since 1948.

Jewish anti-Arabism has been on prominent display over the decades unabated to the present day. Recently, the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant denigrated the Palestinians as “human animals.” Jerusalem deputy mayor Arieh King protested that Palestinians are not “human animals”; they are not “human beings”; they are “subhuman.”

It is a commonly held tenet that one should clean up one’s own backyard before complaining about the backyard of others.

At its most basic level, backyard ethics would include mutual respect between neighbors and non-violence (definitely no spilling of blood; especially of civilians, whether they be elderly, children, women, or men). What does mutual respect require? Observing the golden rule: treat others as you wish to be treated.

To prioritize concern about anti-semitism at a time when Israeli Jews, supported by Jews in the diaspora, are committing genocide against Palestinians speaks absurdly to a person’s moral basis. In essence, what Spector, Hyman, and Sporstnet are promoting is Jewish people first even when Jews are knocking down hospitals, blowing up schools, and destroying another people.

As Chomsky wrote in his book The Fateful Triangle: “Anti-Arab racism is, however, so widespread as to be unnoticeable; it is perhaps the only remaining form of racism to be regarded as legitimate.”

Bigotry must be opposed in all its forms. To stand on morally sound ground, one must especially denounce the odious acts committed in the name of one’s group and criticize the bigotry held by members of one’s own group.

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Kim Petersen is an independent writer. He can be emailed at: kimohp at gmail.com. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

False Transitions and Global Stocktakes: The Failure of COP28

December 18th, 2023 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

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The time has come to treat the sequence of UN Climate Change Conferences, the latest concluding in Dubai, as a series of the failed and the abysmally rotten. It shows how a worthless activity, caked (oiled?) with appropriately chosen words, can actually provide assurance that something worthwhile was done. Along the way, there are always the same beneficiaries: fossil fuel magnates and satirists.

COP28, which featured 97,000 participants, including the weighty presence of 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists, was even more of a shambles than its predecessor. Its location – in an oil rich state – was head scratching. Its chairman Sultan Al Jaber, taking advantage of the various parties who would attend, had sought to cultivate some side business for the United Arab Emirates, notably for the state oil company ADNOC.

This did not deter UN climate change bureaucrats and negotiators, who seemed to equate climate change policy with an account of goods held by a business. Consider the wording of the COP Agreement released on December 13:

“The global stocktake is considered the central outcome of COP28 – as it contains every element that was under negotiation and can now be used by countries to develop stronger climate action plans due by 2025.” 

It was a “global stocktake” supposedly signalling the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era, to be facilitated by “laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emission cuts and scaled-up finance.”

These words have been treated as sacerdotal by many of its participants, the be all and end all, the event’s great culmination.  But long hours of deliberation can confuse effort with achievement, and this proved to be no exception. Tinkering with meaning can be taken as a triumph. Recognising words such as “fossil fuels” and “science” can make delegates weak at the knees. Promises to set targets for a Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) make others swoon.

It was such tinkering that led to the call for a “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable way with developed countries continuing to take the lead.” The emphasis here is on a “transition away” from their use, not their “phase out”, which is what 130 of the 198 participating parties were willing to accept.

The term “phase-down” was used regarding “unabated coal power” while “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” would be phased out, presumably leaving the question open as to what, exactly, efficient subsidies might look like. Parties were also “encouraged to come forward with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with the 1.5°C in their next round of climate action plans (known as nationally determined contributions) by 2025.”

Jaber was in a gleeful mood at the outcome. The naysayers’ warning that the summit would be an unmitigated failure had been disproved. “Together, we have confronted realities and we have set the world in the right direction. We have given it a robust action plan to keep 1.5°C within reach. It is a plan that is led by the science.”

US climate change envoy John Kerry thought the document convincing: it sent “very strong messages to the world” providing a much firmer statement on preventing global warming from exceeding the 1.5°C limit. Danish Climate Minister Dan Jørgensen seemed to angle for praise in noting that his country, being “an oil rich country surrounded by oil countries that are now signing a piece of paper saying we need to move away from oil” was “historic”.

The agreement had an eager audience desperate to identify signs of progress. Prof. Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization called the COP28 agreement “historic in that – for the first time – it recognizes the need to transition away from fossil fuels for the first time.” Even the Scientific American made the observation that none of the previous 27 climate change conferences had even mentioned fossil fuels and its link to a rise in global temperatures.

A good gaggle of climatologists and geophysicists were less enthused. “The lack of an agreement to phase out fossil fuels,” opined Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania, “was devastating.” To use such an expression as “‘transition away from fossil fuels’ was weak tea at best. It’s like promising your doctor that you will ‘transition away from doughnuts’ after being diagnosed with diabetes.”

An editorial in Nature was also steely in rejecting the way science had been manipulated at the summit, noting Jaber’s own declaration on November 21 that there was no scientific basis that would necessitate phasing out fossil fuels to restrict global warming to the agreed limit. While the editorial had gone to press before the release of the final agreement, the journal was correct in assuming that it “would not include language on phasing out fossil fuels. That is more than a missed opportunity. It is dangerous.”

The dangers are considerable, given the number of transitioning states. They include, for instance, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who seeks the expansion of renewable energy while building coal-burning power plants, and the current US administration, whose Bureau of Land Management approved more oil and gas leases on federal lands in the first two years and seven months than the previous Trump administration did over the equivalent period. In the usual doublespeak of the Biden administration, such a policy could comfortably exist alongside its overall green strategy.

As weak tea as the document is, it’s not even binding. Countries can still pursue fossil fuel projects, at the behest of strong coal, gas and oil lobbies, even as they claim to be pursuing abating technologies that supposedly minimise emissions. In Australia, opposition spokesman for climate change and energy Ted O’Brien provided something of an exemplar of this.

“While the final communique names fossil fuels, it also promotes carbon, capture and storage as abating technology for such fuels along with nuclear energy which can be a zero-emission substitute.”

The record of actions taken to such agreements is not promising. For one, COP28 seemed riddled with pledges and gestures, a matter of theatre.The heralded “loss and damage fund” received commitments to the total of US$700 million, but this is wretchedly meagre when compared to the annual US$200 to US$400 billion required by Africa alone, let alone the US$400 billion a year for climate change adaptation.

Debates of herculean obstinacy over word changes in a text can spell the doom of its object. In future experiments in hot air summitry of the sort witnessed at Dubai, the powerful and wealthy will have room to stretch and delay meaningful change, adopting that famous plea by St. Augustine: “Please God, make me good, but not just yet.”

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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 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

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As the brutal slaughtering in Gaza unfolds in increasingly horrific proportions, we, as an experienced research foundation for peaceful conflict resolution and peace-making since 1986, feel the urge to contribute our analytical points, sentiments and constructive conflict-resolution ideas.

TFF also wants to be on record with this Statement so that when historians look back on this moral calamity, they will see who stood with whom and who advocated peace instead of ongoing genocide.

The killing has to stop, and we call, together with the UN and so many others, for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.

The horrific attack of Hamas on October 7, 2023, with the death of over 1100 people, is indefensible. There is no excuse for the killing of absolutely innocent people. While there is a painful history of 75 years of brutal occupation and apartheid regime against the Palestinian people, there is no justification for such an act of senseless violence.

However, Israel’s response can by no means be seen as practising the right to self-defence. It is an utterly out-of-proportion massacre of civilians, mainly women and children, executed by the military of the most totalitarian and racist government Israel ever had since it was established. It is an unprecedented murderous revenge. It is genocide.

Despite the strongest condemnation by the UN, despite the unprecedented calls of its Secretary General, Israel continues with its systematic high-tech slaughter, and the Western governments are standing silent or, like Germany, declare their ”unwavering support for Israel.“ EU leaders declared immediately that ’Europe’ is ”standing with Israel.” The US voted against a ceasefire.

It is heartbreaking and painful beyond words to helplessly watch the unfolding of this massacre.

After two months, these are the facts:

But while much of Israel and many of the Western governments seem to be blinded by the idea of eternal victimhood of Jews and Israel, that can’t be used as an equally eternal excuse for just every atrocity. Fortunately, hundreds of thousands of Jews in and outside Israel show in unequivocal terms, that this is not happening in their name.

Hundreds of Jews with kippas packed New York Central Station as early as three weeks after the beginning of the forced exodus of 1 million Palestinians and the following slaughtering and blocked the whole station for hours, all of them in black t-shirts with huge letters ”This Jew is for immediate ceasefire“. And they keep protesting.

35 Jewish-Palestinian organisations in Israel are calling for an unconditional ceasefire, and the International Jewish Voice for Peace is raising its voices everywhere around the globe.

Hundreds of Rabbis all around the world, including in Israel, have been condemning the unparalleled killing and are calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Little do you read in the Western mainstream media about this, nor about the millions of other people around the world who manifest their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Amnesty International condemned Israel in non-mistakable terms, and the Security Council nearly unanimously called for an immediate ceasefire – vetoed shamefully by the United States alone.

The WHO called out Israel and urged for an immediate ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly states that he will not be moved: the ”war on Hamas” (the Western media’s deceptive narrative for the genocide) will continue. Palestine did not exist on the map of the New Middle East he showed at the UN.

By all means available, this Israeli government should be isolated until it stops the genocide. Its political and military leaders must be held accountable for the horrible crimes against humanity and be brought to justice. What is at stake is the strength of international law, several conventions and UN Charter norms.

Every country that has delivered and continues to deliver the military means enabling this immoral, illegal and barbaric policy must be seen as complicit and likewise be held accountable. Without the ongoing military and political support of the US and Western States, Germany in particular – that 10-folded its weapon deliveries since October 23 – this horrible war and the unlawful occupation would be over soon.

There is no doubt that this will backfire on Israel and the West.

The whole world is watching the slaughtering and the collaboration of the Western states with horror and disgust. The arrogance of the ”leading nations” and their claim to act in the name of democracy, freedom, and human rights – as well as their ’rules-based international order’ – is fast falling apart. 

How Can We Move Towards Long-term Peace?

  • We still believe that Jews and Palestinians can live together – and so do many of them themselves. Even under shocking conditions, people and organisations on both sides still insist that their lives are inextricably linked and that peaceful coexistence is possible.

It will be a long and painful path to make this happen – and it will only be possible with equal rights for all.

And it will need tremendous pressure from the outside and a non-violent revolution from the inside to change Israel into a just, human rights and law- respecting true democracy.

  • We need to look at the entire Middle East as a region – we need its dense network of economic, cultural, and political ties to set up an all-regional conflict-resolution mechanism á la the OSCE. This way, over several years, all parties can dialogue their way through to something they can live with in the long term.

There are many possible elements – tie peace into economic and political mechanisms and relations; think of cantons and autonomies; think of mutually beneficial/cooperative uses of territories; think of the relations of it all with the Rest of the World, including the Global South. Tie it in with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, BRI.

Warfare requires no intellect or creativity; peace-making requires both.

  • The violence must die down to move towards such a civilised process. We need an immediate ceasefire.

Ideally, we need a huge UN mission to disarm Israel and Hamas to such a level that neither can re-start a war. And then all the good offices around the world, governmental but certainly more so non-governmental, to help mediate, consult, dialogue every detail: What do the many parties fear and what do they want?

And then – at the end, after years of such a peace-building process – the parties would come to a final negotiation table and then sign an agreement of peaceful coexistence with all its civilian and military modalities.

  • Conflict resolution means solving problems that stand between the parties. It cannot succeed by violence, looking to the past, or tit-for-tat for what was done yesterday.

It is, instead, one big, complex and long peace workshop where better futures/visions/ scenarios are brought up, evaluated, and sorted out – ending in combining the best elements into a comprehensive future arrangement.

You can’t change the past, but you can change the future. And – no! – everybody will not be happy, but all can be happy with something – and see a better future for their children.

And this is also where truth and reconciliation commissions come in – the healing and forgiveness that is found in all religions.

Peace is still possible.

Signed by TFF Associates:

Christina Spännar – PhD in sociology, founder, Sweden.

Jan Oberg – PhD in sociology, founder and director, Sweden.

Annette Schiffmann – Veteran peace activist & organiser of numerous international conferences on alternatives to war and violence: Iraq, Death Penalty, Israel/Palestine, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Heidelberg, Germany.

David Swanson – Co-Founder, Executive Director, and a Board Member of World Beyond War, author, activist, journalist, and radio host, the United States.

Liu Jian – Co-founder of Ichi Foundation, Beijing, China.

Erni Friholt – Secretary, the Orust Peace Movement, Orust, Sweden.

Claus Kold – PhD, senior researcher, director of TurningPoints, Denmark.

Biljana Vanskovska – Professor, Head of the Global Changes Center, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia.

Farhang Jahanpour – Retired professor and Editor for Middle East and North Africa at BBC Monitoring, England.

Radmila Nakarada – Professor, Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade, Distinguished Fellow, New South Institute, Johannesburg, Belgrade, Serbia.

Ola Friholt – Chairman, the Orust Peace Movement, Orust, Sweden.

Richard Falk – Professor Emeritus, Princeton University, public intellectual and former UN Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories, US/Turkey.

Elaheh Pooyandeh – MA in peace studies, peace educator and mediator, Tehran, Iran.

Ina Curic – Sociologist, M.A. in Gender Studies as well as Peace and Conflict Studies; former TFF project coordinator in Burundi, creator of Imagine Creatively story-telling for peace, Romania.

David Loy – Retired professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism.

Chantal Mutamuriza – Former TFF project coordinator in Burundi, human rights advocate and humanitarian worker, Switzerland and Ethiopia.

Chaiwat Satha-Anand – Professor emeritus, Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University and prolific writer on Islam and nonviolence, Bangkok, Thailand.

Brajna Greenhalgh – PhD Researcher; MSc in psychology, licensed counsellor, Bangor University, Wales.

Mairead Maguire – Nobel peace laureate, co-founder of Peace People, Northern Ireland, Kilcief County Down.

Gareth Porter – historian, independent investigative journalist, author and policy analyst specializing in U.S. national security issues, the United States.

Shastri Ramachandaran – Independent Journalist, editor, writer, publication & media consultant, New Delhi, India.

Peter Peverelli – Retired professor, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam and lifelong expert on China, The Netherlands.

Neelakanta Radhakrishnan – Dr., The Gandhi Peace Mission, India; former Director of Gandhi Darshan and International Centre of Gandhian Studies in New Delhi, India.

Jorgen Johansen – Editor at Irene Publishing, independent peace researcher and writer, Sweden.

Majken Sorensen – Associate Professor of Social Science at Østfold University College and Karlstad University, Sweden.

Jake Lynch – Associate Professor in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. He also writes, reports and broadcasts regularly as a journalist working in peace journalism, as well as making documentary films.

Fredrik S. Heffermehl – Lawyer (Oslo and NYU) and author, world expert on the Nobel Peace Prize. Just published The Real Nobel Peace Prize, a study of Alfred Nobel´s vision of peace by disarmament that also presents the 115 persons who should have won the Prize had Nobe’s intention been respected, Norway.

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Appendix: Why we use the word ”genocide.”

The use of the word ’genocide’ is controversial in many circles and may evoke emotional reactions. We are also aware that it has been used by some for political purposes to denigrate some other country or people.

But we do not use the term lightly or for political purposes. Given the links we provide below to trustworthy sites and organisations, legal documents such as the Genocide Convention, as well as expert opinion, we believe this is the term that best summarises what has unfolded in Gaza and subjected the Palestinians to unspeakable, unprecedented suffering as a people.  

One central criterion is intentionality – that there is a deliberate intention to harm, eradicate, humiliate, displace or make life impossible for a nation – in part or, over time, in whole.

Most of the links provided by professor John Mearsheimer here, in which various Israeli leaders are on record, make it abundantly clear that the suffering cannot be explained merely by ’collateral damage,’ i.e. civilian casualties caused by unintended consequences of bombings and other warfare activities.

Furthermore, according to the Genocide Convention of 1948 – “Article 2 of the Convention defines genocide as … “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:

  1. Killing members of the group;
  2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
  3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
  4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
  5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

All these criteria do not have to be present – as the word ”any” indicates. In the case of Gaza, it should be abundantly clear that the Israeli government’s activity falls within criteria a, b and c.

To that can be added a multi-decade occupation (since 1967), apartheid, humiliation and other elements that, in and of themselves, do not constitute genocide.

Finally, it is extraordinarily important to note that – as pointed out by UN experts:

“The international community has an obligation to prevent atrocity crimes, including genocide, and should immediately consider all diplomatic, political and economic measures to that end.”

We believe that this obligation does place the West’s complicity in the genocide – thanks to arms and ammunition export and political side-taking statements – in a particularly tragical light.

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This Christmas, the rooms of all the hotels in Bethlehem are empty, and local businesses are suffering because no Christian pilgrims wanted to travel to what is increasingly looking like a war-zone.

Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, has cancelled Christmas this year. For the first time since modern celebrations began, the birthplace of Jesus will not decorate the Manger Square tree.

In the original first Christmas story, Joseph and Mary were turned away from the inns, as all the rooms were full. This Christmas, the rooms of all the hotels in Bethlehem are empty, and local businesses are suffering because no Christian pilgrims, usually from America and Europe, wanted to travel to what is increasingly looking like a war-zone, as Israel Defense Forces (IDF) constantly raid the Occupied West Bank territory like Jenin.

“In our homes we can celebrate, but in our hearts we are suffering,” said Ibrahim Dabbour, a Greek Orthodox priest. “How can we decorate a Christmas tree?”

The Israeli government has a plan to transform Christian sites at the Mount of Olives into a national park. The future of ancient churches and Biblical sites is uncertain because Israel wants to ultimately turn them all into tourist attractions for profit after they have gotten rid of the Christians.

The War in Gaza and West Bank Raids

The IDF raids and attacks in the Occupied West Bank, with subsequent arrests, have been going on well before, but have intensified after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas which killed over 1,000 Israelis.

Heads of various churches in Jerusalem, the Occupied West Bank, and Jordan have made a collective decision to make this Christmas a somber one, in solidarity with the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, and the death toll now above 17,000 and rising daily in the Israeli war on Gaza.

Christmas is a public holiday in the Muslim-majority Jordan, with many city squares and shopping malls feted with seasonal decorations. But congregations throughout the country will now forgo the traditional festivities of public tree lighting, Christmas markets, scout parades, and distribution of gifts to children.

American Evangelical Zionists

“We have a role to speak to our friends in the West,” said David Rihani, president and general superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church of Jordan. “Jesus did not teach us to blindly side with anyone against another.”

He referred to a viral video of Tennessee-based pastor Greg Locke calling on Israel to turn Gaza into a “parking lot” and to blow up the Dome of the Rock to make room for the Third Temple and usher in the return of Jesus. Local evangelicals of the Holy Lands, Rihani said, refuse to be associated with such Christian Zionism.

John Munayer, a Jerusalemite Palestinian who belongs to the small Palestinian Evangelical Church, said that the harassment of Christians, which has increased especially over the past six months, has international ramifications.

“In the international Christian world there are those who passionately support Israel, those who identify with the Palestinian struggle against the occupation, and a great many who are somewhere in between,” Munayer said. “I go around international conferences and communities. The violent events move the needle and make many people question what the right attitude is toward Israel, and toward Jews.”

Palestinian Christians Under Attack by Israelis

From April 2 to May 10, 2002, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank was besieged by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). On April 7, 2002 Vatican City warned Israel to respect religious sites in line with its international obligations. On April 20, 2002 the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem called upon Christians worldwide to make the upcoming Sunday a “solidarity day” for the people in the church and the church itself, and called for immediate intervention to stop what it referred to as the “inhuman measures against the people and the stone of the church”.

Ahead of Christmas 2018, Israel banned the Christian minority who live in the Gaza Strip from visiting Christian holy sites and churches in the West Bank and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas.

Around 5,000 Christians, most of whom are Greek Orthodox, lived in the Gaza Strip before Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed Oslo peace accords in 1994. However, their number dramatically declined because of the continuing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Christians in the Gaza Strip, home to 2 million Palestinians, used to travel every year to the West Bank city of Bethlehem and Jerusalem to join Palestinian Christians there to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

Ahead of Easter 2017, Christian Palestinians looking to enter Jerusalem required the approval of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of the Government’s Activities in the Territories.

On January 26, 2023, Miran Krikorian, the Armenian owner of Taboon and Wine Bar in the Old City of Jerusalem, received a call that a mob of Israeli settlers was attacking his bar in the Christian Quarter and shouting “Death to Arabs … Death to Christians.”

When he went to the police, the officer scolded him for bothering to report the crime.

A few days later, Armenians leaving a memorial service in the Armenian Quarter were attacked by Israeli settlers carrying sticks. An Armenian was pepper-sprayed as settlers scaled the walls of the Armenian convent, trying to take down its flag, which had a cross on it. When Armenians chased them away, the settlers began shouting: “Terrorist attack,” prompting the police to draw their guns on the Armenians, beating and arresting one of victims.

Hostility by Jews towards Jerusalem’s Christian community is persistent and covers all denominations. Since 2005, Christian celebrations around Holy Week, particularly Holy Fire Saturday, have brought military barricades and harsh treatment from soldiers and Jewish settlers alike, with the number of worshippers allowed inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre drastically limited, from as many as 11,000 historically during the Holy Fire ceremony to just 1,800 since last year.

Since Israel’s current Jewish extremist government came to power, incidents against Christians in Jerusalem have reportedly become more violent and common. At the beginning of the year, 30 Christian graves at the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery were desecrated.

At the Church of the Flagellation, a Jewish settler attacked a statue of Jesus with a hammer, and an Israeli came to the Church of Gethsemane during Sunday religious services and tried to attack the priest with an iron bar. Being spat upon and shouted at by Israelis has become, for Christians, “a daily occurrence”. Victims of these incidents report little is done by police to catch or punish attackers.

“My fear is that these perpetrators are known, but they enjoy impunity,” said Munib Younan, bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. “That’s the reason they are doing this.”

The Franciscans have set up cameras in all corners of their holy sites, which are becoming more closed off from the public due to the persistent attacks.

Ideologically, the primary source for this targeting of Christians and their holy sites comes from extremist Jewish groups, according to community and church leaders.

“Their mind is obsessed with the ‘Messianic syndrome’. They want to take over the whole land,” said Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.

Jews know they are above the law, and they can harass Christians, even with guns and get away with it. They call Christians “pagans” and “idol worshippers”.

“The minister of national security is a lawyer who used to defend extremist Jews attacking Christian and other sites,” said one Armenian youth who was attacked in January, referring to Itamar Ben-Gvir. “What do you expect when the highest-ranking official in the equation is the most extremist?”

The Jews Are Spitting on Christians

On October 5, Israel’s minister in charge of crime and policing, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said it’s not a crime for Israeli Jews to spit on Christians.  Spitting on people of a minority religion would be considered a hate crime in most countries, but for the Israeli government it is simply ‘an old Jewish tradition’.

In July 2023, during the Catholic Pentecost ceremony, about 20 ultra-Orthodox Jews blew trumpets and cursed loudly to sabotage the ceremony. “We are very concerned about the religious freedom of Christians in Jerusalem,” said a representative of the U.S. State Department who was present at the ceremony.

The Upper Room, in which the Last Supper was said to have taken place, was the scene of a mass in June, but Jews blasted noise outside speakers to mar the event, and two weeks later a Jewish man smashed the windows of the Upper Room.

Since the beginning of 2023, a large number of cases of vandalism have been recorded in Jerusalem’s Old City including 20 hate crimes against Christians, such as the graffiti that reads “Jesus son of Mary the whore”.

In June, a conference under the title “Why are Jews spitting on non-Jews?” was held in the Old City, but was boycotted by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Robby Berman, an Israeli Jewish tour guide, said he was witness to two incidents of spitting, and that he is disturbed by the lack of enforcement in cases of harassment against Christians. After witnessing two boys spitting at Greek Orthodox priests at Jaffa Gate one Saturday morning, he flagged two Israeli police officers standing by them, but they refused to take action.

Berman was himself the victim of a spitting attack while chatting with a Palestinian security guard on the Via Dolorosa. As they were speaking, Berman said, “a modern ultra-Orthodox family walked passed — a father, a mother, a young couple, and many children. The young man spat at my legs,” as he was mistaken for a non-Jew.

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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

Selected Articles: Same War Strategy from Ukraine to Palestine

December 18th, 2023 by Global Research News

Same War Strategy from Ukraine to Palestine

By Manlio Dinucci, December 16, 2023

The United States continues to support Israel in the war in Gaza while it continues to fuel the war in Ukraine directly and through NATO. The plan of the leaders of Israel involves the deportation of the population of Gaza to the Sinai desert and the cancellation of Gaza as a Palestinian territory, then doing the same thing with the West Bank.

From Colonialism to “Neoliberal Capitalism”: Low Wage “Special Economic Zones”. Integrating Developing Countries into Global Supply Chains: The Case of Jamaica

By Tina Renier, December 16, 2023

There are many challenges that have subverted Jamaica’s economic and social development since its political independence in 1962, including but not limited to low levels of growth, the struggle to industrialize, higher unemployment rates, particularly among young people and women and high debt. The first regime of free zones was introduced in 1976 to solve the problems of industrialization, curbing high unemployment, growing debt and creating benefits for the local industry.

Ukraine Is Bankrupt: Spanish Proposal to “Help Kiev” with Russian EU Frozen Assets. €211 Billion Owned by Russia’s Central Bank

By Ahmed Adel, December 16, 2023

The Spanish proposal to give Kiev the benefits of Russian assets frozen in the EU generates confusion about their amount and creates doubt about its legality and presumed risks to financial stability. In addition, the EU will ruin its image as a destination for foreign assets if it continues this pursuit to finance Kiev with Russian assets.

5G Danger: 13 Reasons 5G Wireless Technology Will be a Catastrophe for Humanity

By Makia Freeman, December 16, 2023

The 5G network uses and broadcasts frequencies which affect our sweat ducts, which act as antennae. In other words, our largest organ, the skin, can be influenced and manipulated by 5G.

Dr. Google Will See You Now

By Maryam Henein, December 15, 2023

Google no longer helps you find what you are truly looking for. Instead, they now customize results to satisfy their wants and needs. Individual results might vary. Google’s audacious tyranny, which includes censorship, surveillance, and mind control, is accelerating at a wicked clip. It’s hard to keep up.

Gaza: “I Can See the Children Haunted by Chaos, The Silent Cries of Injuries and Fear.” “There Is No Morality in U.S. Governance

By Jim Miles, December 15, 2023

I can see the photos:  the faces of children haunted by chaos beyond their control; their faces of pain, the silent cries and screams of injuries and fear; parents’ faces, torn with grief and more silent cries of pain and injustice; blood washed across staircases and floors in hospitals, blood caked on faces of innocent people – clotted with the powder and grit of demolished concrete and plaster from homes, hospitals, and schools.

The Four Most Repeated Pieces of Likud Political Zionist Propaganda for Over 50 Years

By Hans Stehling, December 15, 2023

‘Israel came into existence in the most legitimate way possible — through a vote of the UN.’ In fact, UNGA Resolution 181 of 1947, was passed by just 33 votes, out of a current membership of 193 UN member states (17%). Hardly a unanimous decision by the global community of nations, then or now!

What Hamas Said: “Any bets on arrangements in Gaza without Hamas and the resistance factions are illusions and mirages.”

By Rima Najjar, December 15, 2023

You may be surprised to learn that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the organization with whom Israel negotiated the Oslo Accords in 1993, was designated as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the U.S. in 1997 and still holds that designation.

Election Fraud, Impeachment Inquiries, Prosecution of Political Opponents… Can American Politics Get Any Worse?

By Drago Bosnic, December 15, 2023

The mainstream propaganda machine’s (ab)use of the term “conspiracy theory” (coined by the likes of the CIA in an attempt to stifle and discredit any information that could hurt their interests) has made it virtually impossible to talk about election fraud in the United States.

The COVID-19 Vaccine: Why Data Lacks Persuasive Force. COVID Consciousness and Perceptions Determined by “Partisanship”

By John Leake, December 15, 2023

A recent KFF poll on perceptions an attitudes about the COVID-19 and other vaccines says it all in the byline: “Partisanship Remains Key Predictor of Views Of COVID-19, Including Plans To Get Latest COVID-19 Vaccine.”

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[This was first published by GR on August 12, 2013.]

***

The Korean war never really ended, of course. It was just put on hold. The war itself lasted three years from 1950 to 1953, with both sides — the ROK in the south backed primarily by the US, and the DPRK in the North with significant military support from communist China — storming across the 38th parallel dividing north and south, only to be beaten back after vicious fighting.

The armistice bringing an end to open hostilities between the combatants was signed on July 27, 1953 by US Army Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr. and North Korean General Nam Il. It established the 38th parallel, originally created as the demarcation line between the US-occupied South and the Soviet-occupied North during the post-war US military command of Korea, as the official border between the North and South. It established a 2.5 mile wide buffer zone, known as the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ, which to this day remains the most heavily defended border in the world. And it committed both sides to pursuing negotiations in expectation of a peace treaty to formally end the war.

And yet even now, 60 years after the war concluded, no such peace treaty has been signed. Over 28,000 US troops are still deployed in South Korea, ready to resume combat with North Korea. And the Korean nation remains divided along an arbitrary line on a map, splitting families from their ancestral homelands and creating yet another rift in a nation that has been conquered, ruled, occupied and divided throughout much of its history.

On the surface, the casual observer of Korea could be forgiven for forgetting that the nation is still at war. The South has been utterly transformed since the days of the fighting, with the impressive skyline of modern-day Seoul reflecting the country’s modern, high-tech economy. Even the DMZ has been tamed and gentrified, with souvenir shops and tourist attractions mingling seamlessly with military personnel whose presence at times seems more ceremonial than operational.

But beneath that surface remains the deep, lingering scars of a nation divided against itself, and the memories of a bitter, brutal war. Now, 60 years after the signing of the armistice, Korean peace activists are working harder than ever to confront the myths that have propped up and maintained this state of war, spearheading an effort to finally bring real peace to the Korean peninsula.

One such initiative was a recent international symposium which brought together peace activists, scholars, journalists and concerned citizens to events in Seoul, Pyongyang and Tokyo, all with the aim of confronting the enabling myths of the Korean war and working toward a peace treaty. The symposium took place around the 60th anniversary of the armistice and included the participation of Unified Progressive Party leader Jung Hee Lee and the Korean Alliance for Progressive Movements, as well as scholars like Professor Michel Chossudovsky of the Centre for Research on Globalization, Professor Kiyul Chung of Tsinghua University in Beijing, journalist Xiong Lei of CCTV in China, activist Brian Becker of the ANSWER Coalition in Washington, and former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Some of the myths that this symposium worked to deconstruct included the fundamental myth of the legitimacy of the war itself. The war effort in the South has long been characterized as a UN-led effort taking place under a United Nations Command that was authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 83. The legitimacy of this resolution has been challenged on several levels. In direct violation of Article 32 of the UN Charter, North Korea was not invited to participate in the Security Council deliberations on the dispute. The conflict was beyond the scope of UN action, as the North-South border skirmishes that drew UN attention was a civil war, and thus an internal matter beyond the mandate of UN intervention. And the Soviet Union boycotted the Security Council resolution, invalidating the action in the eyes of many legal scholars.

Even more fundamentally, the UN never in fact established a formal United Nations Command for the fighting. Security Council resolution 83 merely called on member states to provide assistance to the South Koreans, but the so-called UN Command was always primarily a US military effort, a point conceded by former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

The nuclear threat to the Korean peninsula was also a topic of discussion. Completely counter to the western narrative, however, which posits North Korea’s estimated six to eight nuclear devices and lack of intercontinental delivery system as some sort of existential threat to the United States, attendees stressed that the real nuclear threat is and always has come from Washington.

Given these facts, and given its history of scuttling attempts at serious peace negotiations, consensus at the symposium emerged around the notion that Washington and its 28,000 in country troops is the single greatest impediment to peace on the Korean peninsula.

As part of the events marking the 60th anniversary of the armistice, the symposium mounted a protest at the doorstep of the Demilitarized Zone, including speeches from a range of international speakers, and a march and rally outside the Yongsan US Army Garrison in central Seoul. The days events culminated in a candlelight vigil that drew 20,000 people out to Seoul Plaza for an overwhelming display of solidarity amongst Koreans truly interested in peace and reunification.

As this anniversary passes and another year without peace in Korea is added to the calendar, the Korean people increasingly take up the mantle of beginning the process of healing by themselves. It will be a long and difficult road, complicated by interference from all of the outside parties with a stake in using the Korean war as an excuse to militarize the region, but for this very reason it is important that peace is not delayed any longer. The people of Korea, the people of the Asia-Pacific, and indeed the people of the world, can’t wait any longer.

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Prezado Sr. Presidente

Ficamos chocados e muito tristes ao saber que o senhor pretende impor a injeção experimental de Covid em crianças de um a cinco anos de idade a partir de 2024.

Portanto, parece muito provável que o senhor tenha sido mal informado, pois, independentemente de suas convicções políticas, não se pode injetar injeções em crianças para nada (a Covid as expõe a menos complicações do que a gripe) e, assim, colocá-las em risco de doenças cardíacas, câncer ou outras patologias, ou até mesmo a morte.

Portanto, gostaríamos de lhe fornecer alguns detalhes que provavelmente foram ocultados e que esperamos que lhe permitam reverter essa decisão desastrosa.

1) A infecção por Covid-19 não é perigosa para crianças. Isso tem sido regularmente demonstrado em todos os artigos médicos publicados em revistas especializadas, reiterado pela imprensa internacional e pela OMS, e ilustrado por este gráfico da Santé Publique France:

Portanto, a criança não pode esperar nenhum benefício pessoal dessa injeção anticovid.

2) As injeções anticovid são ineficazes: elas não protegem contra doenças, transmissão ou morte.

Os dados globais da OMS sobre esse assunto são demonstrativos, uma vez que o uso generalizado de pseudovacinas foi seguido por um aumento de 6 vezes na taxa mensal de infecção.

No Brasil, a falha das vacinas em evitar a contaminação é óbvia se compararmos a evolução da epidemia no Brasil com as da Argélia, Madagascar e África, onde o tratamento precoce com antimaláricos foi utilizado e as injeções foram muito pouco usadas.

A política de “todas as vacinas” e a incapacidade das vacinas de proteger contra as formas graves da doença levaram o Brasil à 12ª maior taxa de mortalidade por milhão de pessoas no mundo (3.260 por milhão em 13/12/2023), no mesmo nível da Itália (3.267 por milhão) e do Reino Unido (3.438 por milhão), e de 20 a 100 vezes mais alta do que as taxas observadas na Argélia (153 por milhão), Costa do Marfim (29 por milhão) e Madagascar (48 por milhão), onde os níveis de vacinação são muito baixos.

As pseudovacinas contra a covid-19 se mostraram dramaticamente ineficazes contra a transmissão e a mortalidade da covid-19. A injeção em crianças não pode, portanto, reduzir a contaminação na população nem proteger as pessoas vulneráveis.

3) As injeções experimentais são prejudiciais a muitas crianças que não corriam o risco de contrair a covid-19.

Em 2021, o VAERS informou que, entre 3 de novembro e 19 de dezembro, foram recebidas 4.249 notificações de eventos adversos após a vacina da Pfizer em crianças com idade entre 5 e 11 anos.

Até 24 de junho de 2022, quando as injeções não foram autorizadas para crianças menores de 5 anos, o VAERS já havia registrado quase 60.000 efeitos colaterais das injeções da Pfizer em crianças menores de 17 anos, incluindo mais de 1.500 reações alérgicas graves, quase 4.000 internações hospitalares, 1.335 infartos do miocárdio e 125 mortes:

Em 6 de maio de 2021, perante o Senado do Texas, a Dra. Angelina Farella declarou sob juramento:

“Nunca vimos esse nível de efeitos colaterais em uma vacina sem que a FDA tomasse providências”…” A vacina contra o rotavírus foi retirada por 15 casos de efeitos colaterais não letais e a vacina contra a gripe suína foi retirada por 25 mortes.

Mas agora, de acordo com os próprios dados do CDC, estamos vendo um aumento de 12.000% nas mortes com essas vacinas e eles ainda estão falando em administrá-las a nossos filhos… Devemos interromper sua administração imediatamente para salvar nossos filhos”.

Em 28 de novembro de 2023, durante um debate sobre o fornecimento de medicamentos na Primeira Comissão do Senado, o novo Ministro da Saúde e Proteção Social da Colômbia, Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, disse.

“Todos os colombianos vacinados [contra a covid-19] foram usados no maior experimento já realizado na história da humanidade. “Não podemos continuar a fazer experimentos com a comunidade colombiana.”

No Brasil, após o uso generalizado de vacinas anti-Covid, houve um aumento significativo na mortalidade por todas as causas, cronologicamente ligado às vacinas de reforço, suspeito de refletir sua toxicidade tardia.

Com praticamente nenhum risco de crianças morrerem de COVID-19 e um aumento significativo de mortes após essas vacinas, não há justificativa para essas injeções em crianças e muito menos para impô-las.

Ficamos à sua disposição, Senhor Presidente e caros cidadãos brasileiros, caso necessite de mais informações.

Dra. Nicole Delépine, oncologista

Dr. Gérard Delépine, oncologista

Artigo em francês : Lettre au Président LULA et aux citoyens brésiliens pour les alerter sur des dangers de l’injection Covid-19 pour l’enfant, Mondialisation.ca, 15 de dezembro de 2023.

Tradução : Mondialisation.ca 

A Rússia não é inimiga da Eslováquia – político de relevância.

December 16th, 2023 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

A hostilidade com a Rússia está a começando a enfraquecer em alguns países da UE. Numa declaração recente, um importante político eslovaco deixou claro que o seu país não é inimigo de Moscou e que procura manter relações amistosas com os russos. Embora o bloco europeu continue a ser hostil em relação à Rússia, acredita-se que opiniões como estas começarão a crescer entre os países membros, à medida que a rivalidade com Moscou se revelar inviável.

A afirmação foi feita por Lubos Blaha, vice-líder do parlamento eslovaco. Segundo ele, a Eslováquia e a Rússia não são nações inimigas e devem procurar relações fraternas e mutuamente benéficas. Blaha também comentou o sentimento de gratidão por parte do povo eslovaco para com a Rússia pelo fato de o exército vermelho ter libertado a Eslováquia do controle nazista durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial.

O legislador também se comprometeu publicamente, a nível pessoal, a lutar para que as relações russo-eslovacas fossem normalizadas o mais rapidamente possível. Ele acredita que a normalização é apoiada pela maioria da população do país, dada a memória da guerra contra os nazistas e a herança eslava comum de ambos os povos.

“A Eslováquia quer ter boas relações com países de todos os lados do mundo (…) Sempre considerei a Rússia uma nação amiga (…) Estou certo de que a maioria dos eslovacos pensa o mesmo (…) A Rússia não é nosso inimigo. Pessoalmente, farei tudo para que as relações entre a Eslováquia e a Rússia voltem à normalidade. É isso que os eslovacos comuns querem”, escreveu ele nas suas redes sociais depois de participar numa importante reunião com o embaixador russo, Igor Bratchikov.

Sobre as conversas que teve com o diplomata russo, Blaha descreveu-as como “cordiais” e disse que Bratchikov o alertou sobre os planos da OTAN de fornecer caças F-16 ao regime de Kiev. Blaha deixou claro que não concorda com a medida e que o seu país é a favor das negociações de paz, opondo-se a qualquer política que leve à escalada do conflito.

“Para a Federação Russa, esta é uma linha vermelha e eles alertam que haveria um conflito aberto (…) a escalada poderia levar à terceira guerra mundial (…) A Eslováquia deve permanecer do lado da paz (.. .) Alguém quer mesmo uma guerra nuclear?!”, acrescentou.

Com isto, a Eslováquia junta-se à Hungria de Viktor Orban como um país que tende à neutralidade e à diplomacia, apesar de ser membro da UE e da OTAN. Esta mudança na política nacional é resultado de alguns acontecimentos recentes no país, como a eleição de Robert Fico como Primeiro-Ministro. Acusado de ser “pró-russo” e “agente do Kremlin” pela propaganda ocidental, Fico foi enfático em sua campanha eleitoral ao dizer que não enviaria “uma única bala” a Kiev.

Obviamente, os meios de comunicação ocidentais descrevem esta postura como uma espécie de “aliança com a Rússia”, mas na verdade é apenas uma política estratégica que traz benefícios para a Eslováquia. Apoiar o regime ucraniano não faz qualquer sentido para o país, pois coloca a Eslováquia numa crise diplomática com a Rússia, além de obrigar o governo a gastar em ajuda militar ao lado perdedor do conflito.

Os dois governos anteriores da Eslováquia colocaram o país numa situação delicada devido ao seu apoio sistemático à Ucrânia. A Eslováquia não só aderiu às sanções suicidas impostas pela UE, mas também enviou treze pacotes de ajuda militar a Kiev. No total, o apoio foi avaliado em mais de 700 milhões de euros, sendo exportadas armas de elevado valor estratégico, como veículos blindados, sistemas de defesa aérea e caças MiG-29, para o regime neonazista. A Eslováquia nunca teve nada a ganhar com este tipo de política, apenas obedecendo passivamente aos planos de guerra da OTAN, o que mostra como as atitudes de Fico restauraram a soberania eslovaca.

Neste sentido, recentemente, o governo eslovaco também deixou clara a sua oposição absoluta à entrada da Ucrânia na UE. Aderindo à posição húngara, o governo Fico afirmou que nenhum “procedimento especial” para Kiev pode ser tolerado. Segundo o Ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros eslovaco, a Ucrânia deve realmente passar por todas as reformas necessárias para se adaptar ao bloco europeu, se quiser realmente avançar com o seu processo de adesão. O mesmo foi dito em relação à Moldávia, um país que foi encorajado pelo Ocidente a envolver-se em hostilidades contra a Rússia na região da Transcarpátia.

Na verdade, a emergência de uma alternativa política ao lobby pró-Kiev dentro da UE mostra um caminho de esperança para os pacifistas europeus. A política de segurança do continente depende obviamente de relações amistosas e estáveis ​​com a Rússia, uma vez que a geografia coloca a Rússia e a Europa Ocidental como parceiros naturais em desafios comuns. Ao ser hostil à Rússia, a UE está simplesmente a prejudicar os seus próprios interesses e a lutar inútilmente contra a sua própria condição geográfica enquanto vizinha da Rússia. Por outras palavras, a UE está apenas a obedecer irracionalmente aos planos de guerra dos EUA, sem ter em conta as suas próprias circunstâncias locais.

Com o fortalecimento de governos anti-guerra e neutros dentro do bloco, a tendência é que cada vez mais políticos como Fico e Orban ganhem popularidade nos processos eleitorais europeus, dando uma nova esperança para o futuro das relações Rússia-UE.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

 

 

Artigo em inglês :

https://infobrics.org/post/40069/

Imagem : InfoBrics

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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

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).

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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 one of his video lectures for the course, “Decent Work in Global Supply Chains” offered by Global Labour University, Professor Praveen Jha discussed the extent to which developing and emerging economies have been integrated into the global supply chains or whether integration has this integrated perpetuated the condition of dependency.

Before delving into my analysis, I would like to share an overview or background of how free zones, as valuable mechanisms in the global supply chains (GScs), have evolved over time or the background on how they were introduced.

Professor Jha’s discussion is quite relevant and applicable to the Jamaican context as it is a small island developing state in the Caribbean region that has a unique labour, a political and economic history that is inextricably linked with indigenous dispossession, chattel slavery among peoples of African descent, colonialism, indentured and other forms of unfree labour and accumulation of capital and profits by former Empires, private interests and corporations.

There are many challenges that have subverted Jamaica’s economic and social development since its political independence in 1962, including but not limited to low levels of growth, the struggle to industrialize, higher unemployment rates, particularly among young people and women and high debt. The first regime of free zones was introduced in 1976 to solve the problems of industrialization, curbing high unemployment, growing debt and creating benefits for the local industry.

The success of this regime was that there was a broad-based participation of labour unions and legislation passed to protect workers’ interests and the majority of disenfranchised Jamaicans. In terms of establishing backwards and forward linkages, this was unsuccessful under the import substitution industrialization (ISI) model because there were restrictions on capital inflows that stifled growth and heavy government spending on social services, and vulnerability to external shocks such as stagflation from the OPEC oil crisis led to high debt with the balance of debt payment problems. 

The first regime of zones continued under the export-oriented industrialization (EOI) model and the neoliberal phase of capitalism (the 1980s to early 2000s) amidst the attempt to meet balance of debt payment obligations by the IMF and World Bank, attract foreign direct investment and create jobs to solve the ongoing labour problems. The first regime of zones failed due to a combination of domestic and external reasons. In terms of domestic reasons, the first regime of zones was unsuccessful because they heavily depended on sectors or industries (garment assembly, manufacturing and informatics in the 1990s) that were predicated on the use of cheap labour, low and semi-skilled labour and because they were low-valued added, there was little to no benefits for the local economy.

From a public policy perspective, the first regime zones failed at the domestic level because there was little or no strong policy coordination among government ministries, agencies and bodies with respect to the promotions, marketing, and policies to attract and retain investment, creating a robust regulatory framework for zone establishment and investing significantly in social and physical infrastructure (physical space for zone occupancy), investment in research and development and higher-value-added economic activities and industries that would benefit the local economy and quality education, skills development and training of the working age population and labour force in areas that would prepare them for higher value-added and decent jobs and sectors that are globally competitive. Externally, the old regime of zones were unsuccessful in significant changes in the international trade environment, with investors relocating to other countries where there is cheaper labour, lower labour standards and fewer red tapes or bureaucratic procedures involved in establishing zones, greater competition in sectors and industries and the as a small island developing state, the old regime of zones in Jamaica are even more vulnerable to external shocks such as economic crises (stagflation).

It is against this background, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were introduced under the Andrew Holness-led government administration (2016- present) to replace the old free zone regime. Special Economic Zones have been introduced in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations concerning international competitiveness and to promote foreign direct investment and economic growth through job creation. It has been reported that there are over 200 Special Economic Zones in Jamaica, and they have provided jobs for over 50,000 Jamaicans and have been hailed by government officials, including the Prime Minister, The Most Honourable Andrew Holness, as a vital component of integration in global supply chains (Jamaica Gleaner, June 14, 2022).

Some of the significant strengths of the new regime of zones are greater policy coordination among government ministries, bodies and agencies and more transparent and stronger guidelines in national legislation regarding prohibiting economic activities within zones that violate environmental protection, heritage and labour laws. Greater policy coordination among ministries, bodies and agencies is evident in the fact that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade promotes the wide array of international trade agreements and developments in transport and information communication technologies that makes Jamaica an attractive location for foreign investment while JAMPRO promotes and markets Jamaica as an ideal place in the Caribbean region for foreign direct investment because of its highly adaptable and productive labour force, close geographic proximity and affinity to North America, stable parliamentary democracy and attractive benefits for investors.

The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) regulates and provides guidelines to developers, occupants and users in zones. It also recognizes that under the old regime of zones, there was little record keeping among zone occupants or companies in the zones and as a result, this hindered aspects of development and thus, recently, stipulates occupants to provide information on how their proposed economic activity will contribute to the local economy and other vital data upon their application for approval to be a developer or occupant or zone user under the Special Economic Zone Regulation, 2017. Despite the fact that there has been a surge in foreign direct investment towards SEZs as part of the global supply chains in the Caribbean (up by 39% or USD$3.8 billion), according to the 2022 World Investment Report, SEZs as a strategy of development have perpetuated problems of dependency, hindering the social components of development that are not captured in dominant econometric data such as GDP and FDI (decent work deficits, people’s sense of well-being and dignity, quality of life associated with the work they do and or non-productive activities).

Additionally, foreign investors and multi-national companies can still wield considerable leverage over domestic, regulatory and investment policy framework that suits their interests. The Developers and zone occupants are entitled to several benefits, including custom duty exemptions, 12.5% income tax for developers or zone occupants, promotional tax credit, exempted from paying income taxes derived from rentals or properties in the zone and for an occupant, one of their legal rights under the SEZ Regulations, 2017 (Section 39 1 h) is to transfer funds freely in and out of Jamaica in accordance with the Act and applicable law. This confirms Italian Marxist, Gramsci’s concept of hegemony and is in congruence with the assertion posed by Dr. Michael Fichter in one of the video lectures for this course about corporations and private interests aligned to corporations who use hegemony through both coercion and consensus.

One of the most prominent sectors or industries in Jamaica’s Special Economic Zones is business product outsourcing (BPO) which offers a wide range of services from low value-added services such as call centres (outbound and inbound calls from clients from across the world) and higher value-added services such as information technology, technical support services, administrative services, legal services and health services but the sector is still plagued by chronic decent work deficits.

There are varying subjective experiences of workers in the call centres or BPO sector, which is highly dependent on the sector size, company size and policies for workers’ labour, trade union representation and human resource management policies.

However, the overarching picture is that these jobs have decent work deficits, including low wages, long and inflexible working hours, deplorable working conditions, limited or no social protection measures for workers, limited or no occupational health and safety, discrimination and different forms of abuse and harassment, and prohibition of workers’ rights to engage in social dialogue, collective bargaining, right to strike and for trade union representation- according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Reports in 2011 and 2021. Numerous local newspaper articles (Jamaica Gleaner, Jamaica Observer, Jamaica Star and Nationwide News) have shared testimonials from workers in call centres or the BPO sector explaining that their working conditions are akin to slavery, gruelling working hours, they face verbal abuse from supervisors when their daily productivity targets are not met, discriminatory attitudes and comments from clients based in North America, no sick leave policy and have to be rushed to a hospital in near-death conditions and where health policies or insurance or promised, they have been denied, and with respect to their rights to social dialogue, there is a testimony that expressed that no one is on the side of call centre workers.

In the current pandemic context, local newspaper articles have highlighted that before lockdown protocols, many call centres had to be closed because their workers contracted COVID-19, and there are other workers who reported under anonymity explaining that their call centre had not put in adequate health and safety protocols to keep their employees safe and other testimonies that highlight the fear of speaking about breaches in their rights and an account of a female worker who was sexually assaulted and had to migrate out of fear of the repercussions for reporting the issue.

Representatives from trade unions, academia, think tanks and civil society organizations have proposed progressive recommendations that would better protect workers while ensuring economic growth. These recommendations include but are not limited to more flexible working hours and arrangements for workers in the BPO sector, changes in contractual arrangements to ensure enhanced job security and social protection, greater measures to ensure that workers are healthy and safe and sound investment climate, the focus of the Jamaican government still remain economic growth through job creation and not necessarily the types of jobs that are created. This case example is ideal for illustrating the paradoxes of integrating into the Global Supply Chains and that when the meaning of development is equated with economic growth and FDI injection, it comes with severe social costs, especially deficits in decent work.

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The Spanish proposal to give Kiev the benefits of Russian assets frozen in the EU generates confusion about their amount and creates doubt about its legality and presumed risks to financial stability. In addition, the EU will ruin its image as a destination for foreign assets if it continues this pursuit to finance Kiev with Russian assets.

At the end of October, Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Commission is still working on a proposal to seize the profits derived from Russian state assets frozen in the EU and transfer them to Ukraine for its post-war reconstruction. According to her, the value of frozen Russian sovereign assets amounts to €211 billion, whilst according to estimates by authorities in Belgium, the country where most of them are deposited, the Russian assets frozen there could yield around €3 billion in annual benefits.

Spain, the country that assumes the rotating presidency of the EU for this semester, has continued to advance Leyen’s plan. Madrid estimates that the benefits of Russian Central Bank reserves frozen in EU countries could generate between €15 billion and €17 billion for Kiev by 2027.

However, the idea generated great scepticism in some member states, such as France and Germany. The timeliness of the push is doubted, and there is a risk to the commitment to help Ukraine. The European Central Bank also fears that the initiative could affect the stability and reputation of the euro.

According to diplomatic sources from Politico magazine, the reluctance of several countries regarding the Spanish proposal lies in the conviction that it may take years before the money reaches Kiev. The calculation applied by Spain to conclude the amount of benefits has also generated confusion.

The idea of ​​reinvesting tied-up Russian assets and using the profits to support Ukraine is not new and was first proposed by the European Commission in late November 2022. The Commission estimated then that rebuilding Ukraine would require at least €600 billion, but the cost has likely skyrocketed since then.

Under international law, state assets enjoy immunity from execution. Regardless of the changes that are introduced in legislation, the EU cannot confiscate these reserves, which are distributed throughout the bloc and other G7 countries. In fact, the European Commission considers them immobilised since the ECB cannot use them.

Russian entities, for instance, could claim that they are entitled to some of the profits generated from the investment of the frozen assets and challenge the decision in both the General Court of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, Francis Bond, a leading practitioner on international financial sanctions matters from the Macfarlanes law firm told Euronews

In addition, Russia will have the right to go to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which is the arbitration court of the World Bank, where these types of disputes are settled. This would not bode well for Spain, which has a long history of losing these types of cases.

The European Commission intends to provide Kiev with €17 billion in subsidies and another €33 billion in low-interest loans until 2027 to avoid Ukraine’s bankruptcy. Amid the EU’s economic recession, the confiscation and sale of frozen Russian assets emerges as a possible way to raise funds for Ukraine at a time when they are scarce for community policies.

But given the complication, Spain’s proposal has been received with astonishment by several foreign ministries, where, according to Politico, they also doubt that Madrid understands the thinking of the rest of the EU. Whether Madrid’s real objective is to divert extra contributions from the Ukraine crisis towards other budgetary areas, such as migration and EU competitiveness, is questioned.

A source in Brussels assumes that the Spanish government would be willing to use the funds promised to Ukraine for other expenses, such as migration. In any case, the content of the proposals will only be discussed in depth on December 14 and 15 during the EU leaders’ summit.

Most of Russia’s frozen foreign exchange reserves are in the EU, specifically at Euroclear, a financial security clearing and settlement house based in Brussels that acts as a depository. It is estimated that it holds around €180 billion in Russian securities. Luxembourg also hosts another clearinghouse with frozen Russian assets, Clearstream. But both Belgium and Luxembourg want guarantees that they will not be forced to assume all the legal and financial risks of an unprecedented measure.

Russian assets frozen under EU sanctions are divided into private assets and public assets. The private assets owned by individuals and companies are worth around €18.9 billion, including yachts, boats, helicopters, real estate, paintings, and other works of art. Of the 35 assets located in Spain, only 11 are listed in the name of people sanctioned by the EU. On the other side are public assets owned by state entities, specifically the €211 billion of international reserves owned by the Central Bank of Russia.

When they reach maturity, intermediaries reinvest them and generate a profit. But they can also generate losses. And, as Francis Bond explains, if the investments lose money, the European Commission would have to guarantee the Russian assets with public money or risk an avalanche of legal action from the asset owners. Given these conditions, attempts to redirect Russian assets and profits to Kiev is nothing more than a pipedream that will not eventuate unless the entire European Union wants to ruin its reputation and trustworthiness across the world.

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Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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Stessa strategia di guerra dall’ucraina alla palestina

December 16th, 2023 by Manlio Dinucci

Zelensky, invitato a Washington da Biden, preme sul Congresso USA perché approvi la legge di spesa che include altri 50 miliardi di dollari di aiuti militari per l’Ucraina. Scrive il New York Times:

“La controffensiva ucraina lanciata sei mesi fa è fallita. Kiev deve fare i conti con il calo del personale militare,  delle riserve di munizioni e del sostegno Occidentale. Mosca sta dimostrando la capacità di sostenere una guerra prolungata.”

In tale situazione, scrive sempre il New York Times,  “Stati Uniti e Ucraina sono alla ricerca di una nuova strategia dopo il fallimento della controffensiva: il Pentagono invia il generale Aguto, che comanda il sostegno all’Ucraina da una base in Germania, a trascorrere lunghi periodi di tempo a Kiev. Il generale Aguto lavorerà più direttamente con la leadership militare del Paese”.

Mentre continuano ad alimentare direttamente e tramite la NATO la guerra in Ucraina, gli Stati Uniti  continuano a sostenere Israele nella guerra a Gaza. Il piano dei capi di Israele prevede la deportazione della popolazione di Gaza nel deserto del Sinai e la cancellazione di Gaza quale territorio palestinese, facendo poi la stessa cosa con la Cisgiordania.

La strategia statunitense, sostenuta da Israele, mira ad allargare la guerra nella regione mediorientale, dove  gli USA stanno perdendo la loro posizione predominante di fronte all’avanzare dei progetti politico-economici di Russia e Cina, tra cui il prossimo allargamento dei BRICS ad Iran e Arabia Saudita.

Per sostenere questa strategia di guerra gli Stati Uniti continuano ad accrescere la loro già enorme spesa militare. Il Senato ha approvato una legge sulla Difesa da 886 miliardi di dollari, cui si aggiungono altre spese di carattere militare  portando il totale a oltre 1.200 miliardi di dollari, circa la metà della spesa militare mondiale.

Manlio Dinucci

 

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I believe the reason why these autopsies are not being allowed is because I believe most of them would show the vaccine as the cause of death. I believe the spike protein would be found in damaged tissues like the heart, like the brain, or it would be found in tumors. That would mean that the vaccines would immediately have to be taken off the market, and you have got a multi hundred billion dollar industry that would come to a crashing halt immediately.”

Dr. William Makis (From this week’s interview)

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“Imagine Disease X is as infectious as measles with the fatality rate of Ebola [67%]. Somewhere in the world, it’s replicating, and sooner or later, somebody will start feeling sick” [1]

This is the type of messaging that has been circulating in mainstream media in recent months. It is also a warning consistent with Bill Gates, the guru of all things immunological.

“We’ll have another pandemic. It will be a different pathogen next time.” [2]

As past episodes of the Global Research News Hour, and articles all over Global Research have indicated, the ‘vaccine’ seems not to be quite as safe and effective as the major health organizations and mainstream media have broadcast. And awareness of this comes from people and their loved ones and their experiences with getting the jab. (See for example the experiences relayed by the National Citizens Inquiry: Canada’s Response to COVID-19.)

In spite of these experiences, the guardians of the major Health Care authorities now seemingly bought and paid for by Big Pharma continue the standard verse that the COVID-19 Vaccines are safe and effective and that anyone who says otherwise is passing on “dis-information.” [3][4]

People the second time around may not be as anxious as the first to take the vaccine.

Could the next pandemic, if and when it comes, have another trick up it’s sleeve to cause even the most hesitant to get the jab? This is just one of many other factors we share this week on the Global Research News Hour.

In our first half hour, we touch base with Dr. William Makis. The physician who has dedicated significant tabulating the sudden deaths of physicians, athletes, mothers and so on as being possibly related to the COVID vaccination tabulates his conclusions about the “Big One” that is being promoted in mainstream media today. He also talks about how we can separate a real pandemic from a “Pharma-profit” motivated fake one.

In our second half hour, we cross paths with renowned author Naomi Wolf. She talks about new information from the confidential Pfizer report revealed through a Freedom of Information Report. She also speaks about her latest book, Facing the Beast: Courage, Faith and Resistance in a New Dark Age, which reveals the price she appears to have paid for digging too deep into the forbidden COVID vaccine story.

Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications. 

Dr. Naomi Wolf is a former political consultant and Co-Founder of the DailyClout, a platform that empowers democracy-building. She is the author of the best-selling The Beauty Myth, which launched her reputation as a leading voice within Third Wave feminism, and she authored the 2023 book Facing the Beast: Courage, Faith and Resistance in a New Dark Age (Chelsea Green Publishing.)

(Global Research News Hour episode 413)

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Transcript of Dr. William Makis, December 11, 2023

Global Research: You blame COVID for a lot of the deaths due to turbo cancer, heart attacks of youth and dying suddenly. How did you first become convinced that these deaths, though tragic, were positively linked to the shot?

William Makis: So, I started looking into excess mortality figures for all the highly COVID vaccinated countries. You’re looking at excess mortality in Canada, for example, since the vaccines were rolled out. The excess mortality in 2022 is on the level of about 1 in 1,000. So, we have excess deaths of about 30-35,000 in Canada.

Here in Alberta, the province where I live, it was in the mainstream media that in 2021, the number one cause of death was “Cause unknown.” And I can tell you I’ve spoken to many doctors and, you know, they all tell me that doctors are not allowed to conduct autopsies. They are not allowed to conduct proper autopsies. And if they do, they are not allowed to do the proper staining of the tissues or the spike proteins, for example, for the vaccine spike protein. Or even for the other viral proteins. So, doctors are not allowed to search for a cause of death that may be due to long COVID or that may be due to vaccine. They are not allowed to do it.

And that’s the fascinating phenomenon about this, is you see similar excess mortality figures in the United States, on the order of 1 in a 1,000, so yeah, last year that would be about 300,000 excess deaths. There’s a number of publications that talk about that. United Kingdom excess deaths, Australia, Japan, Germany, these are all highly COVID vaccinated countries with a high excess mortality that no one is able to explain. And when you see it in the mainstream media, when they ask the health authorities, they have no answer for it.

You know, they’ll speculate, they’ll say, ‘Well, maybe it’s long COVID, or maybe it’s the stress of the lockdowns. Maybe it’s missed appointments, missed doctor appointments,’ because a lot of doctor appointments were cancelled. That’s the way they’re trying to explain away the excess cancer deaths, for example. But no one really seems to have an explanation.

But the smoking gun there is that, you know, if you want to have an explanation, all you have to do is conduct the proper autopsies on all these sudden and unexplained deaths.

And I wanted to clarify just, you know, with your introductory statement is that I do not claim that these deaths are due to the vaccine, because we don’t know. It is the number one suspicion that I have on my differential diagnosis. So, as a physician, whenever you’re faced with a medical issue you take all the available information you have and you put together a differential diagnosis of the potential things that might be causing that issue, and then you conduct the investigations to prove what is causing the problem. And the proof that is required here are the autopsies and they’re not being done.

And so, I have my suspicions. And as a medical professional, you know, I put all the information together and I’m allowed to have my differential diagnosis. And you know what? Long COVID is on my differential diagnosis as a possibility. But we need to then conduct the proper investigations and those are not being done, and I can tell you, no one is doing them. The autopsies are not being done in Canada, they are not being done in the United States, they are not being done in UK, they are not being done in Australia, New Zealand. And the publications that have come out in the literature on autopsies where they did conduct such staining, there are a few reports from South Korea, from Japan, from Germany, and you know, a couple of research places in the United States. But in terms of the general public having access to that kind of autopsy being done, it is not allowed.

And that is a huge red flag and a huge smoking gun for me, in that I believe the reason why these autopsies are not being allowed is because, I believe, most of them would show the vaccine as the cause of death. I believe the spike protein would be found in damaged tissues like the heart, like the brain. Or it would be found in tumours. That would mean that the vaccines would immediately have to be taken off the market and you’ve got a multi-hundred billion dollar industry that would come to a crashing halt immediately and I think that’s why the autopsies are simply not being done. There is too much money in this technology and in these pharmaceutical products.

GR: Yeah. Okay, well getting back to your article, you listed a number of possible culprits: Nipah, Marburg and Ebola, Disease X, or a combination between one of those and influenza or RSV. Are you seeing more recent signs hinting at the particular form that the next pandemic is going to take? I mean, is it visible yet?

WM: No, I don’t believe that it is visible. I listed these possibilities for several reasons: I believe that the next variant, whether – like, the next COVID variant is not scaring anybody. You know, you will have – let’s look at the vaccine updates right now. We’ve got a new variant, now it’s JN.1. We’ve had recent variants like the Kraken variant, XDB.1.5. And these were actually what the latest booster shots were designed for. The booster shots that just came out in the past month or two. The vaccine update, right now, of the latest booster – and we’re being told that, you know, the original vaccines are off the market, you know, they’re not available anymore and now you have to take the tailored booster which is specifically tailored to the recent variants. The uptake is 10 percent. It’s —

GR: Yeah.

WM:plateaued at about 10 percent, give or take a percent, right?

GR: Yeah.

WM: And that is true for Canada, which you would expect the uptake to be much higher given the propaganda that the health authorities have engaged in. They’re expecting uptake of 70, 80, 85 percent, the same uptake that we had with the initial vaccines, and the uptake is about 10 percent. The same uptake – you know, you have the same uptake in the United States, in the UK, Australia. You know, there is only a very small group of people who are terrified enough to continue taking these vaccines. They’re on their sixth shot or they’re on their seventh shot. That number is only down to 10 percent, which means 90 percent of people have no interest in taking these vaccines anymore even if the health authorities are recommending them. For all age groups, down to six months old in Canada. And I believe the United States as well for pregnant women, and so on.

So, well you have a problem here is that – the problem for the authorities is that no one is afraid of the new COVID variants anymore. And no one wants the COVID vaccines anymore. You got only 10 percent is not enough to sustain, you know, this multi-hundred billion dollar industry that has grown up around this mRNA lipid nanoparticle technology. Certainly not enough to sustain all the factories that are being built around the world that will be producing mRNA vaccines, each factory producing hundreds of millions of shots. There is no demand for it. And so, you’re not going to scare people with the new Covid variant.

What you need, if you’re going to scare people – and this comes out of, you know, various literature around vaccine hesitancy and so on, is you’re going to have to scare people with a virus that has a 30, 40, 50, 60 percent fatality rate. And there’s very few viruses that can actually do that. And they’re the ones that, you know, you’ve just mentioned: Ebola, Marburg, Nipah virus. All of those can get up to 50, 60 percent fatality. There is also influenza H5N1. And there may be a couple of other really exotic viruses like Lassa virus. There’s Zika, there’s some really, you know, exotic ones. But there’s very few viruses that will give you that kind of a fatality rate and usually, you know, they are viruses that don’t spread easily.

So, you know, you’ve got your Ebola outbreaks in certain locations in Africa. They are usually very contained to a small geographical area, they are self-limiting, you know, they don’t spread. And so, if they want, if the pharmaceutical industry, for example, and all the people that they’ve bribed, all the politicians that they’ve bribed, the media that they’ve bribed to scare people into taking vaccines, if they want people to come back and start taking mRNA vaccines again, they are going to need to scare people to such a degree that those people who said, ‘I don’t want anymore COVID booster shots,’ are going to say, ‘No, I need to get this new mRNA vaccine.’ And the only thing that can do that is something with a very high case fatality rate.

GR: What if an actual thing, an actual pandemic came out that was not influenced by big pharmaceuticals and the pandemic? Wouldn’t that end up taking a very different direction than the direction we’re seeing right now?

WM: Well, you know what, I mean it is always possible that, you know, there will be an outbreak of some novel pathogen with, you know, with new mutations and so on. Obviously, you know, we haven’t seen it to date. Where the interesting situation arises is that, there is gain of function research being done on a lot of these pathogens to actually make them more virulent and to be able to spread more easily among humans.

And so, for example, for Nipah virus there is gain of function being researched – now there was Senate, US Senate, testimony last year about this, that there is evidence that, in the Wuhan lab – in the same lab that we suspect there may have been a leak of the COVID-19 virus, that had gain of function research on it – that they were working on gain of function research to enhance the transmissibility and fatality rate of the Nipah virus, for example. And I believe the Canadian Winnipeg lab was involved in sending some samples to Wuhan again with the Nipah virus.

GR: That’s the Winnipeg lab, right?

WM: That’s the Winnipeg lab. So unfortunately, there is ongoing gain of function research going on in labs around the world. And so, we might be facing a situation again where, you know, there is an outbreak of a novel pathogen and we’re again stuck wondering, well, is it something that’s arisen naturally out of a – sort of a natural evolution among, you know, animals and then it makes the jump to humans? Or is it again something that has been released accidentally or intentionally that was a gain of function experiment that scientists had been working on for years? And we might be faced, you know, with the same conundrum all over again.

But again, I think it is important for people to understand that you have to be – you have to question these things. And you have to question every official narrative, because when it came to COVID-19, we were lied to about everything that was part of the official narrative, we were lied to from the very beginning. And then, of course, once the vaccines were rolled out, we were lied to about the vaccines: about the safety, about the efficacy, and so on.

So, my point is that, question – don’t approach, you know, any new pandemic with fear. Approach it with an inquisitive nature, ask the hard questions, and sort of peer back beyond the propaganda to see what’s really hiding behind what the mainstream media wants us to believe.

GR: So, are you saying you have like a pandemic protocol as such? A way to, you know, how are you going to address it and then how do you address it for yourself and for your loved ones?

WM: Yes. It’s basically almost like a logical exercise. You know, I sort of call it sort of a three-step guide to Dr. Makis’s guide to new pandemics. But it really is just a mental exercise. And the mental exercise is as follows: you look at whatever pathogen is being talked about as – let’s say there’s an outbreak of a new pathogen and they tell us. It’s Nipah virus, it started in this local village. Several hundred people are sick, WHO is flying people out there and so on. Well, learn about the Nipah virus, what is it, and so on. But more importantly, has there been any gain of function research done about that particular virus and I think that’s very important. And you know, you can find that information.

So number 1) Has there been gain of function research done recently? Number 2) Have there been simulation exercises already done on this virus? And interestingly, for example, there was a big tabletop exercise done by John Hopkins, I believe it was 2018, on the Nipah virus. And it was supposed to be like a hybrid between a Nipah virus and like an influenza, so that it was more easily transmissible through, you know, as an airborne pathogen because the Nipah virus, you have to get exposed to it with physical contact of contaminated, you know, fruit or saliva from the bats or what have you. But if it’s been modified in some ways that it’s much more easily transmissible through the air, that can only been done through gain of function research, for example.

And they actually did this tabletop exercise, it was done for a whole day hosted by John Hopkins. It was called Disease X. And you know, now we here about Disease X in the media, but a lot of people will not go back and find out that, well, there was a tabletop exercise, a simulation. And that simulation, you know, I think over 20 months they simulated a 150,000,000 deaths. They simulated shutting down travel. They simulated shutting down even travel state-to-state within the United States, so people were not allowed to go from one state to the other. Of course, there were new vaccines that they simulated and there was, you know, the vaccines – well, there was a limited number of vaccines, so you know, you have to give it to health care workers and you have to decide who to give it to and so on. Obviously, economic chaos and turmoil, political turmoil. And I believe in that particular simulation, what came out of it was that they had to nationalize the US health care system. So, bring it completely under the government – under government control.

Now these are interesting things to know about and there have been other simulations on other pathogens in the last five years. I think that’s important to look at.

And the last one which I think is really important, which is where a lot – you know, the smoking gun is going to be is: is there an mRNA vaccine that is already in trials for this pathogen or infrastructure has been put in place to quickly roll out an mRNA vaccine for this new outbreak? And we’ve been told by the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna that they have put infrastructure into place to be able to roll out any new mRNA vaccine for any new outbreak in less than six months. And they have distribution infrastructure in place as well in collaboration with Gavi or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to be able to roll out hundreds of millions of doses of a new mRNA vaccine to the broader population. People have to be aware of this. And to me, these are red flags and warning signs.

And seeing as to the injuries and deaths that we’ve seen from the COVID vaccines, you know, I personally would not trust any mRNA vaccine no matter what the pathogen is when they roll it out.

GR: Okay. I’ve only got about 30 seconds left, but I just wanted to get your take on the National Citizens Inquiry which you participated in, as did I. I mean, are you comfortable with the process and all of the recommendations they put forward?

WM: Absolutely. Now the National Citizens Inquiry, what’s incredible about it is the testimonies. The testimonies are key. There was over 300 testimonies, you had doctors, most of the freedom fighting doctors testified, including myself. I gave a three-hour testimony. Scientists who have been, you know, very honest about their work. There were people who were harmed by the vaccine mandates. There were military, there were lawyers. I encourage people to look at some of those testimonies, you know, pick some of the testimonies that interest you, look at them. The recommendations are very extensive and it’s basically an overhaul of our court systems, an overhaul of the way we approach health care. You know, the colleges that block doctors from being able to treat patients and so on. Like, there is a tremendous amount in terms of the recommendations which will obviously be extremely difficult to implement and I think a lot of politicians will be scared to – one important thing to note that I want to note, is that 63 politicians were invited to give testimony on behalf of the federal government and the provincial government and they refused. They did not give testimonies to justify the measures that they took during the pandemic, to justify the roll out of the vaccines and so on. So, that is a key thing to note is that government officials refused to participate in this.

GR: Well, we’ll be snapping on our safety belts this winter. Dr. Makis, it’s indeed been a great pleasure speaking with you and thanks for appearing on the show.

WM: Thank you very much for having me.

Transcript of Naomi Wolf, December 7, 2023

Global Research: So, you spoke to us about the report findings back in May. Is there more information you’ve gotten in the last six months that you would feel obliged to share with our listeners?

Naomi Wolf: Oh, gosh, so much more. Right now, probably when I last spoke with you, we had about 50 reports. And for viewers who are not sure about the details of that, I oversee a project called the War Room/DailyClout Pfizer Documents Research Analysts and it’s 3,250 doctors and scientists who have joined forces as volunteers to read through the 450,000 pages of Pfizer internal documents released under a court order by a successful lawsuit against the FDA. And of course, the FDA had asked the court to keep these hidden for 75 years; now we know why.

So, probably when I last spoke with you, I was already reporting that they – these volunteers have found in these documents evidence – overwhelming evidence – of the greatest crime against humanity in recorded history. And I don’t say that lightly as the granddaughter of someone who lost nine siblings to the Holocaust. But in terms of scale, this is bigger.

We found, at that point, 1,225 deaths in three months. Thousands of neurological damage cases. Strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, lung clots, thrombotic thrombocytopenia, dementia, Alzheimer’s, cancers, turbo cancers. And many of these reports showed that the adverse events including deaths took place within 48 hours of the injection. The liver damage, the kidney damage report, the stroke report, the adverse events were temporally located shortly after the injection.

But the most concerning, to me, finding I may not have – well, I have new news for you since then: six months ago, we were starting to be aware that there is a focus, an intense focus, in the Pfizer documents on destroying human reproduction – quite intentionally. Whether it is their knowledge revealed in the documents that the lipid nanoparticles biodistributes, these are industrial fats coated in polyethylene glycol which is a petroleum product. You know, spokes- people said the material stays in your deltoid, in the injection site. They knew that was not true. These materials bio-distribute throughout the body. They traverse every membrane in the human body, but they also accumulate in the brain causing – or contributing to some of the cognitive changes people are seeing in their loved ones. They also accumulate in the liver, the adrenals, the spleen, and if you’re a woman, in your ovaries.

So, what is happening now, I got de-platformed in 2021 and globally attacked, because I correctly reported that women were having menstrual problems upon getting this injection. And it’s not surprising that if women are having menstrual problems in 2021, there will be fertility problems in 2023. And that’s what we’re seeing, a 13-20 percent drop in live births.

So, these industrial fats are accumulating in the ovaries. There is no way our volunteers have seen that they leave the body. So, the first injection some accumulate. The second injection, more accumulate. First booster, more accumulate. So now, nurses are reporting that women having abdominal surgery, even if it’s not focused on their ovaries, that their ovaries are blocked, right? Depressing fertility. Also, messing with their hormones, but that’s another story.

We know now that the lipid nanoparticles also traverse the placenta and Pfizer knew this. So, midwives and maternal fetal medicine specialist James Thorp, they’ve sent me pictures and descriptions of compromised placentas that vaccinated women are having. De-calcifications caused by the lipid nanoparticles are keeping nutrients and oxygen from reaching the baby, and the placentas are flat and thin and shrunken. Unlike – I mean, not to be gross – but, you know, the cushy, comfy bed of placenta is supposed to be for a growing baby. And they’re also – they’re like two inches too small in diameter. So, babies are being delivered prematurely.

Or, think about when was the last time you saw since 2021 a truly, heavily pregnant woman, right? I mean, most of us, if we consider, we haven’t – remember the way women used to look eight months, you know, almost at their due date, really there was a baby there basically. You only see very small baby bumps now, because these placentas are not big enough to hold a fully grown baby.

So, women are also dying in childbirth now. Forty percent rise in maternal deaths, because these placentas fall apart, and women have hemorrhages and infections just like in the 19th century in childbirth. Pfizer knew that there’s something in the semen of vaccinated men that is dangerous to women of childbearing age. Pfizer confirms that you can transmit, or that exposure to the vaccine, can happen through skin contact or inhalation, or sexual intercourse with vaccinated men. And they warned the vaccinated men in their study to use two reliable forms of contraception or to abstain from sex with childbearing age women. So, something they still haven’t told us is dangerous or damaging either to women or to the zygote – the implanted egg —

GR: Mm-hmm.

NW: — of the baby. Pfizer knew that the lipid nanoparticles degrade the testes of baby boys in utero. Remember, every membrane that the casing of the testes are a membrane. So, this is causing damage to sertoli cells and leydig cells in baby boys testes in utero. Those are the factories of masculinity that switch on in adolescence, causing things that we think of as masculine like, you know, facial hair or deep voices or broad shoulders or the ability to father a child. So, we don’t know if these poor baby boys, who aren’t even vaccinated, right – they’re just in the their mom’s stomach and their moms are vaccinated – whether those will be fertile men or even look like men when they grow up.

GR: Ah.

NW: Right – right? It’s a war on – it’s a war on gender, among other things, but it’s certainly a war on babies.

There’s horrific documents called “Pregnancy and Lactation Report,” it’s eight pages long. And it was produced in April of 2021 and it shows that Pfizer knew they – two babies died in utero. And Pfizer concluded that the deaths were due to maternal exposure to the vaccine. So, they knew they were killing babies. And instead of stopping, they kept going. And they also have this – they knew that they were causing babies to suffer and get really sick from nursing vaccinated moms because the mRNA and the spike protein in the lipid nanoparticles were getting into mom’s breast milk through the lymphatic system. So, they’ve got this chart showing these many thousands of babies are vomiting, these many thousands of babies have chills, you know, or fever. These many thousands have – their flesh is swelling, adema. You know, these babies have convulsions. One poor baby had multi-organ system failure and died in the ER from nursing his vaccinated mom – or her vaccinated mom. So, this set of nightmare outcomes for babies and moms got sent on April 20th to the White House and the CDC.

Three days later, Rochelle Walensky at the CDC gave a press conference, a White House press conference, stating to women that the vaccine was safe and effective for pregnancy. That there was no bad time to get vaccinated: before you’re pregnant, during your pregnancy, or after you have your baby. And she had this document showing how deadly it was.

There is another section of Pfizer documents that shows an 80 percent miscarriage or spontaneous abortion rate in vaccinated women. And there are now a million missing babies in Western Europe and in Western countries generally. Government databases show a dramatic drop in live birth.

GR: Yeah. Yeah, I don’t know if you have maybe one more, like, breaking story, because I want to move on before our deadline. But is there anything else before I just —

NW: Gosh, there’s so much. I mean I guess the other —

GR: Maybe give —

NW: — the other big – one more, sure. The other huge headline of the last few weeks is that – and it’s not in the Pfizer documents – Kevin McKernan of Medicinal Genomics broke this story. And so did someone named Josh Guetzkow who is in Israel. So, the injections turn out, so those Pfizer-Moderna, to have undisclosed plasmids and fragments of DNA in them. And that wasn’t disclosed to Health Canada. They have confirmed it wasn’t disclosed to the FDA. And it’s a result of mRNA is hard to grow at scale, for the giant amounts that they needed to inject everyone in the world. So, they cut corners by growing it in E. Coli, essentially using E. Coli to grow it, and this is a result. You know, this contamination is a result.

So, people are being injected with contaminated injections. And the way fragments of DNA and these plasmids react to your body is they can basically enter your cells and cause your body not to recognize or clear out invaders, and what that does is create turbo cancers according to Dr. Ryan Cole and other oncologists. So, I’m sure you’ve heard or people’s loved ones have heard or experienced healthy people being diagnosed with cancer in April, dead by November. These super fast-growing cancers. So, yeah, the whole roll out was contaminated.

GR: I’m just going to play a clip because I actually interviewed Peter Hotez who is said to be a successor of Fauci. I’ll just play a clip and, you know, as you to respond as you will:

GR: Pretty significant effects on pregnant women, the spontaneous abortions, miscarriages, and so on —

Peter Hotez: No. Again – again —

GR: Some fetal —

PH: No, no, this —

GR: — this was Pfizer.

PH: No, it’s not the case. This was carefully reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, again, which has an extraordinary track record of monitoring for safety and efficacy. They lifted the clinical trial data from, I think it was – I forget which one was 44 – I think it was 44 – 60,000 patients in the Pfizer study which is a pretty large study. Did not find those adverse effects. And in fact, now it’s been well documented. There was no link between mRNA vaccines and infertility or miscarriages. But I’ll tell you what there is a big link for: COVID-19 and pregnant women. We’ve lost many, many pregnant women to COVID-19 who did not get vaccinated, again, because of some of this weaponized communication that you are citing.

GR: So, yeah, basically – yeah, he’s saying that the FDA study didn’t and they didn’t see any problems with it. And then, he switched over to, ‘You got to get vaccinated,’ because Covid-19 could interrupt their pregnancies. Your response?

NW: I mean, Michael, that man is going straight to Hell! I mean, he is – no, I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say! Like, that’s evil of such immense proportions, because he is lying, he knows he’s lying! And he’s lying in a way that’s going to kill babies! And he doesn’t stop! I mean, what he said is just a lie!

First of all, no one knows the denominator in the Pfizer clinical trials. It’s not in the records. We know the adverse events, and there are over 42,000 adverse events in just three months. Second of all, there are two distinct places and we’ve issued multiple reports about this that have gotten tons of media that enumerate the dead babies and show – and Pfizer concluded that the babies died due to vaccine. So, how can – how can Hotez not know that?

And the last thing is: you know, our team has taken two years to issue 92 reports. The FDA gave themselves one week to go through the documentation, it’s 450,000 pages. So, they ensured that they would not see what they did not look for.

But, it’s just – it’s a lie, and it’s not only a lie from our data sets, it’s a lie from the VAERS database which is a government database, that is the FDA’s and his job and the CDC director’s job to monitor this signals more babies have been lost to the various databases in all for this vaccine, than all of the other vaccines combined, last I – last I was informed. There is a dramatic safety signal for pregnancy and childbirth. And also, look at government databases on who is being born. Something is killing babies in utero and it coincides with the roll out of the injection.

This man is just such a liar! The last thing I will say about his disgusting, horrible lies is: when he says – Oh, they always do this, it’s a talking point – Oh, whatever you may say about whatever side effects you may mention, that same side effect happens to be caused much worse by COVID. Well, among the most important findings in the Pfizer documents is that one month after roll out, in November of 2020, Pfizer concluded that the vaccines did not work to stop COVID! Pfizer’s language is, “Vaccine failure and failure of efficacy.” And in fact, in the Pfizer documents, the third most common side effect of getting vaccinated is COVID.

And in fact, if they didn’t use funny math to claim 95% effective, if they – they got to that math by removing 200 vaccinated infected people. If they had done the math honestly, Hotez would have to acknowledge that more people who were vaccinated got COVID than the unvaccinated arm of the trials.

So, it’s meaningless for him to claim that, you know, women could save themselves by getting vaccinated because Pfizer concluded the vaccines did not work to stop COVID.

GR: Yeah. Well, you are an established journalist and I’m wondering, were you surprised by the way your report was treated, you know, not just by Hotez but by the establishment of the health services, by mainstream press, and by government? And by the way, you yourself were treated?

NW: Well, I’m certainly surprised at how I myself was treated because it’s pretty shocking – and this is the subject of my new book Facing the Beast – it’s, among other subjects, it’s pretty shocking to be a journalist for 35 years, my beat being women’s sexual and reproductive health primarily, and among other things, civil liberties.

And to have the same news outlets that had employed me for 35 years to be a commentator turn on me overnight with the same language, you know: “Conspiracy theorist,” “crazy,” et cetera. Like, that beggar’s belief and seeing how my bio changed around the world overnight when I was de-platformed, that was hard to understand. Now we understand AI is deployed to, you know, smear people globally all at once. But, I can —

GR: If you step out of line on COVID, then they’ll put, you know, ‘He’s a conspiracy theorist,’ or ‘She’s a conspiracy theorist,’ —

NW: Totally.

GR: — in the first line.

NW: Totally. And now other issues like Ukraine or, you know, climate or, you know, whatever is sacred, designated sacred. Now we know that it was the White House that was directing that smear campaign.

But what happened to me is not nearly as important as what happened to women and human beings around the world as a result of these discussions being silenced, right? You know, in response to the other part of your question, while I’ve been attacked and dumped out of my previous life – and I actually found a much better life which I go into detail about it in Facing the Beast – you know, in the rest of America, right, outside the liberal media bubble, it is silence, right? Like, this is the biggest story whether you like what I’m saying or not, whether you think I’m right or not. Issues of the New York Times, the Washington Post, they should be engaging with this, right? Debunk it, right? Try to debunk it. I mean, you can’t, because all of the primary citations are right there embedded in the digital report, but like… that would be journalism, you know? Because this is the biggest story of our time. But it’s been silenced.

To my knowledge, I don’t know who brought up the miscarriages clip, they didn’t attribute it to us but, you know, they dealt with the massive amount of legacy media, governments, you know, some very rare exceptions have dealt with the massive amount of evidence we have found, that we presented, you know, in beautifully documented reports with silence.

GR: Yeah. I noticed in your book Facing the Beast, which I read very quickly, but you seem to – it’s a collection of essays, essentially relating how the last three years altered the way you perceive people around you. And I think the way you present it is it’s like these three years were painful as Hell. But at the same time, it sort of transformed your way of perceiving things and people. I mean, maybe I could ask you, like, you know, as a collection, how – what’s the most important remark on all of these changes in the single book?

NW: Most important remark? I guess the most important is that I concluded that we’re in a non-human, non-normal period of history. I mean, it’s not normal human history, is a better way to say it.

Starting in 2020, something happened on the planet that I can’t explain using my normal, rigorous, highly educated analytical tools. It doesn’t look like history as long as it’s been recorded by human beings. And what I mean is: usually, always, when there is a tyrant, would-be tyrant, there are factions, there is dissent, there is backstabbing, there are people who don’t go along with it. Things fall apart. The Nazis didn’t figure, you know, think well in advanced about how cold the Russian winter was. Like, there is some human error. But what we saw since 2020 was no – like almost complete lockstep of evil, all over the same sound bites around the world. So, for me, I’m not asking anyone to believe this, I’m not proselytizing, but for me personally, I had to conclude that there is something spiritual going on, and that the political landscape, the material landscape is a symptom of what is really a battle between good and evil. Really a battle for the human soul and for humanity and this is kind of a time of a test, testing, you know, for human beings.

GR: Wow. Naomi, much of my recent reporting is focused on the possibility of a second pandemic, you know, potentially even worse than the first. Do you think that, well, between your book and speaking quietly now on the independent media margins will do enough to fend off yet another round of health, you know, enforcers and legacy media pounding into people’s skulls to get vaccinated and, you know, distance and lockdowns and all the rest of it?

NW: No. I mean, I, you know, I do everything I can, but I’m still gigantically cancelled and continually more cancelled. Like, Naomi Klein wrote a whole book trying to cancel me and then I found out that Pharma was sending millions of dollars in the direction of her husband and his extended family.

No, but I do think that there is a resistance, you know, in the United States, in Canada, in the West. And a lot of people are determined not to be fooled again. And you know, look at the studies, people don’t trust legacy media anymore. So, for sure they’re going to try it, you know, they’re already trying it. You know, the fear messaging about the white lung disease, which the dissident doctors I’ve interviewed think it’s due to the vaccines and the masking or made worse by it. And kids having not had normal immune exposure because of all the isolation and lockdowns. They’re going to try it. I hope and pray that people won’t go for it, but it just literally is country-by-country, state-by-state.

For instance, I’m in New York state. Our governor keeps trying to establish quarantine camps and she succeeded in defeating an appeal against quarantine camps. In Australia, people live in fear, you know. Their democracy is crushed. Canada is a catastrophe as you probably know. You know, people can have their bank accounts switched off. The truckers had their bank accounts switched off. You know, Central Bank Digital Currency is coming, the digital ID is coming. So, these people are not done with us by a long shot.

But I do think if enough people resist, it’ll be very difficult to implement.

GR: Naomi, thank you very much. I have appreciated speaking to you again and best wishes to you in the future.

NW: Thank you so much. I appreciate it as well. Take care. Bye.


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 .

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Notes:

  1. Alan Johnson (September 23, 2023), ‘Disease X on the way and experts fear it will kill more people than Covid pandemic’, The Mirror; https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/disease-x-way-experts-fear-31009551
  2. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/18/bill-gates-covid-risks-have-reduced-but-another-pandemic-will-come.html
  3. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/safety-of-vaccines.html
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-departments/addressing-vaccine-misinformation.html

Facing the Beast: Courage, Faith, and Resistance in a New Dark Age Paperback – November 9, 2023

First published by Global Research on November 5, 2020

Introduction: using a technique to lock down society

All current propaganda on the COVID-19 pandemic is based on an assumption that is considered obvious, true and no longer questioned:

Positive RT-PCR test means being sick with COVID. This assumption is misleading.

Very few people, including doctors, understand how a PCR test works.

RT-PCR means Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction.

In French, it means: Réaction de Polymérisation en Chaîne en Temps Réel.

In medicine, we use this tool mainly to diagnose a viral infection.

Starting from a clinical situation with the presence or absence of particular symptoms in a patient, we consider different diagnoses based on tests.

In the case of certain infections, particularly viral infections, we use the RT-PCR technique to confirm a diagnostic hypothesis suggested by a clinical picture.

We do not routinely perform RT-PCR on any patient who is overheated, coughing or has an inflammatory syndrome!

It is a laboratory, molecular biology technique of gene amplification because it looks for gene traces (DNA or RNA) by amplifying them.

In addition to medicine, other fields of application are genetics, research, industry and forensics.

The technique is carried out in a specialized laboratory, it cannot be done in any laboratory, even a hospital. This entails a certain cost, and a delay sometimes of several days between the sample and the result.

Today, since the emergence of the new disease called COVID-19 (COrona VIrus Disease-2019), the RT-PCR diagnostic technique is used to define positive cases, confirmed as SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus responsible for the new acute respiratory distress syndrome called COVID-19).

These positive cases are assimilated to COVID-19 cases, some of whom are hospitalized or even admitted to intensive care units.

Official postulate of our managers: positive RT-PCR cases = COVID-19 patients. [1]

This is the starting postulate, the premise of all official propaganda, which justifies all restrictive government measures: isolation, confinement, quarantine, mandatory masks, color codes by country and travel bans, tracking, social distances in companies, stores and even, even more importantly, in schools [2].

This misuse of RT-PCR technique is used as a relentless and intentional strategy by some governments, supported by scientific safety councils and by the dominant media, to justify excessive measures such as the violation of a large number of constitutional rights, the destruction of the economy with the bankruptcy of entire active sectors of society, the degradation of living conditions for a large number of ordinary citizens, under the pretext of a pandemic based on a number of positive RT-PCR tests, and not on a real number of patients.

Technical aspects: to better understand and not be manipulated

The PCR technique was developed by chemist Kary B. Mullis in 1986. Kary Mullis was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993.

Although this is disputed [3], Kary Mullis himself is said to have criticized the interest of PCR as a diagnostic tool for an infection, especially a viral one.

He stated that if PCR was a good tool for research, it was a very bad tool in medicine, in the clinic [4].

Mullis was referring to the AIDS virus (HIV retrovirus or HIV) [5], before the COVID-19 pandemic, but this opinion on the limitation of the technique in viral infections [6], by its creator, cannot be dismissed out of hand; it must be taken into account!

PCR was perfected in 1992.

As the analysis can be performed in real time, continuously, it becomes RT (Real-Time) – PCR, even more efficient.

It can be done from any molecule, including those of the living, the nucleic acids that make up the genes:

  • DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
  • RNA (Ribonucleic Acid)

Viruses are not considered as “living” beings, they are packets of information (DNA or RNA) forming a genome.

It is by an amplification technique (multiplication) that the molecule sought is highlighted and this point is very important.

RT-PCR is an amplification technique [7].

If there is DNA or RNA of the desired element in a sample, it is not identifiable as such.

This DNA or RNA must be amplified (multiplied) a certain number of times, sometimes a very large number of times, before it can be detected. From a minute trace, up to billions of copies of a specific sample can be obtained, but this does not mean that there is all that amount in the organism being tested.

In the case of COVID-19, the element sought by RT-PCR is SARS-CoV-2, an RNA virus [8].

There are DNA viruses such as Herpes and Varicella viruses.

The most well known RNA viruses, in addition to coronaviruses, are Influenza, Measles, EBOLA, ZIKA viruses.

In the case of SARS-CoV-2, RNA virus, an additional specific step is required, a transcription of RNA into DNA by means of an enzyme, Reverse Transcriptase.

This step precedes the amplification phase.

It is not the whole virus that is identified, but sequences of its viral genome.

This does not mean that this gene sequence, a fragment of the virus, is not specific to the virus being sought, but it is an important nuance nonetheless:

RT-PCR does not reveal any virus, but only parts, specific gene sequences of the virus.

At the beginning of the year, the SARS-CoV-2 genome was sequenced.

It consists of about 30,000 base pairs. The nucleic acid (DNA-RNA), the component of the genes, is a sequence of bases. In comparison, the human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs.

Teams are continuously monitoring the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 viral genome as it evolves [9-10-11], through the mutations it undergoes. Today, there are many variants [12].

By taking a few specific genes from the SARS-CoV-2 genome, it is possible to initiate RT-PCR on a sample from the respiratory tract.

For COVID-19 disease, which has a nasopharyngeal (nose) and oropharyngeal (mouth) entry point, the sample should be taken from the upper respiratory tract as deeply as possible in order to avoid contamination by saliva in particular.

ll the people tested said that it is very painful [13].

The Gold Standard (preferred site for sampling) is the nasopharyngeal (nasal) approach, the most painful route.

If there is a contraindication to the nasal approach, or preferably to the individual being tested, depending on the official organs, the oropharyngeal approach (through the mouth) is also acceptable. The test may trigger a nausea/vomiting reflex in the individual being tested.

Normally, for the result of an RT-PCR test to be considered reliable, amplification from 3 different genes (primers) of the virus under investigation is required.

“The primers are single-stranded DNA sequences specific to the virus. They guarantee the specificity of the amplification reaction. » [14]

“The first test developed at La Charité in Berlin by Dr. Victor Corman and his associates in January 2020 allows to highlight the RNA sequences present in 3 genes of the virus called E, RdRp and N. To know if the sequences of these genes are present in the RNA samples collected, it is necessary to amplify the sequences of these 3 genes in order to obtain a signal sufficient for their detection and quantification. »[15].

The essential notion of Cycle Time or Cycle Threshold or Ct positivity threshold [16].

An RT-PCR test is negative (no traces of the desired element) or positive (presence of traces of the desired element).

However, even if the desired element is present in a minute, negligible quantity, the principle of RT-PCR is to be able to finally highlight it by continuing the amplification cycles as much as necessary.

RT-PCR can push up to 60 amplification cycles, or even more!

Here is how it works:

Cycle 1: target x 2 (2 copies)

Cycle 2: target x 4 (4 copies)

Cycle 3: target x 8 (8 copies)

Cycle 4: target x 16 (16 copies)

Cycle 5; target x 32 (32 copies)

Etc exponentially up to 40 to 60 cycles!

When we say that the Ct (Cycle Time or Cycle Threshold or RT-PCR positivity threshold) is equal to 40, it means that the laboratory has used 40 amplification cycles, i.e. obtained 240 copies.

This is what underlies the sensitivity of the RT-PCR assay.

While it is true that in medicine we like to have high specificity and sensitivity of the tests to avoid false positives and false negatives, in the case of COVID-19 disease, this hypersensitivity of the RT-PCR test caused by the number of amplification cycles used has backfired.

This over-sensitivity of the RT-PCR test is deleterious and misleading!

It detaches us from the medical reality which must remain based on the real clinical state of the person: is the person ill, does he or she have symptoms?

That is the most important thing!

As I said at the beginning of the article, in medicine we always start from the person: we examine him/her, we collect his/her symptoms (complaints-anamnesis) and objective clinical signs (examination) and on the basis of a clinical reflection in which scientific knowledge and experience intervene, we make diagnostic hypotheses.

Only then do we prescribe the most appropriate tests, based on this clinical reflection.

We constantly compare the test results with the patient’s clinical condition (symptoms and signs), which takes precedence over everything else when it comes to our decisions and treatments.

Today, our governments, supported by their scientific safety advice, are making us do the opposite and put the test first, followed by a clinical reflection necessarily influenced by this prior test, whose weaknesses we have just seen, particularly its hypersensitivity.

None of my clinical colleagues can contradict me.

Apart from very special cases such as genetic screening for certain categories of populations (age groups, sex) and certain cancers or family genetic diseases, we always work in this direction: from the person (symptoms, signs) to the appropriate tests, never the other way around.

This is the conclusion of an article in the Swiss Medical Journal (RMS) published in 2007, written by doctors Katia Jaton and Gilbert Greub microbiologists from the University of Lausanne :

PCR in microbiology: from DNA amplification to result interpretation:

“To interpret the result of a PCR, it is essential that clinicians and microbiologists share their experiences, so that the analytical and clinical levels of interpretation can be combined.”

It would be indefensible to give everyone an electrocardiogram to screen everyone who might have a heart attack one day.

On the other hand, in certain clinical contexts or on the basis of specific evocative symptoms, there, yes, an electrocardiogram can be beneficial.

Back to RT-PCR and Ct (Cycle Time or Cycle Threshold).

In the case of an infectious disease, especially a viral one, the notion of contagiousness is another important element.

Since some scientific circles consider that an asymptomatic person can transmit the virus, they believe it is important to test for the presence of virus, even if the person is asymptomatic, thus extending the indication of RT-PCR to everyone.

Are RT-PCR tests good tests for contagiousness? [17]

This question brings us back to the notion of viral load and therefore Ct.

The relationship between contagiousness and viral load is disputed by some people [18] and no formal proof, to date, allows us to make a decision.

However, common sense gives obvious credence to the notion that the more virus a person has inside him or her, especially in the upper airways (oropharynx and nasopharynx), with symptoms such as coughing and sneezing, the higher the risk of contagiousness, proportional to the viral load and the importance of the person’s symptoms.

This is called common sense, and although modern medicine has benefited greatly from the contribution of science through statistics and Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM), it is still based primarily on common sense, experience and empiricism.

Medicine is the art of healing.

No test measures the amount of virus in the sample!

RT-PCR is qualitative: positive (presence of the virus) or negative (absence of the virus).

This notion of quantity, therefore of viral load, can be estimated indirectly by the number of amplification cycles (Ct) used to highlight the virus sought.

The lower the Ct used to detect the virus fragment, the higher the viral load is considered to be (high).

The higher the Ct used to detect the virus fragment, the lower the viral load is considered to be (low).

Thus, the French National Reference Centre (CNR), in the acute phase of the pandemic, estimated that the peak of viral shedding occurred at the onset of symptoms, with an amount of virus corresponding to approximately 108 (100 million) copies of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA on average (French COVID-19 cohort data) with a variable duration of shedding in the upper airways (from 5 days to more than 5 weeks) [19].

This number of 108 (100 million) copies/μl corresponds to a very low Ct.

A Ct of 32 corresponds to 10-15 copies/μl.

A Ct of 35 corresponds to about 1 copy/μl.

Above Ct 35, it becomes impossible to isolate a complete virus sequence and culture it!

In France and in most countries, Ct levels above 35, even 40, are still used even today!

The French Society of Microbiology (SFM) issued an opinion on September 25, 2020 in which it does not recommend quantitative results, and it recommends to make positive up to a Ct of 37 for a single gene [20]!

With 1 copy/μl of a sample (Ct 35), without cough, without symptoms, one can understand why all these doctors and scientists say that a positive RT-PCR test means nothing, nothing at all in terms of medicine and clinic!

Positive RT-PCR tests, without any mention of Ct or its relation to the presence or absence of symptoms, are used as is by our governments as the exclusive argument to apply and justify their policy of severity, austerity, isolation and aggression of our freedoms, with the impossibility to travel, to meet, to live normally!

There is no medical justification for these decisions, for these governmental choices!

In an article published on the website of the New York Times (NYT) on Saturday, August 29, American experts from Harvard University are surprised that RT-PCR tests as practiced can serve as tests of contagiousness, even more so as evidence of pandemic progression in the case of SARS-CoV-2 infection [21].

According to them, the threshold (Ct) considered results in positive diagnoses in people who do not represent any risk of transmitting the virus!

The binary “yes/no” answer is not enough, according to this epidemiologist from the Harvard University School of Public Health.

“It’s the amount of virus that should dictate the course of action for each patient tested. »

The amount of virus (viral load); but also and above all the clinical state, symptomatic or not of the person!

This calls into question the use of the binary result of this RT-PCR test to determine whether a person is contagious and must follow strict isolation measures.

These questions are being raised by many physicians around the world, not only in the United States but also in France, Belgium (Belgium Health Experts Demand Investigation Of WHO For Faking Coronavirus Pandemic), France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and the United Kingdom. in Germany, Spain…

According to them: “We are going to put tens of thousands of people in confinement, in isolation, for nothing. » [22]. 22] And inflict suffering, anguish, economic and psychological dramas by the thousands!

Most RT-PCR tests set the Ct at 40, according to the NYT. Some set it at 37.

“Tests with such high thresholds (Ct) may not only detect live virus but also gene fragments, remnants of an old infection that do not represent any particular danger,” the experts said.

A virologist at the University of California admits that an RT-PCR test with a Ct greater than 35 is too sensitive. “A more reasonable threshold would be between 30 and 35,” she adds.

Almost no laboratory specifies the Ct (number of amplification cycles performed) or the number of copies of viral RNA per sample μl.

Here is an example of a laboratory result (approved by Sciensano, the Belgian national reference center) in an RT-PCR negative patient:

No mention of Ct.

In the NYT, experts compiled three datasets with officials from the states of Massachusetts, New York and Nevada that mention them.

Conclusion?

Up to 90% of the people who tested positive did not carry a virus. »

The Wadworth Center, a New York State laboratory, analyzed the results of its July tests at the request of the NYT: 794 positive tests with a Ct of 40.

With a Ct threshold of 35, approximately half of these PCR tests would no longer be considered positive,” said the NYT.

“And about 70% would no longer be considered positive with a Ct of 30! “

In Massachusetts, between 85 and 90% of people who tested positive in July with a Ct of 40 would have been considered negative with a Ct of 30, adds the NYT. And yet, all these people had to isolate themselves, with all the dramatic psychological and economic consequences, while they were not sick and probably not contagious at all.

In France, the Centre National de Référence (CNR), the French Society of Microbiology (SFM) continue to push Ct to 37 and recommend to laboratories to use only one gene of the virus as a primer.

I remind you that from Ct 32 onwards, it becomes very difficult to culture the virus or to extract a complete sequence, which shows the completely artificial nature of this positivity of the test, with such high Ct levels, above 30.

Similar results were reported by researchers from the UK Public Health Agency in an article published on August 13 in Eurosurveillance: “The probability of culturing the virus drops to 8% in samples with Ct levels above 35.” [23]

In addition, currently, the National Reference Center in France only evaluates the sensitivity of commercially available reagent kits, not their specificity: serious doubts persist about the possibility of cross-reactivity with viruses other than SARS-CoV-2, such as other benign cold coronaviruses. [20]

It is potentially the same situation in other countries, including Belgium.

Similarly, mutations in the virus may have invalidated certain primers (genes) used to detect SARS-CoV-2: the manufacturers give no guarantees on this, and if the AFP fast-checking journalists tell you otherwise, test their good faith by asking for these guarantees, these proofs.

If they have nothing to hide and if what I say is false, this guarantee will be provided to you and will prove their good faith.

  1. We must demand that the RT-PCR results be returned mentioning the Ct used because beyond Ct 30, a positive RT-PCR test means nothing.
  2. We must listen to the scientists and doctors, specialists, virologists who recommend the use of adapted Ct, lower, at 30. An alternative is to obtain the number of copies of viral RNA/μl or /ml sample. [23]
  3. We need to go back to the patient, to the person, to his or her clinical condition (presence or absence of symptoms) and from there to judge the appropriateness of testing and the best way to interpret the result.

Until there is a better rationale for PCR screening, with a known and appropriate Ct threshold, an asymptomatic person should not be tested in any way.

Even a symptomatic person should not automatically be tested, as long as they can place themselves in isolation for 7 days.

Let’s stop this debauchery of RT-PCR testing at too high Ct levels and return to clinical, quality medicine.

Once we understand how RT-PCR testing works, it becomes impossible to let the current government routine screening strategy, inexplicably supported by the virologists in the safety councils, continue.

My hope is that, finally, properly informed, more and more people will demand that this strategy be stopped, because it is all of us, enlightened, guided by real benevolence and common sense, who must decide our collective and individual destinies.

No one else should do it for us, especially when we realize that those who decide are no longer reasonable or rational.

Summary of important points :

  • The RT-PCR test is a laboratory diagnostic technique that is not well suited to clinical medicine.
  • It is a binary, qualitative diagnostic technique that confirms (positive test) or not (negative test) the presence of an element in the medium being analyzed. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the element is a fragment of the viral genome, not the virus itself.
  • In medicine, even in an epidemic or pandemic situation, it is dangerous to place tests, examinations, techniques above clinical evaluation (symptoms, signs). It is the opposite that guarantees quality medicine.
  • The main limitation (weakness) of the RT-PCR test, in the current pandemic situation, is its extreme sensitivity (false positive) if a suitable threshold of positivity (Ct) is not chosen. Today, experts recommend using a maximum Ct threshold of 30.
  • This Ct threshold must be informed with the positive RT-PCR result so that the physician knows how to interpret this positive result, especially in an asymptomatic person, in order to avoid unnecessary isolation, quarantine, psychological trauma.
  • In addition to mentioning the Ct used, laboratories must continue to ensure the specificity of their detection kits for SARS-CoV-2, taking into account its most recent mutations, and must continue to use three genes from the viral genome being studied as primers or, if not, mention it.

 

Overall Conclusion

Is the obstinacy of governments to use the current disastrous strategy, systematic screening by RT-PCR, due to ignorance?

Is it due to stupidity?

To a kind of cognitive trap trapping their ego?

In any case, we should be able to question them, and if among the readers of this article there are still honest journalists, or naive politicians, or people who have the possibility to question our rulers, then do so, using these clear and scientific arguments.

It is all the more incomprehensible that our rulers have surrounded themselves with some of the most experienced specialists in these matters.

If I have been able to gather this information myself, shared, I remind you, by competent people above all suspicion of conspiracy, such as Hélène Banoun, Pierre Sonigo, Jean-François Toussaint, Christophe De Brouwer, whose intelligence, intellectual honesty and legitimacy cannot be questioned, then the Belgian, French and Quebec scientific advisors, etc., know all this as well.

So?

What’s going on?

Why continue in this distorted direction, obstinately making mistakes?

It is not insignificant to reimpose confinements, curfews, quarantines, reduced social bubbles, to shake up again our shaky economies, to plunge entire families into precariousness, to sow so much fear and anxiety generating a real state of post-traumatic stress worldwide, to reduce access to care for other pathologies that nevertheless reduce life expectancy much more than COVID-19! [24]

Is there intent to harm?

Is there an intention to use the alibi of a pandemic to move humanity towards an outcome it would otherwise never have accepted? In any case, not like that!

Would this hypothesis, which modern censors will hasten to label “conspiracy”, be the most valid explanation for all this?

Indeed, if we draw a straight line from the present events, if they are maintained, we could find ourselves once again confined with hundreds, thousands of human beings forced to remain inactive, which, for the professions of catering, entertainment, sales, fairgrounds, itinerants, canvassers, risks being catastrophic with bankruptcies, unemployment, depression, suicides by the hundreds of thousands. [25-26-27-28]

The impact on education, on our children, on teaching, on medicine with long planned care, operations, treatments to be cancelled, postponed, will be profound and destructive.

“We risk a looming food crisis if action is not taken quickly.”  [29].

It is time for everyone to come out of this negative trance, this collective hysteria, because famine, poverty, massive unemployment will kill, mow down many more people than SARS-CoV-2!

Does all this make sense in the face of a disease that is declining, over-diagnosed and misinterpreted by this misuse of overly sensitively calibrated PCR tests?

For many, the continuous wearing of the mask seems to have become a new norm.

Even if it is constantly downplayed by some health professionals and fact-checking journalists, other doctors warn of the harmful consequences, both medical and psychological, of this hygienic obsession which, maintained permanently, is in fact an abnormality!

What a hindrance to social relations, which are the true foundation of a physically and psychologically healthy humanity!

Some dare to find all this normal, or a lesser price to pay in the face of the pandemic of positive PCR tests.

Isolation, distancing, masking of the face, impoverishment of emotional communication, fear of touching and kissing even within families, communities, between relatives…

Spontaneous gestures of daily life hindered and replaced by mechanical and controlled gestures …

Terrified children, kept in permanent fear and guilt…

All this will have a deep, lasting and negative impact on human organisms, in their physical, mental, emotional and representation of the world and society.

This is not normal!

We cannot let our rulers, for whatever reason, organize our collective suicide any longer.

Translated from French by Global Research. Original source: Mondialisation.ca

Dr Pascal Sacré is a physician specialized in critical care, author and renowned public health analyst, Charleroi, Belgium. He is a Research Associate of the  entre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

****

Professionals whose references and comments are the basis of this article in its scientific aspect (especially and mainly on RT-PCR):

1) Hélène Banoun

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Helene_Banoun

PhD, Pharmacist biologist

Former INSERM Research Officer

Former intern at the Paris Hospitals

2) Pierre Sonigo

Virologist

Research Director INSERM, worked at the Pasteur Institute

Heads the Virus Genetics Laboratory in Cochin, Paris.

Participated in 1985 in the sequencing of the AIDS virus.

3) Christophe De Brouwer

PhD in Public Health Science

Honorary Professor at the School of Public Health at ULB, Belgium

4) Jean-François Toussaint

Doctor, Professor of Physiology at the University of Paris-Descartes

Director of IRMES, Institute for BioMedical Research and Sports Epidemiology

Former member of the High Council of Public Health

***

Notes (French)

[1] “Une nette augmentation du nombre de cas dans toutes les provinces et toutes les tranches d’âge”, 7sur7 ACTU Belgique, 5-10-2020

[2] Le gouvernement belge renforce des mesures anti-Covid, VRT.be ; 6 octobre 2020.

[3] Non, l’inventeur du test PCR n’a pas dit que sa méthode était inefficace pour détecter les virus, dans Le Monde, 7 octobre 2020

[4] Kary Mullis : « Le test PCR ne permet pas de savoir si vous êtes malade », vidéo accessible sur YouTube, 9 octobre 2020.

[5] https://www.weblyf.com/2020/05/coronavirus-the-truth-about-pcr-test-kit-from-the-inventor-and-other-experts/ 

[6] « The Truth about PCR Test Kit from the Inventor and Other Experts »

[7] PCR en microbiologie : de l’amplification de l’ADN à l’interprétation du résultat 

[8] COVID : La PCR nasale peut-elle mentir ?, Dr Pascal Sacré, AIMSIB, 30 août 2020.

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaAcSJI0oMs&feature=youtu.be, 8 octobre 2020. Évolution génomique des virus ARN à l’Institut Pasteur, environ la moitié des nucléotides sont susceptibles d’avoir muté sur les 30 000 nucléotides de l’ARN viral. « Pour l’instant aucune mutation ou délétion n’a été associée à une perte de sévérité de la maladie sur une grande échelle géographique mais de nombreuses publications devraient bientôt préciser ces points. »

[10] https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FD_Raoult_SARS-CoV-2_EID_Sep2020_vL2.pdf, Article IHU-Méditerranée, Professeur D. Raoult, Dramatic increase in the SARS-CoV-2 mutation rate and low mortality rate during the second epidemic in summer in Marseille, 7 septembre 2020

Conclusions :

Dans l’ensemble, comme l’ont récemment souligné Tomaszewski et al. (7) qui ont décrit pour les génomes viraux disponibles jusqu’en mai 2020 un déplacement mutationnel sur la spike et le complexe de réplication vers des gènes codant pour d’autres protéines non structurelles qui interagissent avec les voies de défense de l’hôte, il semble que le taux de mutation du SARS-CoV-2 s’accélère depuis mai, impliquant principalement des mutations C vers U. L’augmentation du taux de mutation du SRAS-CoV-2 génère des génotypes viraux plus éloignés de la souche Wuhan initiale que ceux observés de mars à avril. Cela semble entraîner des épidémies de durée limitée, du moins pour le premier nouveau génotype que nous avons identifié, et est associé à une gravité globalement moindre à ce stade du développement de cette nouvelle épidémie.

Mutations observed in these seven different viral genotypes are located in most SARS- CoV-2 genes including structural and non-structural genes among which nsp2, nsp3 (predicted phosphoesterase), nsp5 (membrane glycoprotein), nsp12 (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase), S (Spike glycoprotein), ORF3a, E (membrane glycoprotein), M (membrane glycoprotein), ORF8 and N (Nucleocapsid phosphoprotein).

[11] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Helene_Banoun Evolution of SARS-CoV-2: Review of mutations, role of the host immune system, octobre 2020, mise à jour par Hélène Banoun, 

PhD, Pharmacien biologiste, ancien Chargé de Recherches INSERM, ancien Interne des Hôpitaux de Paris.

[12] https://nextstrain.org/, We are incorporating SARS-CoV-2 genomes as soon as they are shared and providing analyses and situation reports. In addition we have developed a number of resources and tools, and are facilitating independent groups to run their own analysis. Please see the main SARS-CoV-2 page for more.

[13] Tutoriel prélèvement nasopharyngé : Un geste technique, essentiel à la fiabilité du test COVID-19 

[14] Covid-19 : comment fonctionnent les tests et quelles sont leurs utilités ?

[15] COMMENT FONCTIONNENT LES TESTS DE DÉPISTAGE DU COVID-19 ? 7 avril 2020, Laboratoire de biologie et pharmacologie appliquée (LBPA), Clémence Richetta, maître de conférences au département biologie de l’ENS Paris-Saclay et chercheuse en virologie au LBPA : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNVDHCf8bGA 

Independent researcher, PhD 9 

Former research fellow at INSERM (French Institute for Health and Medical Research) 

[16] Par Pierre Sonigo, virologiste (un des découvreurs du VIH), MD PhD, CSO at Sebia, clinical diagnostics

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/diagnostic-du-covid19-comprendre-les-tests-pcr-leur-et-pierre-sonigo/?trackingId=pTYxDkpvRzKHWZwCzxSIag%3D%3D

Diagnostic du COVID19 : comprendre les tests PCR, leur interprétation et leurs limites, publié le 16 septembre 2020

La PCR utilise un principe très particulier : la cible du test, un fragment d’ARN viral, est massivement amplifiée afin de permettre sa détection. Au cours de l’analyse, une réaction enzymatique associée à des « cycles » de variation de température permet une série de « réplications » successives de l’acide nucléique cible. Chaque cycle correspond à une multiplication théorique de la cible par 2. On multiplie donc par 2 en un cycle, par 4 en 2 cycles, par 8 en 3 cycles, par 16 en 4 cycles, et ainsi de suite de manière exponentielle. A l’heure actuelle, l’amplification est généralement pratiquée sur 40 cycles, soit une amplification théorique de 2^40, environ mille milliards de fois ! En réalité, la réplication n’est pas efficace à 100%, mais la cible est amplifiée environ un million de fois, ce qui permet de détecter moins d’une dizaine de fragments d’ARN dans le volume analysé.

Lorsque l’acide nucléique viral est détectable après un petit nombre de cycles, cela signifie que la quantité de virus dans l’échantillon de départ est grande. Au contraire, lorsqu’il faut un grand nombre de cycles de réplication pour détecter l’ARN viral, cela signifie que l’échantillon de départ contient une quantité de virus très faible. On parle alors en nombre de cycles, ou Ct, qui signifie « cycle time », pour définir, au moins de façon semi quantitative, la quantité d’ARN présent dans l’échantillon de départ. Ainsi, un petit Ct correspond à un grand nombre de copies, un grand Ct à un petit nombre de copies.

Cette spectaculaire sensibilité n’est pas sans inconvénient et nécessite des précautions particulières. En effet, un échantillon positif amplifié un million de fois contient une très haute concentration de cible et le risque qu’il contamine (carry over) d’autres échantillons est particulièrement élevé. La saturation des laboratoires peut encore accroître ce risque et générer des faux positifs accidentels. Dans ces conditions, il est important que les résultats positifs soient confirmés par un second test, à plus forte raison lorsqu’un test positif présente des conséquences significatives, qu’elles soient médicales, professionnelles ou liées à l’obligation d’isolement.

La deuxième question importante concernant la PCR, une fois encore conséquence de sa spectaculaire sensibilité, est celle de sa signification clinique. Un sujet parfaitement asymptomatique présentant une PCR positive ne peut être qualifié de « malade », comme on le lit dans les médias qui rapportent la progression de l’épidémie ! Peut-on même parler de « cas » ? C’est pourtant le terme utilisé dans les dénombrements officiels. Ne sommes-nous pas en train d’oublier le patient pour se focaliser sur la technologie ? Est-ce une épidémie d’ARN dans des tubes que nous surveillons ou une maladie grave et potentiellement mortelle ?

Des publications récentes soulignent que la dose détectable par PCR est inférieure à la dose infectieuse ou contagieuse : aucun virus infectieux n’a pu être retrouvé chez les patients asymptomatiques présentant des tests PCR positifs avec un Ct élevé. Suite à ces résultats, la question du seuil de Ct qui permet de déclarer un échantillon positif est débattue. Peut-on rendre un résultat négatif chez un sujet asymptomatique dont la positivité apparaît au-delà de 35 cycles ? A défaut, est-il utile de retester ces échantillons ? Comme souvent en matière de diagnostic médical, lorsqu’un seuil de positivité est déterminé, faut-il privilégier la sensibilité ou la spécificité du test ?

De plus, un échantillon confirmé positif d’un point de vue analytique reste un faux positif du point de vue de la clinique, si la personne testée est en parfaite santé, parfois même prêt à affronter une compétition de tennis ou de football professionnels ! La question devient uniquement celle de sa potentielle contagiosité. C’est la question de la transmission éventuelle par des sujets asymptomatiques, qui sans être eux-mêmes en danger, pourraient en représenter un pour les autres.

Par rapport à cette question, il est important de raisonner quantitativement. La virologie, ce n’est pas du tout ou rien. De manière générale, au cours des infections virales aiguës, le risque de contagion et la gravité de l’infection varient en fonction de la quantité de virus présents dans l’organisme et de leur excrétion dans le milieu extérieur. Quelques copies de virus tapis dans les sinus n’ont pas la dangerosité d’un million projetés par la toux. Un sujet asymptomatique produit moins de virus qu’un sujet symptomatique et les sécrète moins vers l’extérieur. La quantité de virus produite et donc le risque de contagion sont corrélés à la gravité des symptômes. Même si elle n’est pas de zéro, le risque de transmission est donc vraisemblablement faible pour un sujet asymptomatique. Malheureusement, répéter sans cesse que la contagion venant d’un sujet parfaitement asymptomatique est possible sans aucune précision sur le niveau de risque pousse à prendre des mesures disproportionnées avec le risque.

De même, la stratégie « dépister-isoler » n’est pas réaliste lorsque le dépistage n’est pas suffisamment fiable et surtout lorsque le virus est déjà largement répandu dans la population. Il est bien trop tard pour appliquer une méthode conçue pour bloquer une épidémie à sa naissance. Comme pour une invasion de coccinelles ou de frelons, on ne peut stopper un virus qui est déjà partout avec une passoire trouée à 25% et bouchée par endroits. L’échec de la stratégie actuelle est plutôt lié à sa conception naïve et inapplicable qu’aux mauvais comportements des citoyens. 

Si, comme on l’observe en ce moment, la diffusion virale reprend, faut-il dépister plus massivement ou revoir la stratégie de protection de la population ?

Cette question ne relève pas de la science. Elle dépend des risques acceptables par un individu ou par un groupe. Si on est dans la recherche du risque minimal, proche de zéro, parce que le risque n’a pas été quantifié, ou pour des raisons de responsabilité juridique, on doit prendre les précautions maximales. Si on accepte un risque même faible, on peut reprendre certaines libertés et protéger ceux qui en ont réellement besoin. 

Le scientifique doit mesurer la grandeur des risques et ne pas se contenter d’affirmer qu’un événement adverse est « possible ». Mais ce n’est pas son rôle de décider si ces risques peuvent être pris par autrui.

Les tests PCR permettent une détection extrêmement sensible de l’ARN viral. Ils sont indispensables mais ne sont pas la solution ultime et unique qui permettra de contrôler l’épidémie et de gérer efficacement les risques de contagion. Appliquée lorsque le virus est largement disséminé dans la population, la stratégie « dépister isoler » est vouée à l’échec. Du fait de la sensibilité très élevée et des limites de leur spécificité, les tests PCR doivent être pratiqués et interprétés avec précaution, et comme toujours en lien avec le contexte clinique et épidémiologique. N’oublions pas qu’un sujet asymptomatique doit plutôt être considéré comme immunisé que comme malade.

[17] Les tests RT-PCR du Covid-19 se révèlent être de très mauvais tests de contagiosité, Xavier Boisinet, mis à jour le 3/9/2020.

[18] De nombreuses publications partagées des milliers de fois sur les réseaux sociaux en quelques jours affirment que « 90% » des personnes déclarées positives au Covid-19 ont en fait des charges virales trop basses pour être « malades » ou « contagieuses ». C’est faux.

[19] Mise au point du CNR sur la réalisation des prélèvements et la sensibilité des tests RT-PCR pour la détection du SARS-CoV-2, 9 mai 2020

[20] Avis du 25 septembre 2020 de la Société Française de Microbiologie (SFM) relatif à l’interprétation de la valeur de Ct (estimation de la charge virale) obtenue en cas de RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 positive sur les prélèvements cliniques réalisés à des fins diagnostiques ou de dépistage, 25 septembre 2020

[21] Coronavirus – Les tests PCR inadaptés contre l’épidémie? « Jusqu’à 90% de personnes testées ne seraient pas contagieuses », basé sur une étude d’une équipe de Harvard ( Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health) de Michael Mina, département d’épidémiologie, je vous mets en fichier joint le PDF correspondant, une étude, reprise par le NY Times :

« Pour eux, la limite du test PCR (prélèvement par voie nasale ou salivaire) réside dans la brutalité et la simplicité du résultat qu’il donne. La personne est soit positive, soit négative. Pas plus de renseignement, notamment sur la contagiosité du malade.

Or, les scientifiques d’Harvard soulèvent le problème de la quantité de virus que ce test PCR ne donne pas et qui pourrait, selon eux, permettre de donner des clés supplémentaires pour contrer l’épidémie. 

« Les tests standards diagnostiquent un grand nombre de personnes qui peuvent être porteuses de quantités relativement insignifiantes du virus », explique ainsi le Dr. Michael Mina, épidémiologiste à la Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. »

[22] « Au rythme actuel avec nos tests RT-PCR, nous allons confiner des dizaines de milliers de gens pour rien », alerte le Dr. Yvon Le Flohic, manuel Moragues, 3 septembre 2020.

[23] Tests de diagnostic ultra sensibles, les tests RT-PCR sortent positifs même pour des individus qui portent trop peu de virus pour être encore contagieux. Pour en faire de meilleurs tests de contagiosité, certains appellent à baisser leur seuil de détection. Est-ce une bonne idée ? Quelles sont les limites de cette solution ? Décryptage.Xavier Boinivet, 15 septembre 2020

[24] Jean-Luc Gala (UCL) estime que les futures mesures de la Celeval, tel le lockdown, vont tuer l’économie, provoquer des suicides et déstabiliser l’État. Le Celeval, ou Cellule d’évaluation, est le groupe d’experts qui conseillent le gouvernement belge dans la gestion du COVID.

[25] L’OMS plaide pour éviter à tout prix les confinements : ‘Cela ne rend que les pauvres plus pauvres’

[26] Voici comment la pandémie risque de faire exploser la pauvreté mondiale, une première en 22 ans

[27] ‘Le coronavirus menace 500 millions de personnes de pauvreté’, prévient l’Oxfam. Ce n’est pas le coronavirus, la menace, mais l’attitude de nos gouvernants face au coronavirus !

[28] Le chômage de masse est désormais mondial

[29] ‘Nous risquons une crise alimentaire imminente si des mesures ne sont pas prises rapidement’. Encore une fois, ce n’est pas à cause du coronavirus, mais à cause de notre attitude face à cette crise.

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Same War Strategy from Ukraine to Palestine

December 16th, 2023 by Manlio Dinucci

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.

Zelensky was invited to Washington by Biden and was pressing Congress to approve the spending bill which includes another 50 billion dollars in military aid for Ukraine.

The New York Times writes:

The Ukrainian counteroffensive launched six months ago has failed. Kyiv has to deal with declining military personnel, ammunition reserves, and Western support. Moscow is demonstrating the ability to sustain a prolonged war.”

In this situation, the New York Times still writes,

The United States and Ukraine are looking for a new strategy after the failure of the counteroffensive: the Pentagon sends General Aguto, support commander for Ukraine from a base in Germany, to spend long periods in Kyiv. General Aguto will work more directly with the country’s military leadership.”

The United States continues to support Israel in the war in Gaza while it continues to fuel the war in Ukraine directly and through NATO. The plan of the leaders of Israel involves the deportation of the population of Gaza to the Sinai desert and the cancellation of Gaza as a Palestinian territory, then doing the same thing with the West Bank.

The US strategy, supported by Israel, aims to widen the war in the Middle Eastern region, where the US is losing its predominant position in the face of the advancement of the political-economic projects of China and Russia, including the forthcoming enlargement of the BRICS to Iran and Saudi Arabia. To support this war strategy the United States continues to increase its already enormous military spending.

The Senate has approved a Defence Law worth 886 billion dollars, to which other military expenditure is added, bringing the total to around half of global military spending.

 

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Visit and follow us on Instagram at @crg_globalresearch.

We bring to the attention of  Global Research readers this powerful and carefully researched video JRickey Productions.

Let us be under no illusions, the evidence of mortality and morbidity resulting from vaccine inoculation is overwhelming. 

In the words of Dr. Gary G Kohls:

Here is a must-watch, totally-truthful, science-based, vaccinology-literate video for anyone who is considering getting a booster (or even an initial) dose of any of the still-experimental, still unproven for long-term safety or efficacy, mRNA Covid-19 inoculations.  and then quickly forwarded on to loved ones before one of the many powers-that-be finds a way to shut it down.

First published on July 29, 2021

**

Video, click lower righthand corner to enlarge screen

Source: JRickey Productions Studio

 

Almost 20,000 Covid vaccine deaths have been recorded in the European Union (July 17, 2021). In the, US the number of registered vaccine related deaths is of the order of 12,000 (July 9, 2021).

And those official numbers vastly underestimate the devastating impacts of the mRNA vaccine. Most of the vaccine deaths and injuries are not registered or recorded by the health authorities.

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Dr. Google Will See You Now

December 15th, 2023 by Maryam Henein

Google no longer helps you find what you are truly looking for. Instead, they now customize results to satisfy their wants and needs. Individual results might vary.

Google’s audacious tyranny, which includes censorship, surveillance, and mind control, is accelerating at a wicked clip. It’s hard to keep up.

The planet’s leading search engine has stealthily infiltrated areas/sectors of our society, including elections, news, finances, and health, not to mention your mind, all the while ‘vacuuming‘ and usurping data, to become a megalithic repository.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane back to 2019.

Dr Goggle

November 1st: Google’s parent company Alphabet acquired FitBit for a cool $2.1 billion, adding it to the other 200 companies it owns.

November 12th: The Wall Street Journal reports via an anonymous ‘source’ within Google that the company has been accessing millions of patients’ health data alongside Ascension, the largest Catholic health system in the world, without patient consent.
The deal between Google and Ascension authorizing the data transfer was formally signed hours after The Wall Street Journal broke the story.

The same day, Ascension put out a notification stating that there was no breach of data and that their collaboration is (somehow) entirely compliant with The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations of 1996 (more on this later).

November 14th: The Wall Street Journal reports that attorney generals representing 48 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, announced the opening of a sweeping antitrust investigation into Google.

The Guardian published an opinion piece titled “I’m the Google whistleblower. The medical data of millions of Americans is at risk.”

Mind Control, Surveillance, Wicked Genius

The amount of surveillance, manipulation, and mind control that Google is guilty of beckons the slogan: “Make George Orwell Fiction Again.”

Courtesy Zach Vorhies

© Courtesy Zach Vorhies

It sounds outlandish and sci-fi until you untangle the wicked genius.

To begin, one can review the evidence Google software engineer turned whistleblower handed over to the Department of Justice and Project Veritas in August 2019.

Although mainstream media coverage has been slow to catch on, the 950 pages Zach Vorhies provided, which includes two blacklists, confirms Google’s nefarious ways.

Three years prior, Dr. Robert Epstein, Senior Research Psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, and former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today had already identified at least nine different blacklists and written about them in a piece for US News and World Report titled “The New Censorship.”

It was 2016, and he was already calling the company ‘the world’s biggest censor.’

In October 2019 at the American Priority Conference in Miami, Vorhies’s astounding presentation further unpacked Google’s maniacal plan to allow machines to unfairly control our minds to serve their agenda under the guise of benevolence.

Google calls it “Machine Learning Fairness.” In this world that Vorhies exposes objective reality itself is biased.

“I think it’s just going to get harder [for the mainstream] to ignore because Zach walked off with 950 pages of documents and an internal video,” says Dr. Robert Epstein.

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***

I can see the photos:  the faces of children haunted by chaos beyond their control; their faces of pain, the silent cries and screams of injuries and fear; parents’ faces, torn with grief and more silent cries of pain and injustice; blood washed across staircases and floors in hospitals, blood caked on faces of innocent people – clotted with the powder and grit of demolished concrete and plaster from homes, hospitals, and schools; 

 


I can see the photos: neighbourhoods crumpled and flattened by thousands of bombs; craters where buildings and streets used to be; people, small by comparison to the deluge of destruction, digging with bare hands through the tangled rubble of steel and mortar; people, frozen in time, calling for help, beseeching the world, damning the world, nowhere to turn, no escape from the whistle and rumble of bombs and missiles;

 

I cannot hear that:  nor the screams of the wounded, the cries of the injured, the cries for lost parents, lost children, lost lives; the cries of those trapped under the wreckage of their homes;

I cannot smell that: the sickly metallic sweet smell of blood; the acrid sulfurous smoke of explosions; the dustings of powder and chemicals drifting around the ruins; the heart and gut-wrenching smells of bodies decomposing under the rubble; the smoke of a small fire somehow scavenged to boil water for a meager meal of…some unknown provenance; 

 

I cannot touch that: the heat, the cold, the grit, the twist of iron bars under calloused and bloody hands searching for victims; the warm damp of bloodied clothing and bandages.  

…and I understand: this is not a war, but a genocide committed against an imprisoned people; a genocide that has endured slowly over many decades; an ethnic cleansing long understood by the perpetrators to be an underlying feature of their conquest; as long as the very origins of the concept of the settler state started over a century ago. 

There is no morality in U.S. governance

 

I listen to the politicians:  the members of the U.S. congress and their fawning obsequiousness towards Israel; the same coming from the EU, Britain, Canada and other members of the ‘western’ (and diminishing) world. 

I listen to news commentaries:  knowing that “balance” and “fairness” do not apply in a situation where one side has vastly superior military power (although not the touted prowess of such), controls most of the media, and has its mystique inculcated into its own population:  exceptionalism, freedom, indispensability ring hollow in a world of violence they themselves have created.    

The United States, as the largest purveyor of violence in the world, could easily put a stop to all this. 

The feeble words and excuses of the U.S. government only emphasize how the politicians, the military-industrial-financial complex, and the corporate “persons” – all of whom reap large financial rewards for this carnage – do not want the savagery to end. 

The military corporations – Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northop Grumman, an almost endless list – and those supplying them, are providing as per President Biden a financial boost for the U.S. economy. 

Lives and deaths are not important; the dollar reigns supreme, both for profits and global hegemony.

A big if, a gigantic if:  if the U.S. simply stopped sending military support to Israel, the bombs and missiles and tanks would soon become silent.  So simple; so not going to happen. 

The U.S. is the least moral country in the world today.  It has created and facilitated more wars, more deaths, more damages, more humanitarian disasters than any other country.  The U.S. sees everything as a win or lose situation, a zero sum game in which only they can be the winners, at all costs – the costs of millions of lives around the world.  Now it is the costs of tens of thousands of lives in Gaza/Palestine, the costs of all civic functions, of hospitals, doctors, schools, teachers, bakeries, electrical and sewage systems, all to support the Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.   

The future is unknown, but obviously major changes of some kind are in process, violently so.  There are solutions, none of which the U.S. or Israel will even consider for a moment, until and unless some unforeseen event forces them to.  As both are nuclear armed violent societies, the world needs to hope above all hopes for a peaceful resolution to current events, beyond a pause, beyond a ceasefire, well into the creation of a democratic state for all citizens, well into the creation of a global democracy where politicians and their militaries do not rule.   

In the meantime sumud in the face of a genocidal threat has served along with the resistance to ethnic tyranny. 

May peace eventually prevail. 

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“The Worst Days in Gaza”

December 15th, 2023 by Peter Koenig

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***

“The Worst Days in Gaza” — these are the words of an extraordinary testimony by Lara Elborno, Palestinian journalist, talking directly from Gaza – with video illustrations – showing in a 4-minute video clip a reality that most of the west ignores, or wants to ignore.

Lara says:

“Everyday has been the worst day; Israel outdoes itself in brutality and destruction every day; so, every day is the worst day. The day Yoav Gallant (Israel’s Minister of Defense, alias War) announced that Palestinians would be denied food, water, and aid, was the worst day.”

“The day that Israeli Officials announced that they were rolling out the Gaza Nakba, was the worst day. (Nakba, means “catastrophe” in Arabic, and refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab / Palestine – Israeli war. A new Nakba is occurring now in Gaza).”

“The day that they sieged and surrounded the Al-Shifa Hospital, bombed the maternity ward, bombed the outside clinic, was the worst day.”

“The day that Israel dropped six 1-ton bombs on the Jabalia refugee camp, was the worst day.”

There is an endless chain of “Worst Days of Gaza”

illustrated by pictures and video clips – worse than what the world has witnessed in at least the last seven decades, maybe in the last 300 years.

See this full 4-minute heart-breaking video clip:

Those with a dystopian and criminal mind like the leaderships of the United States and the European Union go even farther – they encourage Israel to continue the slaughter.

The US with a lone vote blocked a Ceasefire Resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the UN Security Council (UNSC) last week.

On 12 December, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) voted overwhelmingly for a Ceasefire, with 153 YES-votes, ten votes against, and 23 abstentions. Many EU countries voted against the mandate of the European Commission, FOR a ceasefire, including France.

ian bremmer on X: "unga vote call for an end to war in ukraine, feb 2023: in favor: 141 against: 7 abstentions: 32 today's vote for ceasefire in gaza in favor: 153

Then there are those whose conscience rejects the abject injustice in principle, and who would say yes to a Ceasefire – to a halt to the genocide, but their “political correctness”, their cowardice vis-à-vis the powers that be, prevented them from a Yes-vote for a Ceasefire. Instead, they abstained.

Among the abstaining cowards are Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Hungary, Bulgaria – and even Argentina and Uruguay – and many (15) more.

What do they expect from the self-declared Masters of the Universe in return for not voting against this horrifying democide?

See this.

At the UNGA, unlike at the UNSC, none of the 193 member states has a veto. Their votes are not binding, they carry no international legal power. However, they are a strong indication for where the world stands with their opinion about political conflicts.

What will happen next is an open question. As long as the West, notably the US and her EU lapdog, keep sending money and weapons to Israel, hence encouraging the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to keep bombing and killing, the massacre is likely to continue.

The IDF are targeting especially women and children — the children are the next generation Palestinians, and the women are the reproductive force for Palestine.

The intention of the Zionists could not be any clearer – erase Palestine and Palestinians not only from the maps, but from the globe.

As long as the West, led by the United States, continues with this murderous drive with impunity, so long the Worst Days in Gaza keep coming.

People of the world, continue taking to the streets – as you do already in New York, Washington, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Vienna, Rome, and many more cities around the globe. And invent other means of depriving your Governments of Deception from the capacity to continue governing and reigning over and against the solidarity power of We, the People.

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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.