Zaluzhny fora do cargo pode ser uma ameaça para Zelensky.

February 14th, 2024 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

Valery Zaluzhny deixou o cargo de comandante-chefe das forças armadas ucranianas em 8 de fevereiro, sendo substituído por Aleksandr Syrsky. A princípio, a mudança parecia uma espécie de vitória de Zelensky nas disputas contra Zaluzhny. Contudo, analisando o caso em profundidade, é possível concluir que o presidente ucraniano continua sob forte ameaça.

Ainda não está totalmente claro se a mudança foi uma demissão ou uma demissão voluntária por parte de Zaluzhny. O ex-comandante foi elogiado pelo presidente ucraniano e pelo ministro da Defesa numa cerimónia oficial, fazendo a opinião pública acreditar que o impasse entre o general e o governo tinha finalmente terminado. Sem dúvida, as tensões parecem ter diminuído até certo ponto, mas é impossível considerar o cenário atual como pacificado.

A remoção de Zaluzhny foi precedida por sérios atritos entre ele e Zelesnky. O general recebeu até apoio público de milicianos neonazistas ucranianos, o que implica que ele e a sua equipe estavam dispostos, se necessário, a lutar contra o governo oficial de Kiev. Mais do que isso, Zaluzhny parecia estar a criar uma espécie de “exército privado”, poupando as organizações neonazistas da linha da frente, a fim de mantê-las ao seu serviço em caso de conflito civil.

Altas tensões como estas raramente são resolvidas num curto período. Nada indica que tenha havido uma melhoria real nas relações entre Zaluzhny e Zelensky, o que levanta uma série de suspeitas. Na verdade, em vez de uma “vitória” de Zelensky, a manobra para destituir Zaluzhny pode ter fortalecido o general – razão pela qual ele não parece estar reagindo negativamente ao caso. Em vez de ficar incapacitado com a sua remoção, Zaluzhny pode simplesmente estar a ver isso como um benefício para os seus planos pessoais.

Fora do escritório, Zaluzhny tem liberdade para tomar decisões importantes sobre seu futuro. Ele já não terá de conciliar os seus planos pessoais com as responsabilidades de gestão das tropas do regime no campo de batalha. Seu foco estará totalmente direcionado para alcançar seus objetivos particulares. Agora Zaluzhny também tem a liberdade de decidir abandonar a carreira militar e entrar na política, usando a popularidade que teve durante o seu posto militar para obter o apoio de diferentes setores da sociedade ucraniana.

Muitos analistas acreditam que as tensões entre Zelensky e Zaluzhny são o resultado da tentativa do general de se promover politicamente. As razões para tal tentativa estão relacionadas com a “competição” de alguns responsáveis ​​ucranianos para ganhar a simpatia ocidental durante este momento atual – em que as críticas a Zelensky estão a aumentar e a OTAN está a considerar substituí-lo.

O grande risco que Zaluzhny representa para Zelensky é essencialmente político, e não meramente administrativo e burocrático. Fora do seu papel militar, Zaluzhny perde uma posição burocrática, mas continua a ser uma figura política proeminente – o que deveria causar preocupação a Zelensky. Agora, Zaluzhny está isento da responsabilidade pelo iminente fracasso militar das forças ucranianas e tem mais autonomia para agir politicamente.

Para piorar a situação, Zaluzhny possivelmente tem a seu favor as milícias neonazistas que foram poupadas do front. Na prática, estes grupos nacionalistas são mais fortes e mais bem armados do que as tropas de recrutas idosos e adolescentes que hoje constituem a maioria das forças armadas. Assim, Zaluzhny parece definitivamente ter feito um “bom negócio” ao concordar em deixar o seu cargo anterior para ter agora as condições necessárias para operar politicamente, tendo militantes fascistas à sua disposição.

Obviamente, Zaluzhny só agirá contra o governo se receber instruções para o fazer de seus patrocinadores ocidentais. Os verdadeiros tomadores de decisões em relação à Ucrânia são funcionários da OTAN, uma vez que o governo ucraniano não tem qualquer soberania para decidir nada sobre o seu próprio futuro. Se Zelensky decidir perturbar os planos ocidentais para o substituir, é possível que a OTAN apoie Zaluzhny e os seus nazistas numa manobra para derrubar o governo.

Não há muito que Zelensky possa fazer para impedir isto. Ele aceitou governar de acordo com os interesses americanos e tornou-se um mero proxy representando a OTAN numa guerra com a Rússia. Enquanto este for o seu papel, ele terá simplesmente de obedecer às ordens ocidentais – mesmo que essas ordens sejam para que renuncie ao cargo de presidente. Não faz sentido Zelensky tentar realizar expurgos e demissões de seus inimigos. Ele continuará refém dos interesses americanos, sendo vulnerável a qualquer decisão que os ocidentais tomem sobre o futuro da Ucrânia.

Quanto ao campo de batalha e ao cenário militar do conflito, o impacto da mudança é quase nulo para a Rússia. Espera-se que Syrsky promova um novo “moedor de carne”, considerando que ele foi o principal responsável pela sangrenta campanha militar em Bakhmut. Alguns acreditam que ele fará algo semelhante agora em Avdeevka e outras regiões disputadas. No entanto, as consequências deste tipo de política afetarão apenas os próprios ucranianos, sem qualquer impacto na condução russa da operação.

No final, a principal mudança resultante da demissão de Zaluzhny parece ser o enfraquecimento de Zelensky. Politicamente, Zaluzhny poderá ser muito mais forte a partir de agora.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

 

Artigo em inglês :

Commander in Chief Zaluzhny Out of Office, Could be a Threat to Zelensky

https://infobrics.org/post/40456

 

Imagem : InfoBrics

*

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

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

Experimentos ilegais conduzidos em Mariupol pela Big Pharma.

February 14th, 2024 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

Estão a surgir cada vez mais provas sobre as atividades biomédicas ilegais dos EUA em ex territórios ucranianos. Além do tema das armas biológicas, descobriu-se recentemente que grandes empresas farmacêuticas ocidentais estavam a realizar testes de drogas em cidadãos da etnia russa num hospital psiquiátrico em Donbass, com aprovação e apoio das autoridades ucranianas.

De acordo com documentos recentemente descobertos e publicados pelos meios de comunicação russos, pacientes de um hospital psiquiátrico em Mariupol estavam a ser submetidos a exames médicos irregulares por agentes ligados às grandes empresas farmacêuticas ocidentais. O hospital “No. 7″ em Mariupol está atualmente em obras de restauração. Durante as atividades de reparo, funcionários locais encontraram documentos no porão das instalações do setor psiquiátrico que comprovam que empresas estrangeiras testavam extra-oficialmente medicamentos reumatológicos em pacientes locais.

O objetivo da pesquisa foi avaliar a eficácia dos medicamentos de acordo com os padrões estabelecidos pelo American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Várias empresas participaram dos experimentos, incluindo grandes corporações farmacêuticas, como “Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Celltrion, Novatris International AG, IQVIA, Sanofi, Galapagos NV, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories, Covance, Merck KGaA, Centocor Biopharmaceutical e até uma filial da Samsung que produz equipamentos médicos.”

No mesmo local onde os documentos estavam guardados também foram encontradas caixas contendo biomateriais. Os materiais aparentemente estavam prontos para serem enviados a laboratórios nos EUA, Reino Unido e Suíça. Com isso, as autoridades russas conseguiram obter evidências biológicas, e não apenas documentos, sobre tais pesquisas – mostrando que os experimentos foram de fato realizados.

“De acordo com os resultados do estudo dos documentos, soube-se que os medicamentos foram testados em pessoas numeradas, sem nomes. Os próprios medicamentos estavam em envelopes brancos e também sem nomes. medicamentos em relação à proporção de pacientes que obtiveram resposta de acordo com os critérios do American College of Rheumatology.Além disso, foram encontradas caixas contendo muitos envelopes de empresas de logística e contêineres para biomateriais com endereços de destinatários em laboratórios da Suíça, o Reino Unido e os Estados Unidos”, diz o relatório russo.

A seleção de pacientes psiquiátricos parece ter sido uma decisão “estratégica” por parte das empresas ocidentais e das autoridades ucranianas. Obviamente, as pessoas com condições psiquiátricas frágeis são um alvo “mais fácil” de serem convencidas a submeter-se a tais experiências. Mais do que isso, muitos dos pacientes podem ter sido submetidos aos testes de forma totalmente inconsciente, tendo seus corpos explorados abusivamente por médicos estrangeiros.

Estas práticas não parecem surpreendentes, no entanto. Já havia sido revelado que agentes estrangeiros realizaram testes com neuromoduladores em pacientes socialmente vulneráveis ​​na região de Kharkov. Em 2022, as forças russas expuseram provas de que experiências deste tipo tinham ocorrido em bio-laboratórios militares americanos, causando danos irreversíveis ao sistema nervoso de vários pacientes submetidos aos procedimentos ilegais.

“De acordo com as informações disponíveis, substâncias altamente ativas de neuromoduladores foram testadas em cidadãos socialmente vulneráveis ​​​​da Ucrânia, o que causou, entre outras coisas, danos irreversíveis ao sistema nervoso central. Graças aos documentos obtidos durante a operação militar especial, tomamos conhecimento de que tais estudos têm sido realizados na Ucrânia desde pelo menos 2011, e Alharoun visitou repetidamente a filial do laboratório Merefa, construído às custas do Pentágono na vila de Sorokovka, região de Kharkov”, disse na época o tenente-general Igor Kirillov, chefe da defesa radioativa, química e biológica das Forças Armadas russas.

Na verdade, os bio-laboratórios americanos na Ucrânia eram esquemas conjuntos civis-militares, tendo recebido financiamento não só do Pentágono, mas também de organizações privadas como as grandes empresas farmacêuticas e até de fundações “filantrópicas” ligadas ao conhecido oligarca George Soros. Esta ampla rede de promoção da investigação biomédica funcionava num sistema de cooperação em que o Pentágono desenvolvia armas biológicas e empresas privadas utilizavam instalações militares para realizar experiências irregulares, inoculando os seus medicamentos em pacientes nativos vulneráveis.

É chocante saber que o governo ucraniano cooperou com este tipo de prática e permitiu que os seus cidadãos fossem sujeitos a tais abusos por parte de agentes estrangeiros. Isto apenas mostra como, de fato, o regime de Kiev nunca se importou com o seu próprio povo, estando disposto até a permitir operações de elevado perigo biológico no seu território apenas para agradar aos seus “parceiros” ocidentais.

Na prática, a libertação territorial através da força militar russa foi a única forma de impedir a continuação destes atos brutais.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida 

 

Artigo em inglês :

https://infobrics.org/post/40465

Imagem : InfoBrics

*

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

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

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.

 

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The idea that the Kiev regime is sharply divided as its various interest groups are contending for power and influence, mostly in a manner not dissimilar to a hyena brawl, has become an axiom at this point. This has gone so far that those loyal to Volodymyr Zelensky are ready to go after their own comrades in arms to further his agenda, a fact best illustrated by the recent shootdown of the Russian IL-76MD transport aircraft packed with well over 60 Ukrainian POWs (prisoners of war), including at least a dozen members of the infamous “Azov Battalion”.

The purely Neo-Nazi unit has been involved in gruesome war crimes against the people of Donbass or anyone else refusing to subscribe to their repulsive ideology. The death of such people is surely not something to lament over, but it certainly raises numerous questions. Namely, if the Kiev regime is ready to target its most loyal henchmen with absolutely zero remorse, who else could possibly feel safe?

It seems France just learned this lesson, albeit the hard way, as is usually the case when dealing with the Neo-Nazi junta. According to Vasily Prozorov, a former Ukrainian intelligence officer (specifically in the SBU, from 1999-2018, per some sources), it seems that the Kiev regime has started hunting down some French mercenaries and “volunteers” in its own ranks.

Namely, businessman Adrien Baudon de Mony-Pajol and his associate Guennadi Guermanovitch were killed on February 1. Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson administration, claimed that the two French citizens were allegedly killed in a Russian strike.

French President Emmanuel Macron himself also spoke about their deaths, insisting they were “humanitarians”. However, Prozorov claims to have completely different information, suggesting that the deaths of Baudon and Guermanovitch are much more likely the result of the Neo-Nazi junta’s false flag operation.

As it turns out, Guermanovitch, a man of Belarussian origin, is a highly trained security specialist. He is a retired member of the French Foreign Legion who had close ties not only with various Neo-Nazi organizations in France, but also with the Kiev-aligned Belarussian “Kastus Kalinouski” regiment, currently led by Dzianis Prokharau.

According to Prozorov’s sources, Baudon and Guermanovitch were actually shot on the Odessa-Kiev highway in the area of the Razdelnyanskaya community in the Odessa region, not as a result of the alleged Russian drone strike on a car in Berislav, as Prokudin claims.

Prozorov says that the two French citizens were consultants involved in organizing the visit of a high-ranking delegation from France. It seems that Baudon and Guermanovitch found themselves in the middle of a false flag operation and that they were supposed to assist the Kiev regime’s intelligence services in carrying it out, the end goal of which was to blame Moscow.

However, having found out the details of the operation, the two men refused further cooperation and essentially tried to escape from Ukraine. It seems that precisely this cost them their lives.

Only a few days later, French President Macron canceled his scheduled visit to Ukraine, citing security reasons, seemingly suggesting that the deteriorating situation is Russia’s responsibility.

However, the real reason might be precisely the Neo-Nazi junta’s false flag operation. The Kremlin has zero reasons to jeopardize Macron. In fact, it would’ve made much more sense for it to neutralize people like Boris Johnson, who effectively sabotaged the March 2022 peace deal that would’ve ended the conflict in less than a month. However, Russia simply doesn’t operate that way. The Kiev regime, on the other hand, certainly does. Its readiness to sacrifice anyone or anything to hurt Moscow’s interests has been perfectly clear from the very moment it took power.

The false flag almost certainly involved the murder or at least an attack on the French delegation. This would then be blamed on Russia, with the goal of making sure there would be no possible rapprochement or new peace negotiations, as President Vladimir Putin suggested in his recent interview with Tucker Carlson. It would also almost certainly result in escalating tensions between Russia and France (and, by extension the European Union and NATO), further cementing the conflict in Europe. Baudon and Guermanovitch most likely realized just how dangerous it is to be involved in such an operation, so they wanted to get out of Ukraine as soon as possible. However, the information they had at that point was far too incriminating and the Neo-Nazi junta certainly wouldn’t have allowed them to leave the country with it. Any potential public revelations about the abortive false flag would’ve surely made the Kiev regime even more unpopular in Europe and elsewhere.

As for Macron, this should serve as a bitter lesson for his foolish policy of supporting the Neo-Nazi junta. Nearly two years ago, it could’ve cost him re-election in the aftermath of the Battle of Mariupol and the fall of Azovstal. However, even that pales in comparison to the fact that the Kiev regime, a loose cannon(particularly in recent years), is ready to sacrifice anyone and anything to further its mindless goal of “defeating Russia”. According to Prozorov, the fact that the false flag failed doesn’t mean that the Neo-Nazi junta gave up on the idea. He doesn’t rule out the possibility that its intelligence services might soon try to carry out something similar and warns that a new operation could target a high-ranking delegation from another country. What’s more, he claims that, instead of giving up on this deranged idea, the Kiev regime will simply try to draw conclusions and learn from its mistakes so it could conduct more false flags.

*

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

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

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

Featured image is from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Judicial Watch announced today it received 99 pages of Secret Service records from the Department of Homeland Security in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that show Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas personally declined presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request for Secret Service protection.

Judicial Watch received the records through a September 26, 2023, lawsuit that was filed after the Department of Homeland Security failed to respond to a July 31, 2023, FOIA request for senior department officials’ communications regarding the provision of Secret Service protection for Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:23-cv-02846)).

The newly obtained records include a July 21, 2023, two-sentence letter sent by Mayorkas to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, advising her:

On May 26, 2023, Candidate for President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. submitted a request to the Department of Homeland Security for United States Secret Service protection. In accordance with the authority set forth in Title 18, United States Code, Section 3056(a)(7), and in consultation with the Candidate Protection Advisory Committee, I decline to identify Candidate Kennedy for United States Secret Service protection at this time.

Mayorkas copied the letter to the members of the Candidate Protection Advisory Committee: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Sergeant at Arms Karen Gibson.

As noted in a previous production of records from this lawsuit, the Secretary of Homeland Security has “broad discretion” when authorizing Secret Service protection to presidential or vice-presidential candidates:

Who receives protection?

The Secret Service does not determine who qualifies for protection, nor is the Secret Service empowered to independently initiate candidate protection.

Under 18 U.S.C.’ 3056(a)(7), “[m]ajor Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates,” as identified by the Secretary of Homeland Security, are eligible for Secret Service protection.

Title 18 U.S.C’ 3056(a)(7) authorizes the U.S. Secret Service to provide protection for major presidential and vice presidential candidates:

Protection is authorized by the OHS Secretary after consultation with the Congressional Advisory Committee

The Congressional Advisory Committee includes: Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and one additional member selected by the others

Protection under these guidelines should only be granted within one year prior to the general election. Protection more than one year prior to the general election should only be granted in extraordinary, case by case circumstances in consultation with the committee, based on threat assessment and other factors.

Secret Service protection for presidential candidates began in 1968 after the assassination of Democrat candidate Robert F. Kennedy, the father of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The new records also show the Kennedy 2024 presidential campaign sent several requests to DHS seeking protection for the candidate, who initially ran as a Democrat but switched to Independent after realizing Democrats had no intention of allowing him to challenge Joe Biden for the party’s 2024 nomination.

The Kennedy for President organization’s first request for Secret Service protection was sent “Sensitive and Confidential” on May 26, 2023, from an unidentified official in Kennedy’s organization and reads:

“As [redacted] for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s campaign for President of the United States, I am writing to request United States Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr from this point forward pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3056(a)(7), which authorizes the Secret Service to provide protection to ‘Major Presidential Candidates.’ Robert F. Kennedy, Jr appears to have met this standard and we ask that you and your Congressional Protection Advisory Committee consider this request. If you authorize the Secret Service to protect Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, he will accept this protection as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made. With respect for your time and process, the campaign commissioned an expert risk assessment in advance of today’s request (attached). If you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

The accompanying 62-page attachment is entirely redacted under FOIA exemptions relating to personal privacy and deliberative process.

On July 7, 2023, the Kennedy organization, “Team Kennedy,” sends a letter via email to Kristie Canegallo, acting deputy secretary and chief of staff at DHS, with the subject line “Urgent Request for Sec. Mayorkas Re Secret Service Protection of Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.” along with an attachment titled “RFK Jr. Risk Assessment Declaration May 24, 2023.” In their cover email to Canegallo, Kennedy’s representatives write, “I am forwarding to you for immediate action by Secretary Mayorkas the attached files in the interest of protection by the United States Secret Service of Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. I can be reached at anytime at [redacted] for confirmation, or to answer questions. Thank you in advance for your assistance.” The attached “sensitive and confidential” letter states:

As [redacted] of the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., I am asking for an immediate response to my request for United States Secret Service protection Mr. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

You may know that within 24-hours after the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, President Johnson directed the Secret Service to provide protection to presidential candidates. Just days later, the Secret Service became responsible for the safety of five candidates, and by the end of the 1968 campaign, twelve candidates were protected by the USSS. The new responsibility was undertaken to ensure the safety of candidates and others in their vicinity – and to protect the electoral process itself.

Given Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s well-established risk as a presidential candidate, our campaign submitted a written request following the formal process. Our request was received at DHS on June 1, 2023. Presidential candidates traditionally hear back within 14 days; it has been more than 30-days since the formal request.

As I write this today, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. remains at risk of being harmed in connection with his Presidential campaign – and that risk is escalating.

Many weeks ago, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. met the criteria for a presidential candidate to receive Secret Service coverage, pursuant to Title 18 U.S.C. 3056(a)(7). He has polled above the threshold, has been actively campaigning on a national basis, operates a national campaign apparatus, has appeared before thousands of audience members at events in many states, regularly appears as a candidate on national network news programs, town halls, podcasts, interviews, is producing campaign materials, advertisements, and websites, is successfully fundraising, and has assembled a large campaign staff.

Again, our campaign has not heard back from the DHS since submitting the request. The risk to Mr. Kennedy, and those around him, persists and increases during this waiting period.

I have attached the first request and our initial threat assessment.

“It is simply despicable that Secretary Mayorkas refused needed Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “That it took a federal FOIA lawsuit to force out this information speaks volumes.”

Judicial Watch also recently released Secret Service records under this lawsuit that showed Assistant Director Michael Plati ordering his staff not to respond to a request for information from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s head of security. The documents also confirmed that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkas and President Biden both have the discretion to provide Secret Service protection to Kennedy at any time.

In September 2023, Judicial Watch received Secret Service records detailing the denial of protection to presidential candidate Kennedy despite having received numerous threats from “known subjects.”

*

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

Featured image is from JW

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Patients, staff and displaced Palestinians at Nasser Hospital are in “extreme danger”, the Gaza Health Ministry has warned, describing catastrophic conditions at the Khan Younis facility as Israel continues to lay siege to southern Gaza.

Displaced people sheltering in the hospital have been ordered to evacuate but are being shot while trying to flee the complex, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Medics and patients have been ordered to remain in the building, where sewage has flooded the emergency department. 

Medical staff cannot move corpses to the mortuary due to the dangerous conditions, said ministry spokesman Dr Ashraf Al Qudra.

More than 130 Palestinians were killed during overnight Israeli strikes on Gaza, bringing the death toll across the enclave to nearly 28,500 and 68,000 wounded since October 7.

Schools surrounding Nasser Hospital were also set on fire by Israeli shelling, and the ministry warned an epidemic may be hard to avoid as waste accumulates.

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]

As a ground operation on the southern city of Rafah looms, many of the 1.4 million people who have sought refuge there are now moving north, back towards central Gaza, only to find their homes destroyed.

Abu Hamza Ali, originally from Al Shijaiaa in northern Gaza, is among those who have decided to move again. He had already relocated to Rafah because of the war, but was loading all his belongings on to a truck to head back north to central Gaza.

“Everywhere is dangerous, and I am staying in Rafah in a tent, so I will move the tent away from Rafah,” he told The National.

He initially fled his home to Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, then moved to Rafah, and now he is returning to Deir Al Balah.

“From the beginning, I didn’t plan on leaving my home. If the Israeli army intends to harm us, why did they tell us to flee to the south for our safety? Now, they have targeted us in the south,” he added.

The UN and foreign nations have repeatedly warned Israel against launching a full-scale ground offensive on Rafah, bordering Egypt, which is the last place of refuge for more than half of Gaza’s population.

Israeli attacks on the city have already caused widespread devastation, including during a hostage rescue operation which killed at least 67 Palestinians on Monday morning.

In anticipation of a potential Israeli offensive against Rafah, South Africa announced on Tuesday that it had sent an urgent request to the International Court of Justice.

“In a request submitted to the court yesterday, the South African government said it was gravely concerned that the unprecedented military offensive against Rafah, as announced by the State of Israel, has already led to and will result in further large-scale killing, harm, and destruction,” it said in a statement posted to the government website.

An Israeli invasion of Rafah “would be in serious and irreparable breach both of the Genocide Convention and of the court’s order of 26 January, 2024,” it added.

Late last month, the top UN court ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction, and any acts of genocide in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stood firm on his decision to invade the city, saying enough hostages are still alive to warrant military action.

Palestinians line up to fetch some water in a refugee camp in Gaza. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

According to International Court of Justice statutes quoted by South Africa, the court may at any time rule on factors that “require the indication of provisional measures which ought to be taken or complied with by any or all of the parties”.

“South Africa trusts this matter will receive the necessary urgency in light of the daily death toll in Gaza,” it added.

On the ground, civilians struggle to guess where they will be safe.

Alongside bombing Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, the Israeli military has also continued to hit targets in central Gaza. An air strike on Tuesday killed at least 16 people in the Nuseirat refugee camp there.

Soha Salah, along with her three children, cannot find a place to stay.

“I was sitting with our relatives in their house, and their house was partially destroyed due to Israeli shelling. So, I decided to leave Rafah because my children are scared,” she told The National.

“I thought maybe I could find one of the UNRWA schools, but all schools are full. I am also afraid of diseases, so where should I go?”

Abu Al Saeed Al Sousi, who owned a group of well-known falafel shops in Gaza, stands in front of a large frying pan, preparing falafel in Deir Al Balah.

His shops were completely destroyed, so he fled to central Gaza and started anew, frying food on firewood. Shortages force him to serve falafel without bread or parsley.

“We don’t have any resources here. Everything is difficult. It takes time because firewood is not as fast as gas,” Mr Al Sousi told The National.

“The prices are higher than before because the ingredients cost me a lot, but I want my shop to continue providing services for the people,” he added.

*

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

Featured image: Smoke rises during an Israeli ground operation in Khan Younis, seen from a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, southern Gaza. Reuters

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Last month I journeyed from Crimea to the so-called “New Territories” of Russia—Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Lugansk. These four former oblasts, or districts, of Ukraine had been absorbed into the Russian Federation following referenda held on the soil of each territory where the citizens were given the choice of joining Russia or remaining in Ukraine.

The referenda were held from September 23-27, 2022. The results were unambiguous—by convincing majorities, the participants in the referenda voted to join Russia, and were so incorporated on September 30, 2022.

The absorption of these new territories into the Russian Federation altered the very essence of the Special Military Operation, or SMO, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had initiated back in February 2022.

The SMO had already gone from being a Russian-Ukrainian conflict to one that put Russia in opposition to Ukraine and its Western allies—the so-called “collective West” (the US, NATO, and the European Union.) But even with the scope and scale of the conflict having been expanded, it was still being fought on what was either Ukrainian territory (Kherson, Zaporizhia, parts of Nikolaev, and parts of Kharkov, as well as the independent republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.) After the referenda, most of the battlefield became, from the perspective of the Russian Federation, Russian territory.

The geopolitical implications of this transformation were significant—the conflict had suddenly become a question of Russia’s existential survival, a reality which, given the fact that Russia possessed a massive nuclear arsenal designed to deter threats against its existential survival, took on literal life-and-death issues that had to be factored into the strategic thinking of all parties involved.

By the beginning of 2024, the SMO had taken on a new character, one which saw the strategic balance of power shift irretrievably away from Ukraine and the collective West, and over to Russia. One of my goals in visiting the New Territories was to seek out interviews with frontline commanders and their soldiers to capture their perspectives in a manner that could be communicated back to a western audience. Alexander Zyrianov, my host, had reached out to Kirill, a Russian patriot from Moscow who had been facilitating the delivery of non-lethal aid (food, clothing, etc.) to Russian soldiers on the frontlines. Through Kirill, Alexander had lined up five visits to a variety of frontline units so that I could conduct the desired interviews.

Scott Ritter (left) and Alexander Khodokovsky (right) in Donetsk. Irina Kirkora, the Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, is in the middle.

However, the powers that be decided that it was too risky for me to conduct these interviews (they would have involved getting into range of Ukrainian first-person-view (FPV) suicide drones and field artillery.) In the end I was granted only one interview—with Colonel Alexander Khodokovsky, the commanding officer of the Vostok Battalion. Prior to May 2014, Colonel Khodokovsky was the commander of the elite Alpha Group special forces unit, part of the Ukrainian Security Services (the SBU).

In May 2014 Khodokovsky and many of his Alpha Group soldiers joined forces with ethnic Russians in the Donbas who objected to the illegal overthrow of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanokovich during the Maidan coup in February 2014. Khodokovsky’s Alpha Group soldiers formed the core of what became known as the Vostok Battalion, part of the militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic, and later, following the absorption of the Donetsk People’s Republic into the Russian Federation at the end of September 2022, part of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

I met Colonel Khodokovsky at an undisclosed location somewhere in the vicinity of the city of Donetsk. I had been prepared to discuss military matters, including how drones had changed the nature of modern warfare. Instead, Colonel Khodokosky and I engaged in a more philosophical discussion about US-Russian relations and the prospects for peace.

What follows is that interview:

*

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

Featured image: The author signs a copy of his book for Colonel Khodokovsky. 

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The Israeli army introduced groups of Israeli civilians into detention centres and prisons holding Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip, permitting the civilians to witness torture crimes against the detainees, with many allowed to film them on their own phones.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor received shocking testimonies from recently released Palestinian prisoners and detainees, in which they reported that the Israeli army invited a number of Israeli civilians during their interrogation sessions to witness torture and inhumane treatment, to which they were deliberately subjected in the presence of the civilians.

Arrested during ground incursions by Israeli army forces into the Strip, the prisoners and detainees were held for varying periods of time inside two detention centres: one located in the Zikim area on the northern border of the Gaza Strip, and another affiliated with the Naqab prison in southern Israel.

The released detainees told Euro-Med Monitor that the Israeli soldiers had purposefully presented them before Israeli civilians, falsely claiming that they were fighters affiliated with Palestinian armed factions and that they had taken part in the 7 October attack on Israeli towns on Gaza Strip borders.

According to testimony received by Euro-Med Monitor, groups of ten to twenty Israeli civilians at a time were permitted to watch and laughingly film Palestinian prisoners and detainees in their underwear while Israeli army soldiers subjected them to physical abuse, including beating them with metal batons, electric sticks, and pouring hot water on their heads. The detainees were also verbally abused.

This is the first time that these illegal practices have come to the attention of Euro-Med Monitor. It adds a new crime to the list of those committed by the Israeli army against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and specifically against prisoners and detainees who are subjected to cruel torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and denials of a fair trial, among other atrocities.

Palestinian Omar Abu Mudallala, 43, told the Euro-Med Monitor team:

“I was arrested at the checkpoint set up near the Kuwait roundabout, which separates Gaza City from the central region, as part of the Israeli random arrest campaigns. I was subjected to all types of torture and abuse for approximately 52 days,” pointing out that Israeli soldiers “brought Israeli civilians to watch our nude torture.”

Abu Mudallala added:

“The Israeli army brought a number of Israeli civilians into our detention centres while beating us and telling them, ‘These are Hamas terrorists who killed you and raped your women on 7 October,’ while the Israeli civilians were filming us being beaten, abused, and tortured while making fun of us.”

“This happened five times while I was being held. The first time was in Barkasat Zikim, where we were blindfolded. However, one of the detainees who speaks Hebrew told us that the soldiers were interacting with Israeli civilians claiming that we were armed fighters. The other four incidents took place in the Negev detention facility, where successive Israeli groups were taken inside tents to witness our abuse and record the torture methods we were subjected to without allowing us to speak or interact with them. Since we were not wearing blindfolds at the time, I saw them all four times with my own eyes.”

Abu Mudallalasaid that

“one of the detainees who speaks Hebrew tried to explain to the Israeli civilians that we are civilians and we had nothing to do with any military activities, but that also did not help. However, he was subjected to severe psychological and physical torture. It was really shameful to bring Israeli citizens to record our torture for being allegedly involved in killing and rape incidents.”

Forty-two-year-old D.H. also told Euro-Med Monitor:

“Israeli civilians were brought to witness the abuse and torture that we were subjected to, which the army deliberately began when they were present. These Israelis sometimes brought their dogs with them to bark on us. They also took pictures of us and post them on social media apps, particularly “TikTok,” with the soldiers themselves did the same.”

Euro-Med Monitor was taken aback by the evident falsity of the Israeli army’s claim that the Palestinian civilians subjected to torture in the presence of Israeli civilians were fighters involved in the October 7 attack – when the subsequent release of the detainees serves as proof that this narrative is untrue and was intended as a means of exacting revenge on Palestinian civilians and attacking their dignity.

According to Euro-Med Monitor, the Israeli army’s torture and inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees is illegal under the Rome Statute and constitutes crimes against humanity. The army’s staging of these abuses as entertainment for Israeli civilians and subsequent photography of the victims amounts to a grave violation of the dignity of these individuals, as well as the commission of war crimes.

Euro-Med Monitor warns of the dire consequences of introducing Israeli civilians into arrest and detention centres, displaying Palestinian detainees to them during torture, and letting them use their personal phones to document these inhumane practices. This is a retaliatory approach that falls within the framework of promoting  false Israeli propaganda, perpetuating a state of extremism, fueling hatred, and inflaming Israeli public opinion to incite more crimes and rights violations against Palestinians.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor asserts that the vast majority of those arrested from within the Gaza Strip have been subjected to arbitrary detention without being charged or brought to justice, with no legal measures taken against them. They are also denied a fair trial and are subjected to forced disappearance, torture, and inhumane treatment. Euro-Med Monitor calls on the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect Israeli detention centres and prisons holding Palestinian prisoners and detainees, investigate the horrific violations and crimes they are subjected to, and work to bring these conditions to light immediately.

Furthermore, Euro-Med Monitor asserts that Israeli practices against Palestinian detainees are blatant violations of international conventions and standards, particularly the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids an occupying authority from transferring prisoners from the occupied territory to detention facilities on its territory, as well as torturing, attacking, or otherwise degrading the human dignity of those detained.

*

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

Featured image is from Euro-Med HRM

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Later this month, Julian Assange of Wikileaks is scheduled to have what may be his final Great Britain hearing regarding the ruling that he will be extradited from Great Britain to America. In light of this situation, legal scholar and former New Jersey state judge Andrew Napolitano posted on Friday a video commentary in which he directs comments to the British judges who will preside at the hearing, asking them to reject extradition.

Napolitano starts off his video commentary describing Assange as “an American hero and an international hero as well.” Further, argues Napolitano,

Assange “is the most important journalist in the world at this moment in time because he had the courage and intellectual fortitude to expose the fatal and maniacal excesses of the American government and its foreign policy in the Middle East.”

The information Assange published regarding the United States government that is at the heart of why the US demands his extradition was information that Napolitano explains is freely publishable under US law. Citing the US Supreme Court’s Pentagon Papers decision for support, Napolitano summarizes the relevant law as follows: “When a journalist receives something of material interest to the public — it doesn’t matter how he receives it, he is free to publish it without civil or criminal liability.”

Assange should thus be protected under US law from prosecution. As Napolitano, who is an Advisory Board member for the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, puts it, Assange “should not be tried for anything” and the ongoing effort to prosecute him is a “profound injustice.”

After laying out this information, Napolitano directs his comments to the judges for the upcoming hearing. Napolitano concludes that “Julian Assange cannot get a fair trial in the United States on these charges” and will also “never see the light of day” if extradited, suggesting Assange will spend the remainder of his life incarcerated. Indeed, Napolitano states that extradition will kill Assange. This may sound extreme, but keep in mind that Assange has already been suffering in horrid conditions over years of confinement in Great Britain. There is a limit to what people can take, and Assange may reach that limit if he is not freed soon.

Watch Napolitano’s video commentary here:

*

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

Adam worked from 2003 through 2013 as a legislative aide for Rep. Ron Paul. Previously, he was a member of the Wisconsin State Board of Elections, a co-manager of Ed Thompson’s 2002 Wisconsin governor campaign, and a lawyer in New York and Connecticut.

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Israeli Finance Minister and the leader of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich is preventing a shipment of US-funded flour to Gaza, under the pretext that the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is the recipient, Axios reported, citing two Israeli and US officials.

US officials noted that this action contradicts a commitment made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to US President Biden a few weeks ago, adding to the growing frustration between the two, as per Axios.

Dive Deeper

More than a month ago, top officials in the Biden administration discussed the potential shipment of flour. The Israeli war and security cabinets granted approval for the delivery to proceed from the port of “Ashdod” in southern “Israel” to Gaza through the “Kerem Shalom” crossing.

Both President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken have expressed gratitude publicly to the Israeli government for permitting the flour shipment. However, despite the approvals, the shipment has faced delays and remains stranded at the “Ashdod” port for weeks now, the report added.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich obstructed the transfer, instructing the Israeli customs service not to release the shipment as long as UNRWA was the recipient.

This comes amid an Israeli campaign to stigmatize the agency’s credibility after “Israel” accused 12 of its members of being affiliated with the October 7 operation conducted by the Palestinian Resistance. As a result,  the UK, the US, and 14 other countries have opted to defund the organization, primarily led by the United States, prior to any investigation and without any proof provided despite the unbearable civilian toll and dire humanitarian crisis due to the current Israeli genocide.

Bezalel Smotrich’s office affirmed to Axios that he directed the customs service to withhold the flour shipments. In collaboration with Netanyahu, he also allegedly requested officials to explore an alternative delivery method.

It is worth noting that more than 2.2 million people, constituting the entire population of Gaza, are confronting crisis or even more severe stages of famine, as per a report from a UN-supported organization released late last year. The risk of famine is escalating daily in the region. The report disclosed that approximately half of Gaza’s population is experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity.

*

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

Featured image: Bezalel Smotrich [File photo]

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Legal challenges regarding the Israel-Gaza War are starting to bulk lawyers’ briefs and courtroom proceedings. South Africa got matters underway with its December application before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in its campaign against the Palestinians. While determining whether genocide has taken place, the ICJ issued an interim order warning Israel to prevent genocidal acts, preserve evidence relevant to the prosecution of any such acts, and ease the crushing restrictions on humanitarian aid.

In the United States, a valiant effort was made in the US District Court for the Northern District of California to restrain the Biden administration from aiding Israel’s war efforts. The application, filed by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, argued that President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, had made genocidal conditions possible “because of unconditional support given [to Israel] by the named official-capacity defendants in this case”.

The troubled judge, while citing the convention that foreign policy could not be the subject of a court’s jurisdiction, nonetheless implored President Biden and his officials to observe the obligations of the UN Genocide Convention. As justice Jeffrey S. White declared,

“the undisputed evidence before this Court comports with the finding of the ICJ and indicates that the current treatment of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military may plausibly constitute a genocide in violation of international law.”

A Dutch appeals court in The Hague has further added its name to this growing list of interventions. Judge Bas Boele, in siding with the human rights groups making the application including Oxfam Novib, had no such quibbles with questioning government policy towards Israel and the shipping of parts vital for the F-35 fighter. While the Netherlands does not assemble or produce the F-35, it houses at least one storage facility at Woensdrecht, where US-made components are stored for shipping to various countries.

Despite the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which commenced after the attacks by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023 on Israel, the Dutch government had not discontinued deliveries under a permit granted in 2016. This is despite the monumentally lethal nature of a war that has left 28,100 Palestinians dead, and the decision by the ICJ.

The lower court had, in a similar vein to their US counterparts, adopted the position that decisions regarding export permits of weapon components tended to be of a political and policy nature, warranting wide executive latitude. The judge duly held that the Minister of Foreign Trade and Cooperation had weighed up the relevant interests in the case in deciding to continue with the exports.

Such an artificial distinction – one that finds political acts that may lead to complicity in genocide armoured, if not above legal challenge – was not persuasive to the higher court.  “It is undeniable that there is a clear risk that the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the appeals court found. “Israel does not take sufficient account of the consequences for the civilian population when conducting its attacks.” Such attacks had “resulted in a disproportionate number of civilian casualties [in Gaza].”

It followed that, “The Netherlands is obliged to prohibit the export of military goods if there is a clear risk of serious violations of international humanitarian law.” The export and transit of all F-35 parts with Israel as their final destination would cease within seven days.

In responding to the ruling, Oxfam Novib Executive Director Michiel Servaes called it “an important step to force the Dutch government to adhere to international law, which the Netherlands has strongly advocated for in the past.  Israel has just launched an attack against the city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population are sheltering, the Netherlands must take immediate steps.”

Immediate steps have been duly taken, but not along the lines advocated by Oxfam; the Dutch government is appealing to the country’s Supreme Court to return to the status quo. It was always likely to happen and was timed with the February 12 visit by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“In the government’s view,” went the official statement, “the distribution of American F-35 parts is not unlawful. The government believes it is up to the State to its [sic] determine foreign policy.”

The statement also goes on to reveal the sheer scope of the F-35 supply program and its relevance to the Dutch defence industry. Whatever the humanitarian considerations about the devastation caused by Israel’s F-35 fighters, no participant wants to miss out.

“The government will do everything it can to convince allies and partners that the Netherlands remains a reliable partner in the F-35 project and in European and international defence cooperation.”

Being part of the program was also vital to the country’s own security, and that of Israel’s “in particular with regard to threats emanating from the region, for instance from Iran, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.”

The Palestinian civilians hardly figure in these considerations, though Gaza warrants the briefest of mentions.

“The Netherlands continues to call for an immediate temporary humanitarian ceasefire, and for as much humanitarian aid as possible to be allowed to reach the suffering people of Gaza. The situation is extremely serious. It is clear that international humanitarian law applies in full and Israel, too, must abide by it.” 

As, indeed, Israel implausibly claims to be doing so, even as the starving continues and the graves fill.

*

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

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). Email: [email protected]

Featured image source

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

As the old saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. While “borrowing” your enemy’s tactics and technology is usually seen as admitting their superiority, the entire history of warfare and rivalry among human entities boils down to precisely this – improvise, adapt and overcome, usually by any means necessary. However, this is quite difficult to admit for the side that bases its image on the idea of “moral and technological superiority”.

The political West has always insisted that it’s far ahead of all of its rivals, whether regional or global. At certain stages of its development, particularly between the 16th and 19th centuries, this was true more often than not and the belligerent power pole never shied away from using this situation to create the most exploitative system in human history, one that still exists today in the form of the atrociously (neo)colonialistrules-based world order“.

And yet, the enemy’s ideas are sometimes so far ahead that it would simply be foolish and even self-defeating not to adopt them.

In that sense, Russia has always been able to inspire numerous changes in the political West’s doctrine. Moscow’s military proficiency is as old as its history. For well over a thousand years, Russia has been building world-class weapons, which helped it not only survive a virtually impossible geopolitical situation, but also push back and create one of the most powerful states in human history. In that regard, Soviet legacy is essential to the Kremlin’s current military power.

The consequences of America’s rivalry with the USSR changed the world in ways that simply cannot be overstated and will resonate not only for decades, but centuries to come. Back in the early 1960s, the USSR was so far ahead of its competition, that it created technologies very few (if any) global powers were able to match.

This includes the FOBS or the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (СЧОБ in Russian) for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that makes their range effectively limitless. China tested its own version of the technology only in 2021, while the United States has been unable to create anything similar.

The way the Russians are able to combine various seemingly unrelated and even otherworldly ideas and technologies is quite puzzling for their rivals. However, it’s also intriguing and often motivating.

Another example of this is a rather peculiar top-secret project under the name KM or the Korabl-Maket (Russian for Корабль-Макет, literally “Model-Ship”). KM was an ekranoplan, a vehicle combining the properties of a ship and an aircraft. In American military and scientific nomenclature, ekranoplans are better known as ground-effect vehicles (GEV), although they have several other names.

Such vehicles are as multirole as they could possibly be. They are able to move on virtually any terrain, giving the user unrivaled tactical and sometimes even strategic advantages.

Built by Russia’s Alekseyev Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau, almost certainly the world’s most prominent design bureau dealing with such technologies, the KM was a nightmare for American military planners, so much so that they named it the “Caspian Sea Monster”.

As previously mentioned, it combined the properties of a ship and an aircraft, giving it an unprecedented speed for a surface vessel, but also the ability to evade detection. In simpler terms, it was too fast for a ship, but extremely low-flying and slow enough to escape any radar at the time it was built. The US, primarily a thalassocracy, was terrified of the prospect such a vehicle would be built en masse, as it had the potential to nullify America’s naval dominance.

Despite the costs and its technological complexity, the KM was still far cheaper and easier to build than aircraft carriers and other large surface combatants. However, its design made it virtually impossible to counter it at the time, as it would’ve been effectively immune to both anti-ship (be it missiles or torpedoes) and SAM (surface-to-air missiles) systems. Not knowing its true purpose and capabilities, American intelligence agencies frantically tried to obtain as much info as possible about the project. Although KM crashed in 1980, this was of little comfort to the US, as, to the Pentagon’s horror, it became the basis for the Lun-class ekranoplan armed with six enormous, nuclear-capable P-270 “Moskit” supersonic anti-ship missiles. It was only thanks to the unfortunate dismantling of the Soviet Union that these vehicles never entered mass production. However, the Pentagon’s KM obsession remained.

Namely, it recently tasked DARPA with essentially copying the concept, resulting in the “Liberty Lifter” program. The US agency then contracted Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing subsidiary, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to build their versions. The program recently entered Phase 1, with Aurora Flight Sciences selected to build the first prototype, expected to conduct its maiden flight either in late 2027 or early 2028, over 60 years after the Russian KM. For the time being, the Pentagon claims it wants the vehicle to be used for transport, but the possibility of arming it (as was the case with the Russian Lun-class) shouldn’t be entirely excluded. In recent years, there has been some speculation that Moscow might reactivate its dormant ekranoplan projects, which, if true, might be the real reason behind the Pentagon’s desire to finally match the Kremlin in terms of this unique and remarkable technology.

Interestingly, the US military has been unable to counter other Russian technologies, not only strategic ones, such as hypersonic missiles, but even tactical systems, such as coaxial-rotors helicopters. Namely, the Pentagon just announced the cancelation of its (over)ambitious Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program, after wasting billions on the project. Launched in 2018, FARA resulted in two competing designs, selected in 2020 – Bell-Textron’s 360 “Invictus” and Sikorsky’s “Raider X”. The latter was essentially an extremely expensive and over-engineered American version of the Russian Ka-52 “Alligator”. Marred with reliability issues and cost overruns, the program was finally deemed “non-essential”. In other words, the US was simply unable to copy Soviet 1980s technologies. Perhaps the best way to illustrate Russia’s conventional military superiority is to quote Colonel Douglas McGregor, who said:

“Russia today is stronger than it has been in 30 or 40 years. You have a Russian military establishment that is now more potent and more capable than the Russian military was in the mid-1980s. You can’t defeat what the Russians have built… …They were the first back in the 1970s to understand the criticality of linking intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance [ISR] in space, as well as on land and at sea with strike weapons.”

*

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

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

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

Featured image is from InfoBrics

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

A recent four-nation trip by United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken was marked by efforts to denigrate China and Russia as development and security partners of the African Union (AU) member states.

Blinken traveled to the Cape Verde Islands, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Angola from January 21-26.

Despite the public posturing and rhetoric of the State Department, many governments and more importantly the masses of the people have opposed Washington’s foreign policy related to the Ukraine war and the continuing support for Israel as it lays waste to the Gaza Strip.

After two years of sabotaging any attempt to reach a negotiated settlement between Moscow and Kiev, President Joe Biden is demanding more money from U.S. taxpayers to continue arm shipments and other material assistance to Ukraine. The same situation holds true for the Palestinians as the Biden administration pours in military equipment to facilitate the genocidal program in the Gaza Strip.

African Union (AU) Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat has made repeated statements calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

These pleas for peace have been rejected by the U.S. and its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). South Africa filed a lawsuit against Tel Aviv in December where it charged the Zionist state with genocide. The second hearing in this case filed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands will take place in late February.

Although the Biden White House ridiculed the South African lawsuit against Israel as lacking merit, the case was accepted by the ICJ which ruled in the initial hearing that the charges of genocide against Israel were plausible. A series of measures were recommended by the World Court, yet Tel Aviv has continued its onslaught in Gaza resulting in the deaths of over 28,000, the wounding of thousands more and the displacement of the entire population of 2.3 million Palestinians.

Amid these policy differences with many AU states, Blinken during his trip emphasized a supposed partnership based upon mutual interests. However, the sordid history of African enslavement, colonial and neo-colonial domination by imperialism was never mentioned in the press release issued by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on January 18.

Miller emphasized on behalf of the Biden administration that:

“Throughout the trip, the Secretary will highlight how the United States has accelerated the U.S.-Africa partnership since the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, including in areas such as climate, food, and health security. He will also emphasize our future-focused economic partnership, and how the United States is investing in infrastructure in Africa to boost two-way trade, create jobs at home and on the continent, and help Africa compete in the global marketplace. Additionally, the Secretary will advance security partnerships based on shared values such as respect for human rights, promotion of democracy, and expansion of the rule of law.  He will reaffirm U.S. commitment to our coastal West African partners through the Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, U.S. partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to address regional challenges, and U.S. efforts to support African leadership in de-escalating tensions and adopting diplomatic solutions to the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.” 

Historically much of the trade spoken of by the State Department has been highly disadvantageous to African nations. The notion that bilateral relations with the U.S. is based upon respect for human rights and democracy contradicts the longtime unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of African states.

The presence of Pentagon military outposts and troops on the continent has only worsened the overall security situation. In West Africa, the U.S. has been present in Mali, Guinea, Niger and Burkina Faso through the Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Nonetheless, these states have undergone military coups over the last four years due to the unsustainable neo-colonial system of governance.

Cape Verde and Ivory Coast

Blinken made his first stop in the Cape Verde Islands located approximately 400 miles off the coast of Senegal. Several years ago, the U.S. provided funding for the refurbishing of the port at Praia in which the Secretary of State visited.

Cape Verde port at Praia

Nevertheless, while enroute to meet with high level governmental officials, the top U.S. envoy could have not avoided the presidential palace which has been enhanced and modernized with assistance of the People’s Republic of China. In addition, the Congress Hall and governmental headquarters have new buildings constructed by Beijing. (See this)

After leaving Cape Verde, Blinken stopped over in Ivory Coast, where 12 years before the U.S. in cooperation with France, overthrew the government of former President Laurent Gbagbo who had defied the neo-colonial directives of Paris. After the installation of a pro-western president in Abidjan during 2011, elements within the military remained dissatisfied over the situation inside the country.

However, unlike other regional states, the military was not able to intervene by seizing power from the civilian leadership which is by no means “democratic.” President Alassane Ouattara engineered the change in the Ivorian constitution to allow for him to serve an additional term of office.

Blinken praised Ouattara for the Ivorian government’s stance in opposition to the upheaval and military coup in Niger last July 26. Although the U.S. had initially encouraged an armed intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to reimpose the administration of ousted President Mohammad Bazoum, a close ally of Paris and Washington, public opposition across the region resulted in a rethinking of the invasion plans.

Nigeria and Angola

The third country visited by Blinken was Nigeria which has the largest economy on the continent due to its vast oil and natural gas resources. If the invasion of Niger was to occur, it would be Nigeria that supplies the bulk of the troops.

However, even President Bola Tinubu’s party, the All-Progressives Congress (APC), would not go along with the ECOWAS imperialist-engineered intervention in neighboring Niger. The people of northern Nigeria and Niger share languages and economic interests. Nigeria is the current chair of ECOWAS.

Underlining the visits to Ivory Coast and Nigeria is a pledge by the White House to bolster a security pact with several West African states. Al Jazeera said of this project,

“Blinken nonetheless promised to boost cooperation on the ground with the Ivory Coast, largely the training of security forces. He said the US would provide an additional $45m to West African nations as part of a plan to battle instability, bringing total funding under the year-old program to nearly $300m.”

Blinken meets with pro-western President of Ivory Coast

Blinken’s last visit on this tour was to Angola where oil is a major export. Angola also has close economic ties to China.

For the first 18-years of Angolan independence (1975-1993) the U.S. refused to recognize its government. In 1975, on the verge of its independence from Portugal, the U.S. under the administration of President Gerald Ford, deployed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to Angola to assist a rival pro-western armed grouping in preventing the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) from consolidating it power base.

It was the Republic of Cuba and the former Soviet Union which backed the MPLA government in its war against the apartheid South Africa which staged numerous invasions and occupations in Angola. The defeat of the racist South African Defense Forces (SADF) in early 1988 paved the way for the liberation of the Republic of Namibia in 1990 along with the release of political prisoners in South Africa including the first democratically elected President Nelson Mandela.

By April-May 1994, multi-party elections had been held bringing President Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) to power. The ANC has maintained its leading role in government over the last three decades.

A press release issued by the State Department on the Blinken visit discussed the U.S.-Angola relationship as a partnership in trade and security. However, there was no mention of the years-long damage done to Angola by successive administrations in Washington during the post-independence period from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. 

U.S. Foreign Policy Breeds War and Instability

Since the beginning of the Biden administration in early 2021, there have been a series of disastrous foreign policy developments from the calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the instigation of the special military operation by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, to a series of anti-western popular uprisings in the Sahel states in West Africa and the genocidal siege on Gaza. Since October, the White House has been pushing the Congress to approve yet another $106 billion to feed the war machine in West Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and on the Southern border with Mexico and other Latin American states.

Blinken has been jetting across West Asia and Africa in failed attempts to shore up the image of U.S. imperialism internationally. Nonetheless, with the rising opposition to the AFRICOM presence on the continent to the demands for an immediate end to the blanket bombing and occupation of the Gaza Strip, billions around the globe have nothing other than opprobrium for Washington and Wall Street.

Instead of seeking to enact a permanent ceasefire in Palestine, the White House is spreading the war regionally by bombing Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Resistance forces in West Asia have stated repeatedly that they will continue their attacks on U.S., British and Israeli interests until the current crisis in Palestine is resolved.

In Africa as well, U.S. diplomacy has not achieved any victories. Undoubtedly in years to come, a reconfigured system of international relations will come into being creating the political atmosphere for a sustainable peace and genuine cooperation among peoples.

*

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

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

Featured image: Angola President Joao Lourenco and US Secretary of State / All images in this article are from the author

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The breakdown of international justice has a high probability and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been controlled unlawfully (!) by the West.

Here is an interview with Professor Mariniello, who has studied the ICC.

The ICC works as a tool of the USA – and the criticism against ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan is devastating:

  • For years, the ICC has publicly had an “investigation” into atrocities committed by Israeli settlers on the West Bank against Palestinians – but, Khan diverted no resources to that “investigation” and he and his people never visited the West Bank. 
  • The amount of resources for Gaza was (or is) only one fifth of what ICC prosecutor Khan spends on investigation Western allegations of Russian “crimes” in Ukraine.
  • The amount of time Mr. Khan’s investigators have spend with Jewish victims of 7 October 2024 is insanely disproportionate to the time Mr. Khan and his investigators have spend with the victims related to the around 30,000 killed civilians in Ghaza.And there are more examples how ICC chief prosecutor Khan is bending and twisting international criminal law to suit US-Israel – and unilaterally target Russia.

Even the whole legal foundation for the two investigations by ICC prosecutor Khan in Ukraine and Palestine is principally different.

In the case of Palestine, the legal foundation is clear: The ICC has admitted and recognized the Palestinian Authority as a state-party to the Rome convention, thus giving the ICC legal authority to investigate crimes committed in Palestine, even when such crimes are committed by Israel, which is not a part of the Rome convention.

In the case of Ukraine, neither Ukraine nor Russia is party to the Rome convention. It is therefore an absurdity and a gross violation of the principle of egality before the law, that the ICC has recognized – without any formal grounds – that the territory of Ukraine should be subject to ICC authority. It is not.

ICC prosecutor Khan’s “investigation” into Russia and his “arrest warrant” against Putin is in violation of the ICC mandate and the whole case brought by Mr. Khan against Russia and Mr. Putin is a phoney cooked-up story – in itself possibly a crime made by the prosecutor. It is absolutely outlandish that the ICC prosecutor mandates the arrest of Russian president Putin without any evidence that Putin was personally involved in anything, and on the flimsy grounds of Russia protecting civilians incl. children in the war zone of Ukraine.

Why Doesn’t the ICC Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu?

Israel’s crimes of genocide and mass murder in Gaza are several magnitudes bigger and better documented than any alleged “crime” committed by Russia in Ukraine. And contrary to any ICC case against Putin, the criminal intent of Israel’s leadership – including the intent of Benjamin Netanyahu to commit genocide – is clearly established in public speech.

By issuing arrest on Putin – and not Netanyahu – the ICC and its prosecutor Khan is committing a gross violation of basic law and principles of equal treatment.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is phony like the ICC. The ICJ president Donoghue conspicuously favored Israel by giving Israel too much time (a whole month) for reporting a post-card on its crimes and by not issuing stricter orders. Obviously, there must have been a lot of international pressure to remove the US judge Donoghue as president of the ICC. That is why the Lebanese judge Salam from February 2024 is appointed new president of the ICJ. Testifying to the continued US abuse of power on the ICJ is that while forced by immense pressure to accept the removal of Donoghue from the presidency of the ICJ, the US instead got appointed Sebutinde as vice-president of the ICJ. Sebutinde is the outlandish judge from Uganda who as the only judge on each and every point ruled even more favorably to Israel and the Israeli judge at the ICJ. 

See this.

Distortion of Justice

In the end, the ICJ and the ICC will themselves be condemned for any lack of capability to prosecute Israel – and for their bias towards Russia. The pressure on ICJ and ICC from the non-western community is immense – unprecedented – and it is therefore a break with the whole Western intention of creating these two institutions as their own puppets that these two institutions are now both forced, not willingly, but forced to take steps against Israel.

Yes, the ICJ and ICC will probably either violate their own laws and that the West will block any execution of the justice. Anyway, that situation will also – in and by itself – removed the disguise if “morality” – of “justice” – of “rules” – behind which the collective West has been hiding itself for centuries.

But anyway, the cases against Israel (and behind Israel USA and the collective West) are still monumental, because they one way or another are bringing a downfall of the West.

*

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

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.  

Featured image source

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Introduction

In these extraordinary times and in the face of countless doomsday scenarios, it is not easy to get a grip on your personal feelings, organise your thoughts and put them down on paper in generally understandable language.

But the clairvoyant person who has recognised the absurdity of life takes a stand and does not avoid it. Indifference is out of question. He sees himself as the master of his fate and still wants to impose a measure of meaning on this senseless world. He realises that his decision alone can change this life and this world. Like all ghosts, the spectre of absurdity escapes if you have the courage to confront it. 

In order to overcome the strangeness of this world, he tries to create a home for himself in the human community.

Strangeness in This World

As a citizen of the post-war generation, I feel increasingly alienated in today’s world. Ethical and moral values such as empathy and peacefulness no longer apply.

Politicians are nothing more than docile puppets of the digital-financial complex, which poses a much greater threat to people’s freedom and self-determination than the military-industrial complex (Ernst Wolff).

Citizens are not only being lied to or “hoodwinked” about the reduction in the world’s population or the economic problems (deindustrialisation, plant closures, emigration, job cuts). There is also no information about the deadly consequences of COVID vaccinations and once again a worldwide vaccination obligation is recommended and implemented. Anyone who does not (yet) see this negative development or is not aware of the information in the alternative media will soon be taught better.

New major wars are also being planned and loudly and frighteningly announced by the US-NATO and its EU vassals. The usual enemy stereotypes are being activated once again to justify them. Russia will continue to be presented as a dangerous enemy by the entire West after the interview with the Russian president by the US American Tucker Carlson or after the elections in the USA.

If you live in one of these Slavic countries such as Russia or Serbia for a longer period of time, you realise that politically fabricated images of the enemy have nothing to do with reality, but serve a different purpose.

Recognising the absurdity of this world, however, contains within it the invitation to master this absurdity and to turn resolutely towards an existence that only makes sense as a result. The fate of the world depends solely on people. Since there is only this one world, it would be absurd not to affirm it.

Creating a Home in the Human Community

In order to overcome the strangeness in this world, we humans should try to create a home for ourselves in the human community. This home develops over time through sharing in the joys and sufferings of our fellow human beings.

Humans are by nature communal beings. From the impressions of their early childhood, they develop a certain degree of human connection, an interest in others that can be described as a “sense of community”.

In the basic conditions of human coexistence lies a compulsion to understand one another (Alfred Adler). Everyone has the ability to empathise and sympathise. The feelings of others are experienced and understood. Joys and sorrows are shared with the other; people help each other to endure the difficult times of life (Kropotkin).

Depending on their maturity, life experience, self-knowledge and world view, people are able to empathise with others. This creates trust, warmth and security in the other person. 

Of course, this is an arduous process that requires a lot of courage, time and patience, but it is of great importance for the life of every individual. The authoritarian upbringing of recent decades has unfortunately had the effect of deterring us from our fellow human beings from childhood onwards. Only a non-authoritarian, liberal education that refrains from exaggerated authoritarianism, the use of force and indulgence and adapts to the child’s inner life with true understanding will create a humane social order and a dignified future. 

Recognizing That Destiny Depends on Humanity

Ever since humans have existed and we have had knowledge about them, we have known that they always strive for a better life situation; first and foremost for a free life in peace without violence and war. Most people love to go about their daily work or till the fields and live together with their neighbours in peace and friendship. 

But history itself does not strive for freedom and peace through its own laws – virtually over our heads. A free world without violence, without weapons and wars can only be realised by the decision of the people, by thinking and acting in accordance with the ideal of freedom, peace and justice. And this reduction of violence must take place here and now.

Unfortunately, however, the upbringing in our culture creates a fear of other people in children, an emotional reaction that turns against others. When they grow up, they are unable to work and live together with their fellow human beings. They are also unable to organise their own lives well.

For this reason, children should learn from their parents and teachers that there is no need to be afraid of other people, but that others enjoy playing and living with them. Any conflicts that arise can always be resolved in friendship and without any verbal or physical violence. Adults should therefore be non-violent models.

We should also assume that human emotional life is not just the result of the parent-child relationship, but that the socio-cultural milieu and the corresponding feelings are just as decisive, because parents, teachers and educators convey the values of a culture to the child in word and deed on a daily basis.

In this context, it is positive to note that in recent millennia humanity has increasingly heard the voice of humanity’s conscience within itself and is aware that it is important to live together in freedom and brotherhood and to secure life on this earth by fighting together against the forces of nature.

The Obligation Towards the Future Is to Give Everything to the Present

Responsible adults are constantly asking themselves what the older generation can do to ensure a peaceful future and a dignified life for young people.

A sentence by Pindar, which precedes Camus’ essay on the absurd, “The Myth of Sisyphus”, reads:

“Dear soul, do not strive for eternal life, but make the most of what is possible.” (1)

According to the French philosopher-writer and atheist existentialist Albert Camus, the clear-sighted person who knows himself to be the master of his own destiny is committed to the spirit of revolt. The love that previous generations bestowed on a heavenly being is now only directed towards the earth and his fellow human beings. This is his faith, his passion and his future; familiarity with this world is his ultimate goal.

In an interview with the libertarian magazine “Défense de l’homme”, Camus said:

“I am betting on peace. That is my very own optimism. But you have to do something for it and that will be difficult. Therein lies my pessimism.” (2)

For free people, there is no higher goal than the realisation of freedom for all. They give themselves over to the passion of revolt, to this incomprehensible generosity, this strange love. Their pride is not to make any calculations for the future and to waste everything on the present life and the living brothers. This is the real devotion to the people of the future. 

True generosity towards the future consists in giving everything to the present.

*

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

Dr Rudolf Lothar Hänsel is a school rector, educational scientist and qualified psychologist. After his university studies, he became an academic teacher in adult education. As a pensioner, he worked as a psychotherapist in his own practice. In his books and specialist articles, he calls for a conscious ethical and moral education of values as well as an education for public spirit and peace. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Notes

(1) Camus, Albert (1959). The Myth of Sisyphus. Hamburg, p. 7

(2) Marin, Lou (ed.) (2013). Albert Camus – Libertarian Writings (1948-1960). Hamburg, p. 82

Pakistan Elections: Khan vs. the Generals

February 14th, 2024 by Junaid S. Ahmad

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Pakistan’s elections just days ago both lived up to expectations, and did not. What was predicted was the electoral tampering, rigging, and outright fraud that was a central feature of the Pakistani generals’ plan. What was not anticipated was former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, the PTI (‘movement for justice’), capturing the most parliamentary seats of any political party.

Such a miraculous outcome, despite the horrendous levels of repression of the PTI, despite every single attempt by the military establishment to prevent the party from even contesting in the elections – not to mention the aforementioned manipulation of the election results.

The Pakistani military-intelligence apparatus, after its violence and terror campaign against the population following the ousting of Khan from power in April 2022, is the proverbial emperor that has no clothes. They stand manifestly exposed both for their reign of terror, corruption, and fraud, but also for their incompetence in delivering the political results desired by both internal and external power centers.

In many ways, perhaps the most analogous relatively recent event was the victory of Hamas in elections in 2006. The Israelis, the Americans, and the Gulf monarchies wanted to give legitimacy to their chosen occupation sub-contractor, the collaborationist and hopelessly corrupt Palestinian Authority (PA). These forces believed that they had adequately invested the financial and political capital to smoothly enable the PA to win ‘elections under occupation.’ Shock and horror – as well as a violent intervention – by these political actors were what followed the surprise victory of Hamas, despite every effort to marginalize and bury the appeal of this Palestinian resistance movement.

Similarly, the military and political elites in Pakistan had guaranteed themselves and their master-patrons in Washington that these elections in Pakistan were a done deal, a walk in the park. This narrative claimed that the appeal of the PTI had diminished, and any remaining popularity of Khan and his political party would be offset by the investment of tens of millions of dollars to buy off the military high command, politicians in all of the provinces, and crucially, the judges of the provincial high courts, as well as the Supreme Court itself.

The generals said they had plans B, and if needed, C, in case plan A did not work.

Plan A was the simple ousting of Khan from power in April 2022. It was thought this move would simply eradicate the ‘Khan virus.’

To the surprise of many, including Khan himself, a massive, unprecedented outpouring of support, with rallies taking place across cities and towns, erupted spontaneously in every province of the country.

But that was fine, and military elites began the charge sheet against Khan to get him embroiled in one court case after the next – plan B.

That failed to work, and Khan’s popularity continued to soar. Incessant reassurances were meted out from former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Bajwa to Washington and the House of Sharif, the family in control of one of the two dominant dynastic political parties, the PML(N).

Gen. Bajwa claimed that the situation is under control and that his successor, COAS Gen. Asim Munir, would finish the job. Bajwa was lucky. All he agreed to was removing Khan from power, and he delivered. Though Gen. Bajwa also became detested, his safety valve was his exit from the political scene after a few months. Asim Munir was not so fortunate.

Plan C needed to be activated.

Public sentiment was turning so antagonistic towards the military top brass for their unashamed targeting of Khan that the ‘final solution’ needed to be implemented: assassination.

Two of those attempts, one of which injured Khan in the shin, proved fruitless as well.

There really was no plan D, and so one was quickly concocted: charge Khan with the most absurd but very serious charges: terrorism, treason, etc., and imprison him in complete isolation.

Charge him with leaking state secrets over the now infamous ‘cypher-gate’ – the accusation that Khan recklessly spoke of a top secret diplomatic cable sent to the Foreign Ministry by Pakistan’s ambassador to the US. It stated, in no uncertain terms, Washington’s desire that Khan be removed from power. Both the military elite as well as, sadly, a good chunk of the intellectual class, mocked Khan (and his supporters) for over a year for being conspiratorial and inventing this ostensibly fictional ‘cypher.’

Only when the American online publication, The Intercept, confirmed the veracity of the contents – as Khan had described – of the diplomatic cable, did Gen. Munir and other senior personnel in the armed forces not only concede that such a cypher does exist, but that Khan would now face charges of treason for revealing its contents. Supposedly, this leak by the former prime minister constituted a grave threat to ‘national security.’ In reality, it presented a palpable unmasking of the collusion of the American foreign policy establishment, Pakistani generals, and Pakistani kleptocrats of the two major political parties, one of the House of Sharif and the other the House of Bhutto-Zardari – in deposing Khan from power.

Once the hastily assembled plan D was put in motion, the idea was that it would seamlessly lead to the final plan E, that of ruthless repression of the PTI, so that by the time of elections in February 2024, there will be no sign remaining of Khan and his party.

What the election results of last week have shown – despite the fact that Khan’s party members could not even run on their party ticket and had to run as independents – is the ongoing popular support for PTI.

There doesn’t seem to be a plan F, considering the frantic responses of the army chief and the head of the intelligence agencies, or the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). COAS Gen. Munir is no longer concerned with his big picture ‘obligations.’ He has been reduced to being merely interested in saving himself. The only party that he is trying to somehow please at this point is the one footing the bill – the House of Sharif.

All of this has led to Gen. Munir perhaps being the most hated COAS in the nation’s history. And that’s not because of a shortage of competition.

How about Washington planners? How are they reacting?

As one senior State Department official very bluntly commented:

“These imbeciles can’t even crush a political novice like Khan. They command one of the largest armed forces in the world, nuclear armed. What is all that for?”

The American foreign policy establishment, after the ouster of Khan, had outsourced the job of managing the old ‘Af-Pak’ theatre of the ‘Global War on Terror’ to the Pentagon.

Washington believed its old Cold War framework of dealing with the generals will produce a ‘stable’ and pliant Pakistan. There is no entity as irate at the incompetence of the Pakistani military high command as the US Department of Defense – to which both Gen. Bajwa and Gen. Munir promised the moon. Actually, State Department officials are equally incensed since they were tasked to prevaricate for almost two years to conceal Washington’s role, as well as that of Pakistani generals, in this entire scenario.

The State Department denied any knowledge of the cypher. That began to change after the Intercept’s publication of the contents of that diplomatic cable. At that point, it was not so much about asserting the non-existence of the cypher, but underscoring how such communication between two governments was nothing abnormal. Washington was willing to give Islamabad a few more months to fix everything by holding (s)elections that would quash Khan and his party once and for all.

And now, it seems clear that the American foreign policy establishment is in a state of vengeance, keen on punishing the generals who promised to engender a Pakistani political dispensation unashamedly docile and subservient. This is why there’s been an explosion of harsh criticisms – from the State Department to numerous members of Congress – of the Pakistani military’s interference in these elections.

Undoubtedly, there were members of Congress, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, who wanted to express their displeasure much earlier. But they also acquiesced to their Democratic Party leadership in the White house and in Congress – who hung on by a thread to the idea that ‘stability’ will be brought soon by the traditional political and military elites. The White House unceasingly maintained that ‘our guys’ in Islamabad will facilitate a smooth and relatively quiet transition to the post-Khan period, without raising any international alarm bells.

Of course, now, it’s become patently obvious that Washington is radically revising its stance, one that effectively states to Pakistan’s generals: you had your chance, you failed, and now you’re making things worse. The American 180 turnaround in its position is an attempt to salvage some respect, or at least some tolerance, from the people of Pakistan that know full well Washington’s role in the ‘original sin’ of the regime change operation. The generals have put Washington in a deeply embarrassing situation.

However, Washington apparatchiks may be unfair in their treatment of their client men in khaki in Pakistan. The former do not realize that it’s the political has-beens that the generals can control, not the newbies like Khan. The old political bigwigs know the rules of the game – proper balance between the enrichment of both the political and military elites – and abide by it. The new kids on the block are too recalcitrant to even properly learn those rules, let alone comply with them.

In sum, Washington now considers Gen. Munir a dreadful liability, only after his first year as COAS. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on the other hand, provided Washington ‘stability in Pakistan’ for 8 years until he also became a liability in 2007.

In this entire saga, what’s truly been disappointing is the role of Pakistani media. The country’s leading and, deservedly, most well-respected periodical, Dawn, suddenly begins to churn out columns praising the democratic “defiance” of the people in these elections. It’s a shame that the people’s defiance was not covered over the past twenty months, when apparently it was simply an expression of a cult-following, and the totalitarian and conspicuously undemocratic repression was not worth reporting. The resistance of the Pakistani people could have certainly benefited from some coverage then. Now, such voices in the media are commonplace. It’s rather sad how Pakistani media seems to be taking its cues from the US State Department – when to cover/report, and when not to. DAWN columnists had many months to praise the democratic will of the people, but did not.

At this point, the divisions within the military officer corps have become evident. Gen. Munir and others in the top brass realize how dangerous it is to give the wrong orders to junior officers and soldiers. How many times will the Pakistani armed forces be commanded to open fire, imprison, torture, and disappear their population on a mass scale? The crimes of the military establishment in the provinces of Balochistan and KPK have been bad enough.

For almost two years now, the brutal suppression of the military establishment was meant to instill paralyzing trepidation in the population. But just as the people of Gaza, of Palestine, of West Asia, have overcome a psychological sense of fear of Israel, so too have the people of Pakistan. Pakistanis have increasingly lost fear of their national security state and its violent shenanigans. This is a major development.

Whatever political configuration emerges after these elections, one thing is for certain: this round has been a resounding victory for former Prime Minister Imran Khan, smiling from his wretched jail cell, as well as the people of Pakistan, regardless of their political affiliation.

*

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

Prof. Junaid S. Ahmad teaches Religion, Law, and Global Politics and is the Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Decoloniality, Islamabad, Pakistan. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Arkansas Nurse Geri Gatison Stuart tragically lost both husband and son within a month.

Jan. 2023 – Texarkana, Arkansas – Registered Nurse Geri Gatison Stuart married her best friend in January 2023.

 

Dec. 6, 2023 – Geri’s husband Steve Stuart, passed away of a “cardiac event” while on vacation in the Bahamas (on a cruise) on December 6, 2023. “Geri and Steve were married in January of this year and were enjoying an early first anniversary cruise which was spoiled by his death.”

 

 

Jan. 10, 2024 – Geri’s oldest son, 31 year old Lee Maxfield died suddenly. “It was a brief (one week) sudden illness. Within one month nurse Geri lost both her husband and her son.

Dec. 2, 2023 – Cherrybrook, NSW, Australia – 36 year old neonatal ICU nurse Amy Barker and her unborn boy Marcus both died suddenly and unexpectedly. Family has no answers.

Image

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.

Image

Oct. 12, 2023 – Waxahachie, TX – 16 year old Hayden Jones died unexpectedly on Oct. 12, 2023. His mom is a nurse and dad is a firefighter.

Sep. 30, 2023 – TX – 15 year old Ty Stevens has a mom nurse (vaxxed). He had a cardiac arrest at home on Sep. 30, 2023 and flatlined, but was revived by EMS/Firefighters…his MRI is normal.

Image

Image

Aug. 29, 2023 – Temple Hill, KY – Nurse Velvet Scott died suddenly on Aug. 29, 2023. She rushed to get her 1st COVID-19 Vaccine on Dec. 23, 2020. Her brother died a few moths prior and her other brother just had surgery for prostate cancer. Three siblings, two dead, one with cancer within a few months.

June 2023 – Swift Current SK – Ashlyn Paul is a nurse who runs COVID-19 vaccine clinics. Her 5 year old daughter Rustyn was just diagnosed with an aggressive T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with a “large tumor in her mediastinum.”

Image

March 12, 2023 – Raleigh, NC – 17 year old cheerleader Keianna Joe, had a cardiac arrest & died briefly during a competition warm-up. She was saved by her nurse mother with CPR & a defibrillator.

Feb. 10, 2023 – Hamburg, NY – Kelly Englert is a nurse who was diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer 3 years ago that has recently spread to her brain. Her daughter Kaitland was just diagnosed with recurrence of her brain tumor which has “mutated into an aggressive form and is a Grade 4 Glioma”. Both have simultaneous CANCER RECURRENCES into more aggressive forms! (Click here)

St. Cloud Florida – Patrick Kelly (age 20) died April 18, 2022 and his mother, a nurse, Francesca Kelly (age 50) died Feb. 5, 2023. Mother believed her son died from the COVID-19 vaccine (click here).

Jan. 25, 2023 – Ohio – 6 yo Anastasia Marie Weaver died suddenly in her sleep after 2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccines on Jan. 25, 2023 (mom is a nurse) Jan. 2022: “my girls had no side effects from 2nd shot”. Jul. 2022: “still having seizures” Sep. 2022: COVID-19 Jan. 25, 2023: died.

Image

Image

My Take…

In the past, it was considered to be a benefit, to have a nurse or a doctor in the household.

That changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vast majority of COVID-19 mRNA vaccinated doctors and nurses pushed the jabs on their own family members, to their detriment.

I have reported 100s of vaxxed nurses dying suddenly or developing late stage Turbo Cancers. 

This article gives an unprecedented look at how some of their family members are doing.

The children who have a COVID-19 mRNA Vaccinated nurse parent, are NOT doing well.

*

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

Dr. 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.

Featured image is from COVID Intel


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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

World Economic Forum’s chairman Klaus Schwab recently said at World Governments Summit in Dubai that we should avoid a technocratic bureaucracy and instead create a “humanocracy”. A world where technology is used to create a “better world” with the help from “technicians, philosophers and humanists”. Klaus now seems to view himself as a benevolent humanist.

So how will his “human society” look like? During the subsequent conversation with the chairman of the WGS, Mohammad Al Gergawi, Schwab said:

And finally I think we have to be prepared for a world where we see a fusion of our physical, our digital and our biological dimensions.

This attempt to rebrand his techno-futurist cult into a “humanocracy” can only be described as pathetic.

One of the chapters in his manual for large scale transformation of humanity and the earth system, Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has the revealing title “Altering the Human”. It seems that Klaus just happened to forget to add “trans” before “humanist”.

I say his visions for the future more resemble a Robotocracy. With a humanity transformed into cyborgs, guided and monitored by the “All-seeing Eye” (AI).

*

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

Featured image is a screenshot from Youtube

Opposing the COVID Juggernaut with Rational Medical Thinking. Dr. Peter Canaday

By Dr. Emanuel Garcia, February 13, 2024

When the covid tsunami hit the shores of New Zealand, thereby fostering a slew of drastic measures based on limitless fear and breathtakingly absent science, Dr. Peter Canaday did what good doctors are meant to do: he thought, he questioned, he amassed evidence, he insisted on basic foundational principles of Medicine, and he brought his concerns to the public.

Israel’s Rafah Ground Invasion – Zionist War Against Islam Is About to Explode

By Joachim Hagopian, February 13, 2024

Simultaneously accompanied by IDF airstrikes, offshore IDF ship launched assaults and IDF artillery attacks from inside Israel, an IDF special forces operation launched an incursion in Rafah during the early morning hours Monday local time to rescue two Israeli hostages in Rafah, with initial reports stating 37 Palestinians were killed.

Why Did Ukraine Open Its Doors to North Atlantic Treaty Organization?

By Kester Kenn Klomegah, February 13, 2024

In his speech at the Russian Federation Security Council at the Kremlin on February 21, 2022, Putin made it clear the long-standing confrontation between the Kiev officials and the people living on Eastern territory, the republics of Donbass, Donetsk and Lugansk. People in these republics were been attacked, deprived of basic amenities and their basic human rights violated.

Commander in Chief Zaluzhny Out of Office, Could be a Threat to Zelensky

By Lucas Leiroz de Almeida, February 13, 2024

Valery Zaluzhny left his post as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces on February 8, being replaced by Aleksandr Syrsky. At first, the change seemed to be a kind of “victory” for Zelensky in the disputes against Zaluzhny. However, analyzing the case in depth, it is possible to conclude that the Ukrainian president remains under strong threat.

EU Foreign Policy Chief to World Leaders: ‘Stop Saying Please’ and Cut Off Arms to Israel

By Jake Johnson, February 13, 2024

The European Union’s top foreign policy official said Monday that the Biden administration and other governments professing concern about the grisly death toll in the Gaza Strip should stop supplying so much weaponry to the Israeli military as it carries out one of the most devastating bombing campaigns in modern history.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Has Escalated Premeditated Murder Against Palestinians

By Jordan News, February 13, 2024

On Sunday, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated its premeditated murders, extrajudicial executions, and judicial killings against Palestinian civilians through direct targeting with snipers and drones in various regions of the Gaza Strip.

Feathery Infiltrators: The Case of the Pigeon Spy

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, February 13, 2024

Of all the animals featured in the intelligence inventory, one stands out. The pigeon featured heavily in both World Wars, an inconspicuous, small creature ideal in performing various tasks. Messages can be delivered surreptitiously in conditions of disrupted communications.

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Yes, and this is exactly what we are witnessing today. It means that the chief oppressors of humanity are not about to claim victory in their lust for world domination, but are in fact heading for a crash and are blindly living out their final days.

Their madness is already on view to anyone who follows the antics of the despotic globalist regime so brazenly flaunting its self contrived stardom. It’s not a pretty sight.

Drunk on power and super inflated egos, these less than human humans stand as high as they can on  the world stage to project their pompous profiles – only to reveal their true colours as obsessed psychotic war mongers caught in the web of their own morbid megalomania.

However these architects of central control are not alone in being sentenced to an inglorious end. The madness bestowed by the gods also falls on those passive couch potatoes who ‘look on and do nothing’, burying their heads in the sand so as to avoid having to stand up against the rank injustices that stare them in the face.

Then a similar madness creeps up on those who turn away from anything which disturbs their ‘faux spiritual’ retreat into a world of passive inner contemplation. The gods do not smile on such misuses of genuine spiritual disciplines adopted by true aspirants striving to evolve into conscious, active and responsible human beings.

There is no route to a higher calling which does not incorporate service to humanity and confronting injustice. To turn away from such basic responsibility is a form of soul suicide – brought about in the mistaken belief that by shirking a natural humanitarian responsiveness towards the collective welfare of mankind one can remain ‘undisturbed’ in moving up some invisible stairway to heaven.

Then there are those ‘apologist’ professional men and women whose all consuming ambitions lead them to unquestioningly play by the rules of the game, trampling on others in order to make it to the top.

Do the gods smile upon such cowardly behaviour? No, they will increasingly cause such individuals to suffer the inevitable pain that results from going against their better conscience, of being complicit in the cause of evil.

Such people will, unless they change their ways, also be subject to a creeping state of madness. One that corrodes away the natural sympathetic qualities that keep mankind responsible, humane and sane.

What about those who accumulate disproportionately high levels of personal wealth and use the great majority of it to feather their nests and further bolster their sense of self importance over others less financially secure?

What view do the gods take about those harbouring obsessions of material gain?

They cause such people to feel increasingly insecure; increasingly afraid of losing the velvet padded ease of their sumptuous life styles. Cut off from the world of real people, real emotions and real human affection. 

Perhaps such bloated examples of excess cause the gods to pass a message across their field of vision, such as “It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.”

How tormented such mindless millionaires become by not being able to completely dispel the poignancy of such a message. How empty they feel inside, in spite of all their exterior wealth. How easily they get irritated by small things or any challenges to the worthiness of their indulgences.

Yes, an ongoing form of madness awaits those who who try to deny that their greed is in any way responsible for fanning the flames of social depravation, jealously and ultimately war.

The human race, is spite of what sometimes appears to be the opposite, is evolving. Evolving from crude to subtle; from brutish to sensitive. This process cannot be stopped, only delayed.

We are entering a time when the contrast between the light and dark side of mankind becomes increasingly stark; increasingly recognisable. 

So you might think that church/religious leaders would be open receptacles for such rising spirit energies, finding the courage to speak-out loudly about blatant acts of destruction on this planet. 

For example, about the horrific evils being perpetrated on the people of Gaza; the vile persuasions of high ranking paedophiles; child molesters and traffickers for profit. The two faced politicians heading for the Masonic Temples in the Halls of Westminster. The producers and distributors of Covid bio weapon jabs. The overall pandemic of deception and lying of the big corporate bankers and news media chiefs; of government ministers and CEO’s of hegemonic global institutions – those who take it upon themselves to claim the authority to control every aspect of other people’s lives. 

Of course the list goes on and on and on…but do the ‘holy men’ of the Judeo-Christian tradition – or any other ‘faith’ for that matter – step forward to put a stop to such mass degradation of the moral, ethical and spiritual values of our world?

Certainly not. With a few rare exceptions, they hide away in their vestries and synagogues and turn their heads from taking any kind of responsibility for the world outside – or from displaying the courage to practice as they preach.

The gods respond by publicly revealing these representatives of religious dogma to be fakes, parodies of virtue completely lacking any genuine spiritual convictions. Their particular variety of holy madness comes from suffering the indignity of being exposed as plagiarisers of the teachings of genuine spiritual masters while claiming the protection of their ‘holy church’ and of the State. 

Such protection is generally granted, providing the bishops, priests and clergymen keep their side of the deal ‘not to get involved in politics’.

So now that we have dispensed with any lingering attachment to institutions falsely claiming to represent the will of God, we can turn our attention to the real issue: discovering in ourselves and encouraging manifestation of the true expression of our existence as reflections of an omnipotent and omniscient Creator.

This is the only way of gaining sufficient inner resilience to rise above the essentially cowardly manipulators of manufactured darkness – and to finally overturn them.

Going head to head with the villains running this planet should not be a frightening prospect. On the contrary, it should be seen as a challenge to be fully embraced, coupled with a determination to develop one’s latent powers to become a spiritual warrior fully supported by the highest universal forces.

We have arrived at that point now, and there is nowhere else to go – nothing else left to do – other than enter into an honest confrontation with those who so cunningly vampire humanity’s God given powers.

Now we must finally break-out of the spell binding artifice of mass indoctrination that has been allowed to suffocate our fundamental freedoms, in exchange for the generally feckless adoption of an AI/IT ‘culture of convenience’. A spineless, superficial cul-de-sac of life which in turn opens a door to the techno-insanity of the Transhuman agenda.

No more! There is, at this very moment, a great ‘call to arms’ ringing out across the length and breadth of the planet. Respond to it we must. Rise up in unity we will. 

Have no doubt that an extraordinary reversal of fortunes lies ahead. A gathering storm that will sweep aside all that which so desperately attempts to thwart the rising tide of human emancipation.

Human emancipation cannot be thwarted. A pulsating new dawn is gathering together its scattered radiances at this very moment. Who would not want to be party to paving the way for its dramatic appearance over the Eastern horizon?

*

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

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

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The deadliest ever Israeli bombardment by land, sea and air on Rafah, Gaza Strip’s southernmost border city, took place while America was sidetracked with Superbowl Sunday festivities. On Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on ABC News “This Week” to announce:

Victory is within reach. We’re going to do it. We’re going to get the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions in Rafah, which is the last bastion, but we’re going to do it.

Then overnight on Monday February 12th, anywhere from over 100 to 164 Palestinians were reportedly murdered by Israeli attacks. International alarm and condemnation of the Israeli hardline government is growing by the day.

Simultaneously accompanied by IDF airstrikes, offshore IDF ship launched assaults and IDF artillery attacks from inside Israel, an IDF special forces operation launched an incursion in Rafah during the early morning hours Monday local time to rescue two Israeli hostages in Rafah, with initial reports stating 37 Palestinians were killed. At the same time Israeli tanks, armored personnel carriers and armored engineering vehicles are moving further into Gaza’s next kill zone Rafah.

Al Jazeera’s contributing journalist Ahmed Abdullah Mohsen as an eyewitness in Rafah reported:

The screaming and wailing nearly drowned out the warplanes that covered the sky, dropping barrages in a fiery belt that crushed the bodies of the displaced in their tents. About 20 minutes of explosions lit the night like something from an artificial Hollywood film.

While Biden and Blinken have “strongly advised” Netanyahu to tone down civilian Palestinian deaths and most recently not initiate Bibi’s IDF ground invasion into Rafah, according to several unnamed sources quoted by NBC News on February 12th, on at least three occasions Biden called Netanyahu “an asshole,” venting his mounting frustration towards Bibi the Butcher, undoubtedly wrecking Biden’s reelection campaign.

Last Thursday even prior to the Rafah blitzkrieg, Biden went public saying Israel’s latest actions are “over the top.” His bid to stay in the White House already was dealt a lethal blow last week when special counsel Robert Hur’s report leaked Biden too mentally incompetent to stand trial for willfully retaining illegal classified documents. Essentially, Biden has been thrown under the bus by the same Deep State that installed him as Imposter-in-Thief. Using the Texas State Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s phraseology posted last Friday on X:

I’ve said for over a year many times that Joe Biden would not be on the ticket and Michelle Obama would be the likely nominee. It’s clear the Democrat deep state run by Barack Obama knew they had to take him down to give them a chance in November.

Warmongering Washington now finds itself helplessly floundering, standing up for “Israel’s right to defend itself no matter what,” stuck in a downward freefall spiral paralleling its same humiliating, disastrous policy standing up for the Ukraine debacle. Quite a few pay grades higher than Obama sits the City of London atop this Deep State food chain, throwing the US and entire West under the bus.

For months Israel issued directives to Palestinian residents living in north and central Gaza to flee their homes seeking shelter in south Gaza, where now up to 1.5 million of Gaza’s total 2.3 million Palestinians are now refugees, helplessly trapped in Rafah as defenseless sitting duck targets in the IDF crosshairs.

The Jewish State’s coldblooded game plan all along has been to force Palestinians to run for their lives south out of Gaza, and in the end, exiled to Egypt’s Sinai Desert. Yet Egypt has emphatically warned Israel against this sinister ethnic purge as totally unacceptable, driving Palestinians from their ancient Gaza homeland into Egypt.

Now, with no place for Palestinians to safely shelter in place, Israel is fast preparing to launch its major offensive into Rafah right at Egypt’s border to flood desperate refugees completely out of Gaza. In one fell swoop for decades, Israel has awaited this outcome as its “final solution” to its “Palestinian problem,” free to then steal their vast gas and oil reserves and build a Gaza canal shortcutting Egypt’s Suez Canal.

The peace treaty that Egypt and Israel signed 45 years ago today is in total jeopardy in near shreds.

The Cairo government warned Netanyahu if IDF ground forces invade Rafah as clear violation of its peace agreement with Egypt, rendering it null and void, it risks opening up yet another warfront at Israel’s southern border, after almost a half century of peace with its Arab neighbor.

Also, Egypt has been suffering economically from this Gaza war with its plummeting Suez Canal revenue down by a whopping 30%. Hence, Egypt is warning Israel of “grave consequences,” further echoed by regional Islamic powers Iran’s “severe consequences” and Saudi Arabia’s “very serious repercussions.”

The stakes are growing higher each passing day as Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border has stepped up its campaign from southern Lebanon against genocidal Israel while Houthi drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea target US naval warships as well as commercial cargo vessels continue unabated. This Middle East powder keg is ready to burst into full-scale war between Israel and its genocidal accomplice the US, dragged into fighting yet another Greater Israel Project war that has all the earmarks for Armageddon. Israel continues to defy all warnings from the US, UN and the International Criminal Court. With the united Arab Islamic world’s strengthening strategic alliance with Russia and China, and its nonstop warnings and threats to Israel all unheeded, by the day the ominous risk of these deeply disturbing developments is growing exponentially.

As world pariahs Israel and US alienate themselves before the entire planet, digging their irreversible grave, lined up on the wrong side of history, they’ve been perpetrating genocide in Gaza for four straight months. Arab nations showing remarkable restraint not to react to their provocations to widen the regional conflict, have been increasingly vocal in their unified disapproval. But with hostilities growing at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, now at the southern border with Egypt, and the northeastern border with Syria, the Islamic world is preparing a contingency plan ultimately to crush Israel if genocide continues unchanged. Knowing without war his political life is terminally over, Bibi the Butcher has repeatedly rejected all ceasefire proposals and demands. Meanwhile, the US without an exit strategy, has feebly allowed itself to be dragged deeper into a quagmire, daily growing into a wider regional conflict.

On Sunday Netanyahu illogically claimed “enough” of the 132 remaining Israeli hostages still alive more than justify continuing the war.

In response, a Hamas leader said if Israel launches its intended ground invasion in Rafah, it would “blow up” all hostage exchange negotiation.

Despite repeated warnings against the Rafah invasion, Netanyahu instructed his IDF and security forces to come up with a plan to evacuate over one million Palestinian refugees in Rafah to pave the way for Israel’s ground offensive, ostensibly to destroy four well-fortified Hamas battalions entrenched in the city. With the situation growing tenser by the day, also on Sunday, Egypt spoke of “dire consequences” for Israel if Bibi orders his assault on Rafah. The Egyptian foreign ministry stated:

Egypt called for the necessity of uniting all international and regional efforts to prevent the targeting of the Palestinian city of Rafah.

It’s becoming ever-so dangerously clearer, when IDF inevitably does fully invade Rafah, the Arab world is bound to finally strike back and at that pivotal moment World War III will likely be officially activated.

Meanwhile last Friday February 9th, Syrian air defense systems shot down Israeli drones and missiles outside of Damascus fired from Israel’s illegally occupied Golan Heights. Attacks by Hezbollah militants in both Syria and Iraq have steadily increased since the Gaza war began, resulting in the recent proliferation of retaliatory US, UK and Israel strikes against Islamic Resistance groups throughout the region, especially this month with US aerial attacks targeting scores of Iran army and proxy Resistance targets. In response to US-Israel latest strikes, last weekend Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian traveled to Lebanon and Syria to discuss the stepped up aggression by Israel and United States, on Sunday meeting in Damascus with both Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and his Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. While al-Assad stressed the more the US sends weapons to Israel, the wider the regional conflict is growing (following the same failed US weapons to Ukraine). Bottomline, all this increasing global conflict is the direct result of Western puppets obediently carrying out Rothschild City of London orders. Syrian FM Mekdad stated:

Syria has fought wars against the Israeli occupation, and is ready to fight wars, but it will decide when and how. [Ending Israel’s Golan Heights occupation remains] at the top of our priorities. Syria is ready to pay the price for all these liberation operations.

The top Syrian diplomat added that the unwelcomed US and Turkish military presence in Syria is also an “illegitimate” violation of Syria’s national sovereignty, and like Iraq, also is demanding immediate removal, specifically the United States from its theft in the Conoco Oil Fields and Turkey from Kurdistan and northeastern Syria. Plus, until the 1967 Arab-Israeli Seven Day War, the Golan Heights was always part of southwestern Syria and the ongoing Jewish settler expansion in that long-disputed territory is still rightfully claimed by Syria near six decades later.

The entire Arab Muslim world has been coalescing as a unified front, busily joining the BRICS alliance, while behind the scenes, in self-defense is likely preparing an inevitable, massive Islamic military counterattack against Israel from every direction to ultimately stop the endless Zionist beast from any further aggressive expansion. With a significantly weakened US no longer Israel’s unipolar kingpin protector, the Muslim world by conventional military means is in strategic position realizing it can defeat the Jewish State once and for all, launching a coordinated multi-pronged offensive from multiple directions at once. Israel would be overwhelmed and destined to lose this upcoming war, and perhaps as Kissinger predicted, Israel would no longer exist as a nation. However, Israel never hesitates to evoke the maniacal threat of its infamous Sampson option, unloading its nuclear arsenal on any perceived foes or friends alike. And with both Iran and Pakistan also nuclear powers, this slippery slope of mutual destruction could instantly slip out of hand against all of humanity.

At this late stage, what appears imminently inevitable is the much larger Islam versus Zionist conflict, just as US Freemason Albert Pike predicted in detail this coming World War III 153 years ago.

The entire world is now in grave peril with this impending conflict seemingly about to erupt.

While Americans are too busy watching the Superbowl and the Swift-Kelce psyops to notice, the global masses are also failing to grasp the dire gravity of this present highly explosive situation. As I keep saying, the shit is about to hit the fan on planet earth and there will be no turning back history from all the ensuing destruction likely to come. Luciferian controllers will celebrate this massive bloodletting sacrifice as their human cleansing, confident they can emerge from the other side and gain absolute dystopian control over what life is left.

*

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

This article was originally published on The Government Rag.

Joachim Hagopian is a West Point graduate, former Army officer and author of “Don’t Let the Bastards Getcha Down” exposing a faulty US military leadership system based on ticket punching up the seniority ladder, invariably weeding out the best and brightest, leaving mediocrity and order followers rising to the top as politician-bureaucrat generals designated to lose every modern US war by elite design. After the military, Joachim earned a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and worked as a licensed therapist in the mental health field with abused youth and adolescents for more than a quarter century. In Los Angeles he found himself battling the largest county child protective services in the nation within America’s thoroughly broken and corrupt child welfare system.

The experience in both the military and child welfare system prepared him well as a researcher and independent journalist, exposing the evils of Big Pharma and how the Rockefeller controlled medical and psychiatric system inflict more harm than good, case in point, the pandemic hoax and kill shot genocide. As an independent journalist for the last decade, Joachim has written hundreds of articles for many news sites, including Global Researchlewrockwell.com and currently https//jameshfetzer.orgInteldrop.org and  https://thegovernmentrag.com. As a published author of a 5-book volume series entitled Pedophilia & Empire: Satan, Sodomy & the Deep State, Joachim’s books and chapters are Amazon bestsellers in child advocacy and human rights categories. His A-Z sourcebook series fully document and expose the global pedophilia scourge and remain available free at https://pedoempire.org/contents/. Joachim also hosts the weekly Revolution Radio broadcast “Cabal Empire Exposed” on Friday morning at 7AM EST (ID: revradio, password: rocks!).

Featured image is from TGR

Why Did Ukraine Open Its Doors to North Atlantic Treaty Organization?

February 13th, 2024 by Kester Kenn Klomegah

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin surprised the world on February 24, 2022 by unreservedly launching a full-scale ‘special military operation’ in the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine which attained its independence after the sudden collapse of the Soviet era. It has maintained its independence ever since. By this historical collapse, Ukraine and all other republics including Russia have the legitimate right to their territorial integrity and sovereignty. Historically, Ukraine was only part of the Soviet Union which collapsed in December 1991.

In his speech at the Russian Federation Security Council at the Kremlin on February 21, 2022, Putin made it clear the long-standing confrontation between the Kiev officials and the people living on Eastern territory, the republics of Donbass, Donetsk and Lugansk. People in these republics were been attacked, deprived of basic amenities and their basic human rights violated. Based on those unfolding developments, and worse, the package of measures included in the Minsk Agreements would not get implemented.

Then the transcript of Putin’s speech, announcing ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine on February 24, established the position it was strictly in “accordance with Article 51, part seven of the UN Charter, with the approval of the Federation Council of Russia and pursuant to the Federal Assembly, on February 22, Russia ratified treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic.”

Putin was very emphatic with his words and phrases.

“I made a decision to conduct a special military operation. Its goal is to protect people who have been abused by the genocide of the Kyiv regime for eight years. And to this end, strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, as well as bringing to justice those who committed numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation.”

But Putin invincibly stressed, at the same time, that the plan was not to occupy Ukraine. He said

“Our plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories. We are not going to impose anything on anyone by force. At the same time, we hear more often lately from the West that documents signed by the Soviet totalitarian regime that fixed the results of the Second World War should not be implemented.”

The results of the Second World War, as well as the sacrifices made by our people on the altar of the victory of Nazism are sacred, but this does not contradict the high values of human rights and freedoms based on the realities that have developed during all post-war decades, according to Putin’s interpretation.

That however, in another address on the day of ‘special military operation’ Putin explained that NATO’s eastward expansion the situation for Russia has been becoming worse and more dangerous by the year. Moreover, NATO leadership has been blunt in its statements that they needed to accelerate and step up efforts to bring the alliance’s infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders. In other words, they have been toughening their position.

“We cannot stay idle and passively observe these developments. This would be an absolutely irresponsible thing to do for us. Any further expansion of the North Atlantic alliance’s infrastructure or the ongoing efforts to gain a military foothold of the Ukrainian territory are unacceptable for us. For the United States and its allies, it is a policy of containing Russia, with obvious geopolitical dividends,” he pointed out in that address to the natin and the world.

Therefore in a context, the purpose of this operation is to protect people who have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime. To that end, Russia seeks to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation.

“It is not our plan to occupy the Ukrainian territory. We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force. At the same time, we have been hearing an increasing number of statements coming from the West that there is no need any more to abide by the documents setting forth the outcomes of World War II, as signed by the totalitarian Soviet regime. How can we respond to that?” he asked rhetorically.

The outcomes of World War II and the sacrifices Russian people had to make to defeat Nazism are sacred. This does not contradict the high values of human rights and freedoms in the reality that emerged over the post-war decades. This does not mean that nations cannot enjoy the right to self-determination, which is enshrined in Article 1 of the UN Charter.

Russia is constantly reclaiming its territories. Crimea and Sevastopol were taken over by Russia. Over these years, Putin has also attempted to explain that back in 2014, Russia was obliged to protect the people of Crimea and Sevastopol. The people of Crimea and Sevastopol made their choice in favour of being with their historical homeland, Russia.

Putin did not miss words by indicating clearly that the current events have nothing to do with a desire to infringe on the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. They are connected with the defending Russia from those who have taken Ukraine hostage and are trying to use it against Russia and Russian people. That is why, however hard this may be, Russian military understands to work together, to turn the tragic page without allowing anyone to interfere in the internal affairs and fighting for the common future. In other words, Russia plays the ability to quickly adapt to constant change, maintain social cohesion, and readiness to consolidate and summon all the available forces in order to move forward, for independence and sovereignty and the Motherland.

Part II: Putin told the Russians and the world that Russia’s initial plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories. Now, Putin claims Ukraine inseparable from Russia. Further to all diverse developments, it is necessary to remind that in October 2022, the President as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief signed the Law On the Ratification of the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Autonomous Republics of Donbass, Donetsk, Kherson and Lugansk and Zaporozhye on the accession to the Russian Federation. These autonomous republics are considered now as indivisible part of the Russian Federation.

In an extensive, wide-ranging interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson in February 2024, Putin used the chance to shape the information environment especially to the West, gave a complete insight into the history of Ukraine, how it was created and became part of the Soviet Union. Invariably, it was simply repetition of the longstanding Kremlin’s talks about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine for the US audience. Media reports indicated there were more 100 million viewers.

In any case, Putin’s re-stated his position clearly. He emphasized that Ukraine must necessarily be part of Russia. And consequently, for Putin, Russia has yet to accomplish its aims in the full-scale ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine. Putin maintains that the geopolitical reasons and processes have provided grounds to pursue a complete denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

Highlighting the entire history before and after the 1917 revolution, the Bolsheviks et cetera, and how Russia viewed Ukraine over its history, and some recent geopolitical shifts was a complete display of excellent knowledge of history as President of the Russian Federation. But what is most essential is what next after with Russia-Ukraine conflict in the context of the emerging new world order? Does the geopolitical shit means Russia to absorb Ukraine as allegedly believe that it is necessary to wipe Ukraine from the map?

According Putin’s narratives, in 1922, when the USSR was being established, the Bolsheviks started building the USSR and established the Soviet Ukraine, which had never existed before. We are coming to the point where the Soviet Ukraine was established. Then, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. And everything that Russia had generously bestowed on Ukraine was ”dragged away“ by the latter.

There is very important point of today’s agenda, after the collapse of the Soviet Union was effectively initiated by the Russian leadership. And what triggered the latest events? Firstly, the current Ukrainian leadership declared that it would not implement the Minsk Agreements, which had been signed after the events of 2014, in Minsk, where the plan of peaceful settlement in Donbass was set forth.

In the first place, the then Russian leadership believed that the fundamentals of the relationship between Russia and Ukraine were: in fact, a common language — more than 90 percent of the population there spoke Russian, common culture, common history, common faith;  co-existence within a single state for centuries and deeply interconnected economies.

The fundamental conditions are there. Putin thinks how Ukraine’s territory has been developed, what kind of relations there were with Russia. As sovereign Ukraine, which gained its independence as a result of the Declaration of Independence. It should remain as a neutral state, and in 2008 why it suddenly open the doors or gates to  North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)? How could Russia not express concern over what was happening? From this standpoint, it was indeed a colossal mistake. This is the simple point of the disagreement. “But we never agreed to NATO’s expansion and moreover we never agreed that Ukraine would be in NATO. Oh, come on! This is not how and what we agreed.” the key message in the February interview made by American journalist Tucker Carlson with Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.

*

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

Kester Kenn Klomegah, who worked previously with Inter Press Service (IPS), Weekly Blitz and InDepthNews, is now a regular contributor to Global Research. He researches Eurasia, Russia, Africa and BRICS. His focused interest areas include geopolitical changes, foreign relations and economic development questions relating to Africa. As a versatile researcher, he believes that everyone deserves equal access to quality and trustworthy media reports.

Featured image is from the author

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

When the covid tsunami hit the shores of New Zealand, thereby fostering a slew of drastic measures based on limitless fear and breathtakingly absent science, Dr. Peter Canaday did what good doctors are meant to do: he thought, he questioned, he amassed evidence, he insisted on basic foundational principles of Medicine, and he brought his concerns to the public.

Other doctors at the time also expressed their concerns, myself being among them, but Peter, given his expertise in Internal Medicine, Respiratory and Intensive Care and Radiology, marshalled his talents in an enviable way to bring an eminently rational perspective on a complex series of topics to all of us. An example of the kind of presentations he was making may be seen here:

Peter was ‘rewarded’ for his good and necessary work with the suspension of his medical licence, a professional conduct complaint, and a week-long appearance at a Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in April of 2023.

I interviewed Peter shortly after the Tribunal concluded and our conversation may be found here.

I read Peter’s legal brief for the Tribunal, characterized by his customary meticulous presentation of material, and I understood that his concluding submission was a courtroom tour de force, effectively demolishing his critics’ specious arguments. He and others were optimistic that truth and evidence would prevail and he would be fully exonerated. I, however, was extremely dubious — not because I had qualms about Peter’s defense, but because I had no trust in the establishment systems, processes and procedures. An ominous sign was the Tribunal’s refusal to livestream their proceedings in real time, and another ominous sign was that they failed to render a decision for many months when typically these kinds of matters were resolved within days.

It came as no surprise to me therefore when the Tribunal found against Dr. Canaday, on 21 November 2023.

I have discussed this development and the consequences for Peter’s career in my recent interview here.

I urge all readers to watch attentively and to avail yourselves of the supporting documents posted alongside the video of our conversation. I believe you will find that there has indeed been a gross miscarriage of justice.

However I also believe, quite strongly, that justice can not be expected from a lawless adversary.

The establishment authorities in Medicine not only here in New Zealand but worldwide, under the aegis of the Federation of State Medical Boards and its international arm, the International Association of Medical Regulatory Agencies, have shown their rottenness — and iron control. The ‘fix’ was and is ‘in’ and it would be perilously naive for us to expect some sudden enlightenment from these quarters.

Doctors like Peter Canaday, who stepped up to the plate when their wisdom was most in need, have been hounded, harassed, fined and vilified. Instead they should be crowned with laurels for upholding the principles of their profession, forged over millennia.

In the end the final court of justice is us — the people — who can see through the operation of a racket hell-bent on instilling fear, undermining rational thought, and shilling for senselessly destructive measures that have caused unnecessary suffering and death.

It may take a while but we will hold them to account.

*

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

Dr. 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/.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Canaday is facing a charge of professional misconduct. (Source)


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

Is the Israeli Army Preparing a Coup Against Netanyahu?

February 13th, 2024 by Germán Gorraiz López

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The newspaper Haaretz in an editorial of October 8 directly accused Netanyahu of being “responsible for this war between Israel and Gaza” and also, Israeli public opinion would already be holding Netanyahu responsible for the resounding failure of Israeli security by disparaging Egyptian information.

Thus, according to Egyptian sources, 10 days earlier they allegedly warned Netanyahu that Hamas was preparing a major offensive against Israel, which was denied by Netanyahu in a tweet accusing the intelligence services of negligence, getting in the way of enmity with the powerful services of the Israeli Mossad.

Netanyahu would also be cornered by the international community’s condemnation of the flagrant violation of human rights in Gaza with some 28,000 Palestinian civilian victims that has resulted in South Africa’s presentation before the World Court in the Hague (ICJ) of a lawsuit against Israel for alleged “crime of genocide”. The verdict of that Court could have forced Netanyahu to stop the invasion of Gaza and to decree a permanent ceasefire, the release of the hostages held by Hamas and the entry into Gaza of urgent humanitarian aid in the form of food, fuel and medical supplies, but the Solomonic decision of the ICJ in The Hague will lead to the continuation of the Israeli military invasion in Gaza until its total destruction.

The real objective of the Gaza military campaign would be to provoke a second Nakba in which 1.5 million Palestinians would be forced to leave a Gaza turned into a mass of rubble and human remains that would make it impossible to return the displaced Gazan population and confine Palestinians in an open-air concentration camp of 1,7 Km2 located in Rafah, situation described by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, as “apocalyptic”, while warning “of the growing risk of genocide”.

However, disaffection towards Netanyahu is growing in Israeli society because he cannot forgive the security flaws in the Israeli Defense that would have led to the killing of 1200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 220 people by Hamas.

Thus, according to a survey by The Jerusalem Post, 80% of those polled say that “the Government is mainly responsible for the infiltration of Palestinian militias” and 56% think that “Netanyahu should resign at the eIs the Israeli army preparing a coup against Netanyahu?nd of the current war”.

In this context, we are witnessing the unfortunate death by the Tzahal of three of the Jewish hostages by confusing them with members of Hamas. As a result, the mobilizations of the relatives of the people kidnapped by Hamas at the residence of Netanyahu who are made “personally responsible for their return home alive” have increased. Thus, the disaffection of Israeli society towards Netanyahu due to his nefarious management of the crisis with Hamas, the null interest to rescue alive the Jewish hostages and the stubbornness of Netanyahu to undertake the capture of Rafah with the evident risk of Massacre of about 1.5 million Gazans who live there crowded, could provoke a blow of hand of the ex-member of the Israeli Emergency Government, Benny Gantz, who leads the Blue and White party.

Such a coup would have the blessings of the Biden Administration and AIPAC and after ending the invasion of Gaza and the exchange of hostages in the hands of Hamas, would lead to the early calling of new elections with the avowed goal of forming a Government of National Unity with Yair Lapid. The primary task of such a Government would be to reissue the Oslo Accords, which would enable the peaceful coexistence of two peoples in two States, and while Netanyahu, a nefarious politician who tried to strike an autocratic coup to later establish a presidential regime, could face a criminal trial in which he will be accused of negligence and crimes against human rights which could mean a criminal conviction and his definitive departure from the Israeli political scene.

*

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

Germán Gorraiz Lopez is a political analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Commander in Chief Zaluzhny Out of Office, Could be a Threat to Zelensky

February 13th, 2024 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

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

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Valery Zaluzhny left his post as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces on February 8, being replaced by Aleksandr Syrsky. At first, the change seemed to be a kind of “victory” for Zelensky in the disputes against Zaluzhny. However, analyzing the case in depth, it is possible to conclude that the Ukrainian president remains under strong threat.

It is not yet fully clear whether the change was a dismissal or a voluntary resignation on Zaluzhny’s part. The former commander was praised by the Ukrainian president and the defense minister in an official ceremony, making public opinion believe that the standoff between the general and the government had finally ended. Without a doubt, tensions seem to have eased to some degree, but it is impossible to consider the current scenario as pacified.

Zaluzhny’s removal was preceded by serious frictions between him and Zelesnky. The general even received public support from Ukrainian neo-Nazi militiamen, implying that he and his team were willing, if necessary, to fight against Kiev’s official government. More than that, Zaluzhny seemed to be creating a kind of “private army”, sparing neo-Nazi organizations from the frontlines in order to keep them at his service in the event of a civil conflict.

High tensions like these are rarely resolved in a short period. Nothing indicates that there was a real improvement in ties between Zaluzhny and Zelensky, which raises a series of suspicions. In fact, rather than a “victory” for Zelensky, the maneuver to remove Zaluzhny may have strengthened the general – which is why he does not appear to be reacting negatively to the case. Rather than being incapacitated by his removal, Zaluzhny may simply be viewing it as a benefit for his personal plans.

Out of the office, Zaluzhny has the freedom to make important decisions about his future. He will no longer have to reconcile his personal plans with the responsibilities of managing the regime’s troops on the battlefield. His focus will be fully directed towards achieving his private goals. Now Zaluzhny also has the freedom to decide to abandon his military career and enter politics, using the popularity he had during his military post to gain support from different sectors of Ukrainian society.

Many analysts believe that the tensions between Zelensky and Zaluzhny are the result of the general’s attempt to promote himself politically. The reasons for such attempt are related to the “competition” of some Ukrainian officials to gain Western sympathy during this current moment – in which criticism of Zelensky is increasing and NATO is considering replacing him.

Zaluzhny’s great risk to Zelensky is essentially political, not merely administrative and bureaucratic. Out of his military role, Zaluzhny loses a bureaucratic position, but remains a prominent political figure – which should cause Zelensky concern. Now, Zaluzhny is freed from responsibility for the imminent military failure of Ukrainian forces, and has more autonomy to act politically.

To make matters worse, Zaluzhny possibly has in his favor the neo-Nazi militias who were spared from the front. In practice, these nationalist groups are stronger and better armed than the troops of elderly and teenage recruits that today are the majority of the armed forces. So, Zaluzhny definitely seems to have made a “good deal” by agreeing to leave his previous position to now have the necessary conditions to operate politically, having fascist militants at his disposal.

Obviously, Zaluzhny will only act against the government if he receives instructions to do so from Western sponsors. The real decision makers regarding Ukraine are NATO officials, as the Ukrainian government does not have any sovereignty to decide anything about its own future. If Zelensky decides to disrupt Western plans to replace him, it is possible that NATO will back Zaluzhny and his Nazis in a maneuver to overthrow the government.

There is not much Zelensky can do to stop this. He accepted to govern in accordance with American interests and became a mere proxy representing NATO in a war with Russia. As long as this is his role, he will simply have to obey Western orders – even if those orders are for him to resign as president. There is no point in Zelensky trying to carry out purges and dismissals of his enemies. He will continue to be a hostage of American interests, being vulnerable to any decision that Westerners make about the future of Ukraine.

As for the battlefield and the military scenario of the conflict, the impact of the change is almost null for Russia. Syrsky is expected to promote a new “meat grinder”, considering he was primarily responsible for the bloody military campaign in Bakhmut. Some believe he will do something similar now in Avdeevka and other disputed regions. However, the consequences of this type of policy will only affect the Ukrainians themselves, with no impact on the Russian conduct of the operation.

In the end, the main change resulting from Zaluzhny’s dismissal appears to be the further weakening of Zelensky. Politically, Zaluzhny might be much stronger from now on.

*

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

Lucas Leiroz is a journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant. You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from InfoBrics

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Having seized upon the October 7 attacks as a pretext, Israel has moved to implement a long-term plan to render Gaza uninhabitable and either kill or expel its population. The assault on Rafah will mark a new stage in this vast crime. (Andre Damon, World Socialist Web Site)

On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to prepare a plan for the forced expulsion of Palestinians located in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza where over 1.3 million displaced civilians have taken refuge in tent cities. The announcement was met with howls of protest from political leaders and human rights groups around the world who understand that Israel is now implementing the final phase of its ethnic cleansing operation which began on October 7. Despite the public outcry and mounting opposition, Netanyahu is moving ahead with his plan to drive the non-Jewish population from their historic homeland in order to establish a permanent Jewish majority on Palestinian territory. This is from an article at Politico:

On Friday, Netanyahu announced he had ordered defense forces to “submit to the cabinet a dual plan for both evacuating the population and bringing down the battalions” ahead of an “intensive operation.”…

In preparation of the assault, Israeli forces have ramped up their airstrikes and shelling on the southern Gaza metropolis…. Netanyahu’s plans raised alarm among aid agencies and world leaders alike, who fear the consequences of a ground assault on a city already overcrowded with civilians…

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed similar sentiments, saying that an operation in Rafah would “exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences.” Netanyahu orders Rafah evacuation ahead of expected ground invasion, Politico

Keep in mind, Netanyahu is using a fully-equipped, state-of-the-art military to subdue an unarmed civilian population. This is not a war in any traditional sense of the word. The Palestinians are being terrorized into compliance and forced at gunpoint to move from one location to another.

Now they are going to be driven from the urban area in Rafah to a barren plain that is devoid of food, water or protection from the elements. The objective of this maneuver is to create a humanitarian crisis so colossal that foreign leaders will be forced to enact an emergency resettlement program that will address the refugee problem while absolving Israel of any legal responsibility. This is from the Telegraph on Saturday:

Netanyahu said a “massive operation” is needed in Rafah, adding that he has asked security officials to present a “double plan” that would encompass civilian evacuations …

It comes as Israel on Friday bombed targets in Rafah, expanding its Gaza ground offensive to the densely populated southern city where more than half of the territory’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge.

Airstrikes overnight and into Friday hit two residential buildings in Rafah, while two other sites were bombed in central Gaza, including one that damaged a kindergarten-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians. Twenty-two people were killed, according to AP journalists who saw the bodies arriving at hospitals. Netanyahu orders Rafah evacuation plan, Telegraph

The reason Israel continues to kill non-combatants who are in-no-way connected to Hamas, is because it convinces everyone else that the bombing is “indiscriminate” which, in turn, suggests that the perpetrator is a deranged madman driven by irrational hatred.

This is how one terrorizes the public into doing whatever is demanded of them. We expect that much of Israel’s current pysops in Gaza was meticulously worked out with a battery of behavioral psychologists long before the first bomb was dropped, perhaps, years before the Hamas attack on October 7.

It’s also worth noting, that Israel’s unexpected blitz on Rafah comes on the heels of explicit promises from senior-level Israeli officials that Palestinians who willingly left their homes in the North would find safety in the South.

Now these same people are being pelted with bombs and pushed into the desert where their prospects for survival are dismal at best.

We can only conclude that the reason the Palestinians are being treated so horribly is because they are part of the non-Jewish minority who are widely regarded as inferior to the Israeli Jews.

The Palestinians are not being expelled because they pose a national security threat but because they are more prolific than the Jews who want to maintain a sizable majority whatever the cost. In other words, the Palestinians are not being deported for something they’ve done but for who they are. This is from Reuters:

Egypt is moving to avert a mass exodus from the Gaza Strip into its Sinai Peninsula… Israel’s assault on Gaza has caused alarm in Egypt, which has urged Israel to provide safe passage for civilians from the enclave rather than encouraging them to flee southwest towards Sinai….

Egypt has sent about 40 tanks and armoured personnel carriers to northeastern Sinai within the past two weeks as part of a series of measures to bolster security on its border with Gaza….The military has also taken up new positions close to the border, running patrols to monitor the area…

Rafah is the sole possible crossing point into Sinai for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. The rest of the densely populated strip is surrounded by the sea, and by Israel…

On Tuesday, the Israeli military revised a recommendation by one of its spokespeople that Palestinians fleeing its air strikes in Gaza head to Egypt. Egypt moves to prevent exodus of Palestinians from besieged Gaza, Reuters

There it is in black and white. Israel is going to drive the Palestinians into the desert, create a ghastly humanitarian crisis, and eventually force the majority of them across the border and into Egypt. This is Netanyahu’s endgame, a Jewish-only homeland from the River to the Sea.

Who will stop him?

*

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

This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

Michael Whitney is a renowned geopolitical and social analyst based in Washington State. He initiated his career as an independent citizen-journalist in 2002 with a commitment to honest journalism, social justice and World peace.

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

Featured image is from MintPress News

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

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

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

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

On Sunday, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated its premeditated murders, extrajudicial executions, and judicial killings against Palestinian civilians through direct targeting with snipers and drones in various regions of the Gaza Strip.

According to Euro-Med Monitor, Israel is killing Palestinians on a large scale through artillery and aerial strikes and by speeding up the execution of extrajudicial killings. These actions amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute Basic Law of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Euro-Med Monitor has documented numerous Israeli sniping operations, killings, and executions that have primarily targeted civilians in shelter centers, hospitals, streets, and populated residential areas.

One of these incidents occurred on February 4 when an Israeli “quadcopter” drone shot and killed 49-year-old Palestinian citizen Jihad Muhammad Al-Dardasawi from Al-Turkman neighborhood in the Shuja’iya area east of Gaza City. The preliminary analysis of Dardasawi’s body revealed that he had been the target of direct fire, sustaining multiple puncture wounds, including at least four in the back and one in the thigh.

Akram Al-Dardasawi informed the Euro-Med Monitor team that his brother Jihad was killed by Israeli gunfire while riding his bicycle from his home to the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City to deliver food to their injured brother. He added that Jihad was subsequently buried in the yard of one of the shelter schools east of Gaza City.

At least eight Palestinians were reportedly killed in Israeli sniper and shooting operations in various parts of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis during the early hours of yesterday, Friday, according to reports received by Euro-Med Monitor.

Reports reached Euro-Med Monitor on Thursday afternoon regarding the recuperation of the bodies of six individuals and their transfer to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, after they were shot dead by IOF snipers while attempting to obtain drinking water near the hospital.

On the same day, Euro-Med Monitor received reports of the deaths of two Palestinians and the grave injury of a third after an Israeli quadcopter drone opened fire at a refugee school near the Al-Awda schools, east of Khan Yunis.

On Wednesday morning, Euro-Med Monitor teams documented the death of a 14-year-old girl, Ru’a Atef Qadeeh, who was shot by IOF snipers in front of the Nasser Hospital gate. The teen was attempting to fetch water from a nearby location.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also reported that, on February 4, just before noon, Muhammad Diab Abdel Qader Barhoum was shot and killed by a quadcopter drone as he was heading to Al-Nasr town, north of Rafah City, to feed his sheep.

On February 2, IOF snipers stationed near the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Khan Yunis killed four Palestinians, including Hadaya Hamad, the director of the Youth and Volunteers Department.

On January 31, an IOF sniper shot and killed the security guard at the PRCS-run Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis while he was standing close to the hospital’s back door.

Since the beginning of the Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip, along with the ground incursions that started at the end of last October, hundreds of Palestinian civilians have been killed or wounded by Israeli snipers and quadcopter drones.

The IOF has started to use quadcopter drones in a systematic and widespread manner, according to testimonies gathered by Euro-Med Monitor, to carry out extrajudicial executions and premeditated killings of Palestinian civilians. These drones are used in particular against civilians who attempt to return and inspect their homes after the IOF retreats from the area where incursions and raids have occurred.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, medical workers noticed that the bodies of most victims of executions and field killings showed evidence of unusual gunshots, differing from ordinary gunshots in that they leave a different shape on the victim’s body when they penetrate it, as they are not bullets fired from rifle-type weapons but from quadcopter drones.

The IOF converted this drone, which was originally designed for photography, into an air weapon for intelligence gathering and subsequently utilized it for the deliberate and direct execution of unlawful targets.

Developed by Israeli military industries, the quadcopter drones are one-meter-diameter drones with various characteristics and tactical features. They are easy to program and operate electronically remotely, with a design akin to that of helicopters.

These drones have very precise eavesdropping instruments and high-quality cameras. They can carry out additional military duties like shooting and carrying bombs, and they can be modified to become suicide drones.

In a primary report submitted to UN special rapporteurs and the Prosecutor of the ICC, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor documented, last December, dozens of cases of field executions carried out by the IOF in the Gaza Strip. The human rights group requested an immediate investigation into these crimes, calling for the perpetrators to be held accountable and for justice for all victims.

The rights organization called on the aforementioned parties to take a position opposing the widespread killing operations carried out by the IOF targeting Palestinian civilians, especially the field executions and physical liquidations in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, Euro-Med Monitor demanded the establishment of an international legal team, a commitment to secure its entry into the Gaza Strip, and the initiation of an inquiry into these and other instances of Palestinian civilians being killed by the IOF.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reiterated that the UN special rapporteurs and the ICC Prosecutor must launch international human rights committees that would visit the Strip and document the magnitude of Israel’s crimes against Palestinian civilians.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor stressed that these Israeli executions violate international standards and the right to life stipulated in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, plus Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which stipulates that “every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”

*

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

Featured image source

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Introduction

It is called “Predictive Programming” and refers to any kind of warning we are receiving in often very open ways, sometimes in sketchy, opaque, coded ways or camouflaged as something else than what it is supposed to warn us – but the warning, or call it “informing”, is a MUST for the Dark Cult that is currently running humanity, to succeed.

It is visible time and again. Just think of covid — the deadly plandemic – that struck worldwide humanity at midnight January 1, 2020, at the beginning of UN Agenda 2030, and what later joined the UN Agenda, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Great Reset.

As the WEF and its handlers, we may call it the Financial-Military-IT-Media-Pharma (FMIMP) complex, pushes for ever-more control over humans – the survivors, after the eugenists have done much of their job – it aims at ever-more digitization, Artificial Intelligence (AI), becomes ever-more omnipresent in whatever we do.

“Their” plan may or may not include chip implants in brains, or simply the use of the “vaxx inserted” highly magnetic and electronics-sensitive graphite, to transform humans into transhumans. It could be called a modern way of Frankensteinization of humanity. 

Hollywood 

But first, how many plandemic predictive movies did Hollywood produce?

There were no less than 18 Pandemic and Virus-Themed Movies in the last 60 years, “That Will Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat”, says Tori Whitacre Martonicz on infectioncontroltoday.com.

These plandemic movies include:

  • The Mask of the Red Death (1964) – with Vincent Price;
  • The Andromeda Strain (1971) – starring: James Olson, David Wayne, Arthur Hill, and Kate Reid;
  • Outbreak (1995) – with Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman;
  • Contagion (2011) – with a star-studded cast, including Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet;
  • World War Z (2013) – with Brad Pitt;
  • The Bird Box (2018 – remember the Bird Flu?) – with Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich; and finally
  • Infection (2019) – starring Rubén Guevara, Leonidas Urbina, Magdiel González.

For full list, see this.

After the 2019 “Infection” warning, the real “thing” hit – the covid-19 plandemic. Pardon, it should read “pandemic”, but the viral disease’s highly visible planning makes it to a Plandemic.

At the latest since the WEF Davos24 – which closed its doors some 3 weeks ago – we are being told – and repeated ad nauseam – that there is a virus “X” out there, not yet defined, but out there it is, randomly poking around. And to calm us down, Pfizer tells us they are already working on a “vaccine” for the unknown virus. That is perfect, so we can sleep at night.

Who knows, maybe this warning will be followed also by a star-studded Hollywood flick, perhaps with a title like “When Virus X comes to Town”. The more amazing and world-famous stars, the more impressive. Why would a renowned star lend him / her-self for such a movie, if it was not maybe linked to something that could indeed happen in the future?

You bet; these famous actors know what they are doing – and what they are paid for. And you are glued to the screen – scared but prepared to what is to come. So, when it hits, it hits you in the know – and in the knee form behind, so that your bending down comes naturally.

Social Engineering and Mind Control

The warning or “information” comes in different formats. For sure, the entertainment industry is deeply involved in it, aided by the Tavistock Institute for social engineering and mind control – a science that has been “maturing” for the last century.

High in vogue these days are cyber-attacks and transhumanism.

In terms of cyber-attacks, Hollywood has produced at least 20 movies and TV shows in the past 50 years; from The Conversation (1974), with Gene Hackman, all the way to The Net (1995), with Sandra Bullock; and to Westworld (2016-2022), a HBO series, based on a 1970 cult classic. See this for the full list.

And the very latest one is – believe it or not – a Barack and Michelle Obama Netflix production, “Leave the World Behind” (2023) – again star-studded for even better effect, with Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke. It shows a cyber-attack on a large US East Coast city, by an unknown enemy and unknown consequences – really scary. No kidding.

It could happen any time. Isn’t it strange that the movie’s producers are a popular former President and his first lady – who many believe might be advanced at the last minute to become the Democratic candidate to replace Joe Biden for the 2024 Presidential Election?

Well, it is just speculation – Artificial Intelligence (AI) knows better and will tell us when the time is ripe.

WEF’s Klaus Schwab has warned for the last at least three years of a so-called real “Cyber-Polygon”, anytime. In the meantime, a 2021 online computer event simulated a global cyber-attack. The event was hosted by BI.ZONE, supported by Interpol and sponsored by the WEF. The happening took place fully online on 9 July 2021. See this for details.

Remember also a WEF and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored Event 201, in NYC in October 2019 – depicting a worldwide Corona virus break out that happened less than 3 months later?

Cyber Pandemics were announced already for 2023. But now, “Going into 2024, ransomware (“ransomware is here to stay, it will never die”) will become even more sophisticated than in 2023. AI is increasingly being weaponized to create smarter, stealthier codes, better able to evade detection using fileless (memory injection based) attacks.” See this.

A new star-studded Hollywood film on trans-humanization, old style – the real Frankenstein-type – just came out end 2023, called “Poor Things”. The flick is a Frankenstein-inspired black comedy, starring famous Emma Stone (“Lalaland”), teaming up with Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, and directed by up-and-coming Yorgos Lanthimos.

The film plays in 100-years-ago London and other European cities, depicting a crazy researcher transplanting brains and other body organs with the most astonishing results. It looks like right out of the Frankenstein series. See official trailer (1:22 min) below.

The movie lends itself to multiple interpretations, but may fit best as an ancient parallel to what Klaus Schwab and the WEF want to do to humanity – not by transplanting body parts, but by implanting chips and using 5G and soon to come 6G to manipulate and control humanity.

If so, it is clearly predictive planning. Klaus Schwab’s predictive programming for transhumanism goes back to 2016, when in an interview with Swiss-French TV, he told the moderating journalist that in 2025 we will probably all have chips implanted so that we may communicate with each other without speaking.

Crazy Predictions

During the WEF’s Davos24 a few weeks ago, Klaus Schwab made similar, even crazier predictions. In five years or so, we may have chips implanted in our brains that allow us reading each-other’s thoughts without verbally communicating. He went even further suggesting that elections would become superfluous, as people’s minds and wishes could be read remotely.

However, Mr. Schwab never said, that with this remote-technique, people’s minds could also be told what to think and do – what you may call driving humanity into a slave-yard. See this for more details.

What is called “The scariest movie ever made”, is an HBO-produced predictive programming flick, called “True Horror” – a reminder of the worst Holocaust times. And since history tends to repeat itself – who knows what might expect us in the maybe not too distant future… the movie first aired on 30 November 2023. Here is the full-length film (59 min).

We are at a point where predictive programming is a serious – but not frightful – matter. As long as we are aware, we can prepare and MUST not fear. Fear is our worst enemy. Those who pretend to call the shots now it.

Predictive planning or programming is a triple-edged sword: Advance-warning is a MUST for the Dark Cult to be successful, it is meant to destabilize society, and – it is also an instrument to instill fear and to make us vulnerable, submissive, massive reduction of our auto-immune system – in short – it is Tavistock at its best.

*

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

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 lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for online journals and 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.

Featured image source

Israel’s Gaza Campaign Is the Gravest Moral Crisis of Our Time

February 13th, 2024 by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

I write this essay as a senior American Buddhist monk of Jewish ethnicity who has been deeply distressed by Israel’s military assault on the population of Gaza. I see this campaign as perhaps the gravest moral crisis of our time. The blistering bombardments, the ever-mounting death toll, the deadly blockade of vital essentials, the annihilation of innocent human lives—all these events sear the moral consciousness like a red-hot iron and demand a loud shout from the depths of the soul: “For God’s sake, stop it!” Indeed, in its own discreet tones, the International Court of Justice has issued such a shout, yet it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Given the many instances of sheer inhumanity unfolding over just two decades—in Iraq, Syria, Tigray, Myanmar, and Ukraine—why should I highlight Gaza as the major moral calamity of our time? I will lay down five reasons this is the case.

The first concerns the sheer intensity of the assault. Arif Husain, the chief economist at the United Nation’s World Food Program, bears testimony to this with his remark:

“I’ve been doing this for the past two decades, and I’ve been to all kinds of conflicts and all kinds of crises. And, for me, this is unprecedented because of, one, the magnitude, the scale, the entire population of a particular place; second, the severity; and third, the speed at which this is happening, at which this has unfolded.”

The figures representing deaths, injuries, and destruction in Gaza bear out Husain’s words. We are told that 70% of the victims are women and children; that doctors, medical staff, journalists, and university professors are being targeted; that all of Gaza has become a death camp where no one is safe anywhere. We learn of whole families being liquidated at the drop of a bomb, three generations wiped out in an instant; of kids losing their parents and all their siblings, left with no surviving family members in the world; of hospitals being shuttered and their patients forced to walk miles to designated safety zones, only to be hit by sniper fire en route or struck by rockets when they arrive.

On top of the deaths, injuries, and demolitions directly caused by the bombardments, Israel’s near-total blockade of vital essentials—food, water, fuel, and medicines—drives the spike of suffering even more deeply into the hearts of Gaza’s population, subjecting displaced people to extremes of hunger, thirst, and infectious disease. Now that the major Western donors are suspending their funding of UNRWA, the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees, the very lifeline for the people of Gaza is being cut. Like a ravenous hawk, famine hovers just above the strip, ready to strike.

The second factor that underscores the moral gravity of the crisis in Gaza is its visibility, its living immediacy. Unlike the Nazi Holocaust and other war crimes—including Russia’s blood-curdling operations in Ukraine—the genocide in Gaza unfolds live on our television and computer screens, right before our eyes. The images jump out from the screen and beg us to act: children with amputated limbs, their bodies torn and broken; babies abandoned in powerless incubators; apartment buildings and universities collapsing like decks of cards; historic churches and mosques destroyed beyond repair; refugees crammed into infested camps, crying out for water and food; corpses thrown into mass graves; captives blindfolded and stripped naked, paraded like cattle through desolate streets.

Such images make all our normal activities—chatting with friends, going out for a meal, joining a family gathering, going to a concert—seem insipid, hollow, and pointless. Once we bear witness to these horrific crimes, we feel a heavy moral responsibility has fallen on our shoulders, a burden we can’t shake off by claiming these atrocities don’t concern us. The burden is painful, but also exhilarating in reminding us of our capacity for empathy.

A third factor that heightens the moral gravity of the Gaza crisis derives from the fact that it is the state of Israel, the self-declared national home of the Jewish people, that is inflicting all this suffering, anguish, and death on Gaza. Yes, we do hold Israel to a higher moral bar than we do most other nations, but not from anti-Jewish bias. We do so because the Jews are the ethnic group that experienced the horror of the Holocaust and would should therefore be the most vigilant defenders of the inviolable right of people to be free from ethnic persecution.

The vow “Never again,” as understood by Jews of conscience, means never again for anyone. Yet, instead of showing empathy, Israel is now using the past trauma of the Holocaust—and the guilt of the countries that inflicted that trauma—as a shield to silence criticism and maintain its impunity. It’s as if they are saying to the world, “You can’t touch us because you bear the guilt for our past suffering.”

The fourth way in which the crisis in Gaza bears moral weight relates specifically to us here in the United States. Our country is complicit in Israel’s crimes. With our own tax dollars, we fund Israel’s military, supplying it with the most advanced weaponry available. We give Israel diplomatic cover at the U.N. through our use of the veto. And we give Israel moral cover by echoing the messages of its propaganda machine at press conferences and international gatherings, while tarring those who criticize its actions.

When all the moral dimensions of the situation in Gaza are viewed together—the sheer volume of indiscriminate killing; the fact that the devastation is starkly visible to us through the media; the fact that the operation is being carried out by the state representing the Jewish people, the historic victims of persecution and genocide; and the complicity of the United States—they point to the fifth reason this is a deeply moral crisis. Taken conjointly, all these factors shatter the moral framework offered to us as the key for understanding our world.

For decades, the major Western powers have presented themselves as the bulwarks of the rules-based international order, the defenders of human rights and decent human morality. Yet now, under the shallowest of pretexts, they throw their weight behind Israel, even when the World Court designates its operations a “plausible genocide.” This unwavering loyalty to a nation that flouts international law overturns the moral lens through which we’ve been taught to view the global order. Now the masks come off, exposing the hypocrisy of the major Western powers hidden behind their polished exteriors.

The crisis in Gaza shows those nations that should be defending international law and humanitarian values to be openly betraying their commitments. Their moral bankruptcy couldn’t be more glaring. They advise Israel to carry out its operations in accordance with international law, but continue to provide it with weapons even when it breaks those laws. They say they favor peace, but at the U.N. Security Council they veto or abstain from resolutions calling for a humanitarian cease-fire. They say they are opposed to genocide, but dispute South Africa’s case at the World Court. They say that Israel should treat prisoners humanely, but turn a blind eye when it tortures, humiliates, and even executes them.

Since we, as Americans, are citizens of the nation foremost in shielding Israel from accountability, this places on us the moral burden of opposing our country’s policies. Given this responsibility, how can we keep silent? There is simply no excuse for standing speechless on the sidelines. We can’t let silence reign as the final word. We can’t let silence replace the word. Since the U.S. government represents us, as Americans we must boldly speak up and oppose its support for Israel’s operations.

The plain fact is that the key to a solution lies in the hands of the U.S. Only if the U.S. applies tough economic and political pressure on Israel can the conflict be justly resolved. And crucially, a just resolution would also serve Israel’s long-term interest, finally permitting it to live at peace with a free Palestinian state, for the mutual benefit of both nations.

Every voice counts, and we can do our share in a variety of ways: by joining marches, writing to the White House and our representatives in Congress, posting relevant news articles and commentary on our social media platforms, writing articles, and talking with friends. It’s not enough to post bromides on social media about love and peace or to pin doves and hearts to our profiles. To fulfill our duty as moral beings, we need to actively express our solidarity with the besieged Palestinians who can’t speak for themselves. And that means, for a starter, calling for a complete cease-fire. Not just for “peace,” but for a real, complete, monitored cease-fire.

But a cease-fire is only the first step. Beyond stopping the present round of destruction, we should also demand a genuine, sincere, concerted attempt to finally fulfill the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a fully sovereign state of their own, which will also be the precious key to Israel’s security. The road to a solution of this long-standing problem will be rocky and hard, but we need to join voices and hands with the many others calling for the first steps to be taken—and to be taken now.

[From Common Dreams: Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.]

*

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

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is a Buddhist scholar and translator of Buddhist texts. He is also the founder and chair of Buddhist Global Relief, a charity dedicated to helping communities around the world afflicted by chronic hunger and malnutrition.

Featured image: The bodies of 30 Palestinians were were discovered under a mound of rubble at the grounds of the Khalifa bin Zayed elementary school in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on 31 January 2024 (Supplied to MEE)

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The European Union’s top foreign policy official said Monday that the Biden administration and other governments professing concern about the grisly death toll in the Gaza Strip should stop supplying so much weaponry to the Israeli military as it carries out one of the most devastating bombing campaigns in modern history.

Pointing to U.S. President Joe Biden’s statement late last week that Israel’s war on Gaza has been “over the top,” E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said during a press conference in Brussels,

“Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed.”

Borrell then extended that suggestion to the rest of the international community, saying if governments believe that “this is a slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe they have to think about the provision of arms.”

“Everybody goes to Tel Aviv, begging, ‘Please don’t do that, protect civilians, don’t kill so many.’ How many is too many?” Borrell asked. “It is a little bit contradictory to continue saying that there are ‘too many people being killed, too many people being killed, please take care of people, please don’t kill so many.’ Stop saying please and [do] something.”

Watch:

Shortly following Borrell’s remarks, veteran Associated Press reporter Matt Lee grilled U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on what leverage the Biden administration has used thus far to pressure the Israeli government to protect civilians in Gaza.

Lee challenged Miller by saying that top U.S. officials, including Biden, standing up and “wagging [their] finger” at Israel was “not really leverage.”

Miller responded by citing “the words of the president of the United States” and other diplomatic engagement—a reply that exemplified the approach Borrell urged nations to abandon.

Watch:

The U.S. is by far the largest supplier of arms to Israel, but other countries—including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands—have provided the country with weapons and other military equipment deployed during its ongoing assault on Gaza.

On Monday, a Netherlands court ordered the Dutch government to stop exporting F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing the “clear risk” that the warplanes “might be used in the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law.” The government said it would appeal the ruling to the nation’s Supreme Court.

Borrell’s call for restrictions on weapons transfers to Israel came weeks after a coalition of leading humanitarian organizations urged all countries to impose an arms embargo on Israel and Palestinian militants, declaring that “all states have the obligation to prevent atrocity crimes and promote adherence to norms that protect civilians.”

The U.S. Senate over the weekend advanced legislation that would provide Israel with over $10 billion in military assistance on top of what the Biden administration has already provided since the Hamas-led attack on October 7. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the lone member of the upper chamber’s Democratic caucus to vote against advancing the bill.

In the E.U., the foreign ministers of 16 countries received a letter from human rights groups on Monday urging them to do everything in their power to ensure Israel complies with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) interim order, which requires Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

“Furthermore,” the letter reads, “the E.U. and its member states must call for a cease-fire to ensure that no genocidal acts might be committed by the state of Israel and ensure that they do not cooperate on potential genocidal acts by suspending arms trade with Israel.”

Pressure on governments to stop providing arms to the Israeli military is growing as the Netanyahu government prepares for an invasion of Rafah, a small Gaza city to which more than a million displaced Palestinians fled in an attempt to find refuge from incessant Israeli airstrikes.

During Monday’s press conference in Brussels, Borrell criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to forcibly “evacuate” Rafah’s civilian population.

“They are going to evacuate. Where, to the moon?” he asked. “Where are they going to evacuate these people?”

[From Common Dreams: Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.]

*

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

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

Featured image is a screenshot from the video above

Bombshell: Treasury Department Admits Targeting ‘MAGA’ Finances Without Due Process. “Milking January 6 For All It’s Worth”

By Ben Bartee, February 12, 2024

The Orwellian censorship regime is nearly beyond parody, as the feds were reportedly interested not just in flagging financial activity of “domestic terrorists,” but also of surveilling and flagging the literature they imbibe.

“Let Them Eat Dirt”. Israel Has Given Palestinians in Gaza Two Choices: Leave or Die. Chris Hedges

By Chris Hedges, February 12, 2024

There was never any possibility that the Israeli government would agree to a pause in the fighting proposed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, much less a ceasefire. Israel is on the verge of delivering the coup de grâce in its war on Palestinians in Gaza – mass starvation.

Media Propaganda Machine’s Laughable Meltdown Over Putin Interview. “Tucker Is Getting a Lot of Flak”

By Drago Bosnic, February 12, 2024

As expected, Tucker Carlson is getting a lot of flak for conducting his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He’s not merely being accused of “spreading Russian propaganda” (he’s long been accustomed to that, as well as the mainstream propaganda machine’s obsession with all sorts of deranged “Russia, Russia, Russia” conspiracy theories), but there’s an actual push in the European Union to sanction Carlson.

A Tale of Two Breadline Massacres. Civilians Waiting to Buy Bread, Killed in Front of a Local Bakery…

By Stephen Karganovic, February 12, 2024

All breadline massacres are equal, Orwell might have written, whilst adding tongue in cheek that some breadline massacres are more equal than others. Such a thought comes to mind after February 4, 2024, when a Ukrainian armed forces projectile killed 28 residents in the city of Lysychansk, Lugansk region, and wounded several dozen. The civilian victims were standing in line in front of a local bakery, intending to buy bread.

Cardiac Arrest Due to Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection – A Tear in an Artery

By Dr. William Makis, February 12, 2024

COVID-19 mRNA Vaccinated women are being decimated by cardiac injuries and deaths. She has discovered this herself (although hasn’t connected the dots all the way to the mRNA jab.

“Fact Check” Funder Publicis Pays $350 Million for Role in Opioid Epidemic

By Dr. Joseph Mercola, February 12, 2024

The Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s largest PR firms, recently agreed to pay a $350 million settlement over claims that its false and misleading marketing of opioids contributed to the lethal opioid epidemic in the U.S..

What Is the Democrats’ Playbook? Paul Craig Roberts

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, February 12, 2024

I suggested that one possibility would be that a deal would be worked whereby Biden would be moved aside, Kamala would become President, choose Hillary as her Vice President and then resign, having been promised a cabinet or judicial appointment.

The Fight Against Julian Assange’s Extradition: Unmasking Truth Amidst Global Tensions and Legal Battles

By Dimitris Eleas and David Andersson, February 12, 2024

We are now reaching a critical stage in Julian Assange’s fight against U.S. extradition with appeal hearings taking place at the U.K. High Court on February 20 and 21.

COVID-19 Vaccine-associated Mortality in the Southern Hemisphere

February 13th, 2024 by Prof Denis Rancourt

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

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

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

*** 

[This eBook was first published in September 2023.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COVID-19 Vaccine-associated Mortality in the Southern Hemisphere

 

By Prof. Denis Rancourt, Dr. Marine Baudin,
Dr. Joseph Hickey,  
and Dr. Jérémie Mercier

Global Research E-Book, September 2023

Copyright, September 2023: Prof. Denis Rancourt, Dr. Marine Baudin,
Dr. Joseph Hickey,  and Dr. Jérémie Mercier

 

Abstract 

 

Seventeen equatorial and Southern-Hemisphere countries were studied (Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay), which comprise 9.10 % of worldwide population, 10.3 % of worldwide COVID-19 injections (vaccination rate of 1.91 injections per person, all ages), virtually every COVID-19 vaccine type and manufacturer, and span 4 continents.

In the 17 countries, there is no evidence in all-cause mortality (ACM) by time data of any beneficial effect of COVID-19 vaccines. There is no association in time between COVID-19 vaccination and any proportionate reduction in ACM. The opposite occurs. 

All 17 countries have transitions to regimes of high ACM, which occur when the COVID-19 vaccines are deployed and administered.

Nine of the 17 countries have no detectable excess ACM in the period of approximately one year after a pandemic was declared on 11 March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), until the vaccines are rolled out (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay). 

Unprecedented peaks in ACM occur in the summer (January-February) of 2022 in the Southern Hemisphere, and in equatorial-latitude countries, which are synchronous with or immediately preceded by rapid COVID-19-vaccine-booster-dose rollouts (3rd or 4th doses). This phenomenon is present in every case with sufficient mortality data (15 countries). Two of the countries studied have insufficient mortality data in January-February 2022 (Argentina and Suriname). 

Detailed mortality and vaccination data for Chile and Peru allow resolution by age and by dose number. It is unlikely that the observed peaks in all-cause mortality in January-February 2022 (and additionally in: July-August 2021, Chile; July-August 2022, Peru), in each of both countries and in each elderly age group, could be due to any cause other than the temporally associated rapid COVID-19-vaccine-booster-dose rollouts. Likewise, it is unlikely that the transitions to regimes of high ACM, coincident with the rollout and sustained administration of COVID-19 vaccines, in all 17 Southern-Hemisphere and equatorial-latitude countries, could be due to any cause other than the vaccines. 

Synchronicity between the many peaks in ACM (in 17 countries, on 4 continents, in all elderly age groups, at different times) and associated rapid booster rollouts allows this firm conclusion regarding causality, and accurate quantification of COVID-19-vaccine toxicity. 

The all-ages vaccine-dose fatality rate (vDFR), which is the ratio of inferred vaccine-induced deaths to vaccine doses delivered in a population, is quantified for the January-February 2022 ACM peak to fall in the range 0.02 % (New Zealand) to 0.20% (Uruguay). In Chile and Peru, the vDFR increases exponentially with age (doubling approximately every 4 years of age), and is largest for the latest booster doses, reaching approximately 5 % in the 90+ years age groups (1 death per 20 injections of dose 4). Comparable results occur for the Northern Hemisphere, as found in previous articles (India, Israel, USA). 

We quantify the overall all-ages vDFR for the 17 countries to be (0.126 ± 0.004) %, which would imply 17.0 ± 0.5 million COVID-19 vaccine deaths worldwide, from 13.50 billion injections up to 2 September 2023. This would correspond to a mass iatrogenic event that killed (0.213 ± 0.006) % of the world population (1 death per 470 living persons, in less than 3 years), and did not measurably prevent any deaths. 

The overall risk of death induced by injection with the COVID-19 vaccines in actual populations, inferred from excess all-cause mortality and its synchronicity with rollouts, is globally pervasive and much larger than reported in clinical trials, adverse effect monitoring, and cause-of-death statistics from death certificates, by 3 orders of magnitude (1,000-fold greater). 

The large age dependence and large values of vDFR quantified in this study of 17 countries on 4 continents, using all the main COVID-19 vaccine types and manufacturers, should induce governments to immediately end the baseless public health policy of prioritizing elderly residents for injection with COVID-19 vaccines, until valid risk-benefit analyses are made.


 

Table of Contents

 

Abstract 

Table of Figures 

Table of Tables 

1. Introduction

2. Data

3. Method to Detect Time Transitions to Regimes of High All-Cause Mortality

4. Methods to Quantify vDFR from All-Cause Mortality

4.1 Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality (Method 1)

4.2 Special case of a single historic integrated point (Method 2)

4.3 Application of the methods to the specific countries

5. Results

5.1 Transitions to regimes of high ACM

5.2 Covid-period excess mortality compared to COVID-19-vaccination-period excess mortality, in the 17 countries of this study

5.3 All studied countries all-ages national ACM and vaccine rollouts

5.4 Chile by age group dose 4 ― National ACM and vaccine dose 4 rollouts (90+, 85-89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 years) 

5.5 Chile by age group dose 3 ― National ACM and vaccine dose 3 rollouts (90+, 85-89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 years)

5.6 Peru by age group dose 3 ― National ACM and vaccine dose 3 rollouts (90+, 85-89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 years)

5.7 Peru by age group dose 4 ― National ACM and vaccine dose 4 rollouts (90+, 85-89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 years) 

5.8 vDFR by age ― Age-stratified vaccine dose fatality rates for doses 3 and 4 in Chile and Peru

5.9 New Zealand all-ages doses 3 and 4 ― National ACM and vaccine dose rollouts

6. Discussion

6.1 COVID-19 vaccines can cause death

6.2 Absence of excess mortality until the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out

6.3 The COVID-19 vaccines did not save lives and appear to be lethal toxic agents

6.4 Strong evidence for a causal association and vaccine lethal toxicity

6.5 Causality in excess mortality is amply demonstrated

6.6 Assessing other interpretations of the cause of the excess mortality

6.7 Implications regarding age-dependence of fatal toxicity of COVID-19 vaccines 

6.8 Excess ACM by time prior to COVID-19 vaccine rollouts

7. Conclusion

7.1 Causality proven

7.2 Actual vaccine mortality much larger than that incorrectly inferred from faulty data

7.3 The policy of prioritizing elderly residents for COVID-19 vaccination must be ended

References

Appendix A: Sources of mortality and vaccination data

Appendix B: Examples of all-cause mortality and vaccination data

Appendix C: Technical and specific information for applications of the methods to the data

Appendix D: Single-point method quantification of the excess mortality in the Covid period 

Appendix E: Single-point method quantification of the excess mortality in the vaccination period 

 


 

Table of Figures

 

Figure 1: World map showing the 17 countries considered in the present study, in relation to the equator and the tropics ― Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, and Uruguay. 

Figure 2: Transitions between regimes of mortality ― ACM by time (week or month) (blue), vaccine administration by time (week) (orange), and the 1-year backward moving average of the ACM by time (week or month) (red), as per the legend, for the 17 countries in this study. The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a vertical grey line in each panel. The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 3: (three panels) Covid-period excess ACM versus vaccination-period excess ACM (top), first expanded view (middle), second expanded view (bottom), with 1:1 line as a reference.

Figure 4: All-ages ACM by week (2019-2023) or by month (2017-2023) (black), with all-ages vaccine rollouts doses 1 and 2 (blue) and boosters (orange), for the 17 countries in this study (as labelled); also showing the 11 March 2020 date and limits of integration for the nominally January-February 2022 peak in ACM (vertical lines). The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 5: All-ages ACM by week or by month (light blue), 2015-2023, with integrations for the nominally January-February 2022 peak in ACM (dark blue), for the 17 countries (as labelled). The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 6: All-ages ACM by week (2019-2023) or by month (2017-2023) (black), with all-ages all-doses COVID-19 vaccine rollout (blue), for the 17 countries in this study; also showing the 11 March 2020 date (grey) and limits of integration (dashed, blue) for the vaccination period. The data sources are specified in Appendix A. 

Figure 7: All-ages ACM by week (ACM/w) or by month (ACM/m) (light blue), 2015-2023, with integrations (dark blue), and trend lines (orange), for the for the vaccination period, for the 17 countries in this study (as labelled). The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 8: All-ages national excess ACM in the time period of the nominal January-February 2022 ACM peaks (filled circles) or during the vaccination period (open diamonds, Method 2 calculation method) versus the all-ages national total vaccine injections in the same time period, using both by-week (blue) and by-month (orange) ACM data, for all 17 countries (as labelled). Full range (top panel). Expanded view (bottom panel). Pearson correlation coefficient is r = +0.94.

Figure 9: vDFR (vaccination period) versus vDFR (January-February 2022 ACM peak period), with correlation analysis. The vDFR values are expressed as fractions, not %, and the scale is x1e−3, so “4” is 0.4 %, and so on. The analysis lines have the same meanings as in Figure 8. Pearson correlation coefficient is r = +0.74.

Figure 10: All-ages vDFR values for the vaccination period (orange, meth. 2) and for the period of the January-February 2022 peak in ACM (blue), by country, in decreasing order, compared to the lists of vaccine manufacturers. Values of all-ages vDFR are from Table 2. 

Figure 11: Chile (with rollouts), ACM by week (black), 2019-2023, by age group (90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with vaccine rollouts all-doses (blue) and dose-4 (x4 amplified, pink). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 12: Chile (dose 4), ACM by week (light blue), 2010-2022, by age group (90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with integrations, 14-week dose-4-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 13: Chile (dose 3), ACM by week (light blue), 2010-2022, by age group (60+, 90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with integrations, 22-week dose-3-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 14: Peru (with rollouts), ACM by week (black), 2019-2022, by age group (60+, 90+, 85-89 … 60-64, 50-59 … 20-29, 0-19 years), with vaccine rollouts all-doses (blue) and dose-4 (x4 amplified, pink). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 15: Peru (dose 3), ACM by week (light blue), 2017-2022, by age group (60+, 90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with integrations, 26-week dose-3-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 16: Peru (dose 4), ACM by week (light blue), 2017-2022, by age group (60+, 90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with integrations, 25-week dose-4-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 17: vDFR versus age, for Chile and for Peru, for the January-February 2022 peak (Chile dose 4, Peru dose 3), for the July-August 2022 peak (Peru, dose 4), and for the July-August 2021 peak (Chile, dose 3), with exponential fits. Linear scale (top), log scale (bottom). 

Figure 18: (top) New Zealand (with rollouts), all-ages ACM by week (black), 2019-2023, with all-ages vaccine rollouts dose 1 to dose 4 (colours). (bottom) ACM by week for 80+ years age group (black), and same integrations bounds (dashed vertical lines). The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a grey vertical line. The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 19: New Zealand (dose 3), all-ages ACM by week (light blue), 2011-2023, with integrations, 28-week dose-3-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 20: New Zealand (dose 4), ACM by week (light blue), 2011-2023, with integrations, 31-week dose-4-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 21: Appendix B – Examples of all-ages all-cause mortality (blue) and all-ages all-doses vaccine-administration (orange) data, for the 17 countries in this study (as labelled). The vertical grey line indicates the 11 March 2020 WHO declaration of a pandemic. The data sources are specified in Appendix A

Figure 22: Appendix D – Single historic point method (Method 2) for excess ACM in the Covid periods of the 17 countries in this study. Covid period (orange), single-point historic reference period (green), best-line fit (red). The time index is the week or month number from start of 2015. The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a vertical grey line. The data sources are specified in Appendix A. 

Figure 23: Appendix E – Single historic point method for excess ACM (Method 2) in the vaccination periods of the 17 countries in this study. Vaccination period (orange), single-point historic reference period (green), best-line fit (red). The time index is the week or month number from start of 2015. The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a vertical grey line. The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

 


 

Table of Tables 

 

Table 1: Total excess mortalities in the Covid and vaccination periods, number of injections in the vaccination period, population

Table 2: All-ages national vaccine dose fatality rates (vDFR) extracted from the time period of the nominal January-February 2022 ACM peak (“S22-peak”) and from the entire time period of vaccination (“v-period”), for the 17 countries in this study

Table 3: Extracted doubling ages, increases in age to double risk of death per injection

Table 4: Appendix A – Type of data and sources of data

Table 5: Appendix C – Parameters used to apply the trend-line method (Method 1) to the data

 


 

1. Introduction

 

All-cause mortality by time is the most reliable data for detecting and epidemiologically characterizing events causing death, and for gauging the population-level impact of any surge or collapse in deaths from any cause.

Such data can be collected by jurisdiction or geographical region, by age group, by sex, and so on; and it is not susceptible to reporting bias or to any bias in attributing causes of death in the mortality itself

(Aaby et al., 2020; Bilinski and Emanuel, 2020; Bustos Sierra et al., 2020; Félix-Cardoso et al., 2020; Fouillet et al., 2020; Kontis et al., 2020; Mannucci et al., 2020; Mills et al., 2020; Olson et al., 2020; Piccininni et al., 2020; Rancourt, 2020; Rancourt et al., 2020; Sinnathamby et al., 2020; Tadbiri et al., 2020; Vestergaard et al., 2020; Villani et al., 2020; Achilleos et al., 2021; Al Wahaibi et al., 2021; Anand et al., 2021; Böttcher et al., 2021; Chan et al., 2021; Dahal et al., 2021; Das-Munshi et al., 2021; Deshmukh et al., 2021; Faust et al., 2021; Gallo et al., 2021; Islam, Jdanov, et al., 2021; Islam, Shkolnikov, et al., 2021; Jacobson and Jokela, 2021; Jdanov et al., 2021; Joffe, 2021; Karlinsky and Kobak, 2021; Kobak, 2021; Kontopantelis et al., 2021a, 2021b; Kung et al., 2021a, 2021b; Liu et al., 2021; Locatelli and Rousson, 2021; Miller et al., 2021; Moriarty et al., 2021; Nørgaard et al., 2021; Panagiotou et al., 2021; Pilkington et al., 2021; Polyakova et al., 2021; Rancourt et al., 2021a, 2021b; Rossen et al., 2021; Sanmarchi et al., 2021; Sempé et al., 2021; Soneji et al. 2021; Stein et al., 2021; Stokes et al., 2021; Vila-Corcoles et al., 2021; Wilcox et al., 2021; Woolf et al., 2021; Woolf, Masters and Aron, 2021; Yorifuji et al., 2021; Ackley et al., 2022; Acosta et al., 2022; Engler, 2022; Faust et al., 2022; Ghaznavi et al., 2022; Gobiņa et al., 2022; He et al., 2022; Henry et al., 2022; Jha et al., 2022; Johnson and Rancourt, 2022; Juul et al., 2022; Kontis et al., 2022; Kontopantelis et al., 2022; Lee et al., 2022; Leffler et al., 2022; Lewnard et al., 2022; McGrail, 2022; Neil et al., 2022; Neil and Fenton, 2022; Pálinkás and Sándor, 2022; Ramírez-Soto and Ortega-Cáceres, 2022; Rancourt, 2022; Rancourt et al., 2022a, 2022b; Razak et al., 2022; Redert, 2022a, 2022b; Rossen et al., 2022; Safavi-Naini et al., 2022; Schöley et al., 2022; Sy, 2022; Thoma and Declercq, 2022; Wang et al., 2022; Aarstad and Kvitastein, 2023; Bilinski et al., 2023; de Boer et al., 2023; de Gier et al., 2023; Demetriou et al., 2023; Donzelli et al., 2023; Haugen, 2023; Jones and Ponomarenko, 2023; Kuhbandner and Reitzner, 2023; Lytras et al., 2023; Masselot et al., 2023; Matveeva and Shabalina, 2023; Neil and Fenton, 2023; Paglino et al., 2023; Rancourt et al., 2023; Redert, 2023; Schellekens, 2023; Scherb and Hayashi, 2023; Šorli et al., 2023; Woolf et al., 2023).

We have previously reported several cases in which anomalous peaks in all-cause mortality (ACM) are temporally associated with rapid COVID-19 vaccine-dose rollouts and cases in which the start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign coincides with the start of a new regime of sustained elevated mortality; in India, Australia, Israel, USA, and Canada, including states and provinces (Rancourt, 2022; Rancourt et al., 2022a, 2022b, 2023).

These studies allowed us to make the first quantitative determinations of the vaccine-dose fatality rate (vDFR), which is the ratio of inferred vaccine-induced deaths to vaccine doses administered in a population, based on excess-ACM evaluation on a given time period, compared to the number of vaccine doses administered in the same time period.

The all-ages all-doses value of vDFR was typically approximately 0.05 % (1 death per 2,000 injections), with an extreme value of 1 % for the special case of India (Rancourt, 2022).

Our work, using extensive data for Australia and Israel, has also shown that vDFR is exponential with age (doubling every 5 years of age), reaching approximately 1 % for 80+ year olds (Rancourt et al., 2023).

The clearest example is that of a relatively sharp ACM peak occurring in January-February 2022 in Australia, which is synchronous with the rapid rollout of Australia’s dose 3 of the COVID-19 vaccine; occurring in 5 of 8 of the Australian states and in all of the more-elderly age groups (Rancourt et al., 2022a, 2023).

In contrast, often one must contend with the confounding effect of the intrinsic seasonal variation of ACM; however, in this case for Australia, the said January-February 2022 peak occurs at a time in the intrinsic seasonal cycle when one should have a stable (Southern Hemisphere) summer low or summer trough in ACM. There are no previous examples of such a peak in the summer in the historic record of ACM for Australia (Rancourt et al., 2022a).

Few national jurisdictions have the kind of extensive age-stratified mortality and vaccination data available for Australia and Israel. Two other such jurisdictions are Chile and Peru. Here, we show that Chile and Peru, like Australia, has a relatively sharp ACM peak occurring in January-February 2022, which is synchronous with the rapid rollout of Chile’s dose 4 and Peru’s dose 3 of the COVID-19 vaccine, respectively, occurring for all of the more-elderly age groups.

This shared feature between Chile, Peru and Australia led us to look for more examples of the January-February 2022 ACM-peak phenomenon in the Southern Hemisphere and in equatorial regions. Equatorial countries have no summer and winter seasons and no seasonal variations in their ACM patterns. We found the same phenomenon everywhere that data was available (Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Uruguay), although incomplete for Bolivia and not as distinctive for New Zealand. Here, we report on those findings.


 

2. Data

 

The sources of mortality and vaccine-administration data are given in Appendix A: Sources of mortality and vaccination data. 

Appendix B: Examples of all-cause mortality and vaccination data contains examples of the data: all-ages national ACM by time (week or month), from 2015 to 2023, and all-ages all-doses vaccine administration by week, using Y-scales starting from zero, for the 17 countries considered in the present study: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, and Uruguay.

Figure 1 shows the said 17 countries considered, in relation to the equator on a world map. 

Figure 1: World map showing the 17 countries considered in the present study, in relation to the equator and the tropics ― Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, and Uruguay. 

 


 

3. Method to Detect Time Transitions

to Regimes of High All-Cause Mortality 

 

We implement the following method developed by one of us (JH) for detecting changes in regime in ACM data by time (day, week, month, quarter). 

One is interested in detecting transitions in time (as one advances in time from a stable historic period) to regimes of “higher than usual” or “higher than recent” ACM, which may be associated with the declaration of a pandemic or with rollouts of vaccines. Although the trained eye can detect such transitions in the raw ACM by time data itself, it is useful to apply a statistical transformation, which is designed to largely eliminate the confounding difficulty of seasonal variations in ACM, which occur in non-equatorial countries. 

Since the dominant period of the seasonal variations in ACM is 1 year, and since we wish to detect changes moving forward in time, we adopt the following approach. We apply a 1-year backward moving average to the ACM by time data. Each point in time of the 1-year backward moving average is simply the average ACM for the year ending at the said point in time, and we plot this moving average by time. Changes in regime of ACM then appear as breaks (in slope or value) in the moving average by time. 

Note that the 1-year backward moving average method produces one significant but easily discerned artifact: Relatively large and sharp peaks in ACM give rise to artificial drops in the moving average at one year ahead of (later than) the said relatively large and sharp peaks in ACM. 


 

4. Methods to Quantify vDFR

from All-Cause Mortality 

 

4.1 Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality (Method 1) 

Our first method (Method 1) for quantification of vDFR by age group (or all ages) and by vaccine dose number (or all doses) is as follows (Rancourt et al., 2022a, 2023), here improved to adjust for systematic seasonal effects: 

i. Plot the ACM by time (day, week, month) for the age group (or all ages) over a large time scale, including the years prior to the declared pandemic. 

ii. Identify the date (day, week, month) of the start of the vaccine rollout (first dose rollout) for the age group (or all ages). 

iii. Note, for consistency, that the ACM undergoes a step-wise increase to larger values near the date of the start of the vaccine rollout.

iv. Integrate (add) ACM from the start of the vaccine rollout to the end of available data or end of vaccinations (all doses), whichever comes first. This is the basic integration time window used in the calculation, start to end dates. 

v. Apply this window and this integration over successive and non-overlapping equal-duration periods, moving as far back as the data permits. 

vi. Start each new integration window at the same point in the seasonal cycle as the start of the basic integration window for the vaccine period, even if this introduces gaps between successive integration periods. 

vii. Plot the resulting integration values versus time, and note, for consistency, that the value has an upward jog, well discerned from the historic trend or values, for the vaccination period. 

viii. Extrapolate the historic trend of integrated values into the vaccination period. The difference between the measured and extrapolated (historic trend predicted) integrated values of ACM in the vaccination period is the excess mortality associated with the vaccination period. 

ix. The extrapolation, in practice, is achieved by fitting a straight line to chosen pre-vaccination-period integration points. 

x. If too few points are available for the extrapolation, giving too large an uncertainty in the fitted slope, then impose a slope of zero, which amounts to using an average of recent values. In some cases, even a single point (usually the point for the immediately preceding integration window) can be used. 

xi. The error in the extrapolated value is most often overwhelmingly the dominant source of error in the calculated excess mortality. Estimate the “accuracy error” in the extrapolated value as the mean deviation of the absolute value difference with the fitted line (mean of the absolute values of the residuals) for the chosen points of the fit. This error is a measure of the integration-period variations from all causes over a near region having an assumed linear trend. 

xii. The said “accuracy error” is generally larger than the “precision error” (or statistical error) in the extrapolated value, as it represents the year-to-year variability of the integrated ACM in the integration window in the years prior to the Covid or vaccination periods. 

xiii. If there are too few integration windows in the available normal years prior to the peak or region of interest to obtain a good estimate of the historic year-to-year variability, or if the statistical errors in the integrated values are relatively large, then make use of the statistical errors to best estimate the needed uncertainty. 

xiv. Apply the same integration window (start-to-end dates during vaccination) to count all vaccine doses administered in that time. 

xv. Depending on particular circumstances in the data, it may be necessary to use different integration bounds (different windows) for the ACM and for the vaccine administration. We saw no need for this, and we did not try to implement or test such an optimization. 

xvi. Define vDFR = (vaccination-period excess mortality) / (vaccine doses administered in the same vaccination period). Calculate the uncertainty in vDFR using the estimated error in vaccination-period excess mortality. 

The same method is adapted to any region of interest (such as a peak in ACM) of sub-annual duration, by translating the window of integration (of the region of interest) backwards by increments of one year. 

The above-described method is robust and ideally adapted to the nature of ACM data. Integrated ACM will generally have a small statistical error. 

A large time-wise integration window (e.g., for the entire vaccination period) mostly removes the difficulty arising from intrinsic seasonal variations; and this difficulty is further solved by starting each new integration window at the same point in the seasonal cycle as the start of the basic integration window for the vaccine period (point-vi, above).

The historic trend is analysed without introducing any model assumptions or uncertainties beyond assuming that the near trend can be modelled by a straight line, where justified by the data itself. Such an analysis, for example, takes into account year to year changes in age-group cohort size arising from the age structure of the population. The only assumption is that a locally linear near trend for the unperturbed (ACM-wise unperturbed) population is realistic. 

While the above method is designed for cases (jurisdictions) in which there is no evidence in the ACM data for mortality caused by factors other than the vaccine rollouts, such as Covid measures (treatment protocols, societal impositions, isolation and so forth; since no excess mortality occurs in the pre-vaccination period of the Covid period), it can be readily adapted to cases in which mortality in the vaccination period is confounded by additional (Covid period) causal factors that cannot be ruled out. 

One approach is simply to adapt the above method to calendar years, irrespective of whether excess mortality occurs prior to the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. One obtains excess ACM by calendar year, relative to the expected value from the historic trend deduced by linear extrapolation from a chosen range of yearly ACM values for < 2020 (for years prior to 2020, when the 11 March 2020 announcement of a pandemic was made). One then compares the excess ACM for 2020 and for 2021. In many (most) countries, there was essentially no COVID-19 vaccination in 2020, and a rapid rollout essentially started in January 2021.

 

4.2 Special Case of a Single Historic Integrated Point (Method 2) 

In cases in which it is not possible or practical to obtain more than one integration value for the needed extrapolation (steps v to ix, above), rather than assume a zero slope for the extrapolation (step x, above), the following second method (Method 2) can be applied.

If Y(−1) is the sole historic integrated point, then simply take the needed extrapolated value, Y(0), to be: 

Y(0) = Y(−1) + m ΔT W    (1)

where m is the slope of the best-straight-line fit through the original ACM by time unit (day, week, month…) versus numbered time unit, ΔT is the number of time units between Y(0) and Y(−1) (i.e., between the start of the Y(0) integration window and the start of the Y(−1) integration window), and W is the inclusive width of the integration window in number of time units. 

This assumes that the ACM by time varies on a straight line, notwithstanding seasonal variations, on the near segment used to obtain the best-straight-line fit. 

The resulting excess mortality for the integration window or period, xACM(0), is then: 

xACM(0) = ACM(0) − Y(0)      (2)

where ACM(0) is the integrated ACM in the period of interest. 

The statistical error (standard deviation) in xACM(0) is then given by: 

sig(xACM(0)) = sqrt [ ACM(0) + Y(−1) + (ΔT W sig(m))2 ]      (3)

where sig(m) is the nominally statistical error in m. 

If there is no seasonal variation in ACM, as occurs in equatorial-latitude jurisdictions, then sig(m) is the actual statistical error in m. With seasonal variations in ACM, sig(m) extracted from the least squares fitting to a straight line does not have a simple  meaning. In this case, sig(m) will incorporate uncertainty arising from seasonal variations, and increases with increasing amplitude of the seasonal variation. 

4.3 Application of the Methods to the Specific Countries 

The parameters for applying the methods (Methods 1 and 2) to the data are given in Appendix C: Technical and specific information for applications of the methods to the data. 


 

5. Results 

 

5.1 Transitions to regimes of high ACM 

Figure 2 shows the ACM by time (week or month) (blue), vaccine administration by time (week) (orange) (source: OWID, 2023a), and the 1-year backward moving average of the ACM by time (week or month, respectively) (red), for the 17 countries in this study. The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a vertical grey line in each panel. 

The vaccine administration by week (e.g., orange, Figure 2), for all-ages analyses in the present paper, is obtained from the original cumulative data (OWID, 2023a) by interpolating to obtain all dates, and then summing by week. As a result, where there are sudden jumps in the cumulative data, this can produce a large weekly value as an artifact, such as for the Philippines (Figure 2). Similarly, drops in cumulative values can produce artificial negative weekly values, as seen in a few cases, below.

Figure 2: Transitions between regimes of mortality ― ACM by time (week or month) (blue), vaccine administration by time (week) (orange), and the 1-year backward moving average of the ACM by time (week or month) (red), as per the legend, for the 17 countries in this study. The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a vertical grey line in each panel. The data sources are specified in Appendix A. 

 

Here (Figure 2), 9 of the 17 countries have no detectable excess mortality in the year or so between when a pandemic is announced on 11 March 2020 and the starting time of the first vaccine rollout in each country. That is, in 9 of the 17 countries, there is no detectable excess mortality until the vaccines are rolled out (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay). 

In the other 8 of the 17 countries, a new regime of higher mortality is initiated after 11 March 2020 and prior to any COVID-19 vaccine administration (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa).

In all 17 countries, vaccination is associated with a regime of high mortality, and there is no association in time between COVID-19 vaccination and proportionate reduction in ACM. 

 

5.2 Covid-period Excess Mortality Compared to COVID-19-vaccination-period Excess Mortality, in the 17 Countries of this Study 

We apply the “Special case of a single historic integrated point” method (Method 2, or “single-point method”, Equations 1 to 3, see Methods) to quantify the excess ACM in the entire Covid period (or “Covid period”), from the week or month of 11 March 2020 to the week or month, respectively, of the last (most recent) usable or chosen point in the ACM by time data. This method takes into account the recent decadal linear change in historic ACM in the needed extrapolation for the reference mortality. 

The method and calculation of the Covid-period excess ACM are illustrated in Appendix D: Single-point method quantification of the excess mortality in the Covid period, for all 17 countries in this study. 

We perform the same calculation for the entire COVID-19-vaccination-period (or “vaccination period”) excess ACM, from the first week or month of COVID-19 vaccination to the same week or month, respectively, which was taken to be the last week or month, respectively, of the Covid period for each country, which is illustrated in Appendix E: Single-point method quantification of the excess mortality in the vaccination period. 

The results of the calculations are given in Table 1, for the excess ACM in the Covid period (column labelled “Covid period ACM”) and for excess ACM in the vaccination period (column labelled “Vaccination period ACM”), and their associated errors (Equation 3, Methods).

Total numbers of COVID-19 vaccine injections for the same vaccination periods are also given(column labelled “Vaccination period injections”), as are projected populations for 2022 (United Nations, 2023). Both the Covid and vaccination periods end on the same date for each country. The totals are also given, with propagated errors. The orange shading corresponds to those countries that have no apparent excess ACM prior to the start of vaccination, pursuant to Figure 2, whereas the blue shading is for countries that exhibit excess ACM prior to the start of vaccination (and after a pandemic is declared on 11 March 2020).

Table 1: Total excess mortalities in the Covid and vaccination periods,number of injections in thevaccination period, population

The results of Table 1 are illustrated in Figure 3. Here, the same colour coding of the symbols as for Table 1 is used: orange points for countries that have no apparent excess ACM prior to the start of vaccination, pursuant to Figure 2, and blue points for countries that exhibit excess ACM prior to the start of vaccination (and after a pandemic is declared on 11 March 2020).

Figure 3: (three panels) Covid-period excess ACM versus vaccination-period excess ACM (top), first expanded view (middle), second expanded view (bottom), with 1:1 line as a reference.

 

5.3 All Studied Countries All-ages National ACM and Vaccine Rollouts

Figure 4 shows the available all-ages national ACM (black) by month (2017-2023) or by week (2019-2023), compared to the COVID-19 vaccine-dose rollouts, for: Australia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa (by-week ACM data); and Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Malaysia, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, and Uruguay (by-month ACM data). Grey vertical lines indicate the 11 March 2020 World Health Organization (WHO) announcement of a pandemic, and orange dashed vertical lines show the bounds of the integration window for the January-February 2022 peak of interest (same bounds as for Figure 5, and Table 2). Vaccine administration for dose 1 and dose 2 by week or by month is in blue; whereas booster administration (doses beyond dose 2) by week or by month is in orange. The vaccine data is from Our World in Data (2023a), where the dose1 and dose 2 data (blue) was obtained by subtracting the booster doses (orange) from the all-doses data.

Figure 4: All-ages ACM by week (2019-2023) or by month (2017-2023) (black), with all-ages vaccine rollouts doses 1 and 2 (blue) and boosters (orange), for the 17 countries in this study (as labelled); also showing the 11 March 2020 date and limits of integration for the nominally January-February 2022 peak in ACM (vertical lines). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 5 shows the available all-ages national ACM by time (week or month), from 2015 to 2023, the integration points that were used to quantify excess ACM in the January-February 2022 peak of interest, and the linear trend lines that were used to extrapolate to the expected values (“Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method, Method 1, see Methods), for: Australia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa (by-week ACM data); and for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Malaysia, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, and Uruguay (by-month ACM data).

The figure has: ACM by week or by month (light blue); integrated ACM by 26‑week or 7-month vaccination-period integration window (dark blue, points), the last point being for the actual period of interest itself; extrapolation line used to calculate the excess ACM in the booster period (orange). An integration point is positioned in time at the start of the integration window. See Methods.

For completeness, in Figure 5 and Figure 4, we include those countries for which the calculation cannot be completed because of insufficient ACM data in the January-February 2022 region of interest. Argentina, Bolivia and Suriname have incomplete ACM data in the integration region of interest, causing a low integration value as an artifact (Figure 5).

For simplicity and comparison, in Figure 5 and Figure 4 (and in Table 2), we standardized to essentially the same integration window for all countries (see Appendix C): 26-week window with by-week ACM data (2021-week-42 through 2022-week-15, which is 182 days) or 7-month window with by-month ACM data (2021-month-10 through 2022-month-04, which is 212 days).

Figure 5: All-ages ACM by week or by month (light blue), 2015-2023, with integrations for the nominally January-February 2022 peak in ACM (dark blue), for the 17 countries (as labelled). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 6 shows the same kind of graph as depicted in Figure 4, except that the entire available COVID-19 vaccine period is highlighted, instead of just the booster-rollout region related to the nominally January-February 2022 peak in ACM, for all 17 countries in this study (Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay).

Here (Figure 6 and Figure 7), the vaccination period is defined to start at the first week or month of COVID-19 vaccine administration, and to end at effectively the latest time of vaccine administration or at the latest date of available ACM data. See Appendix C: Technical and specific information for applications of the methods to the data for the specified ranges used.

The idea is to capture the all-ages all-doses long-time impact of vaccination in each country, with a corresponding calculated value of vDFR, and to compare it with the value obtained from the targeted focus on the booster-associated nominally January-February 2022 peak in ACM.

Figure 6: All-ages ACM by week (2019-2023) or by month (2017-2023) (black), with all-ages all-doses COVID-19 vaccine rollout (blue), for the 17 countries in this study; also showing the 11 March 2020 date (grey) and limits of integration (dashed, blue) for the vaccination period. The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 7 shows the integrations corresponding to the vaccination periods illustrated in Figure 6.

Figure 7: All-ages ACM by week (ACM/w) or by month (ACM/m) (light blue), 2015-2023, with integrations (dark blue), and trend lines (orange), for the for the vaccination period, for the 17 countries in this study (as labelled). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

We also applied our alternative method (Method 2: Equations 1 to 3; “Special case of a single historic integrated point” method) to obtain the excess mortality in the vaccination periods of all 17 countries, using all the same integration limits as used in applying the first method (Method 1), above. These calculations are illustrated in Appendix E: Single-point method quantification of the excess mortality in the vaccination period.

Table 2 compares calculated all-ages values of vDFR, for the 17 countries in the study, for two different time periods of interest, and using two different quantification methods:

  • The first (left to right) column of numbers provides the calculated all-ages national vDFR values using the “Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method (Method 1) and the time period of the nominal January-February 2022 ACM peak (as illustrated in Figure 5 and Figure 4), for 14 of the 17 countries in the study, which have ACM data covering the said peak. Three countries have incomplete ACM data in the time period of interest (Argentina, Bolivia, Suriname). The time periods of integration, for both ACM and total vaccine administration, are: 2021-week-42 through 2022-week-15 (26-week = 182-day integration, with by-week ACM data) and 2021-month-10 through 2022-month-04 (7‑month = 212-day integration, with by-month ACM data).
  • The second column of numbers provides the error in the first-column numbers, which is from the mean deviation magnitude from the straight-line points used for the historic trend (Method 1, see Methods). It is therefore an “accuracy” error, arising from a variability due to often unavoidable seasonal uncertainty (see Methods).
  • The third column of numbers provides the calculated all-ages national vDFR values using the “Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method (Method 1) and the all-doses vaccination period (as illustrated in Figure 6 and Figure 7), for 15 of the 17 countries in the study, which have enough usable historic ACM data for the method to be applied. Meaningful “accuracy” errors in most cases cannot be evaluated for the numbers in this column. Two countries do not have enough ACM data (Chile, Peru), for more than one needed point of historic ACM integration, for a reliable vDFR value to be calculated, with the dataset used.
  • The fourth column of numbers provides the calculated all-ages national vDFR values using the “Special case of a single historic integrated point” method (Method 2) and the all-doses vaccination period (as illustrated in Appendix E), for all 17 countries in the study.
  • The fifth column of numbers provides the error in the fourth-column numbers, which is calculated using Equation 3 of the “Special case of a single historic integrated point” method (Method 2), with the slope (m) values given in Figure 23. As such, this error represents an estimate of the “accuracy” error, which is larger than a statistical error, since the statistically calculated error in m is affected by the seasonal spread in ACM-by-time-unit values.

Table 2: All-ages national vaccine dose fatality rates (vDFR) extracted from the time period of the nominal January-February 2022 ACM peak (“S22-peak”) and from the entire time period of vaccination (“v-period”), for the 17 countries in this study.

Figure 8 shows all-ages national excess ACM in the time period of the nominal January-February 2022 ACM peaks (filled circles) or in the time periods of vaccination (open diamonds), as obtained from the analyses illustrated in Figure 5 or Figure 23, respectively, versus the all-ages all-doses national total vaccine injections in each of the same time periods as the time windows of ACM integration, as obtained from the analyses illustrated in Figure 4 or Figure 6, respectively, for the 17 countries of the study, subject to data availability. The full range is shown in the top panel, and an expanded view near the origin is shown in the bottom panel.

The results from by-week ACM data (blue symbols) and by‑month ACM data (orange symbols) are comparable, even though they use different integration-window widths, because they are excess mortalities in anomalous peaks rather than total mortalities. The overall (all points in Figure 8) Pearson correlation coefficient is r = +0.94.

As per its legend, Figure 8 also shows:

  • The best straight-line fit (least squares fit) using the Y-errors in the points, assumed to be proportional to the true error (dashed black line)
  • Upper and lower bounds on the best straight-line fit, using largest intercept and largest slope or smallest intercept and smallest slope, respectively, within the error bounds on intercept and slope (solid black lines)
  • The standard confidence-interval limits, not using Y-errors, and therefore assuming equal and normal Y-errors for all points (curved grey lines)

The best-line fit parameters are as specified in the figure: Y-intercept = +20 ± 900 deaths, slope = (7.1 ± 1.0) x 10−4 deaths per injection (r = +0.94). For comparison, if only the data for the time period of the nominal January-February 2022 ACM peak is used (filled circles in Figure 8), one obtains: Y-intercept = −500 ± 1,000 deaths, slope = (6.4 ± 0.9) x 10−4 deaths per injection (r = +0.97).

Figure 8: All-ages national excess ACM in the time period of the nominal January-February 2022 ACM peaks (filled circles) or during the vaccination period (open diamonds, Method 2 calculation method) versus the all-ages national total vaccine injections in the same time period, using both by-week (blue) and by-month (orange) ACM data, for all 17 countries (as labelled). Full range (top panel). Expanded view (bottom panel). Pearson correlation coefficient is r = +0.94.

In Figure 8, the points for the vaccination period (open diamonds) have generally larger Y-values than the points for the time period of the nominal January-February 2022 ACM peak (filled circles), relative to the overall trend line. This would correspond to generally larger values of country-specific all-ages vDFR, since vDFR = Y‑value/X‑value for each point. This systematic difference is analyzed in Figure 9.

Figure 9: vDFR (vaccination period) versus vDFR (January-February 2022 ACM peak period), with correlation analysis. The vDFR values are expressed as fractions, not %, and the scale is x1e−3, so “4” is 0.4 %, and so on. The analysis lines have the same meanings as in Figure 8. Pearson correlation coefficient is r = +0.74.

As per its legend, in Figure 9 the slope is 1.8 ± 0.6 and the intercept is zero, within error (−3 ± 30). The Pearson correlation coefficient is +0.74.

South Africa has the largest value of all-ages vDFR (0.44 %), of the 17 study countries, followed by Suriname (0.30 %), Bolivia (0.301 %), Paraguay (0.24 %), and Philippines (0.157 %). This is illustrated in Figure 10, for all the countries and both integration-time periods, compared to the lists of vaccine manufacturers by country (OWID, 2023b).

Figure 10: All-ages vDFR values for the vaccination period (orange, meth. 2) and for the period of the January-February 2022 peak in ACM (blue), by country, in decreasing order, compared to the lists of vaccine manufacturers. Values of all-ages vDFR are from Table 2.

 

5.4 Chile by Age Group Dose 4 ― National ACM and Vaccine Dose 4 Rollouts (90+, 85-89, 80‑84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 Years)

Figure 11 shows the national ACM by week for Chile (black), from 2019 to 2023, and all‑doses (blue) and dose-4 (x4 amplification) (pink) COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, for all ages and for each of the age groups analyzed (90+ years through 60-64 years), as labelled. For many of the age groups, the four different doses are visually resolved as distinct peaks in the all-doses data, which is confirmed by the dose-specific data (not shown).

Figure 11: Chile (with rollouts), ACM by week (black), 2019-2023, by age group (90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with vaccine rollouts all-doses (blue) and dose-4 (x4 amplified, pink). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 12 shows the national ACM by week for Chile (light blue), from 2010 to 2023, and the 14-week integration points (dark blue) and trend line (orange) that were used to quantify excess ACM in the January-February 2022 peak of interest (“Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method, Method 1, see Methods), corresponding to the vaccine dose 4 rollout, for each of the age groups (90+ years through 60-64 years, as indicated). Here the integration windows (14 weeks) are selected for the age-group data, and are therefore different than the integration window used for all-ages (Figure 5 and Figure 4) (see Appendix C). The last integration point (in 2022) is for the vaccine dose 4 period itself, and each integration point is positioned in time at the start of the integration window. See Methods for details.

Figure 12: Chile (dose 4), ACM by week (light blue), 2010-2022, by age group (90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with integrations, 14-week dose-4-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

 

5.5 Chile by Age Group Dose 3 ― National ACM and Vaccine Dose 3 Rollouts (90+, 85‑89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 Years)

Since the dose-3 rollout is well defined and distinct from the other rollouts, in specific age groups in Chile (Figure 11), and since there is excess mortality over the time period of the dose-3 rollout, we additionally quantified for dose 3 in Chile, even though there is conflation with a seasonal peak in ACM and no sharp and distinct isolated associated peak in ACM, although 90+ years does show a well-formed shoulder (Figure 11) (see Methods, and see below).

Figure 13 shows the national ACM by week for Chile (light blue), from 2010 to 2023, and the 22-week-integration points (dark blue) and trend line (orange) that were used to quantify excess ACM in the nominal July-August 2021 region of interest (“Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method, Method 1, see Methods), corresponding to the vaccine dose 3 rollout, for each of the age groups (60+ years, and 90+ years through 60-64 years, as indicated). Here, as in Figure 12 and Figure 11, the integration windows (22 weeks) are selected for the age-group data (Appendix C). The last integration point (in 2021) is for the vaccine dose 3 period itself, and each integration point is positioned in time at the start of the integration window. See Methods for details.

Figure 13: Chile (dose 3), ACM by week (light blue), 2010-2022, by age group (60+, 90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with integrations, 22-week dose-3-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

 

5.6 Peru by Age Group Dose 3 ― National ACM and Vaccine Dose 3 Rollouts (90+, 85‑89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 Years)

Figure 14 shows the national ACM by week for Peru (black), from 2019 to 2022, and dose-specific (all doses, blue; and dose 4, pink) COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, for all-ages and for each of the age groups examined (60+, 90+, 85-89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, 60-64, 50-59, 40-49, 30-39, 20-29, and 0-19 years), as labelled. All-doses vaccine administration by week is in blue, dose-4 vaccine administration by week (x4 amplification) is in pink. For many of the age groups, the four different doses are visually resolved as distinct peaks in the all-doses data, which is confirmed by the dose-specific data (not shown).

Figure 14: Peru (with rollouts), ACM by week (black), 2019-2022, by age group (60+, 90+, 85-89 … 60-64, 50-59 … 20-29, 0-19 years), with vaccine rollouts all-doses (blue) and dose-4 (x4 amplified, pink). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Figure 15 shows the national ACM by week for Peru (light blue), from 2017 to 2022, and the 26-week integration points (dark blue) and trend line (orange) that were used to quantify excess ACM in the January-February 2022 peak of interest (“Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method, Method 1, see Methods), associated with Peru’s dose-3 rollout, for the 60+ year age group, and for each of the more specific age groups analyzed (90+, 85-89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 years). The last point (positioned in late 2021) is for the dose-3 vaccination period itself, and each integration point is positioned in time at the start of the integration window. See Methods for details.

Figure 15: Peru (dose 3), ACM by week (light blue), 2017-2022, by age group (60+, 90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with integrations, 26-week dose-3-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

 

5.7 Peru by Age Group Dose 4 ― National ACM and Vaccine Dose 4 Rollouts (90+, 85-89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 Years) 

Similarly to Figure 15, Figure 16 shows the national ACM by week for Peru (light blue), from 2017 to 2022, and the 25-week integration points (dark blue) and trend line (orange) that were used to quantify excess ACM in a peak (nominally, July-August 2022) (“Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method, Method 1, see Methods) associated with Peru’s dose-4 rollout, for the 60+ year age group, and for each of the more specific age groups analyzed (90+, 85-89, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74, 65-69, and 60-64 years). The last point (positioned in early 2022) is for the dose-4 vaccination period itself, and each integration point is positioned in time at the start of the integration window. See Methods for details.

Figure 16: Peru (dose 4), ACM by week (light blue), 2017-2022, by age group (60+, 90+, 85-89 … 60-64 years), with integrations, 25-week dose-4-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A. 

 

5.8 vDFR by Age ― Age-stratified Vaccine Dose Fatality Rates for Doses 3 and 4 in Chile and Peru 

Figure 17 (top panel) shows national vDFR (linear scale) versus age (“Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality”, Method 1, see Methods), for Chile and for Peru, for the January-February 2022 peak of interest (Chile dose 4; Peru dose 3), for the peak (nominally, July-August 2022) associated with Peru’s dose-4 rollout, and for the peak (nominally, July-August 2021) associated with Chile’s dose 3 rollout, with exponential fits. Figure 17 (bottom panel) shows the same data using a logarithmic scale for vDFR. Each point is positioned in time at the starting age of the age group. 

The exponential fits were performed without using the Y-specific errors (i.e., errors in vDFR) shown. Therefore, the resulting error on the doubling-time fit parameter T2 (τ, tau, in the figure legends) is based on the unweighted residual Y-values.

Figure 17: vDFR versus age, for Chile and for Peru, for the January-February 2022 peak (Chile dose 4, Peru dose 3), for the July-August 2022 peak (Peru, dose 4), and for the July-August 2021 peak (Chile, dose 3), with exponential fits. Linear scale (top), log scale (bottom). 

In Figure 17, the age (X-axis value, in years) assigned to a given age group is the starting age of the window of ages for the age group. This particular choice makes little difference because translating the x values by any constant number, for example, does not affect the doubling time obtained by fitting an exponential function, and only slightly affects the y intercept at x = 0 (the prefactor in the exponential).

 

5.9 New Zealand All-ages Doses 3 and 4 ― National ACM and Vaccine Dose Rollouts 

New Zealand is the case, among our 15 countries having sufficient ACM data, in which a nominally January-February 2022 peak in ACM is the least prominent. Nonetheless, the peak is measurably present for New Zealand, especially in the 80+ years age group. 

Figure 18 shows the all-ages national ACM by week for New Zealand (black), from 2019 to 2023, compared to the COVID-19 vaccine-dose rollouts. Vertical lines indicate the 11 March 2020 World Health Organization (WHO) announcement of a pandemic (grey), and the bounds of the integration windows for the regions of interest corresponding to the rollouts of doses 3 and 4 (orange and pink, respectively). The bottom panel shows the ACM data for the 80+ years age group, and the same vertical lines, as references.

Figure 18: (top) New Zealand (with rollouts), all-ages ACM by week (black), 2019-2023, with all-ages vaccine rollouts dose 1 to dose 4 (colours). (bottom) ACM by week for 80+ years age group (black), and same integrations bounds (dashed vertical lines). The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a grey vertical line. The data sources are specified in Appendix A. 

Figure 19 has the all-ages national ACM by week for New Zealand (light blue), from 2011 to 2023, and the 28-week-integration points that were used to quantify excess ACM in the January-February 2022 peak of interest (“Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method, Method 1, see Methods) (dark blue points and orange trend line), associated with New Zealand’s dose-3 rollout (28-week period, orange dashed vertical lines bounds shown in Figure 18). 

Figure 19: New Zealand (dose 3), all-ages ACM by week (light blue), 2011-2023, with integrations, 28-week dose-3-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A. 

Figure 20 shows the all-ages national ACM by week for New Zealand (light blue), from 2011 to 2023, and the 31-week-integration points that were used to quantify excess ACM in a July-August 2022 peak (“Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” method, Method 1, see Methods) (dark blue points and orange trend line), associated with New Zealand’s dose-4 rollout (31-week period, pink dashed vertical lines bounds shown in Figure 18).

Figure 20: New Zealand (dose 4), ACM by week (light blue), 2011-2023, with integrations, 31-week dose-4-vaccination-period (dark blue, points) and trend line (orange). The data sources are specified in Appendix A. 

The corresponding dose-specific all-ages vDFR values for New Zealand are: (0.05 ± 0.01) % (nominally January-February 2022, dose 3) and (0.21 ± 0.03) % (nominally July-August 2022, dose 4). 

 


 

6. Discussion 

 

6.1 COVID-19 Vaccines Can Cause Death 

It is important to discern the question of whether a COVID-19 vaccine injection can cause the death of the patient and the question of whether excess ACM (population level, by definition) is causally associated with the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts.

Even if there is clinical and pathological proof that injections can cause the deaths of individual subjects, this does not demonstrate a causal relation between a rapid vaccine rollout and a temporally associated peak in excess ACM. With necessarily limited numbers of documented cases of individual deaths, it only proves that the said causal relation is possible. A formal consideration of causality in excess mortality must nonetheless be made, which is done in sections below. 

In this context, it is well established that COVID-19 vaccine injections have caused and are likely to cause the deaths of individuals, as shown by: 

  • many detailed autopsy studies (e.g., Choi et al., 2021; Edler et al., 2021; Schneider et al., 2021; Sessa et al., 2021; Gill et al., 2022; Mörz, 2022; Murata et al., 2022; Suzuki et al., 2022; Takahashi et al., 2022; Tan et al., 2022; Yeo et al., 2022; Yoshimura et al., 2022; Chaganti et al., 2023; de Boer, Crawford, Parsons, 2023; Esposito et al., 2023; Hulscher et al., 2023; Jeon et al., 2023; Manu, 2023; Nushida et al., 2023; Onishi et al., 2023; Schwab et al., 2023), 
  • adverse effect monitoring (Rose and McCullough, 2021; Hickey and Rancourt, 2022), 
  • studies of vaccine-induced pathologies (e.g., Goldman et al., 2021; Kuvandik et al., 2021; Turni and Lefringhausen, 2022; Edmonds et al., 2023; Wong et al., 2023), 
  • an established causal link to vaccine-induced pathology, by histopathology and immunohistochemical staining of skin biopsy specimens (Sano et al., 2023), 
  • secondary analysis of serious adverse events reported in placebo-controlled, industry phase III randomized clinical trials (e.g., Fraiman et al., 2022), 
  • more than 1,250 peer-reviewed publications about COVID-19 vaccine adverse effects (React 19, 2022), and 
  • the known vaccine injury compensation programs of states worldwide, which include death resulting from the COVID-19 vaccines (Mungwira et al. 2020; Wood et al., 2020; Crum et al., 2021; Kamin-Friedman and Davidovitch, 2021), where Japan, Canada and the UK have granted compensation for COVID-19 vaccine induced deaths (The Japan Times, 26 July 2022; Corbett, 6 September 2022; Wise, 2022). 

These data and circumstances support but do not in themselves prove the conclusion of a likely causal link, which is made in several population-level studies, including: 

  • a recent survey study (Skidmore, 2023), 
  • our prior quantitative evaluations of vaccine dose fatality rate (vDFR) from all-cause mortality (ACM) data in several countries (Rancourt, 2022; Rancourt et al., 2022a, 2022b, 2023), and 
  • the present study, which will conclude that causality in excess mortality is demonstrated. 

Finally, there are detailed explanations based on principles of immunology as to the cellular, molecular and systems mechanisms for severe harm from COVID-19 vaccines, and as to why, for example, repeated doses can engender non-linearly-more-severe reactions (Palmer et al., 2023). 

 

6.2 Absence of Excess Mortality Until the COVID-19 Vaccines Are Rolled Out 

Previously, we have demonstrated that in several countries and states there is no detectable or virtually no excess ACM during the declared pandemic, compared to the recent historic record, until the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out, followed by large excess mortality during and after vaccine rollout: 

1. India (Rancourt, 2022) 

2. Australia, and each of its eight states (Rancourt et al., 2022a) 

3. Israel (relatively less excess mortality) (Rancourt et al., 2023)

4. Canada (relatively less excess mortality) (Rancourt et al., 2021b, 2022c; Rancourt, 2023) 

Likewise, in the present paper, we show that 9 of the 17 countries studied have no detectable excess ACM until the vaccines are rolled out: Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, and Uruguay. 

This is conclusively shown in Figure 2, and corresponding quantifications are given in Table 1 and Figure 3. 

This means that, in these 9 countries (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay), for approximately one year after the 11 March 2020 WHO declaration of a pandemic, there were no net extra deaths that could be attributed to a pandemic or to pandemic-response medical or government measures. These countries had no extra deaths until they were subjected to rapid mass COVID-19 vaccine administration (Figure 2). 

This is part of the strong evidence for a causal link, described below. 

 

6.3 The COVID-19 Vaccines Did Not Save Lives and Appear to be Lethal Toxic Agents 

Since excess mortality occurred solely after initiating (and during) vaccine rollouts in 9 countries (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay; Figure 2), the vaccines did not reduce serious illness (as claimed by manufacturers) enough to reduce any risk of death. 

In the 17 countries of the present study, there is no evidence in ACM by time data of any beneficial effect of COVID-19 vaccines. There is no association in time between COVID-19 vaccination and any proportionate reduction in ACM.

On the contrary, vaccine administration exhibits known epidemiological characteristics of sudden population-wide exposure to a lethal toxic substance, in all of the 17 countries, and the age groups studied: 

i. A transition to a regime of higher ACM on initiation of prolonged challenge with the lethal toxic agent (Figure 2, Figure 6, Figure 7) 

ii. Specific peaks of ACM temporally associated with (synchronous with or immediately following) all sharp peaks in mass challenge with (population-wide administration of) a lethal toxic agent (booster rollouts) (Figure 5, Figure 4, Figure 12, Figure 11, Figure 13, Figure 15, Figure 16, Figure 14, Figure 18, Figure 19, Figure 20) 

iii. Proportionality between the number of population-wide individual assaults with the presumed lethal toxic agent (individual injections) and the temporally associated excess mortality (Figure 8, Figure 9) 

iv. An exponentially or near-exponentially increasing lethal toxicity (vDFR) with age of the individuals subjected to the toxic agent (Figure 17) 

v. Consistent values of the calculated lethal toxicity of the toxic agent (values of vDFR) across many populations and for different episodes of sudden rollouts (all doses, and booster rollouts) (Table 2, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10) 

vi. Apparent dependence of fatal toxicity on the toxicological nature of the administered agent (vDFR dependence on vaccine type/manufacturer) 

Regarding point-iv, increasing and exponentially increasing lethal toxicity with age is known from animal and human studies of poisoning and overdoses (e.g., Wiberg et al., 1970; Rogers and Heard, 2007; Chen et al., 2009; Phua et al., 2009; Shively et al., 2017). 

Regarding point-v, the values of all-ages vDFR, in the 17 countries studied, are consistent within one order of magnitude (Table 2, Figure 9, Figure 10). In Figure 9, the generally larger values in all-ages vDFR for the vaccination period compared to the January-February 2022 ACM peak period may be due to such factors as: different populations being preferentially vaccinated, fragile individuals being eliminated prior to the peak period, differences in vaccine type used, booster policy or societal pressure wherein fragile individuals are avoided in the peak period, a larger contribution from non-COVID-19-vaccine all-ages deaths (i.e., from medical and government measures) in the earlier stages of COVID-19 vaccination, and so forth.

The USA Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) data also shows smaller all-ages fatal vaccine toxicity per injection for boosters relative to pre-booster injections (Hickey and Rancourt, 2022; their Table 1). Other factors that could affect the systematic difference between booster and pre-booster doses include: smaller quantities of active ingredients used in boosters compared to pre-booster doses, and changing immune response on being subjected to repeated challenges (Palmer et al., 2023). 

Regarding point-vi (in relation to points iv and v), country-to-country differences in values of all-ages vDFR will be dependent on the age structure of the elderly population (> 60 years) and on health status of the elderly. Despite these large confounding effects, there is some evidence of the possible effect of COVID-19 vaccination type or manufacturer: 

  • South Africa has the largest value of all-ages vDFR (Table 2, Figure 9, Figure 10) and a large fraction of its vaccines were Johnson & Johnson: 24.6 %, compared to 2.1 % for the European Union, which is the largest fraction of use of this vaccine in the database (OWID, 2023c). 
  • In the USA’s VAERS, the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine is 4 times more fatally toxic (per injection) than the Pfizer vaccine, for both 18-64 years and 65+ years age groups (Hickey and Rancourt, 2022; their Table 1). 
  • Unlike the mRNA lipid-nanoparticle vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a viral vector vaccine based on a human adenovirus modified to contain a gene for making the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine has a history of being paused and discontinued.
  • Paraguay used the Indian vaccine Covaxin, whereas India had an all-ages vDFR of approximately 1 % (Rancourt, 2022). 
  • Uruguay had the Chinese vaccine Sinovac as the dominant fraction of its vaccines: 55 %, although only Pfizer boosters were later used (OWID, 2023c). 
  • Suriname relied largely on the Indian vaccine Covishield; on China’s Covilo, and on Moderna’s Spikevax. 
  • Bolivia used Sinovac, Covilo, Covishield, Janssen, Sputnik V, and Pfizer’s Comirnaty. 

 

6.4 Strong Evidence for a Causal Association and Vaccine Lethal Toxicity 

First: Some of the strongest evidence for a causal association and vaccine lethal toxicity is the remarkable temporal associations between rapid first-doses and booster rollouts and immediate peaks in ACM, in specific elderly age groups, including peaks of mortality occurring at times in seasonal cycles when peaks virtually never occur. This was previously graphically illustrated for Israel (Rancourt et al., 2023; their Appendix 2: Figure A2 F1). In the present paper, there are multiple examples of this type of evidence, for Chile (Figure 12, Figure 11, Figure 13) and for Peru (Figure 15, Figure 16, Figure 14), in every case where age-stratified mortality and age-stratified (and dose-specific) vaccination data are available. 

These findings are conclusive. The associations are numerous and systematic, and there are no counter examples. We have found no evidence in our extensive research on ACM that COVID-19 vaccines had any beneficial effect. If vaccines prevented transmission, infection or serious illness, then there should be decreases in mortality following vaccine rollouts, not increases, as in every observed elderly age group subjected to rapid booster rollouts. And, mortality would not increase solely when vaccines are rolled out, where no excess mortality occurs prior to vaccine rollouts, as we have documented here, in 9 countries across 3 continents.

Second: Another strong line of evidence for a causal association and vaccine lethal toxicity is present in data that is not stratified by age. Such mortality and vaccination data is partially confounded by the lack of age stratification. This is mostly because of spread and overlap of vaccine administration to different age groups. Nonetheless, there are several clear examples in non-age-stratified data of temporal associations between peaks in all-ages ACM and peaks in all-ages vaccination rollouts. This was previously demonstrated for Australia and each of 5 of its 8 states (Rancourt et al., 2022a), regarding the January-February 2022 features studied again here (Figure 5, Figure 4, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10). 

In the present paper, every country with sufficient mortality data (15 countries: Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Uruguay) exhibits an unprecedented and relatively sharp peak or surge in all-ages ACM during or near January-February 2022 (mid-summer in the Southern Hemisphere), which is synchronous with or immediately preceded by a rapid rollout (all-ages) of a COVID-19 vaccine booster (dose 3 or dose 4, depending on the country), while non-booster doses are also administered at the same time: Figure 5, Figure 4, Figure 11 (top panel), Figure 14 (top two panels), Figure 18, Figure 19, and Figure 21 (Appendix B: Examples of all-cause mortality and vaccination data). 

Third: Regarding evidence in support of causality and toxicity, we must include the striking examples described above (“Absence of excess mortality until the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out” section) where no detectable excess mortality occurs until the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out, in many countries, on several continents. 

Fourth: And we must include the reproducible and consistent nature of the phenomenon (“The COVID-19 vaccines did not save lives and appear to be lethal toxic agents” section).

We should also include prior studies of the same phenomenon, in different jurisdictions, which find compatible results with the present study. In addition to India (Rancourt, 2022), Australia (Rancourt et al., 2022a, 2023), Canada (Rancourt et al., 2021b, 2022c; Rancourt, 2023), and Israel (Rancourt et al., 2023), the USA has a seasonally anomalous peak in ACM occurring in late-summer or fall-2021, which is prominent in the 25-64 years age group in 21 states of the USA, most notably including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana. This peak in ACM is synchronous with a rapid surge in vaccine administration (seen as a step-wise increase in cumulative all-dose vaccine administration), in the period corresponding to the so-called “vaccine equity” campaigns in the USA (Rancourt et al., 2022b; their Figures 10C, 10D, and 11A-F). For the entire USA and all-ages, the said late-summer or fall-2021 peak in ACM corresponds to an excess mortality of approximately 160 K deaths, during a period of more than 2 months when approximately 60 M injections (all-doses) were administered. This corresponds to a national all-ages vDFR value of approximately 0.3 % for that period, which would be larger for the states and ages contributing most to the excess mortality (high poverty, most elderly). 

 

6.5 Causality in Excess Mortality Is Amply Demonstrated 

The above-described heads of evidence in support of a causal relation between COVID-19 vaccine administration and temporally associated excess ACM can be summarized as follows: 

i. There is no evidence in ACM-by-time data of any beneficial effect of COVID-19 vaccines. There is no association in time between COVID-19 vaccination and any proportionate reduction in ACM. 

ii. On the contrary, there occurs an onset or increase of a large excess ACM on rolling out the COVID-19 vaccines, in every country and state or province, studied to date, on virtually all continents, including for initial rollouts occurring at significantly different times (by several months).

iii. The said onset manifests itself as a new sustained regime of high excess ACM — punctuated by additional peaks in ACM associated with specific rapid rollouts (boosters) — which surges at the start of vaccination, irrespective of whether or not there was excess mortality prior to vaccination. 

iv. In many jurisdictions (including each state in Australia), there is no detectable excess ACM until the vaccines are rolled out, when new regimes of high excess ACM are initiated. 

v. In all studied cases in which available ACM and vaccine rollout data is resolved by age (Israel, Chile, Peru), there is synchronicity between every booster rollout and a sharp peak or feature in ACM, in every elderly age group (> 60 years ages), which is some 30 separate events of synchronicity, at different times in seasonal patterns, in both hemispheres. 

vi. With ACM and vaccination data that is not resolved by age, there are nonetheless several examples of synchronicity between a burst of vaccination and an anomalous peak in ACM, especially the nominally January-February 2022 peak in ACM, in all 15 countries having sufficient ACM data in the present study, and in 5 of the 8 states of Australia (Rancourt et al., 2022a). 

vii. There is observed proportionality (not mere correlation) between number of COVID-19 vaccine injections (all ages) and temporally associated all-ages excess ACM, whether one uses specific peaks in ACM or the nominally entire vaccination period. This is shown in Figure 8. 

viii. The corresponding all-ages toxicities (vDFR, excess-ACM/number-vaccine-injections) for specific ACM peaks and for the vaccination period are proportional to each other, irrespective of the country-to-country differences in their values. This is shown in Figure 9. 

ix. The values of all-ages vDFR vary from country to country, as one would expect from national differences in population health status and its domestic heterogeneity, and possibly from national differences in vaccine type used, but always lie in the range of approximately 0.02 % to 0.40 % (Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10, and Table 2), attaining 1 % in the exceptional case of India (Rancourt, 2022).

x. The inferred toxicity (vDFR) increases significantly with age (Figure 17), which is a known characteristic of dose-dependent severe outcomes and fatality from poisons (Wiberg et al., 1970; Rogers and Heard, 2007; Chen et al., 2009; Phua et al., 2009; Shively et al., 2017). 

xi. The COVID-19 vaccines are known to be intrinsically dangerous and have caused deaths in individuals of all ages (see: “COVID-19 vaccines can cause death” section, and references therein). 

xii. There is evidence of the possible effect of COVID-19 vaccination type or manufacturer (see: “The COVID-19 vaccines did not save lives and appear to be lethal toxic agents” section). 

As such, the robust criteria described by Ioannidis (2016) for proving causality are amply satisfied: 

Experiment: The same phenomenon is independently observed in distinct jurisdictions, for distinct age groups, and at different times, which constitutes ample verification in independent real-world large-scale experiments. 

Temporality: The many step-wise increases and anomalous peaks in ACM are synchronous with vaccine rollouts; including in jurisdictions in which excess mortality did not occur until vaccination was implemented after approximately one year into the declared pandemic. 

Consistency: The phenomenon is qualitatively the same and of comparable magnitude each time it is observed. 

There can be little doubt that the mass COVID-19 vaccination campaigns caused the temporally associated excess mortality in the 17 countries of the present study, and in other countries studied to date. 

Regarding quantification (calculation of all-ages vDFR), a main uncertainty arises when the nominally entire vaccination period is used. In this case, when there is excess ACM prior to the start of COVID-19 vaccination, due to causes other than COVID-19 vaccination (i.e., medical and government measures), one should consider whether these causes continue, to some degree, into the COVID-19 vaccination period. 

There is some evidence for this. For example, three countries having among the largest vaccination-period all-ages vDFR to peak-period all-ages vDFR ratios (Peru, Ecuador, Colombia; Figure 9) also have very large pre-vaccination all-ages excess ACM features (Figure 2, Figure 6).

Three countries having the smallest vaccination-period all-ages vDFR to peak-period all-ages vDFR ratios (Uruguay, Singapore, Malaysia; Figure 9) have no pre-vaccination all-ages excess ACM (Figure 2, Figure 6). However, of the five countries having the largest values of vaccination-period all-ages vDFR (South Africa, Suriname, Bolivia, Paraguay, Philippines; Figure 10, Table 2), three have no all-ages excess ACM in the pre-vaccination period (Suriname, Paraguay, Philippines; Figure 2, Figure 6).

Overall, there is no consistent and systematic variation between all-ages vDFR values and pre-vaccination period all-ages excess ACM, and there is essentially the same proportionality (with zero intercept) between all-ages excess ACM and injections administered for both integration periods examined (Figure 8).

Importantly, we must also keep in mind, with all-ages evaluations, that pre-COVID-19-vaccination-period interventions causing excess ACM (e.g., government measures) can have large contributions in the younger age groups, whereas vaccine deaths (for boosters in particular; doses 3 and 4) are essentially confined to 60+ year-olds (Figure 11, Figure 14; and see Rancourt et al., 2021a, 2022b, 2023).

Furthermore, COVID-19 vaccination is intended to alleviate or eliminate the need for measures other than COVID-19 vaccination, and to reduce mortality, which should reduce non-COVID-19-vaccination measures in the vaccination period. And, finally, it is possible that some of the countries had increased seasonal-flu-vaccination campaigns at the end of 2020. 

When an ACM-peak integration region is used (in quantifying an all-ages vDFR), an uncertainty might arise from a non-optimized region of integration for counting the injections that are temporally associated with the peak in ACM, which can lead to some undercounting or overcounting. Generally, it appears that all such uncertainties are small compared to the large country-to-country variability of all-ages vDFR values, which is reported below. 

Therefore, the total number of deaths inferred in the present study of 17 equatorial and Southern-Hemisphere countries to have been caused by the COVID-19 vaccine injections is 1,745,000 ± 49,000, for a total of 1,388,145,365 injections over the same nominally entire vaccination periods of the 17 countries, compared to the overall Covid-period excess mortality of 2,393,000 ± 88,000 (Table 1). 

As such, the overall, vaccination-period value of all-ages vDFR for the 17 countries in the study is: vDFR = (1,745,000 ± 49,000 deaths) / (1,388,145,365 injections) = (0.1257 ± 0.0035) %. The mean country-to-country variability, relative to this overall value of all-ages vDFR is 0.079 % (Table 1, see also Table 2). Therefore, the all-ages vDFR results from the 17 countries can be summarized as: 

overall all-ages vDFR = (0.126 ± 0.004) %    (4a)

country-to-country mean variability in all-ages vDFR = 0.079 %    (4b)

Previously, we estimated that a representative global value would be 0.1 %, and that this would represent approximately 13 million deaths from the COVID-19 vaccines, from 13.25 billion injections up to 24 January 2023 (Rancourt et al., 2023). This can be updated as follows: (0.1257 ± 0.0035) % x 13.50 billion injections (2 September 2023, OWID, 2023a) = (16.97 ± 0.47) million COVID-19 vaccine deaths worldwide, to date. This current estimate is based on: 10.3 % of worldwide COVID-19 injections, 9.10 % of worldwide population, and a vaccination rate of 1.91 injections per person (all ages), in 17 countries. 

This implies that 17.0 ± 0.5 million COVID-19 vaccine deaths would have occurred globally, up to 2 September 2023. In other words, analysis of ACM by time in the 17 countries studied shows that the global COVID-19 vaccination campaign was in effect a mass iatrogenic event that killed (0.213 ± 0.006) % of the world population, and did not measurably prevent any deaths.

Keeping in mind the caveats mentioned above, Table 1 also suggests that, overall, in the 17 countries studied, 

(1,744,829 ± 49,285) / (2,392,831 ± 87,904) = (73 ± 3) % 

of excess deaths of the entire nominal Covid period (from 11 March 2020 to the end, usually in 2023, of available data, see Appendix C) were early deaths causally induced by the COVID-19 vaccine injections, keeping in mind that in 9 of the 17 countries this fraction was 100 % (“Absence of excess mortality until the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out” section). This occurred in circumstances in which there is no evidence in any ACM-by-time data that the vaccination rollouts prevented any deaths whatsoever. 

 

6.6 Assessing Other Interpretations of the Cause of the Excess Mortality 

Competing interpretations of the cause or causes of the excess mortality in the nominally January-February 2022 ACM peaks occurring in equatorial-latitude and Southern-Hemisphere countries are stated (in italics) and discounted as follows: 

I. The peaks are seasonal peaks or are confounded by seasonal variations in ACM. Unlikely. The peaks are relatively narrow and occur during the Southern-Hemisphere summer period, normally a trough in mortality. There is no seasonal component of increased mortality corresponding to increased mortality in January-February in the Southern Hemisphere; and equatorial countries do not exhibit seasonal patterns of mortality. 

II. The peaks are due to intense summer heat waves. Unlikely. Heat-wave mortality peaks, when they occur, are much narrower and never occur synchronously in a global hemisphere. There were no such climatic events recorded in January-February 2022 in the countries included in this study. 

III. The peaks are due to one or several earthquakes. Unlikely. Earthquake peaks are initially very narrow, from people crushed in falling buildings, and they occur locally, near the earthquake epicenter.

IV. The peaks are due to simultaneous and short-lived outbreaks of war, famine or some deadly disease in January-February 2022, across equatorial latitudes and the Southern Hemisphere. Unlikely. No such events occurred in the countries studied. (Sudden emergence of deadly COVID-19 variants is addressed in point-VII, and below.) 

V. The peaks are due to aggressive Covid measures, treatments or responses (other than vaccine booster administration) applied in January-February 2022. Unlikely. Covid measures, treatments or responses vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, as do the demographics of the populations at highest risk (e.g., Johnson and Rancourt, 2022). No measures, treatments or responses were uniformly and synchronously applied in January-February 2022 in the equatorial regions and the Southern Hemisphere. 

VI. The peaks are due to underlying population health conditions and/or comorbidities of the deceased. Unlikely. The fatal consequences of underlying health conditions and the presence of chronic conditions among those with the shortest life expectancies cannot suddenly arise by accident, at the population level, to cause a sharp peak in mortality. Rather, these underlying circumstances will participate in causing country-to-country variability in fatal response to any rapidly introduced toxic agent. Furthermore, there is no evidence in the ACM data of a so-called dry tinder effect: Those who died in the mortality peaks would not have died in a short time that followed, and the excess mortalities are large net excesses on the timescale of several years. 

VII. The peaks are due to the emergence of one or more variant(s) of SARS-CoV-2 causing synchronous mortality peaks in January-February 2022, across the equatorial regions and the Southern Hemisphere. Unlikely. Epidemiological theory of a contact-spreading viral respiratory disease predicts a wide range of delay (months, years) between seeding of a new variant and measurable exponential growth of mortality (or peak of new infections), depending sensitively on characteristics of the society (e.g., Parham and Michael, 2011; Hasegawa and Nemoto, 2016; Ma et al., 2022). 

On the question of comorbidities, it is known that newly imposed conditions or challenges against frail or susceptible individuals can induce premature death. Premature death is death. The higher the frailty, the more likely and immediate the fatal response. In such circumstances, the said newly imposed conditions or challenges unambiguously caused the death. This would be true of a violent traffic accident and it is equally true for challenges with a toxic substance or with newly imposed circumstances causing significant psychological stress. Regarding logically attributing the cause of death, it is irrelevant, for example, that in all cases the heart ultimately stopped functioning and breathing stopped. 

Regarding the theory of emergence of one or more variant(s) of SARS-CoV-2, this emergence would have to cause simultaneous peaks and surges of mortality in 17 countries across 4 continents (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 4, Figure 11, Figure 14, Figure 18), which is a statistically impossible occurrence if we accept the theories of spontaneous viral mutations and contact spreading of viral respiratory diseases; and all the resulting peaks of mortality would have the remarkable coincidence of occurring precisely when vaccine boosters were rolled out. 

In advancing interpretations of excess mortality based on changing variant predominances, one should be wary that variant predominance evaluation based on data from genomic surveillance networks is a new methodology in its tentative infancy, essentially introduced during the latest (COVID-19) pandemic declared by the WHO, which may be driven by institutional and industry interests, rather than rigorous efforts to determine analytic reliability. At this stage, the public health establishment relies in part on surveys of experts to gauge robustness of the method, and even these selected experts opine confidence scores in the broad range from “very low” to “very high”, depending on methodological details and intended application (Worp et al., 2023). 

A main limitation of genomic surveillance, which has not been quantified or resolved, is that the genomic measurements, assumed to be valid and intended to represent a given region at a given time, are taken from small non-randomized cohorts. Randomization is essential because people go into clinics and hospitals (where samples for genomic measurement are volunteered) precisely because they have particular concerns or conditions. In the words of the many authors of a recent overview of genomic surveillance: “The findings of this report are subject to at least four limitations. First, estimates might be biased by nonrandom sampling of specimens or differential timing of reporting…” (Lambrou et al., 2022). Also, the surveillance itself targets so-called “consensus variants”, which are arbitrarily chosen (Lambrou et al., 2022). 

In addition, the viral characteristics that are assigned by authors to a particular variant believed to be predominant are generally assigned by circular reasoning to achieve the desired interpretation of epidemiological data, rather than obtained in controlled clinical trials. This was the case in a recent attempt to explain an excess mortality event in India: Dhar et al. (2021) postulated that the April-July 2021 “second wave” event in Delhi (India) was due to the Delta variant, which would have quickly swept Delhi to become predominant because it would have had higher transmissibility and larger immune escape than concomitantly circulating variants. However, Dhar et al. estimated the needed characteristics of Delta by fitting a model to the epidemiological data and to the variant predominance (estimated by genomic measurements from small non-randomized cohorts). The inferred characteristics of Delta were obtained by fitting the said characteristics to the epidemiological data, rather than being independently determined via any clinical, animal-model or in vitro study. 

 

6.7 Implications Regarding Age-dependence of Fatal Toxicity of COVID-19 Vaccines 

The detailed age and dose-discriminated data for Chile and Peru is remarkable and allows unprecedented certainty in assigning temporal associations between sharp peaks in ACM and sharp peaks in specific booster rollouts to specific age groups. It also allows unprecedented certainty in quantifying the age dependence of the fatal toxicity from COVID-19 vaccines.

The risk of death per injection (vDFR) increases exponentially with age, for 60+ years ages, doubling approximately every 4 years in age, and attains values of approximately 5 % for 90+ year-olds subjected to dose 4 (2nd booster) in both Chile and Peru (Figure 17), for which age and dose-discriminated data is available. vDFR = 5 % corresponds to 1 death per 20 injections of dose 4 for 90+ year-olds in Chile and Peru (Figure 11, Figure 14, Figure 17). 

The exponential increases of vDFR with age found for Chile and Peru in the present study (Figure 17) are essentially the same as those previously measured for Israel and Australia (Rancourt et al., 2023; their Figure 3), and the extracted doubling ages (T2) (increases in age to double the risk of death per injection, vDFR) are consistent between all values determined to date: 

Table 3: Extracted doubling ages, increases in age to double risk of death per injection 

In Table 3, the quoted errors are 1-sigma errors. For Australia and Israel, the dose numbers were not discriminated, and the calculation is based on the nominally entire vaccination periods, rather than specific ACM peaks (Rancourt et al., 2023).

This doubling age (T2) of approximately 4-5 years for risk of dying per injection of the COVID-19 vaccines (Table 3) is approximately half of the doubling age of 10 years for risk per year (or per any sufficiently small fixed unit of time) of dying of all causes in a modern human population, and of the main old-age diseases cancer, pneumonia and heart disease (Strehler and Mildvan, 1960). 

This difference between doubling age for risk of dying per injection and risk per year of dying of all causes means that the age effect is greater on risk of dying from being challenged by injection with the COVID-19 vaccines than on the risk of dying (per fixed unit time) of old age in general. A doubling age may be a characteristic of the type of challenge. For example, risk of death from challenge by violent automobile accident would be relatively age-independent, corresponding to a large T2. Likewise, if the risk of death from the challenge is tied to a physiological system that degrades more rapidly with age, for advanced ages, than overall death-causing aging itself, then T2 would be smaller than its value for risk (per fixed unit time) of dying of all causes. Therefore, doubling age (T2) provides information about the mechanism of death from challenge by COVID-19 vaccine injection, for elderly subjects. 

More importantly and concretely, our results establish large and age-dependent values of vDFR in elderly people, as large as 5% (1 death per 20 injections) measured for 90+ year-olds in Chile and Peru (Figure 17), 1 % (1 death per 100 injections) (nominally all ages) in India (Rancourt, 2022), 0.55 % (1 death per 180 injections) for 80+ year-olds in Israel (Rancourt et al., 2023; their Table 2), and 0.93 % (1 death per 110 injections) for 85+ year-olds in Australia (Rancourt et al., 2023; their Table 1). 

This turns the public health policy of prioritizing elderly people for injection with COVID-19 vaccines on its head, in actual circumstances in which there were no reliable controlled clinical trials focussing on representative elderly subjects. 

The public health notion that elderly and vulnerable individuals must be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination assumes:

i. a constant age-independent vDFR 

ii. a small value of vDFR (optimistically estimated from managed trials, funded by the pharmaceutical industry) 

Our research shows that both assumptions (i and ii) are false, and far from reality in the field, on the scale of nations. 

The said public health notion has always been baseless since it was not anchored in any sufficient evaluation of age-stratified risk of fatality from the COVID-19 injections (e.g., Veronese et al., 2021; Abbatecola et al., 2022; Gao et al., 2022), and is now proven to be incorrect. 

Prioritizing elderly people for COVID-19 vaccination, in the absence of relevant data, was reckless. Norway may be the only jurisdiction that immediately and publicly recognized a problem and changed its policy regarding vaccinating the most elderly and frail (Reuters, 18 January 2021; Fortune, 15 January 2021). 

The same criticism may be valid for other treatments supposedly intended to protect the elderly, such as seasonal influenza vaccines, or any medication having intrinsic toxicity and not sufficiently (and independently) tested on elderly cohorts having age-related chronic conditions. 

Some will be tempted to compare our results (Figure 17, Table 3) with published age-stratified COVID-19 infection fatality rates (IFR) (e.g., COVID-19 Forecasting Team, 2022; Pezzullo et al., 2023). 

While in principle this is a correct approach of risk-benefit analysis, we believe that the IFR studies are not reliable, for the following reasons: 

i. The deaths in the numerator of IFR are “COVID-19 deaths”, and this cause of death assignation is susceptible to bias and is highly uncertain (Rancourt, 2020; Rancourt et al., 2020, 2021a, 2021b, 2022c; and the present study, esp.

Figure 2).

ii. The number of infections, in the denominator of IFR, is reliant on molecular antibody tests, which are not specific and have not been sufficiently validated (e.g., Rancourt, 2021).

iii. If the IFR evaluations were valid, then it would be virtually impossible for jurisdictions like Australia, Canada, India, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, and Uruguay to have no detectable or relatively very little excess ACM in the pre-vaccination period of the declared pandemic.

iv. We do not detect any excess ACM that can be attributed to COVID-19 in the jurisdictions that we have studied in detail (USA and all its states; Canada and its provinces; France and its departments and regions; Australia and its states) (Rancourt, 2020, 2022; Rancourt et al., 2020, 2021a, 2021b, 2022a).

At this stage, we would urge the WHO and governments to pause the misguided and baseless public health policy of prioritizing elderly people for injection with COVID-19 vaccines, and with influenza vaccines, until valid risk-benefit analyses are made and publicly reported. 

 

6.8 Excess ACM by Time Prior to COVID-19 Vaccine Rollouts 

None of the 17 countries studied have anomalous excess mortality peaks prior to the WHO’s 11 March 2020 declaration of a pandemic (Figure 2, Figure 12, Figure 15, Figure 20, Figure 21, Figure 22), as is generally true for all countries studied previously. 

Eight of the 17 countries studied have significant excess ACM peaks in the approximately one year period between 11 March 2020 and the first COVID-19-vaccine injections (hereafter, “pre-vaccination period”) (Figure 2, Figure 6, Figure 21): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and South Africa.

Two of the 8 countries with significant excess ACM peaks in the pre-vaccination period (Argentina and Brazil) simply have larger seasonal peaks in mid-2020, and no other anomalous excess ACM features in the pre-vaccination period (Figure 6).

The other 6 of the 8 countries with significant excess ACM peaks in the pre-vaccination period (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa) have very large, unprecedented, and relatively sharp peaks in ACM in the pre-vaccination period (Figure 6):

  • Ecuador has a stunning peak that surges literally immediately after the 11 March 2020 declaration of a pandemic (Figure 6), which is reminiscent of the synchronous anomalous mortality events in New York (USA), Lombardy (Italy), Madrid (Spain), Stockholm (Sweden) and other such hot spots where this anomaly occurred. These hot-spot peaks have been interpreted to be caused by sudden changes in medical and institutional protocols and government responses, tied to the declaration of a pandemic, and that they cannot be due to a globally spreading viral respiratory disease (Rancourt, 2020, 2023; Rancourt et al., 2020, 2021a, 2021b). 
  • Bolivia, Chile, Peru and South Africa have similarly very large, unprecedented, and relatively sharp peaks in ACM, as seen for Ecuador, which occur not immediately but soon after the 11 March 2020 declaration (Figure 6). We would interpret these peaks in the same way as for Ecuador, as being caused by sudden changes in medical and institutional protocols and government responses, following the 11 March 2020 declaration of a pandemic, and that they are not due to a globally spreading viral respiratory disease. 
  • Peru has a stunning second sharp peak in ACM that immediately follows its first such peak, creating a double-peak structure in the pre-vaccination period (Figure 6). Ecuador also has a (relatively smaller) second peak in ACM, which follows the first peak in the pre-vaccination period (Figure 6). 
  • In addition to the above-described features, Colombia and South Africa have large sharp peaks in ACM, which immediately precede the start of vaccination (Figure 6). Similarly, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia have ACM increases, which immediately precede and lead into the vaccination period (Figure 6). It is possible that such peaks and increases are due to augmented influenza vaccination programs at that time, or sudden changes imposing aggressive government measures. 

Also, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Uruguay appear to have somewhat smaller ACM in the approximately-one-year-duration pre-vaccination period, compared to the recent historic trend (Figure 2, Figure 6, Figure 20, Figure 21). These depressed mortalities in the pre-vaccination period are near the limit of statistical significance compared to historic behaviours of ACM by time. If they are real, and if they are due to institutional and government measures implemented after 11 March 2020, then some questions arise: 

i. Why did this occur in only 4 of the 17 countries studied, and the opposite in 8 of the countries? 

ii. Why did these countries implement coerced COVID-19 vaccination, after one year of such positive observations? 

Overall, the patterns and magnitudes of ACM by time vary tremendously, from country to country, in the pre-vaccination period (Figure 6): 

  • from complete absence of excess mortality (9 of 17 countries), 
  • to significantly but moderately larger mid-2020 seasonal peaks (Brazil, Argentina), 
  • to variable numbers (1, 2 or almost 3, counting a pre-vaccination rise in ACM) of very large peaks in ACM, occurring at different times from country to country (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa). 

In addition, a country such as Bolivia, which has an extraordinarily large peak of excess ACM in the pre-vaccination period, can share a major land border with a country such as Paraguay, which has no detectable excess ACM in the pre-vaccination period. 

We attribute this variability in the pre-vaccination period to large country-to-country differences in aggressive medical and government measures, convoluted with underlying population structures of fragile individuals, similarly to the large state-to-state differences in the USA (Rancourt et al., 2021a; Johnson and Rancourt, 2022). 

By comparison, the patterns and magnitudes of ACM by time are relatively consistent, from country to country, in the vaccination period (Figure 6): 

  • all 17 countries have significant excess ACM in the vaccination period, 
  • virtually all 17 countries have large peaks of excess ACM in early-2021 when the COVID-19 vaccines are first rolled out, 
  • followed by a peak in excess ACM in early-2022 (the nominally January-February 2022 peak) when boosters are rolled out. 

For Singapore, both vaccination-period peaks are later, but each is immediately preceded by a maximum in vaccine-injection administration (Figure 6). For Suriname, the first vaccination-period peak in ACM actually has a two-peak structure, but each peak in the pair is preceded by a maximum in vaccine-injection administration (Figure 6). 

We attribute this relative constancy from country to country of excess ACM by time of the vaccination period as being due to the large uniformity in timing of COVID-19 vaccine and booster rollouts across the 17 countries; whereas medical and government measures were generally more disparate in the pre-vaccination period.

 


 

7. Conclusion 

 

7.1 Causality Proven 

The 17 countries studied (Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay) comprise 9.10 % of worldwide population, 10.3 % of worldwide COVID-19 injections (vaccination rate of 1.91 injections per person, all ages), virtually every COVID-19 vaccine type and manufacturer, and span 4 continents. 

The scientific tests for causality are amply satisfied, as extensively demonstrated in these sections of the present paper: 

  • COVID-19 vaccines can cause death 
  • Absence of excess mortality until the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out 
  • The COVID-19 vaccines did not save lives and appear to be lethal toxic agents 
  • Strong evidence for a causal association and vaccine lethal toxicity 
  • Causality in excess mortality is amply demonstrated 
  • Assessing other interpretations of the cause of the excess mortality 
  • Implications regarding age-dependence of fatal toxicity of COVID-19 vaccines 

Also, there are no known facts that disprove the inferred and quantitative causal relation between the observed excess ACM peaks and the temporally associated COVID-19 vaccine and booster rollouts. 

 

7.2 Actual Vaccine Mortality Much Larger Than that Incorrectly Inferred from Faulty Data 

There can be little doubt that the peaks in excess ACM are caused by the COVID-19 vaccinations, with a mean all-ages fatal toxicity by injection of vDFR = (0.126 ± 0.004) %, or approximately 1 death per 800 injections, which is reasonably expected to be globally representative. 

This is a staggering number, compared to what is generally believed about traditional vaccines, which is approximately one serious adverse effect per million (Malhotra, 2023). It is three orders of magnitude (one thousand times) larger. 

In contrast to this large number from ACM data, the effective all-ages vDFR values inferred from other sources — the small number of autopsy confirmations, adverse effect monitoring of deaths, the small number of national vaccine injury compensation payments for deaths, pharmaceutical-industry clinical trial reports, and death-certificates and corresponding government-reported cause-of-death statistics — for COVID-19 vaccines are significantly smaller, again by orders of magnitude. 

Therefore, we conclude with a high degree of certainty that adverse-effect monitoring, clinical trial reports, and death-certificate statistics greatly underestimate the fatal toxicity of the injections. 

The large gap between incorrectly inferred and actual population-level vDFR values probably occurs because of systemic avoidance of admitting the injections as a possible cause of death in frail and vulnerable patients. For example, the cause(s) of death will be attributed to particular organ or system failures, without reference to the vaccine, even if the injection was recent and the patient was previously stable. 

The measured all-ages vDFR of (0.126 ± 0.004) % implies that 17.0 ± 0.5 million COVID-19 vaccine deaths would have occurred globally, up to 2 September 2023. It appears that the global COVID-19 vaccination campaign was in effect a mass iatrogenic event that killed (0.213 ± 0.006) % of the world population (1 death per 470 living persons, in less than 3 years), and did not measurably prevent any deaths. 

 

7.3 The Policy of Prioritizing Elderly Residents for COVID-19 Vaccination Must be Ended 

The detailed age and dose-discriminated data for Chile and Peru allows unprecedented certainty in quantifying the age dependence of the fatal toxicity from COVID-19 vaccines. The risk of death per injection (vDFR) increases exponentially with age, for 60+ years ages, doubling approximately every 4 years in age, and attains values of approximately 5 % for 90+ year-olds subjected to dose 4 (2nd booster). vDFR = 5 % corresponds to 1 death per 20 injections of dose 4 for 90+ year-olds. 

These vDFR values are consistent with all prior evaluations based on ACM: 

  • 1 % (1 death per 100 injections) (nominally all ages) in India (Rancourt, 2022) 
  • 0.55 % (1 death per 180 injections) for 80+ year-olds in Israel (Rancourt et al., 2023; their Table 2) 
  • 0.93 % (1 death per 110 injections) for 85+ year-olds in Australia (Rancourt et al., 2023; their Table 1) 

The population-level age-dependence of vDFR (doubling every 4 years in age) and its large magnitude should induce governments to immediately implement an absolute pause on the baseless public health policy of prioritizing elderly people for injection with COVID-19 vaccines, until valid risk-benefit analyses are made and publicly reported. The same may be true of seasonal influenza vaccines. 

 


References

 

Aaby et al. (2020): Aaby, P., Benn, C.S., Flanagan, K.L. et al. /// The non-specific and sex-differential effects of vaccines /// Nature Rev Immunol 20, 464–470 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-020-0338-x 

Aarstad and Kvitastein (2023): Aarstad, J.; Kvitastein, O.A. /// Is there a Link between the 2021 COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake in Europe and 2022 Excess All-Cause Mortality?. /// Preprints 2023, 2023020350. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202302.0350.v1 

Abbatecola et al. (2022): Angela Marie Abbatecola, Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi, Alba Malara et al. /// Monitoring COVID-19 vaccine use in Italian long term care centers: The GeroCovid VAX study. /// Vaccine, Volume 40, Issue 15, 2022, Pages 2324-2330, ISSN 0264-410X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.02.064. 

Achilleos, S. et al. (2021) /// Excess all-cause mortality and COVID-19-related mortality: a temporal analysis in 22 countries, from January until August 2020 /// International Journal of Epidemiology, p. dyab123. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyab123 

Ackley, C.A. et al. (2022) /// County-level estimates of excess mortality associated with COVID-19 in the United States /// SSM – Population Health, 17, p. 101021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.101021 

Acosta et al. (2022): Acosta RJ, Patnaik B, Buckee C, Kiang MV, Irizarry RA, Balsari S, et al. /// All-cause excess mortality across 90 municipalities in Gujarat, India, during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-April 2021). /// PLOS Glob Public Health, 2022, 2(8): e0000824. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000824 

Al Wahaibi et al. (2021): Adil Al Wahaibi, Amal Al-Maani, Fatma Alyaquobi, Khalid Al Harthy, Amina Al-Jardani, Bader Al Rawahi, Seif Al-Abri /// Effects of COVID-19 on mortality: A 5-year population-based study in Oman /// International Journal of Infectious Diseases 104 (2021) 102–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.12.054 

Anand et al. (2021): Anand, Abhishek; Justin Sandefur; and Arvind Subramanian, 2021. /// Three New Estimates of India’s All-Cause Excess Mortality during the COVID-19 Pandemic /// CGD Working Paper 589. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development. https://cgdev.org/publication/three-new-estimates-indias-all-cause-excess-mortality-during-covid-19-pandemic (accessed 5 Aug 2023) 

Bilinski and Emanuel (2020): Bilinski A, Emanuel EJ. /// COVID-19 and Excess All-Cause Mortality in the US and 18 Comparison Countries /// JAMA. 2020;324(20):2100–2102. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.20717. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2771841

Bilinski et al. (2023): Bilinski A, Thompson K, Emanuel E. /// COVID-19 and Excess All-Cause Mortality in the US and 20 Comparison Countries /// June 2021-March 2022. JAMA. 2023;329(1):92–94. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.21795. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2798990 

Böttcher et al. (2021): Böttcher, L., D’Orsogna, M.R. & Chou, T. /// Using excess deaths and testing statistics to determine COVID-19 mortalities /// Eur J Epidemiol 36, 545–558 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-021-00748-2 

Bustos Sierra et al. (2020): Bustos Sierra, N., Bossuyt, N., Braeye, T. et al. /// All-cause mortality supports the COVID-19 mortality in Belgium and comparison with major fatal events of the last century /// Arch Public Health 78, 117 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-020-00496-x 

Chaganti et al. (2023): Chaganti PD, Konkay K, Karri MD et al. /// Autopsy findings in deaths following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccination. /// J Clin Sci Res 2023;12: 51-6. DOI: 10.4103/jcsr.jcsr_147_22. https://journals.lww.com/jcsr/Fulltext/2023/12010/Autopsy_findings_in_deaths_following_severe_acute.11.aspx (accessed 11 August 2023) 

Chan et al. (2021): Chan, E.Y.S., Cheng, D. and Martin, J. /// Impact of COVID-19 on excess mortality, life expectancy, and years of life lost in the United States /// PLOS ONE, 16(9), p. e0256835. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256835 

Chen et al. (2009): Ying-Ju Chen, Ming-Ling Wu, Jou-Fang Deng et al. /// The epidemiology of glyphosate-surfactant herbicide poisoning in Taiwan, 1986–2007: a poison center study /// Clinical Toxicology, 47:7, 670-677, DOI: 10.1080/15563650903140399, https://doi.org/10.1080/15563650903140399 

Choi et al. (2021): Sangjoon Choi, SangHan Lee, Jeong-Wook Seo et al. /// Myocarditis-induced Sudden Death after BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination in Korea: Case Report Focusing on Histopathological Findings /// Journal of Korean Medical Science 2021; 36(40): e286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e286 

Corbett (6 September 2022): Neil Corbett /// Maple Ridge woman compensated for mother’s death from COVID-19 vaccine /// Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News, 6 September 2022, https://www.mapleridgenews.com/news/maple-ridge-woman-compensated-for-mothers-death-from-covid-19-vaccine/ – archived here: https://archive.is/wNoYF 

COVID-19 Forecasting Team (2022): COVID-19 Forecasting Team. /// Variation in the COVID-19 infection–fatality ratio by age, time, and geography during the pre-vaccine era: a systematic analysis. /// Lancet 399 (2022) 1469-1488, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02867-1.

Crum et al. (2021): Crum T, Mooney K, Tiwari BR. /// Current situation of vaccine injury compensation program and a future perspective in light of COVID-19 and emerging viral diseases. /// F1000Res. 2021 Dec 7; 10: 652. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.51160.2. PMCID: PMC8733825. https://doi.org/10.12688%2Ff1000research.51160.2 

Dahal et al. (2021): Dahal, S., Banda, J.M., Bento, A.I. et al. /// Characterizing all-cause excess mortality patterns during COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico /// BMC Infect Dis 21, 432 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06122-7 

Das-Munshi et al. (2021): Jayati Das-Munshi, Chin Kuo Chang, Ioannis Bakolis et al. /// All-cause and cause-specific mortality in people with mental disorders and intellectual disabilities, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: cohort study /// The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, Volume 11, 2021, 100228, ISSN 2666-7762, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100228 

de Boer et al. (2023): Pieter T. de Boer, Jan van de Kassteele, Eric R.A. Vos et al. /// Age-specific severity of SARS-CoV-2 in February 2020 – June 2021 in the Netherlands /// medRxiv 2023.02.09.23285703; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.09.23285703 (v1, accessed 10 August 2023) 

de Boer, Crawford, Parsons (2023): de Boer, H.H., Crawford, N.W. & Parsons, S. /// Commentary on: “Autopsy-based histopathological characterization of myocarditis after anti-SARS-CoV-2-vaccination” by C. Schwab et al.. /// Clin Res Cardiol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00392-023-02197-1 

de Gier et al. (2023): Brechje de Gier, Liselotte van Asten, Tjarda M. Boere et al. /// Effect of COVID-19 vaccination on mortality by COVID-19 and on mortality by other causes, the Netherlands, January 2021–January 2022. /// Vaccine, Volume 41, Issue 31, 2023, Pages 4488-4496, ISSN 0264-410X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.06.005 

Demetriou et al. (2023): Christiana A Demetriou and others, on behalf of the C-MOR Consortium /// Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on total, sex- and age-specific all-cause mortality in 20 countries worldwide during 2020: results from the C-MOR project /// International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 52, Issue 3, June 2023, Pages 664–676, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyac170 

Deshmukh et al. (2021): Yashwant Deshmukh, Wilson Suraweera, Chinmay Tumbe et al. /// Excess mortality in India from July 2020 to July 2021 during the COVID pandemic: death registration, health facility deaths, and survey data /// medRxiv 2021.07.20.21260872; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.20.21260872 (accessed 5 Aug 2023) 

Dhar et al. (2021): Dhar MS, Marwal R, Vs R et al. /// Genomic characterization and epidemiology of an emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant in Delhi, India. /// Science. 2021 Nov 19;374(6570):995-999. doi: 10.1126/science.abj9932. Epub 2021 Oct 14.PMID: 34648303;PMCID: PMC7612010.https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj9932

Donzelli et al.(2023):Donzelli, A.;Malatesta, G.; DiPalmo, G.et al. ///All-Cause MortalityAccording to COVID-19Vaccination Status: an analysis ofthe UK Officefor National StatisticsPublic Data./// Preprints,2023, 2023020414.https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202302.0414.v1

Edler et al.(2021):Carolin Edler, Anke Klein, AnnSophie Schröderet al. /// Deaths associatedwith newly launched SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (Comirnaty®)./// Legal Medicine, Volume 51,2021, 101895,ISSN 1344-6223,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2021.101895

Edmonds et al. (2023):Edmonds, R, Schönborn,L, Habben, S, Paparoupa, M, Greinacher, A,Schuppert, F./// Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination:Two casesfromGermany with unusual presentation./// Clin Case Rep.2023; 00:e6883. doi:10.1002/ccr3.6883. https://doi.org/10.1002/ccr3.6883

Engler (2022): Jonathan Engler/// Were the unprecedented excess deaths curves in Northern Italy in spring 2020 caused by the spread ofa novel deadly virus? A reassessment ofthe available evidence suggests anotherfactor was involved./// BizNews,14 September2022.https://www.biznews.com/health/2022/09/14/excess-deaths-healthcare-panic| See also:The Lombardy Analysis:Lombardy deaths in March 2020 reveal a patternwhich seemsdifficultto explain by viral spread.PANDA Uncut, 22 August2022.https://pandauncut.substack.com/p/the-lombardy-analysis

Esposito et al. (2023): Esposito, M.; Cocimano,G.;Vanaria, F.et al./// Deathfrom COVID-19 in a Fully Vaccinated Subject: A Complete Autopsy Report.///Vaccines2023, 11,142.https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11010142

Faust et al.(2021) ///All-Cause Excess Mortality and COVID-19–Related Mortality Among USAdults Aged 25-44 Years, March-July 2020 ///JAMA, 325(8), pp. 785–787.https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.24243

Faust et al.(2022): Jeremy Samuel Faust, Benjamin Renton,Alexander Junxiang Chen,et al./// Uncoupling of all-cause excessmortality fromCOVID-19 casesin a highly vaccinated state/// The Lancet,CORRESPONDENCE| VOLUME 22,ISSUE 10, P1419-1420, OCTOBER2022. Published:August22, 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00547-3

Félix-Cardosoet al. (2020):J. Félix-Cardoso, H.Vasconcelos, P. Pereira Rodrigues, R. Cruz-Correia ///Excess mortality during COVID-19 in five European countries and a critique of mortality data analysis ///medRxiv2020.04.28.20083147;doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.28.20083147| https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.28.20083147v1(accessed 5 Aug 2023)

Fortune (15 January 2021): LARS ERIK TARALDSEN, NAOMI KRESGE, AND BLOOMBERG /// Sick patients over 80 could be a COVID vaccine risk, Norwegian health officials warn: The country has conducted autopsies on 13 people who died shortly after receiving the first dose of the vaccine. /// Fortune (15 January 2021), https://fortune.com/2021/01/15/sick-elderly-covid-vaccine-risk-norway-warning/ – archived: https://archive.ph/LPhlt 

Fouillet et al. (2020): Fouillet Anne, Pontais Isabelle, Caserio-Schönemann Céline /// Excess all-cause mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in France, March to May 

2020 /// Euro Surveill. 2020;25(34):pii=2001485. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.34.2001485 

Fraiman et al. (2022): Joseph Fraiman, Juan Erviti, Mark Jones et al. /// Serious adverse events of special interest following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in randomized trials in adults. /// Vaccine, Volume 40, Issue 40, 2022, Pages 5798-5805, ISSN 0264-410X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.08.036 

Gallo et al. (2021): Gallo, E., Prosepe, I., Lorenzoni, G. et al. /// Excess of all-cause mortality is only partially explained by COVID-19 in Veneto (Italy) during spring outbreak /// BMC Public Health 21, 797 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10832-7 

Gao et al. (2022): Gao, J., Lun, P., Ding, Y.Y. et al. /// COVID-19 Vaccination for Frail Older Adults in Singapore — Rapid Evidence Summary and Delphi Consensus Statements. /// J Frailty Aging 11, 236–241 (2022). https://doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2022.12 

Ghaznavi et al. (2022): Cyrus Ghaznavi, Akifumi Eguchi, Yuta Tanoue et al. /// Pre- and post-COVID-19 all-cause mortality of Japanese citizens versus foreign residents living in Japan, 2015–2021 /// SSM – Population Health, Volume 18, 2022, 101114, ISSN 2352-8273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101114 

Gill et al. (2022): James R. Gill, Randy Tashjian, Emily Duncanson /// Autopsy Histopathologic Cardiac Findings in 2 Adolescents Following the Second COVID-19 Vaccine Dose. /// Arch Pathol Lab Med 1 August 2022; 146 (8): 925–929. doi: https://doi.org/10.5858/arpa.2021-0435-SA 

Gobiņa et al. (2022): Gobiņa, I., Avotiņš, A., Kojalo, U. et al. /// Excess mortality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia: a population-level analysis of all-cause and noncommunicable disease deaths in 2020. /// BMC Public Health 22, 1109 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13491-4 

Goldman et al. (2021): Goldman Serge, Bron Dominique, Tousseyn Thomas, Vierasu Irina, Dewispelaere Laurent, Heimann Pierre, Cogan Elie, Goldman Michel. /// Rapid Progression of Angioimmunoblastic T Cell Lymphoma Following BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine Booster Shot: A Case Report. /// Frontiers in Medicine, vol. 8, 2021, DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.798095, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.798095 

Hasegawa and Nemoto (2016): Takehisa Hasegawa and Koji Nemoto /// Outbreaks in susceptible-infected-removed epidemics with multiple seeds /// 

Physical Review E 93, 032324 – Published 30 March 2016 /// https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevE.93.032324 

Haugen (2023): Matz Haugen. /// Excess mortality compared to vaccination in the covid era /// self-published, 20 January 2023. https://electricgerms.substack.com/p/excess-mortality-compared-to-vaccination (accessed 10 August 2023) 

He et al. (2022): He G., Xiao J., Lin Z., et al. /// Excess mortality, rather than case fatality rate, is a superior indicator to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. /// The Innovation 3(5), 

100298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2022.100298 

Henry et al. (2022): Henry, N.J., Elagali, A., Nguyen, M. et al. /// Variation in excess all-cause mortality by age, sex, and province during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. /// Sci Rep 12, 1077 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04993-7 

Hickey and Rancourt (2022): Hickey, J. and Rancourt, D.G. /// Nature of the toxicity of the COVID-19 vaccines in the USA /// ResearchGate [Preprint] (9 February 2022). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358489777_Nature_of_the_toxicity_of_the_COVID-19_vaccines_in_the_USA /// Archived at: https://archive.ph/LZpRj 

Hulscher et al. (2023): Hulscher, N.; Hodkinson, R.; Makis, W.; Malhotra, A.; McCullough, P. /// Autopsy Proven Fatal COVID-19 Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis. /// Preprints 2023, 2023071198. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202307.1198.v1 [Note: This critical review article was deplatformed from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4496137 ] 

Ioannidis (2016): Ioannidis, J. P. A. /// Exposure-wide epidemiology: revisiting Bradford Hill. /// Statist. Med., 35: 2016, 1749– 1762. doi: 10.1002/sim.6825. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.6825 

Hasegawa and Nemoto (2016): Takehisa Hasegawa and Koji Nemoto /// Outbreaks in susceptible-infected-removed epidemics with multiple seeds /// 

Physical Review E 93, 032324 – Published 30 March 2016 /// https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevE.93.032324 

Haugen (2023): Matz Haugen. /// Excess mortality compared to vaccination in the covid era /// self-published, 20 January 2023. https://electricgerms.substack.com/p/excess-mortality-compared-to-vaccination (accessed 10 August 2023) 

He et al. (2022): He G., Xiao J., Lin Z., et al. /// Excess mortality, rather than case fatality rate, is a superior indicator to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. /// The Innovation 3(5), 

100298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2022.100298 

Henry et al. (2022): Henry, N.J., Elagali, A., Nguyen, M. et al. /// Variation in excess all-cause mortality by age, sex, and province during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. /// Sci Rep 12, 1077 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04993-7 

Hickey and Rancourt (2022): Hickey, J. and Rancourt, D.G. /// Nature of the toxicity of the COVID-19 vaccines in the USA /// ResearchGate [Preprint] (9 February 2022). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358489777_Nature_of_the_toxicity_of_the_COVID-19_vaccines_in_the_USA /// Archived at: https://archive.ph/LZpRj 

Hulscher et al. (2023): Hulscher, N.; Hodkinson, R.; Makis, W.; Malhotra, A.; McCullough, P. /// Autopsy Proven Fatal COVID-19 Vaccine-Induced Myocarditis. /// Preprints 2023, 2023071198. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202307.1198.v1 [Note: This critical review article was deplatformed from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4496137 ] 

Ioannidis (2016): Ioannidis, J. P. A. /// Exposure-wide epidemiology: revisiting Bradford Hill. /// Statist. Med., 35: 2016, 1749– 1762. doi: 10.1002/sim.6825. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.6825 

Islam, N., Jdanov, D.A., et al. (2021) /// Effects of covid-19 pandemic on life expectancy and premature mortality in 2020: time series analysis in 37 countries /// BMJ, 375, p. e066768. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-066768 

Islam, N., Shkolnikov, V.M., et al. (2021) /// Excess deaths associated with covid-19 pandemic in 2020: age and sex disaggregated time series analysis in 29 high income countries /// BMJ, 373, p. n1137. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1137 

Jacobson, S.H. and Jokela, J.A. (2021) /// Beyond COVID-19 deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States /// Health Care Management Science, 24(4), pp. 661–665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10729-021-09570-4

Jdanov et al. (2021): Jdanov, D.A., Galarza, A.A., Shkolnikov, V.M. et al. /// The short-term mortality fluctuation data series, monitoring mortality shocks across time and space /// Scientific Data 8, 235 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01019-1 | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-021-01019-1 

Jeon et al. (2023): Jeon YH, Choi S, Park JH et al. /// Sudden Death Associated With Possible Flare-Ups of Multiple Sclerosis After COVID-19 Vaccination and Infection: A Case Report and Literature Review. /// J Korean Med Sci. 2023 Mar 13;38(10):e78. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e78. PMID: 36918031; PMCID: PMC10010908. https://doi.org/10.3346%2Fjkms.2023.38.e78 

Jha et al. (2022): Jha P, Deshmukh Y, Tumbe C et al. /// COVID mortality in India: National survey data and health facility deaths /// Science 375, 667–671, 11 February 2022 /// https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm5154 

Joffe, A.R. (2021) /// COVID-19: Rethinking the Lockdown Groupthink /// Frontiers in Public Health, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.625778 

Johnson and Rancourt (2022): Johnson, J.A. and Rancourt, D.G. /// Evaluating the Effect of Lockdowns On All-Cause Mortality During the COVID Era: Lockdowns Did Not Save Lives /// ResearchGate [preprint] (9 July 2022) (16 pages), http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34191.46242 | And published by Brownstone Institute (6 September 2022): https://brownstone.org/articles/lockdowns-did-not-save-lives/ 

Jones and Ponomarenko (2023): https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202304.0248.v1 Jones, R.P.; Ponomarenko, A. /// Effect of Age, Sex, and COVID-19 Vaccination History on All-Cause Mortality: Unexpected Outcomes in a Complex Biological and Social System. /// Preprints 2023, 2023040248. 

Juul et al. (2022): Juul FE, Jodal HC, Barua I, et al. /// Mortality in Norway and Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic. /// Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 2022;50(1):38-45. doi:10.1177/14034948211047137. https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948211047137 

Karlinsky, A. and Kobak, D. (2021) /// Tracking excess mortality across countries during the COVID-19 pandemic with the World Mortality Dataset /// eLife. Edited by M.P. Davenport et al., 10, p. e69336. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69336 

Kamin-Friedman and Davidovitch (2021): Kamin-Friedman, S., Davidovitch, N. /// Vaccine injury compensation: the Israeli case. /// Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 10, 54 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-021-00490-w 

Kobak, D. (2021) /// Excess mortality reveals Covid’s true toll in Russia /// Significance (Oxford, England), 18(1), pp. 16–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/1740-9713.01486

Kontis, V. et al. (2020) /// Magnitude, demographics and dynamics of the effect of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on all-cause mortality in 21 industrialized countries /// Nature Medicine, 26(12), pp. 1919–1928. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1112-0 

Kontis, V. et al. (2022) /// Lessons learned and lessons missed: impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on all-cause mortality in 40 industrialised countries and US states prior to mass vaccination [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] /// Latest Version Published: 15 Feb 2022, 6:279 https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17253.2 

Kontopantelis et al. (2021a) /// Excess deaths from COVID-19 and other causes by region, neighbourhood deprivation level and place of death during the first 30 weeks of the pandemic in England and Wales: A retrospective registry study /// The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 7, p. 100144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100144 

Kontopantelis et al. (2021b) /// Kontopantelis E, Mamas MA, Deanfield J, et al. /// Excess mortality in England and Wales during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic /// J Epidemiol Community Health 2021;75:213–223. https://jech.bmj.com/content/75/3/213 (accessed 5 Aug 2023) 

Kontopantelis et al. (2022) /// Excess years of life lost to COVID-19 and other causes of death by sex, neighbourhood deprivation, and region in England and Wales during 2020: A registry-based study /// PLOS Medicine, 19(2), p. e1003904. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003904 

Kuhbandner and Reitzner (2023): Christof Kuhbandner, Matthias Reitzner /// Excess mortality in Germany 2020-2022 /// Research Gate, 10 August 2022, DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.27319.19365. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27319.19365 | Cureus (May 23, 2023) 15(5): e39371. DOI 10.7759/cureus.39371. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.39371 

Kung et al. (2021a): Kung S, Doppen M, Black M, et al. /// Underestimation of COVID-19 mortality during the pandemic /// ERJ Open Res 2021; 7: 00766-2020. https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00766-2020 

Kung et al. (2021b): Kung S, Doppen M, Black M, et al. /// Reduced mortality in New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic /// The Lancet | CORRESPONDENCE | VOLUME 397, ISSUE 10268, P25, JANUARY 02, 2021. Published:December 14, 2020DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32647-7 

Kuvandik et al. (2021): Anıl Kuvandık, Ecenur Özcan, Simay Serin, Hülya Sungurtekin. /// Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease After the COVID-19 Vaccination. /// Turk J Intensive Care, DOI: 10.4274/tybd.galenos.2021.91885. https://cms.galenos.com.tr/Uploads/Article_50671/TYBD-0-0.pdf

Lambrou et al. (2022): Lambrou AS, Shirk P, Steele MK et al. /// Genomic Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Predominance of the Delta (B.1.617.2) and Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variants – United States, June 2021-January 2022. /// MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2022 Feb 11;71(6):206-211. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7106a4, https://doi.org/10.15585%2Fmmwr.mm7106a4 

Lee, W.-E. et al. (2022) /// Direct and indirect mortality impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, March 2020-April 2021 /// medRxiv: The Preprint Server for Health Sciences, p. 2022.02.10.22270721. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.10.22270721 | https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.10.22270721v1 (accessed on 5 Aug 2023) 

Leffler et al. (2022): Leffler CT, Lykins V JD, Das S, Yang E, Konda S. /// Preliminary Analysis of Excess Mortality in India During the COVID-19 Pandemic. /// The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2022;106(5):1507-1510. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.21-0864 . https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.21-0864 

Lewnard et al. (2022): Joseph A Lewnard, Ayesha Mahmud, Tejas Narayan et al. /// All-cause mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chennai, India: an observational study /// The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 22, Issue 4, 2022, Pages 463-472, ISSN 1473-3099, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00746-5 

Liu et al. (2021): Liu J, Zhang L, Yan Y, Zhou Y, Yin P, Qi J et al. /// Excess mortality in Wuhan city and other parts of China during the three months of the covid-19 outbreak: findings from nationwide mortality registries /// BMJ 2021; 372:n415 doi:10.1136/bmj.n415. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n415 

Locatelli, I. and Rousson, V. (2021) /// A first analysis of excess mortality in Switzerland in 2020 /// PLOS ONE, 16(6), p. e0253505. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253505 

Ma et al. (2022): Chunfeng Ma, Xin Li, Zebin Zhao et al. /// Understanding Dynamics of Pandemic Models to Support Predictions of COVID-19 Transmission: Parameter Sensitivity Analysis of SIR-Type Models /// IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 2458-2468, June 2022, doi: 10.1109/JBHI.2022.3168825. https://doi.org/10.1109%2FJBHI.2022.3168825 

Malhotra (2023): Aseem Malhotra /// How Pharmaceutical Overreach, Corruption and Health System Failures Birthed COVID /// Chapter 13 (pp. 166-177) in: Canary In a Covid World: How Propaganda and Censorship Changed Our (My) World, C.H. Klotz (Ed.), Canary House Publishing, 2023, ISBN: 978-1-7390525-3-9. 

Mannucci et al. (2020): Edoardo Mannucci, Besmir Nreu, Matteo Monami /// Factors associated with increased all-cause mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy /// International Journal of Infectious Diseases 98 (2020) 121–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.06.077

Manu (2023): Manu, Peter MD. /// Fatal Myocarditis After COVID-19 Vaccination: Fourteen Autopsy-Confirmed Cases. /// American Journal of Therapeutics 30(3):p e259-e260, May/June 2023. | DOI: 10.1097/MJT.0000000000001631. https://journals.lww.com/americantherapeutics/Fulltext/2023/06000/Fatal_Myocarditis_After_COVID_19_Vaccination_.9.aspx (accessed 11 August 2023) 

Masselot et al. (2023): Pierre Masselot, Malcolm Mistry, Jacopo Vanoli et al. /// Excess mortality attributed to heat and cold: a health impact assessment study in 854 cities in Europe. /// Lancet Planet Health. 2023 Apr;7(4):e271-e281. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00023-2. Epub 2023 Mar 16. PMID: 36934727. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(23)00023-2 

Matveeva and Shabalina (2023): Matveeva Olga, Shabalina Svetlana A. /// Comparison of vaccination and booster rates and their impact on excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries /// Frontiers in Immunology, vol.14, 2023, DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1151311, ISSN: 1664-3224. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1151311 

McGrail (2022): Kimberlyn McGrail /// Excess mortality, COVID-19 and health care systems in Canada /// CMAJ, May 2022, 194 (21) E741-E745; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.220337. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.220337 

Miller et al. (2021): Sarah Miller, Laura R. Wherry, and Bhashkar Mazumder /// Estimated Mortality Increases During The COVID-19 Pandemic By Socioeconomic Status, Race, And Ethnicity /// Health Affairs 2021 40:8, 1252-1260. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00414 

Mills et al. (2020): Mills, E.H.A., Møller, A.L., Gnesin, F. et al. /// National all-cause mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: a Danish registry-based study /// Eur J Epidemiol 35, 1007–1019 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-020-00680-x 

Mörz (2022): Mörz, M. A /// Case Report: Multifocal Necrotizing Encephalitis and Myocarditis after BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccination against COVID-19. /// Vaccines 2022, 10, 1651. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10101651 

Mungwira et al. (2020): Mungwira RG, Guillard C, Saldaña A, Okabe N, Petousis-Harris H, Agbenu E, et al. /// Global landscape analysis of no-fault compensation programmes for vaccine injuries: A review and survey of implementing countries. /// PLoS ONE 15(5): e0233334. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233334 

Murata et al. (2022): Murata K, Nakao N, Ishiuchi N et al. /// Four cases of cytokine storm after COVID-19 vaccination: Case report. /// Front. Immunol. 13:967226. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.967226. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.967226 

Neil et al. (2022): Martin Neil, Norman Fenton, Joel Smalley et al. /// Official mortality data for England suggest systematic miscategorisation of vaccine status and uncertain effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccination ///2022.Research Gate, 12 January 2022.DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28055.09124. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.28055.09124

Neil and Fenton (2022):Marten Neil, Norman Fenton. ///The Devil’sAdvocate: An ExploratoryAnalysis of 2022 ExcessMortality-What is causing excess deaths: Covid, long-covid,lockdowns, healthcare or the vaccines?/// Where are the numbers? (substack), 14 December2022.https://wherearethenumbers.substack.com/p/the-devils-advocate-an-exploratory(accessed 8 August 2023).

Neil and Fenton (2023):Marten Neil, Norman Fenton. ///The Very Best of Cheap Trick…..Howwidespread isthe (mal)practice of miscategorising vaccination status?/// Where are the numbers? (substack),29 July 2023. https://wherearethenumbers.substack.com/p/the-very-best-of-cheap-trick(accessed 10August 2023).

Nørgaard etal. (2021):Nørgaard Sarah K., Vestergaard Lasse S., Nielsen Jenset al. /// Real-time monitoring shows substantial excess all-cause mortality during second wave of COVID-19 in Europe, Octoberto December 2020.///EuroSurveill.2021;26(2):pii=2002023.https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.1.2002023

Nushida et al. (2023):HideyukiNushida, AsukaIto, Hiromitsu Kurataet al. /// A case offatalmulti-organ inflammationfollowing COVID-19 vaccination. ///Legal Medicine, Volume 63, 2023,102244, ISSN1344-6223,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2023.102244

Olson et al. (2020):New York City Department ofHealth and Mental Hygiene(DOHMH)COVID-19Response Team ///Preliminary Estimate of Excess Mortality During the COVID-19 Outbreak—New York City, March 11–May 2, 2020///MMWR Morb MortalWkly Rep(CDC)2020;69:603–605.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6919e5

Onishi et al.(2023):NaoakiOnishi, Yuki Konishi,Toshiyuki Kanekoet al. /// Fulminantmyocarditis with complete atrioventricular block after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination: Acase report. /// Journal of Cardiology Cases, 2023,ISSN 1878-5409,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jccase.2023.01.004

OWID(2023a):OurWorld In Data /// Coronavirus(COVID-19) Vaccinations/// https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations(accessed on 15 August 2023)| underlying data sources: Edouard Mathieu, Hannah Ritchie, LucasRodés-Guirao et al.(2020)-“CoronavirusPandemic (COVID-19)”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org.Retrieved from:’https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus’ [Online Resource]

OWID(2023b):OurWorld In Data ///Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations: Source information country by country/// https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#source-information-country-by-country(accessed on 28 August 2023) | underlyingdata sources: Edouard Mathieu, Hannah Ritchie, Lucas Rodés-Guiraoet al.(2020)-“Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus’ [Online Resource] 

OWID (2023c): Our World In Data /// Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations: Which vaccines have been administered in each country? /// https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#which-vaccines-have-been-administered-in-each-country (accessed on 2 September 2023) | underlying data sources: Edouard Mathieu, Hannah Ritchie, Lucas Rodés-Guirao et al. (2020) – “Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus’ [Online Resource] 

Paglino et al. (2023): Eugenio Paglino et al. /// Monthly excess mortality across counties in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, March 2020 to February 2022. /// Sci. Adv. 9,eadf9742(2023). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adf9742. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adf9742 

Pálinkás and Sándor (2022): Pálinkás, A.; Sándor, J. /// Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccination in Preventing All-Cause Mortality among Adults during the Third Wave of the Epidemic in Hungary: Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study. /// Vaccines 2022, 10, 1009. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10071009 

Palmer et al. (2023): Michael Palmer et al. /// mRNA Vaccine Toxicity /// Publisher: D4CE.org | version 1.0 (July 28, 2023), pp. 204. | https://d4ce.org/mRNA-vaccine-toxicity/ (available as a free download) 

Panagiotou et al. (2021): Panagiotou OA, Kosar CM, White EM, et al. /// Risk Factors Associated With All-Cause 30-Day Mortality in Nursing Home Residents With COVID-19. /// JAMA Intern Med. 2021;181(4):439–448. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.7968. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.7968 

Parham and Michael (2011): Parham, P. E. and Edwin Michael, E. /// Outbreak properties of epidemic models: The roles of temporal forcing and stochasticity on pathogen invasion dynamics /// Journal of Theoretical Biology, Volume 271, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 1-9, ISSN 0022-5193, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.11.015 

Pezzullo et al. (2023): Angelo Maria Pezzullo, Cathrine Axfors, Despina G. Contopoulos-Ioannidis, Alexandre Apostolatos, John P.A. Ioannidis. /// Age-stratified infection fatality rate of COVID-19 in the non-elderly population. /// Environmental Research, Volume 216, Part 3, 2023, 114655, ISSN 0013-9351, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114655. 

Phua et al. (2009): Dong Haur Phua, Chun Chi Lin, Ming-Ling Wu et al. /// Neonicotinoid insecticides: an emerging cause of acute pesticide poisoning /// Clinical Toxicology, 47:4, 336-341, DOI: 10.1080/15563650802644533, https://doi.org/10.1080/15563650802644533

Piccininni et al. (2020): Piccininni M, Rohmann J L, Foresti L, Lurani C, Kurth T. /// Use of all cause mortality to quantify the consequences of covid-19 in Nembro, Lombardy: descriptive study /// BMJ 2020; 369:m1835 doi:10.1136/bmj.m1835. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1835 

Pilkington et al. (2021): Pilkington, H., Feuillet, T., Rican, S. et al. /// Spatial determinants of excess all-cause mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in France. /// BMC Public Health 21, 2157 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12203-8 

Polyakova et al. (2021): Maria Polyakova, Victoria Udalova, Geoffrey Kocks, Katie Genadek, Keith Finlay, and Amy N. Finkelstein /// Racial Disparities In Excess All-Cause Mortality During The Early COVID-19 Pandemic Varied Substantially Across States /// Health Affairs 2021 40:2, 307-316. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.02142 

Ramírez-Soto and Ortega-Cáceres (2022): Ramírez-Soto, M.C.; Ortega-Cáceres, G. /// Analysis of Excess All-Cause Mortality and COVID-19 Mortality in Peru: Observational Study. /// Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2022, 7, 44. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed7030044 

Rancourt (2020): Rancourt, D.G. /// All-cause mortality during COVID-19 — No plague and a likely signature of mass homicide by government response /// ResearchGate, 2 June 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.24350.77125 | Available at: https://archive.org/details/boe-expert-witness-denis-rancourt-nci-ce-nc – pp. 774-799. 

Rancourt et al. (2020): Rancourt, D.G., Baudin, M. and Mercier, J. (2020) /// Evaluation of the virulence of SARS-CoV-2 in France, from all-cause mortality 1946-2020 /// ResearchGate, 20 August 2020 [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16836.65920/1 

Rancourt (2021): Rancourt, DG /// Do Face Masks Reduce COVID-19 Spread in Bangladesh? Are the Abaluck et al. Results Reliable? /// denisrancourt.ca (20 September 2021) /// https://denisrancourt.ca/entries.php?id=106 – archived: https://archive.ph/yHbWO – republished: https://www.globalresearch.ca/do-face-masks-reduce-covid-19-spread-bangladesh-abaluck-et-al-results-reliable/5756323?pdf=5756323 

Rancourt (2022): Rancourt, DG /// Probable causal association between India’s extraordinary April-July 2021 excess-mortality event and the vaccine rollout /// Correlation Research in the Public Interest, 5 December 2022 /// https://correlation-canada.org/report-probable-causal-association-between-indias-extraordinary-april-july-2021-excess-mortality-event-and-the-vaccine-rollout/ 

Rancourt et al. (2021a): Rancourt, D.G., Baudin, M. and Mercier, J. /// Nature of the COVID-era public health disaster in the USA, from all-cause mortality and socio-geo-economic and climatic data. /// Research Gate (25 Ocbtober 2021) /// http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11570.32962 

Rancourt et al. (2021b): Rancourt, D.G., Baudin, M. and Mercier, J. /// Analysis of all-cause mortality by week in Canada 2010-2021, by province, age and sex: There was no COVID-19 pandemic, and there is strong evidence ofresponse-caused deaths in the most elderly and in young males. /// Research Gate(6 August2021)/// http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.14929.45921

Rancourt et al.(2022a):Rancourt, D.G., Baudin,M. and Mercier, J.///Probable causalassociation between Australia’s new regime of high all-cause mortalityand itsCOVID-19 vaccine rollout. /// Correlation Research in the Public Interest, 20December 2022///https://correlation-canada.org/report-probable-causal-association-between-australias-new-regime-of-high-all-cause-mortality-and-its-covid-19-vaccine-rollout/

Rancourt et al.(2022b):Rancourt, D.G., Baudin,M. and Mercier, J. /// COVID-Period MassVaccination Campaign and Public Health Disaster in the USA: Fromage/state-resolved all-cause mortalitybytime, age-resolved vaccine delivery by time, and socio-geo-economic data ///Research Gate(2 August 2022)///http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12688.28164/// Alsoavailable at:https://vixra.org/abs/2208.0023

Rancourt et al.(2022c):Rancourt, D.G., Baudin,M. and Mercier, J. ///Proof thatCanada’sCOVID-19 mortality statistics are incorrect. ///Correlation Research in the Public Interest, 5 October2022 ///https://correlation-canada.org/report-proof-that-canadas-covid-19-mortality-statistics-are-incorrect/

Rancourt (2023): Rancourt, Denis///Dr. Denis Rancourt Unveiling All-Cause Mortality: A Critical Analysis ofthe Pandemic Declarationand Vaccination Rollout― Testimony of DenisRancourtto the National Citizens Inquiry(Canada), Ottawa, 17 May 2023, https://rumble.com/v2ohtte-physicist-dr-denis-rancourt-presents-his-findings-on-all-cause-mortality-ot.html///DenisRancourtVirtualTestimony follow up to the National Citizens Inquiry(Canada),28 June2023,https://rumble.com/v2wpyqu-national-citizens-inquiry-denis-rancourt-virtual-testimony.html///NCI website:https://nationalcitizensinquiry.ca/

Rancourt etal. (2023):Rancourt, D.G., Baudin, M., Hickey, J.and Mercier, J. ///Age-stratified COVID-19 vaccine-dose fatality rate for Israel and Australia/// Correlation Research in the Public Interest, 9 February 2023///https://correlation-canada.org/report-age-stratified-covid-19-vaccine-dose-fatality-rate-for-israel-and-australia/

Razaket al. (2022):Fahad Razak, Saeha Shin,C. David Nayloret al./// Canada’s response tothe initial 2 years of theCOVID-19 pandemic: a comparison with peercountries/// CMAJ,2022June 27;194:E870-7. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.220316. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.220316

React 19 (2022): React19./// 1250+ COVID Vaccine Publications and Case Reports: Collection of peerreviewed case reports and studiesciting adverse effects post COVID vaccination. /// 9 July 2022,https://react19.org/1250-covid-vaccine-reports/, archived here:https://archive.ph/T4hPV

Redert (2022a): André Redert /// Short-term Vaccine Fatality Ratio of booster and 4th dose in The Netherlands /// Research Gate, October 2022, DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.29841.30568. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29841.30568 

Redert (2022b): André Redert /// Covid-19 vaccinations and all-cause mortality -a long-term differential analysis among municipalities /// Research Gate, July 2022, DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.33994.85447. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.33994.85447 

Redet (2023): Redert, André. /// Causal effect of covid vaccination on mortality in Europe. /// Research Gate, 24 February 2023. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368777703_Causal_effect_of_covid_vaccination_on_mortality_in_Europe (accessed 10 August 2023) 

Reuters (18 January 2021): REUTERS/Stephane Mahe /// Norway advises caution in use of Pfizer vaccine for the most frail /// Reuters (18 January 2021), https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/norway-advises-caution-use-pfizer-vaccine-most-frail-2021-01-18/ – archived: https://archive.ph/Ze0Cv 

Rogers and Heard (2007): Jody J. Rogers & Kennon Heard /// Does age matter? Comparing case fatality rates for selected poisonings reported to U.S. poison centers /// Clinical Toxicology, 45:6, 705-708, DOI: 10.1080/15563650701517491, https://doi.org/10.1080/15563650701517491 

Rose and McCullough (2021): Jessica Rose, Peter A. McCullough /// A Report on Myocarditis Adverse Events in the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) in Association with COVID-19 Injectable Biological Products, Current Problems in Cardiology (2021). /// doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2021.101011 | https://web.archive.org/web/20211007022704/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0146280621002267 (full paper archived) 

Rossen et al. (2021): Rossen LM, Ahmad FB, Anderson RN, et al. /// Disparities in Excess Mortality Associated with COVID-19 — United States, 2020. /// MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1114–1119. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7033a2 

Rossen et al. (2022): Rossen, L.M., Nørgaard, S.K., Sutton, P.D. et al. Excess all-cause mortality in the USA and Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 and 2021. Sci Rep 12, 18559 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21844-7 

Safavi-Naini et al. (2022): Safavi-Naini, S.A.A., Farsi, Y., Alali, W.Q. et al. /// Excess all-cause mortality and COVID-19 reported fatality in Iran (April 2013–September 2021): age and sex disaggregated time series analysis. /// BMC Res Notes 15, 130 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-022-06018-y

Sanmarchi, F. et al. (2021) /// Exploring the Gap Between Excess Mortality and COVID-19 Deaths in 67 Countries /// JAMA Network Open, 4(7), p. e2117359. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.17359 

Sano et al. (2023): Sano H, Kase M, Aoyama Y, Sano S. /// A case of persistent, confluent maculopapular erythema following a COVID-19 mRNA vaccination is possibly associated with the intralesional spike protein expressed by vascular endothelial cells and eccrine glands in the deep dermis. /// J Dermatol. 2023 May 8. doi: 10.1111/1346-8138.16816. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37154426. https://doi.org/10.1111/1346-8138.16816 

Schellekens (2023): Philip Schellekens. /// Excess mortality and vaccination: How front-runners in the vaccination space compare across countries on excess mortality /// pandem-ic, updated August 10, 2023. https://pandem-ic.com/excess-mortality-and-vaccination/ (accessed 10 August 2023) 

Scherb and Hayashi (2023): Scherb H, Hayashi K. /// Annual All-Cause Mortality Rate in Germany and Japan (2005 to 2022) With Focus on The Covid-19 Pandemic: Hypotheses And Trend Analyses. /// Med Clin Sci. 2023; 5(2):1-7. https://journals.sciencexcel.com/index.php/mcs/article/view/411 (accessed 10 August 2023) 

Schneider et al. (2021): Schneider, J., Sottmann, L., Greinacher, A. et al. /// Postmortem investigation of fatalities following vaccination with COVID-19 vaccines. /// Int J Legal Med 135, 2335–2345 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-021-02706-9 

Schöley et al. (2022): Schöley, J., Aburto, J.M., Kashnitsky, I. et al. /// Life expectancy changes since COVID-19. /// Nat Hum Behav 6, 1649–1659 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01450-3 

Schwab et al. (2023): Schwab, C., Domke, L.M., Hartmann, L. et al. /// Autopsy-based histopathological characterization of myocarditis after anti-SARS-CoV-2-vaccination. /// Clin Res Cardiol 112, 431–440 (2023).. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00392-022-02129-5 

Sempé et al. (2021): Lucas Sempé, Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Ramón Martínez, Shah Ebrahim, Martin McKee, Enrique Acosta /// Estimation of all-cause excess mortality by age-specific mortality patterns for countries with incomplete vital statistics: a population-based study of the case of Peru during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic /// The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, Volume 2, 2021, 100039, ISSN 2667-193X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2021.100039 

Sessa et al. (2021): Sessa, F.; Salerno, M.; Esposito, M.; Di Nunno, N.; Zamboni, P.; Pomara, C. /// Autopsy Findings and Causality Relationship between Death and COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Review. /// J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10, 5876. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10245876

Shively et al. (2017): Rachel M. Shively, Robert S. Hoffman & Alex F. Manini /// Acute salicylate poisoning: risk factors for severe outcome /// Clinical Toxicology, 55:3, 175-180, DOI: 10.1080/15563650.2016.1271127, https://doi.org/10.1080/15563650.2016.1271127 

Sinnathamby et al. (2020): Sinnathamby Mary A, Whitaker Heather, Coughlan Laura, Lopez Bernal Jamie, Ramsay Mary, Andrews Nick /// All-cause excess mortality observed by age group and regions in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in England /// Euro Surveill. 2020;25(28):pii=2001239. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.28.2001239 

Skidmore (2023): Skidmore, M. /// The role of social circle COVID-19 illness and vaccination experiences in COVID-19 vaccination decisions: an online survey of the United States population. /// BMC Infect Dis 23, 51 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-023-07998-3 

Soneji et al. (2021): Soneji, S., Beltrán-Sánchez, H., Yang, J.W. et al. /// Population-level mortality burden from novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Europe and North America. /// Genus 77, 7 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-021-00115-9 

Šorli et al. (2023): Šorli AS, Makovec T, Krevel Z, Gorjup R /// Forgotten “Primum Non Nocere” and Increased Mortality after COVID-19 Vaccination. /// Qual Prim Care. 2023, 31.003. https://www.primescholars.com/articles/forgotten-primum-non-nocere-and-increased-mortality-after-covid19-vaccination-118655.html (accessed 10 August 2023) 

Stein et al. (2021): Stein, R.E., Corcoran, K.E., Colyer, C.J. et al. /// Closed but Not Protected: Excess Deaths Among the Amish and Mennonites During the COVID-19 Pandemic. /// J Relig Health 60, 3230–3244 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01307-5 

Stokes et al. (2021): Stokes AC, Lundberg DJ, Elo IT, Hempstead K, Bor J, Preston SH /// COVID-19 and excess mortality in the United States: A county-level analysis. /// PLoS Med 18(5): e1003571. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003571 

Strehler and Mildvan (1960): STREHLER BL, MILDVAN AS. /// General theory of mortality and aging. /// Science. 1960 Jul 1;132(3418):14-21. doi: 10.1126/science.132.3418.14. PMID: 13835176. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.132.3418.14 

Suzuki et al. (2022): Hideto Suzuki, Ayako Ro, Aya Takada, Kazuyuki Saito, Kino Hayashi. /// Autopsy findings of post-COVID-19 vaccination deaths in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, 2021. /// Legal Medicine, Volume 59, 2022, 102134, ISSN 1344-6223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2022.102134 

Sy (2022): Wilson Sy /// Mortality risk of COVID-19 injections: evidence from New South Wales and England /// Academia. https://www.academia.edu/83924771/Mortality_risk_of_COVID_19_injections_evidence_from_New_South_Wales_and_England (accessed 10 August 2023)

Tadbiri et al. (2020): Tadbiri H, Moradi-Lakeh M, Naghavi M. /// All-cause excess mortality and COVID-19-related deaths in Iran /// Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2020 (15 Jul);34:80. https://doi.org/10.34171/mjiri.34.80 | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7711045/ (accessed 6 Aug 2023). 

Takahashi et al. (2022): Motonori Takahashi, Takeshi Kondo, Gentaro Yamasaki et al. /// An autopsy case report of aortic dissection complicated with histiolymphocytic pericarditis and aortic inflammation after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, /// Legal Medicine, Volume 59, 2022, 102154, ISSN 1344-6223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2022.102154 

Tan et al. (2022): Lii Jye Tan, Cai Ping Koh, Shau Kong Lai, Woon Cheng Poh, Mohammad Shafie Othman, Huzlinda Hussin. /// A systemic review and recommendation for an autopsy approach to death followed the COVID 19 vaccination. /// Forensic Science International, Volume 340, 2022, 111469, ISSN 0379-0738, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111469. 

The Japan Times (26 July 2022): Japan grants first payment for death related to COVID vaccination. /// https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/26/national/science-health/japan-first-covid-19-vaccine-compensation/ – archived here: https://archive.ph/OfUhm 

Thoma and Declercq (2022): Thoma ME, Declercq ER. /// All-Cause Maternal Mortality in the US Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic. /// JAMA Netw Open. 2022; 5(6): e2219133. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.19133. https://doi.org/10.1001%2Fjamanetworkopen.2022.19133 

Turni and Lefringhausen (2022): Conny Turni and Astrid Lefringhausen /// COVID-19 vaccines – An Australian Review. /// Journal of Clinical & Experimental Immunology. 7(3):491-508. https://www.opastpublishers.com/open-access-articles/covid19-vaccinesan-australian-review.pdf 

United Nations (2023): UN, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Population Prospects 2022, Probabilistic Projections (PPP scenarios) download (file: “UN_PPP2022_Output_PopTot.xlsx”), downloaded on 2 September 2023, https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/ 

Veronese et al. (2021): Nicola Veronese, Mirko Petrovic, Athanase Benetos et al. /// Underrepresentation of older adults in clinical trials on COVID-19 vaccines: A systematic review. /// Ageing Research Reviews, Volume 71, 2021, 101455, ISSN 1568-1637, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2021.101455. 

Vestergaard et al. (2020): Vestergaard Lasse S, Nielsen Jens, Richter Lukas et al. /// Excess all-cause mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe – preliminary pooled estimates from the EuroMOMO network, March to April 2020 /// Euro Surveill. 2020;25(26):pii=2001214. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.26.2001214 

Vila-Corcoles et al. (2021): Vila-Corcoles, A., Satue-Gracia, E., Vila-Rovira, A. et al. /// COVID19-related and all-cause mortality risk among middle-aged and older adults across the first epidemic wave of SARS-COV-2 infection: a population-based cohortstudy in Southern Catalonia, Spain, March–June 2020./// BMC Public Health21, 1795 (2021).https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11879-2

Villani, L. et al.(2020) ///Comparison of Deaths Ratesfor COVID-19 across Europe Duringthe FirstWave of the COVID-19 Pandemic ///Frontiers in Public Health, 8.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.620416

Wang, H. et al.(2022) ///Estimating excessmortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic: asystematic analysis of COVID-19-related mortality,2020–21 ///The Lancet, 399(10334), pp. 1513–1536.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02796-3

Wiberg et al. (1970):G.Stuart Wiberg, H.LocksleyTrenholm, Blake B. Coldwell ///Increasedethanol toxicity in old rats: Changes in LD50, in vivo and in vitro metabolism, and liveralcoholdehydrogenase activity ///Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology,Volume 16, Issue3,1970,Pages 718-727, ISSN0041-008X,https://doi.org/10.1016/0041-008X(70)90077-3

Wilcoxet al.(2021):Wilcox CR, Islam N, Dambha-Miller H. /// Associationbetween influenza vaccination and hospitalisationor all-cause mortality in people with COVID-19:a retrospective cohort study. ///BMJOpen Resp Res, 2021;8:e000857. doi:10.1136/bmjresp-2020-000857. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2020-000857

Wise (2022):Wise J.///Covid-19: UK makesfirst payments to compensate injury or death fromvaccines. ///BMJ2022; 377:o1565 doi:10.1136/bmj.o1565. https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1565

Wong et al.(2023): Hui-Lee Wong, Ellen Tworkoski, Cindy Ke Zhouet al./// Surveillance ofCOVID-19 vaccine safety among elderly persons aged 65years and older.///Vaccine, Volume41,Issue 2, 2023, Pages 532-539, ISSN0264-410X,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.11.069. 

Wood et al. (2020):NicholasWood, Kristine Macartney, Julie Leask, Peter McIntyre. ///Australia needs a vaccine injury compensation scheme: Upcoming COVID-19 vaccines make itsintroduction urgent. /// Australian Journal ofGeneral Practice(AGJP), doi: 10.31128/AJGP-COVID-36. https://doi.org/10.31128/ajgp-covid-36

Woolf, S.H. et al. (2021) ///Excess DeathsFrom COVID-19 and Other Causes in the US, March 1, 2020,to January 2, 2021 ///JAMA2021;325(17):1786–1789.doi:10.1001/jama.2021.5199.https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.5199

Woolf, S.H., Masters, R.K. and Aron, L.Y.(2021)///Effect of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 on life expectancy across populations in the USA and other high income countries: simulationsofprovisional mortality data ///BMJ, 373,p. n1343.https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1343

Woolf et al. (2023):Woolf SH,Wolf ER, Rivara FP.///The New Crisis ofIncreasing All-Cause Mortality in US Children and Adolescents./// JAMA. 2023;329(12):975–976.doi:10.1001/jama.2023.3517. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.3517

Worp et al.(2023):Worp, N. et al. ///Towards the development of a SARS-CoV-2 variant risk assessment tool: expert consultation on the assessment of scientific evidence on emerging variants /// Lancet Microbe, Published: August 25, 2023, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(23)00179-9 

Yeo et al. (2022): Audrey YEO, Benjamin KUEK, Mandy LAU et al. /// Post COVID-19 vaccine deaths – Singapore’s early experience, /// Forensic Science International, Volume 332, 2022, 111199, ISSN 0379-0738, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111199 

Yorifuji et al. (2021): Takashi Yorifuji, Naomi Matsumoto, Soshi Takao /// Excess All-Cause Mortality During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Japan /// Journal of Epidemiology, 2021, Volume 31, Issue 1, Pages 90-92, Released on J-STAGE January 05, 2021, Advance online publication October 31, 2020, Online ISSN 1349-9092, Print ISSN 0917-5040, https://doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20200492, https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jea/31/1/31_JE20200492/_article/-char/en 

Yoshimura et al. (2022): Yukihiro Yoshimura, Hiroaki Sasaki, Nobuyuki Miyata et al. /// An autopsy case of COVID-19-like acute respiratory distress syndrome after mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccination /// International Journal of Infectious Diseases 121 (2022) 98–101, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.04.057


Appendix

Appendix A: Sources of Mortality and Vaccination Data 

Table 4 describes the data and the sources of the data used in this work: All-cause mortality (ACM) and COVID-19 vaccine administration, for the 17 countries. 

Table 4: Appendix A – Type of data and sources of data 

Notes for Table 4: 

1 Single year of age available. The data for the yearly ages are summed to create data for the specific age groups used in this study. 

2 Five categories: Dose 1, Dose 2, Dose 3, Dose 4, Unique dose 

3 Six doses: Dose 1, Dose 2, Dose 3, Dose 4, Dose 5, Dose 6. There was no data for a dose 7; and we did not use dose 8 and dose 9 data, which consisted of small numbers. 

4 Four age groups: 0-29, 30-59, 60-79, 80+ 

5 Five categories: Dose 1, Dose 2, Dose 3 (referred to as “First Boosters” in the source data), Dose 4 (referred to as “Second Boosters” in the source data), Third primary dose 

6 The vaccination data was originally downloaded on 24 February 2023 (Health NZ, 2023), which we verified to be essentially exactly the same as that more recently downloaded (14 September 2023, Stats NZ, 2023b). 

 

We use a sum of days to generate ACM by week (ACM/w), similarly for vaccination data. 

The vaccination data from OWID (2023) is of two types: 

  • Vaccine doses, cumulative or new per day 
  • Vaccine booster doses, cumulative 

In Figure 2, in Figure 4, in Figure 6 and in Figure 21, ACM data is from WMD (2023) and vaccination data is from OWID (2023). 

In Figure 5, in Figure 7, in Figure 22 and in Figure 23, ACM data is from WMD (2023). 

In Figure 11, ACM data is from DEIS (2023) and vaccination data is from MinCiencia (2023). 

In Figure 12 and in Figure 13, ACM data is from DEIS (2023). 

In Figure 14, ACM data is from MINSA (2023a) and vaccination data is from MINSA (2023b). 

In Figure 15 and in Figure 16, ACM data is from MINSA (2023a). 

In Figure 18, ACM data is from Stats NZ (2023a) and vaccination data is from Stats NZ (2023b). 

In Figure 19 and in Figure 20, ACM data is from Stats NZ (2023a). 

 

References of Appendix A 

DEIS (2023): Departamento de Estadísticas e Información de Salud – Ministerio de Salud – Gobierno de Chile /// Datos abiertos /// Files “Defunciones por Causa 1990 – 2019 CIFRAS OFICIALES” and “Defunciones por Causa 2020 – 2023 CIFRAS PRELIMINARES (Actualización semanal)” /// accessed 23 March 2023 https://deis.minsal.cl/#datosabiertos 

Health NZ (2023): Te Whatu Ora /// COVID-19 vaccine data /// accessed 24 February 2023 https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/data-and-statistics/covid-vaccine-data#by-day 

MinCiencia (2023): Ministerio de Ciencia (“Datos obtenidos desde el Ministerio de Ciencia y producidos por el Ministerio de Salud”) /// Datos-COVID19 /// Data Product 78 – Avance por sexo y edad en Campaña de Vacunación COVID-19: Este producto da cuenta del avance en la campaña de vacunación contra Sars-Cov-2 por edad (en años) y sexo. /// accessed 31 March 2023 https://github.com/MinCiencia/Datos-COVID19 https://github.com/MinCiencia/Datos-COVID19/tree/master/output/producto78 

MINSA (2023a): Ministerio de Salud – Gobierno de Perú /// Plataforma Nacional de Datos Abiertos /// SINADEF: Certificado Defunciones /// File “SINADEF – Defunciones” /// accessed 27 July 2023 https://www.datosabiertos.gob.pe/dataset/sinadef-certificado-defunciones 

MINSA (2023b): Ministerio de Salud – Gobierno de Perú /// Plataforma Nacional de Datos Abiertos /// Data Completa de Vacunación COVID-19 – [Ministerio de Salud ] /// File “VACUNAS_COVID” /// accessed 27 July 2023 https://www.datosabiertos.gob.pe/dataset/vacunaci%C3%B3n-contra-covid-19-ministerio-de-salud-minsa/resource/db673c08-4812-4844-ae7f 

OWID (2023): Our World In Data /// Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations /// accessed 5 August 2023 https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations 

Stats NZ (2023a): Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa /// COVID-19 data portal /// Health – Total deaths (all causes) − Weekly deaths by age /// accessed 24 February 2023 https://www.stats.govt.nz/experimental/covid-19-data-portal 

Stats NZ (2023b): Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa /// COVID-19 data portal /// Health – COVID-19 vaccinations − COVID-19 vaccines administered – Daily total /// accessed 14 September 2023 https://www.stats.govt.nz/experimental/covid-19-data-portal 

WMD (2023): World Mortality Dataset /// International data on all-cause mortality /// accessed 3 August 2023 https://github.com/akarlinsky/world_mortality/blob/main/world_mortality.csv — The World Mortality Dataset is the work of Karlinsky & Kobak 2021, Tracking excess mortality across countries during the COVID-19 pandemic with the World Mortality Dataset, eLife https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69336

 

Appendix B: Examples of All-cause Mortality and Vaccination Data 

The following panels show ACM by time (week or month, as seen on the graphs) (blue, left scale), and vaccine administration (all dose numbers) by week (orange, right scale), 2015-2023, for the 17 countries in this study, as labelled (Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, and Uruguay). The thin vertical grey line, in each panel, indicates the date (11 March 2020) at which a pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Figure 21: Appendix B – Examples of all-ages all-cause mortality (blue) and all-ages all-doses vaccine-administration (orange) data, for the 17 countries in this study (as labelled). The vertical grey line indicates the 11 March 2020 WHO declaration of a pandemic. The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

 

Appendix C: Technical and Specific Information for Applications of the Methods to the Data 

Table 5 provides the parameters used in applying the method described in “Historical-trend baseline for a period (or peak) of mortality” (Method 1, see Methods) to the data. In this method, one calculates the trend-lines fitted (straight lines fitted by least squares minimization) to ACM integrated over the periods of equal duration as the period of interest (the vaccination period or a specific-rollout period). The said trend lines are used to calculate the baseline integrated mortality in the periods of interest, in order to obtain the excess ACM of the periods of interest. All vaccine dose counting is on the same time interval as the integration interval for ACM in the period of interest. 

The same integration windows (start date to end date, by week or by month, inclusive) have been used for Method 2, for the cases where Method 2 has also been applied. 

Table 5: Appendix C – Parameters used to apply the trend-line method (Method 1) to the data 

The “Booster” period of interest refers to the time period framing the nominal January-February 2022 peak in ACM, in the data for all ages. 

* Format is the following: YEAR-WEEK or YEAR-MONTH. For example: 

  • [2021-W07 – 2023-W12] means that the period of interest is from the week 7 of 2021 to the week 12 of 2023, inclusive. 
  • [2021-M01 – 2023-M03] means that the period of interest is from the month 1 (January) of 2021 to the month 3 (March) of 2023, inclusive. 

The definition of the week number, throughout the paper, is as given by ABS (2022): “The week number is based on the ISO (International Organization for Standardisation) week date system. In this system, weeks are defined as seven-day periods which start on a Monday. Week 1 of any given year is the week which starts on the Monday closest to 1 January, and for which the majority of its days fall in January (i.e. four days or more). Week 1 therefore always contains the 4th of January and always contains the first Thursday of the year. Using the ISO structure, some years (e.g. 2015 and 2020) contain 53 weeks.” 

+ From the integration point indicated in the table, included, moving backwards. The last integration point (the integration point of interest) is 0. For example: 

  • 2 integration points used from the -1 means that 2 integration points were used to fit the trend line: the integration point (-1), directly preceding the last one (0, the one of interest), and one extra integration point (-2) prior to that.
  • 6 integration points used from the -3 means that 6 integration points were used to fit the trend line: from the -3 through the -8 integration point, included, where 0 is the integration point of interest (the most recent one). 

This applies to the method using several integration points from the historic period (Method 1). Chile (all ages) and Peru (all ages) data were insufficient to apply Method 1. 

 

References of Appendix C 

ABS (2022): Australian Bureau of Statistics /// Provisional Mortality Statistics /// files “Provisional Mortality Statistics, Weekly Dashboard, Jan – Sep 2022” and “Deaths by week of occurrence, 2015-21” /// accessed 23 January 2023 https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/latest-release

 

Appendix D: Single-point Method Quantification of the Excess Mortality in the COVID Period 

The following Figure 22 illustrates the application of our “Special case of a single historic integrated point” method (Method 2) to quantify the excess mortality in the nominally entire Covid period, from 11 March 2020 when a pandemic was declared to a practical end date taken to be the same as the end date of the nominal vaccination period (which depends on mortality and vaccination data availability), for the 17 countries in this study. The bounds of integration for the periods for each country are specified in Appendix C: Technical and specific information for applications of the methods to the data. 

Here, as per the legend, the Covid period is in orange (both its ACM by time and its integration point), the single historic reference period used is in green (both its ACM by time and its integration point), the best-line fit (least squares fit) of the historic ACM by time is in red, and the extrapolated predicted value of the integration for the Covid period is also in red, with its error bar. The weeks or months are counted consecutively in sequence using a time index, where week number 1 is week-1 of 2015, and month number 1 is month-1 (January) of 2015. Week-1 for 2015 contains the dates 29 December 2014 through 4 January 2015. The thin vertical grey line, in each panel, indicates the date (11 March 2020) at which a pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Figure 22: Appendix D – Single historic point method (Method 2) for excess ACM in the Covid periods of the 17 countries in this study. Covid period (orange), single-point historic reference period (green), best-line fit (red). The time index is the week or month number from start of 2015. The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a vertical grey line. The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

 

Appendix E: Single-point Method Quantification of the Excess Mortality in the Vaccination Period 

The following Figure 23 illustrates the application of our “Special case of a single historic integrated point” method (Method 2) to the same limits of integration, for the vaccination period, as for Method 1 (historic trend method, shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7), for the 17 countries in this study. The limits of integration are specified in Appendix C. 

Here, as per the legend, the vaccination period is in orange (both its ACM by time and its integration point), the single historic reference period used is in green (both its ACM by time and its integration point), the best-line fit (least squares fit) of the historic ACM by time is in red, and the extrapolated predicted value of the integration for the vaccination period is also in red, with its error bar. The weeks or months are counted in sequence using a time index, where week or month number 1 is the week or month containing 1 January 2015. Week-1 for 2015 contains the dates 29 December 2014 through 4 January 2015. The thin vertical grey line, in each panel, indicates the date (11 March 2020) at which a pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Figure 23: Appendix E – Single historic point method for excess ACM (Method 2) in the vaccination periods of the 17 countries in this study. Vaccination period (orange), single-point historic reference period (green), best-line fit (red). The time index is the week or month number from start of 2015. The 11 March 2020 pandemic declaration date is shown by a vertical grey line. The data sources are specified in Appendix A.

Feathery Infiltrators: The Case of the Pigeon Spy

February 13th, 2024 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

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

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

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

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Animals have, at times, been given the same dismissively nasty treatment humans love giving themselves. Be it detention, torture, trial, and execution, the unwitting creatures can be found in the oddest situations, anthropomorphised with all the characteristics of will, thought and intention. By way of ghastly example, the Norman city of Falaise hosted the execution of a pig in 1386 for having “indulged in the evil propensity of eating infants on the streets”, and sentenced to maiming in the heat and forelegs prior to hanging.

A field where such a matter has, and continues to crop up, is espionage. Espionage, that very human, unsavoury and often dangerous endeavour, has seen a number of animals enlisted in the cause.  Unasked and no doubt unbriefed, various species have been thrown into wars, conflicts and disagreements, all the cause of humankind, to provide advantage or gain for one party or another.

We know of such programs as the Central Intelligence Agency’s “Project Acoustic Kitty”, which ran for five years in the 1960s and cost $20 million without much to show for it. The feline android-hybrid, which possessed an antenna under its fur and mic in its ear, failed to perform.  Acoustic Kitty, on being driven to a designated park with the task of capturing the conversation of two men on a bench, proceeded to wander into the street, where it was promptly crushed by a taxi. “Our final examination of trained cats,” concludes a CIA memo on the subject, “convinced us that the program would not lend itself in a practical sense to our highly specialized needs.”

Of all the animals featured in the intelligence inventory, one stands out. The pigeon featured heavily in both World Wars, an inconspicuous, small creature ideal in performing various tasks. Messages can be delivered surreptitiously in conditions of disrupted communications. Pictures and images can be taken by cameras affixed to the bird, unbeknownst to human agents on the ground. “Of the hundreds of thousands of carrier pigeons sent through enemy fire, 95% completed their missions,” the International Spy Museum informs us. “Pigeons continued brave service worldwide through the 1950s, earning more medals of honor than any other animal.”

Most recently, the pigeon as spy agent featured again. Reports on the bird in question imputed a degree of sentience and awareness nothing less than human. The humans in question, though, seemed positively cloddish.  It began in May, when the bird was captured near a port in Mumbai. Its legs sported two rings, carrying a chip and supposedly cursive Chinese writing. Must be a case of espionage, thought the local police. A spell of detention followed, largely spent with the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

As things transpired, suspicions of espionage proved unfounded. The three-month investigation found that the bird had escaped from Taiwan, where it had performed as an open-water racer. The activist organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) was outraged, as well it should have been. “A pigeon who was detained in a veterinary hospital in India for eight months on suspicion of being used for spying is flying free once more, thanks to help from PETA India.”

It would have been difficult keeping a straight face on hearing the following from PETA India’s Meet Ashar. “PETA India handles 1,000 calls a week of animal emergencies, but this was our first case of a suspected spy who needed to be freed of wrongful imprisonment.”

Despite this finding, a fellow of the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, Sana Hashmi, thought a serious reflection was in order. “This episode underscores India’s increased efforts to counter Chinese espionage attempts. This suspicion extends to the point where even birds, reminiscent of past experiences with bird spies involving Pakistan, are perceived as potential tools of Chinese espionage.”

The subcontinental obsession with pigeon espionage is an enduring one. In October 2016, we find the Pakistani paper, The Frontier Star, reporting that three people were apprehended that month at Vikram chowk in Jammu city in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Why? They were found carrying some 150 pigeons kept in banana boxes.

Accusations of animal cruelty followed. The birds were then transferred to an NGO Save Animals Value Environment (SAVE), whose chairman, Rumpy Madan, took a deep interest into why some of the pigeons had special magnetic rings attached to them.  The matter was then taken to the intelligence agencies, where intelligence seemed in short supply. “We have been told,” stated Madan at the time, “that it is a case of apprehended danger.” These birds, she went on to say, “can be easily trained for spying or messaging purposes and they have a unique quality of returning to its trainer even after covering huge distances.”

With such heaped-upon praise, and clumsy reasoning – is the pigeon really spying if ignorant of it? – we should hardly be surprised about absurd reports that same month of a grey pigeon being “arrested” by India’s border security force (BSF) in Indian Punjab. The feathered intruder was duly accused for allegedly spying for Pakistan. It had in its possession, allegedly, a small letter in Urdu with a threatening message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “Modi, we’re not the same people from 1971.  Now each and every child is ready to fight against India.” The pigeon was duly punished: its wings were clipped to prevent it returning.

*

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

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). Email: [email protected] 

Featured image source

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Joe Biden enjoys a deep groundswell of support from Jewish-Democratic benefactors, with giants in the worlds of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Wall Street making up a significant portion of the U.S. president’s fundraising as he begins his reelection bid in earnest

*

U.S. President Joe Biden’s reelection bid has some tough sledding ahead if the majority of polls that have emerged in recent months are to be believed. His fundraising efforts tell another story, though, with his reelection campaign already raking in significant donations – many coming from longtime Zionist Democratic megadonors.

An analysis of campaign finance disclosures showing contributions to Biden’s campaign and pro-Biden PACs and super PACs for 2023 illustrates a deep groundswell of support from Jewish-Democratic benefactors. They make up a significant portion of the president’s fundraising as he begins his reelection bid in earnest.

The donors in question – many of whom are in the finance industry, with others connected to Hollywood and Silicon Valley – vary in their prioritization of Israel as a campaign issue, as well as their respective involvements in local Jewish communities and philanthropies.

Their steadfast and deep-pocketed support for Biden, however, indicate how the Democratic Party has generations-deep support within the American-Jewish community.

Polls have continuously shown that Jewish voters vastly prefer Biden over Donald Trump, with Israel rarely being among voters’ top priorities. Despite this, American Jews are among the few groups who have stuck with Biden amid plummeting poll numbers (many of which stem from his approach to Israel, which centrist Democrats deem a threshold issue).

Haim Saban is perhaps the key pro-Israel megadonor for Biden, significantly overlapping between both the president’s reelection bid and AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC. He has given over $936,000 to Biden, after donating $1 million to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC. (While federal political action committees have strict limits on the amounts they can contribute, a super PAC is allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to campaign independently for candidates for federal office.)

Click here to read the full article on Haaretz.

*

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

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

There was never any possibility that the Israeli government would agree to a pause in the fighting proposed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, much less a ceasefire. Israel is on the verge of delivering the coup de grâce in its war on Palestinians in Gaza – mass starvation. When Israeli leaders use the term “absolute victory,” they mean total decimation, total elimination. The Nazis in 1942 systematically starved the 500,000 men, women and children in the Warsaw Ghetto. This is a number Israel intends to exceed. 

Israel, and its chief patron the United States, by attempting to shut down the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provides food and aid to Gaza, is not only committing a war crime, but is in flagrant defiance of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The court found the charges of genocide brought by South Africa, which included statements and facts gathered by UNWRA, plausible. It ordered Israel to abide by six provisional measures to prevent genocide and alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe. The fourth provisional measure calls on Israel to secure immediate and effective steps to provide humanitarian assistance and essential services in Gaza. 

UNRWA’s reports on conditions in Gaza, which I covered as a reporter for seven years, and its documentation of indiscriminate Israeli attacks illustrate that, as UNRWA said, “unilaterally declared ‘safe zones’ are not safe at all. Nowhere in Gaza is safe.” 

UNRWA’s role in documenting the genocide, as well as providing food and aid to the Palestinians, infuriates the Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused UNRWA after the ruling of providing false information to the ICJ. Already an Israeli target for decades, Israel decided that UNRWA, which supports 5.9 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East with clinics, schools and food, had to be eliminated. Israel’s destruction of UNRWA serves a political as well as material objective. 

The evidence-free Israeli accusations against UNRWA that a dozen of the 13,000 employees had links to those who carried out the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, which saw some 1,200 Israelis killed, did the trick. It led 16 major donors, including the United States, the U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Estonia and Japan, to suspend financial support for the relief agency on which nearly every Palestinian in Gaza depends for food. Israel has killed152 UNRWA workers and damaged 147 UNRWA installations since Oct. 7. Israel has also bombed UNRWA relief trucks. 

More than 27,708 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, some 67,000 have been wounded and at least 7,000 are missing, most likely dead and buried under the rubble.

More than half a million Palestinians – one in four – are starving in Gaza, according to the U.N. Starvation will soon be ubiquitous. Palestinians in Gaza, at least 1.9 million of whom have been internally displaced, lack not only sufficient food, but clean water, shelter and medicine. There are few fruits or vegetables. There is little flour to make bread. Pasta, along with meat, cheese and eggs, have disappeared. Black market prices for dry goods such as lentils and beans have increased 25 times from pre-war prices. A bag of flour on the black market has risen from $8.00 to $200 dollars. The healthcare system in Gaza, with only three of Gaza’s 36 hospitals left partially functioning, has largely collapsed. Some 1.3 million displaced Palestinians live on the streets of the southern city of Rafah, which Israel designated a “safe zone,” but has begun to bomb. Families shiver in the winter rains under flimsy tarps amid pools of raw sewage. An estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes.

“There is no instance since the Second World War in which an entire population has been reduced to extreme hunger and destitution with such speed,” writes Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University and the author of “Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine,” in the Guardian. “And there’s no case in which the international obligation to stop it has been so clear.”

The United States, formerly UNRWA’s largest contributor, provided $422 million to the agency in 2023. The severance of funds ensures that UNRWA food deliveries, already in very short supply because of blockages by Israel, will largely come to a halt by the end of February or the beginning of March.

Israel has given the Palestinians in Gaza two choices. Leave or die. 

I covered the famine in Sudan in 1988 that took 250,000 lives. There are streaks in my lungs, scars from standing amid hundreds of Sudanese who were dying of tuberculosis. I was strong and healthy and fought off the contagion. They were weak and emaciated and did not. The international community, as in Gaza, did little to intervene. 

The precursor to starvation – undernourishment – already affects most Palestinians in Gaza. Those who starve lack enough calories to sustain themselves. In desperation people begin to eat animal fodder, grass, leaves, insects, rodents, even dirt. They suffer from diarrhea and respiratory infections. They rip up tiny bits of food, often spoiled, and ration it. 

Soon, lacking enough iron to produce hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body, and myoglobin, a protein that provides oxygen to muscles, coupled with a lack of vitamin B1, they become anemic. The body feeds on itself. Tissue and muscle waste away. It is impossible to regulate body temperature. Kidneys shut down. Immune systems crash. Vital organs – brain, heart, lungs, ovaries and testes — atrophy. Blood circulation slows. The volume of blood decreases. Infectious diseases such as typhoid, tuberculosis and cholera become an epidemic, killing people by the thousands.

It is impossible to concentrate. Emaciated victims succumb to mental and emotional withdrawal and apathy. They do not want to be touched or moved. The heart muscle is weakened. Victims, even at rest, are in a state of virtual heart failure. Wounds do not heal. Vision is impaired with cataracts, even among the young. Finally, wracked by convulsions and hallucinations, the heart stops. This process can last up to 40 days for an adult. Children, the elderly and the sick expire at faster rates.

I saw hundreds of skeletal figures, specters of human beings, moving forlornly at a glacial pace across the barren Sudanese landscape. Hyenas, accustomed to eating human flesh, routinely picked off small children. I stood over clusters of bleached human bones on the outskirts of villages where dozens of people, too weak to walk, had laid down in a group and never gotten up. Many were the remains of entire families. 

In the abandoned town of Mayen Abun bats dangled from the rafters of the gutted Italian mission church. The streets were overgrown with tussocks of grass. The dirt airstrip was flanked by hundreds of human bones, skulls and the remnants of iron bracelets, colored beads, baskets and tattered strips of clothing. The palm trees had been cut in half. People had eaten the leaves and the pulp inside. There had been a rumor that food would be delivered by plane. People had walked for days to the airstrip. They waited and waited and waited. No plane arrived. No one buried the dead. 

Now, from a distance, I watch this happen in another land in another time. I know the indifference that doomed the Sudanese, mostly Dinkas, and today dooms the Palestinians. The poor, especially when they are of color, do not count.  They can be killed like flies. The starvation in Gaza is not a natural disaster. It is Israel’s masterplan. 

There will be scholars and historians who will write of this genocide, falsely believing that we can learn from the past, that we are different, that history can prevent us from being, once again, barbarians. They will hold academic conferences. They will say “Never again!” They will praise themselves for being more humane and civilized. But when it comes time to speak out with each new genocide, fearful of losing their status or academic positions, they will scurry like rats into their holes. Human history is one long atrocity for the world’s poor and vulnerable. Gaza is another chapter.

*

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

Featured image: Let Them Eat Dirt – by Mr. Fish

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The corporate state isn’t done milking January 6 for all it’s worth.

“Not by a damn sight,” as fictional gangster Marsellus Wallace might say.

As my Irish-Catholic Midwestern grandmammy used to say as she watered her petunias, “when life gives you lemonades, you make a techno-police state aimed at your domestic political opponents.”

Via The Hill:

“Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is requesting a transcribed interview with a former Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) official for allegedly flagging consumer transactions that had the phrases “TRUMP” or “MAGA” in them

Jordan said the committee had obtained documents showing that FinCEN outlined ‘typologies’ of persons of interest in materials distributed to financial institutions. He said these materials included ‘suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement’* after Jan. 6, 2021.”

*Why financial institutions should be enlisted to do federal police work on behalf of the government is a question that might have been asked decades ago, but that ship has sailed. It’s now chalked up to standard operating procedure.

The Orwellian censorship regime is nearly beyond parody, as the feds were reportedly interested not just in flagging financial activity of “domestic terrorists,” but also of surveilling and flagging the literature they imbibe.

From Rep. Jordan’s letter:

“The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the ‘typologies’ of various persons of interest and provide financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement.

These materials included a document recommending the use of generic terms like ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA’ to ‘search Zelle payment messages’ as well as a ‘prior FinCEN analysis’ of ‘Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators.’ According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of ‘extremism’ indicators that include ‘transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,’ or “’the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.’ In other words, FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.”

“These allegations, if true, represent a flagrant violation of Americans’ privacy and the improper targeting of U.S. citizens for exercising their constitutional rights without due process,” wrote Rep. Tim Scott, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Again, that ship sailed years ago. Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth and reject elected Republicans who have suddenly rediscovered a passion for the Bill of Rights, but let us never forget either that it was the Bush-era War of Terror that opened up the floodgates for this genre of governmental abuse. 

The Brandon entity’s handlers recently confirmed that the allegations of fed impropriety are, in fact, true.

Via Fox News:

The Biden administration has confirmed that terms like ‘MAGA,’ ‘Trump’ and ’Kamala’ were included in the push by federal investigators for banks to surveil private financial transactions following the Jan. 6, 2021 protests at the U.S. Capitol, a letter obtained by Fox News Digital reveals.

The letter, sent Friday from the Treasury Department to Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, notes that ‘Exchange events’ convened by its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, ‘began shortly after January 6 under the prior Administration,’ and ‘included terms such as ‘antifa,’ ‘MAGA,’ ‘Trump,’ ‘Biden,’ ‘Kamala,’ ‘Schumer,’ and ‘Pelosi.’

This marks the first time the Biden administration has gone on the record to confirm some of the keywords included in the Jan. 6-related push by investigators.”

By all natural right, the government criminals who engaged in this behavior should be duly prosecuted and their cases judiciously and fairly disposed of.

Alas, in all matters of state malfeasance, who is going to watch the watchmen?

The remedy is the people, of course — patriots, the ultimate check on state power — as the Founders intended in a functional representative system of governance. But doing so will land said patriot on the kind of government list he was protesting in the first place.

I believe this is what they call a Catch-22.

*

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

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

Featured image: Donald Trump on the campaign trail in March 2016. Credit:Windover Way Photography

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

An article written by Alan McLeod and published by Global Research [1] explains in detail how U.S. politicians have been held hostage by the power of the Israeli lobby. Even the incumbent U.S. President, Joe Biden, is said to be the largest recipient of Israel lobby funds. The total money he received from the Israel lobby since 1990 is $4,346,264. In correlation with receiving this money, Biden, throughout his political career, from being a Senator to now becoming U.S. President, has always been a loyal defender of Israel.

When the unconditional defense of Israel is again carried out by the U.S. President, at a time when Gaza is experiencing genocide by Israel –part of which is broadcasted live on the media—and the whole world watches in horror, inevitably, U.S. democracy becomes a big question. Is this the democracy glorified by the U.S. and spread worldwide by persuasion or coercion?

Democracy means “rule by the people” since the term is derived from the Greek dēmokratia, dēmos (“people”), and Kratos (“rule”). When a country claims to be a democratic country, it has a system of government where people have the power to participate in decision-making. However, in a United States-style democracy, it has been proven that the power to participate in decision-making belongs to the people and the money owners.

U.S. Presidents before the Biden also provided support for Israel. Even before advancing to the elections, U.S. presidential candidates will visit Zionist lobby organizations to pledge their support for Israel. Hillary Clinton, in her campaign before AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee), in 2016 delivered this remark about illegal settlements built by Israel in the West Bank and East Jerusalem: 

“Everyone has to do their part by avoiding damaging actions, including concerning settlements. Now, America has an important role to play in supporting peace efforts. Moreover, as president, I would continue the pursuit of direct negotiations. Moreover, I would vigorously oppose any attempt by outside parties to impose a solution, including by the U.N. Security Council.” [2]

In December 2016, the UNSC adopted Resolution 2334, which clearly states that Israeli settlement is a “flagrant violation” of international law and has “no legal validity.” Even though the Resolution does not impose any sanctions on Israel and only demands that Israel stop building houses for Israeli settlers in the Palestinian land, it has determined that Israel has indeed violated international law. The Resolution was voted by four members with UNSC veto power (China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom), and the U.S. chose to abstain. It is truly absurd that a country that claims to be the most democratic and has a project to democratize all corners of the earth supports violations of international law. 

President-elect Donald Trump also showed full support for Israel, among other things, most controversially, when he unilaterally proclaimed Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017. This proclamation contradicts the U.S. government’s policy, which states that the status of Jerusalem is occupied territory. This decision also contradicts international law, giving rise to criticism from many countries. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi emphasized that Indonesia condemns Trump’s decision.

“We condemn this recognition; democracy means respecting international law, so this recognition does not respect various U.N. Security Council resolutions,” she said.[3]

If we track the record of the previous president, namely Barack Obama, we will see a similar phenomenon. Even though at the beginning of his term, in his speech in Cairo on June 4, 2006, Obama seemed to have a fairer perspective regarding the Palestinian issue, which gave new hope. 

“Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern with institutions that serve the needs of its people. Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations and to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, and recognize Israel’s right to exist.

At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.” [4]

However, in the following period, business as usual happened. In 2016, Obama signed the most significant military aid package in U.S. history to Israel: $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade. The aid will allow Israel “to upgrade most of its fighter aircraft, improve its ground forces’ mobility, and strengthen its missile defense systems.” [5]

Previously, President Bush also launched the Iraq war as a “weapon of mass murder.” However, many analysts view that the Iraq War was for Israel’s sake. James Petras, an academic and U.S. writer, wrote that the party exerting intense pressure on Bush to launch the Iraq War was the pro-Israel lobby. Architects and essential decision makers in the Iraq War were Zionists, such as Wolfowitz and Senator Lieberman. Steven L Spiegel is a professor of politics at UCLA. In his article in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Israel-based think-tank Spiegel wrote that U.S. troops’ victory in the Gulf War was a victory for Israel because Iraq was a fundamental threat to Israel’s security that had been weakened. [6]

The U.S. system of government provides opportunities for the American people to influence the state’s decisions through various means, such as donating to campaigns (presidential and senate/congress), voting in elections, mobilizing public opinion, as well as lobbying the government team and people’s representatives (in Congress/Senate). What is a lobby? The lobby is a group of people and organizations who work actively to influence political policy. Lobbying has become a primary ‘industry’ in Washington, DC. People who jump in doing lobbying activities are called lobbyists. Lobbyists usually form lobbying companies (lobby firms). The lobbyist profession is much sought after by former members of Congress (Parliament) or former officials because they bring in vast amounts of money. Big companies pay lobbyists if they want the government/Congress (parliament) to pass (or not pass) a law.

Any racial groups (Jews, Chinese, or Hispanics) can also lobby when their interests must be fought for in government/Congress. However, the lobby with the most significant influence in the U.S. is the pro-Israel Zionist lobby. Among the hundreds of pro-Israel lobby organizations in the U.S., the strongest are AIPAC and CPMJO, led by hardline lobbyists who are very pro-policy Israeli expansionists. However, moderate Jewish lobby organizations also stood on their side of the same: pushing U.S. policy to suit Israel’s interests.

John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, academics from Chicago University and Harvard University, in a  book entitled “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” provide evidence of how pro-Israel lobby groups have been very successful in diverting U.S. political policy away from its national interests, and at the same time, convincing the public and U.S. politicians that there are similarities in the interests of the U.S. and Israel. As Obama said in front of AIPAC’s members in 2008, “Our alliance is based on shared interests and shared values. Those who threaten Israel threaten us.” [6] 

The Lobbyists’ efforts to hegemony U.S. politicians were carried out long before Bush, Obama, Trump, or now, Biden, became president. In his memoirs, the 33rd U.S. President, Harry Truman, wrote that the prominent Jewish leaders in the U.S. put full pressure on him to use American power and strength for the benefit of the aspirations of the Jews in Palestine. Truman also claimed to have received 35,000 letters and propaganda from Jews throughout America when the U.N. was in the process of dividing the Palestinian territories. When the U.N. finally passed Resolution 181 dividing Palestine in two, Truman wrote a letter to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr., urging Morgenthau to tell his Jewish friends that “the Jews should show tolerance and consideration for other people in neighboring Palestine.” Of course, Truman did not take long to see that his hopes never came true. [7]

So, what kind of democracy produces a foreign policy that only benefits a few parties, in this case, Israel and its cronies?

Sure enough, it is not a real democracy that heeds the people’s voice.

The U.S. – style democracy has proven to have shackled the hands of their presidents. The handcuffed U.S. Presidents can no longer fight for their nation’s interests but continue to spend state resources for the interests of a far away tiny country, Israel.

*

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

Dr. Dina Yulianti Sulaeman is an Assistant Professor at Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia.

Notes

[1] https://www.globalresearch.ca/blood-money-top-ten-politicians-taking-most-israel-lobby-cash/5844024

[2] https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/03/hillary-clintons-aipac-speech-was-a-symphony-of-craven-delusional-pandering.html

[3] https://www.antaranews.com/berita/669503/delapan-negara-serukan-pertemuan-dewan-keamanan-pbb-soal-jerusalem

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/politics/04obama.text.html

[5] https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN11K2CI/

[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/us/politics/04text-obama-aipac.html 

[7]quoted and translated from a book written by Dina Y. Sulaiman, “Obama Revealed.”

Featured image is from The Unz Review

Pakistan Elections: The People’s Verdict

February 12th, 2024 by Aqib Sattar

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

As the Chinese proverb goes, “May you live in interesting time”.

It really feels as if the Chinese were speaking about the contemporary predicament of Pakistan.

Pakistan has just undergone arguably the most exhilarating elections in the country’s history.

What made these elections the most gripping was the fact that the country’s most popular politician not only was not permitted to contest in the elections but also has been the victim of vengeful campaign by the elites that he opposed. We are, of course, referring to the former Prime Minister Imran Khan. 

As has been asserted by politicians of all ideological stripes, the elections seemed to be marred from the beginning. Once state interventions including shutting down of mobile and internet services across the country, it was well understood that these elections would be far from being free and fair. A fundamental feature of today’s politics in Pakistan is popular distrust of the traditional kleptocratic, dynastic political parties —principally the House of Shareef and the House of Zardari. In addition, such mistrust extends to the mainstream corporate media as well. Countries of the Global South, including Pakistan, are constantly lectured by the mantra of being more democratic.

However, the problem arises when such nations make the wrong choices in their democratic dispensation. Such is the explanatory framework that helps us understand what has been happening in Pakistan over the past several decades. The democracy that Pakistanis have experienced has been severely constrained by the very limited political choices. Elementary freedoms have been suppressed irrespective whether it’s been civilian or military rule. 

The context of these elections has been the incredibly harsh repression, including the imprisonment of workers and politicians associated with Khan’s political party, the PTI (Pakistan Therik-e-Insaf) as well as of Khan himself.

Nevertheless, the PTI’s robust performance in these elections has surprised most political analysts. One significant attribute contributing to the outstanding performance of PTI has been its popularity among the overwhelming majority of the youths.

What this indicates is that there is a great degree of trust in a political party that has broken the duopoly of the two most powerful political parties. However, PTI’s success has been foiled to facilitate the false victories of the traditional political elites.

The elections were delayed in the first place and now that they have been held, the elections results have also been delayed to assist the favored candidates to win. In particular, the leader of PML(N), former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had clearly lost to the deeply respected PTI candidate, Doctor Yasim Rashid. But the undemocratic forces had somehow changed the election result so that Mr. Sharif became victorious. 

The public’s verdict must be respected by all without qualifications or limitations. The state should not falter or fail the people at this critical juncture. The delay of election results has made the situation more precarious.  The people have spoken. The undemocratic forces must back off gracefully for once. The state cannot afford more experiments. Not accepting the people’s will exacerbate the existing political instability in the country. Political stability in a healthy democratic setup is the only guarantor of successfully tackling the myriad social and economic malaise afflicting the country. 

*

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

Aqib Sattar is a post graduate student of Media and Politics in Virginia, USA.

Featured image is from IRF

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

As expected, Tucker Carlson is getting a lot of flak for conducting his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He’s not merely being accused of “spreading Russian propaganda” (he’s long been accustomed to that, as well as the mainstream propaganda machine’s obsession with all sorts of deranged “Russia, Russia, Russia” conspiracy theories), but there’s an actual push in the European Union to sanction Carlson. It seems journalists doing journalism is considered “heresy” by most other mainstream “journalists”. The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt is unhappy that the interview was “neither a talk show nor a real conversation”, so he went on to parrot every propaganda trope in the book. Al Jazeera’s Mansur Mirovalev insists that Putin is “obsessed”, concluding his remarks by quoting a certain Valentin, the Kiev regime’s drone operator who allegedly complained that both Putin and Carlson are “conspiracy theorists” and that “Ukraine is real and it will prevail“.

In a piece published by Politico, a German-owned publication infamous for attempts to whitewash Nazism, Sergey Goryashko claimed that Putin supposedly “lied”. Among several propaganda claims he used to, as he says, “debunk” Putin’s points was that the Neo-Nazi junta frontman Volodymyr Zelensky “only signed a decree banning negotiations specifically with Putin, not Russia as a country”.

Such ludicrous claims aren’t only false, but are even childish. Pushed by the United States, United Kingdom and NATO, the Kiev regime certainly broke the March 2022 peace deal that could have ended the special military operation (SMO) in less than a month. What’s more, it even publicly promotes its so-called “10-point peace plan” that boils down to Russia’s unconditional capitulation, a fantasy that the political West wholeheartedly supports and even promotes through some sort of absurd unilateral “peace talks”. In doing so, the Neo-Nazi junta effectively codified the impossibility of a peaceful settlement.

So much for Putin “lying”. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to frenzied attacks by the mainstream propaganda machine. In a piece for The New Yorker, Masha Gessen, the infamous “woke” ideologue obsessed with Putin, called the interview “boring”. She (although Gessen insists her pronouns are “they/them”, a request I earnestly refuse to comply with) obviously loathes historical facts, so the trouble she has with going through the entire interview, a problem most likely exacerbated by her two-second attention span (tends to happen to a lot of people staring at reels all day), perfectly explains her rather poor judgment of Putin’s points. Then came the “fact-checkers” such as Charlie Hancock of the Amsterdam-based Moscow Times who essentially repeated several of Goryashko’s long-debunked claims and added a few of his own. After all, what would the mainstream propaganda machine ever do without “fact-checkers“?

Of course, Hancock wasn’t the only one. The UK’s state-run BBC also published its own version, “fact-checking Putin’s nonsense history“. It would seem Masha Gessen isn’t the only one who skipped history classes in primary school, as the BBC’s Ido Vock quoted several self-styled “experts” and “pundits” to supposedly “debunk Putin’s rambling”, as he called it, clearly implying that he was also bored by the interview, which further indicates just how much he actually knows about the topic he covered for the UK’s state-run news agency. And of course, there’s also the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), claiming that Carlson’s Putin interview supposedly serves as a “propaganda platform”, which is quite rich coming from a literal CIA front formed to spread Washington DC’s state-sponsored propaganda. The Economist insists that “Russia’s president is not a man to be trusted, still less to emulate or admire”, because, luckily, they “know Putin’s real message” better than he himself does.

Newsweek’s Brendan Cole quoted Oleksandra Matviichuk, the Kiev regime’s “human rights activist”, who also slammed Carlson. Comically enough, Cole insists that Matviichuk’s opinion “matters” because she’s a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Is it even necessary to explain just how politicized that vaunted “peace prize” is when laureates include people like Barrack Obama and Al Gore? The Obama administration came to power criticizing the previous government run by George W. Bush for its aggression across the Middle East. Obama promised to end these wars, which is why he got the once-prestigious award in the first place. However, as soon as Bush left the White House, Obama expanded his aggression from two countries (Iraq and Afghanistan) to another five (Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan), seven in total. Worse yet, during Obama’s presidency (2009-2017), Washington DC launched ten times more airstrikes than under Bush, killing millions of innocent civilians in the process.

While the DNC-dominated media always try to whitewash Obama by shifting blame solely on Bush, it should be noted that the former personally authorized at least 6,000 drone strikes (approximately 2 per day during 8 years of his presidency), although the actual number may be orders of magnitude higher. So much for Obama’s contribution to “peace”. As for Al Gore, his active role in the Clinton administration’s war crimes and aggression on Serbia/former Yugoslavia requires an entirely separate analysis. However, as previously mentioned, this isn’t the end of the mainstream propaganda machine’s attempts to denigrate Putin’s interview with Carlson. The Associated Press (AP) insists that Russia’s president “missed the bigger picture”, so they felt the urge to “fill the gaps” with five points, composed largely of debunked propaganda tropes. And yet, these were expanded to nine in another piece by Politico, signed by Eva Hartog and, once again, Sergey Goryashko.

The key takeaway is that the mainstream propaganda machine is in meltdown over the interview, seen by hundreds of millions (if not billions at this point) on TV and across numerous Internet platforms. The political West is genuinely terrified of Putin’s global popularity, so the goal is to try and tarnish his reputation by twisting his remarks or simply telling outright lies about him. And while the interview may seem lengthy (by today’s standards), Putin simply had to get a lot of propaganda out of the way, as NATO and its Neo-Nazi puppets have been falsifying historical facts about Ukraine quite intensively, particularly in recent times, all in an attempt to show that the country supposedly has “nothing to do with Russia“. In that sense, websites such as Wikipedia have experienced an unprecedented number of edits with the goal of promoting these historically baseless claims. Putin is certainly aware of that, which is why he had to explain the complex history of the Ukrainian conflict.

Putin’s intellect and encyclopedic knowledge of history, law, intelligence and several other key fields are a massive boost to Russia’s already world-class diplomacy. This stands in stark contrast to the US and its current administration. Could anyone imagine Joe Biden giving an unscripted, two-hour-long interview to a foreign journalist, much less one conducted with near-scholarly precision? Regardless of whether one adores or loathes President Putin, the fact is that the increasingly unpopular and impotent leaders of the political West are simply no match for him, which is why we never see any of them giving remotely similar interviews to journalists of Tucker Carlson’s caliber. And while he might be among the most prominent journalists to ever interview Putin, Russia’s president is well-known for hours-long discussions with hundreds (if not thousands) of journalists from all over the world, without any papers, cliff notes or scripted questions. He simply doesn’t need them.

*

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

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

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

Featured image is from InfoBrics

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

In 2021, 66 year old pilot Lelon Albert Lewis crashed a small airplane hours after receiving Moderna mRNA Vaccine. Here is his story:

Click here to watch the video

April 3, 2021 – Lelon Albert Lewis Obituary

April 3, 2021 Plane Crash – Lelon Albert Lewis: Magnus Fusion 212, N434MA; fatal accident in Conifer, Jefferson County, Colorado

On April 3, 2021, about 1735 central daylight time, a Magnus Fusion 212 airplane, N434MA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Conifer, Colorado. The sport pilot was fatally injured.

A review of air traffic control (ATC) information revealed the airplane departed about 1658 from Colorado Air and Space Port Airport (FCO), Denver, Colorado. The airplane flew southwest and the last ATC information was recorded about 1729 as the airplane flew near Deckers, Colorado about 800 ft above ground level (agl). The airplane continued west toward rising terrain and an emergency locator beacon (ELT) transmission was recorded about 1735.

A witness near Wigwam Trail in the Pike National Forest observed the airplane flying slowly on a northwest heading and subsequently turned left to enter a canyon at less than 500 ft agl. After entry into the canyon, the airplane turned sharply to the right and the witness lost sight of the airplane. The airplane impacted into steep, forested terrain with a nose low attitude and low forward speed.

The aircraft was equipped with a parachute recovery system. Examination of the system on-site revealed that it was not deployed. The airplane will be further examined at a recovery location.

*

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colorado  (CBS4) – The pilot killed in a plane crash over the weekend has been identified. Lelon Albert Lewis, 66, was the only person on board the plane when it crashed in a rugged area northwest of Deckers on Saturday.

The plane was first reported missing on Saturday. Eventually, the downed plane’s location was discovered from aircraft overhead on Sunday.

With assistance from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, search and rescue personnel with the Alpine Rescue team hiked into the site in the Lost Creek Wilderness and found the single occupant of the plane, identified on Monday afternoon as Lewis, dead.

It’s unclear what caused the crash but the plane, a single-engine Magnus Fusion 212, was a Hungarian-made sport plane engineered for aerobatics. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

VAERS REPORT (1167407):

My Take… 

66 year old pilot, Lelon Albert Lewis, crashed a small plane in Colorado a few hours after receiving his 2nd Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

The plane took a sharp turn before the crash, and the parachute recovery system was not deployed. It is highly probable that the pilot collapsed and lost consciousness, which then led to the plane crash.

The fact that there is a VAERS report suggests that the family believed he probably had a reaction to his 2nd Moderna COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine, which led to the plane crash and his death.

This case is unique, in that it is the only plane crash recorded in VAERS after COVID-19 Vaccination, however, same day deaths post jab are actually a shockingly common occurrence.

There are at least 1150 deaths documented in VAERS that occurred on the same day they took the COVID-19 Vaccine.

US Cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough explains this to Jimmy Dore (Jan. 2024):

Click here to watch the video.

*

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

Dr. 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.

Featured image source


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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

All breadline massacres are equal, Orwell might have written, whilst adding tongue in cheek that some breadline massacres are more equal than others. Such a thought comes to mind after February 4, 2024, when a Ukrainian armed forces projectile killed 28 residents in the city of Lysychansk, Lugansk region, and wounded several dozen. The civilian victims were standing in line in front of a local bakery, intending to buy bread.

Those with a memory that goes back longer than fifteen minutes (unfortunately neither the majority nor even a significant minority nowadays) may recall that a similar incident took place in Sarajevo, during the war in Bosnia, on May 27, 1992. The victims of that incident were also waiting in line to buy bread when a projectile landed nearby and killed several dozens of them.

There is a huge difference in the way the self-styled “international community” reacted to these two similar and equally lethal events.

The status and identity of the victims and of the suspected perpetrators may have shaped that unequal response. In Lysychansk the victims were residents of Donbass, former citizens of Ukraine who in a referendum voted overwhelmingly to join Russia.

From the standpoint of the Kiev regime and its foreign sponsors that act of disobedience made them fair game for retribution. The fact that since 2014 they have been indiscriminate targets of bombardment by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which so far has cost at least 14,000 civilian lives, does not count as an extenuating circumstance in their favour.

The perceived human worth and political status of the preferred Sarajevo victims in May of 1992 is defined by the fact that technically they were the cannon fodder of the Sarajevo regime, the side in the Bosnian civil war that was supported by NATO and the collective West, exactly as today the same actors are supporting, and systematically exculpating, the Kiev regime.

In consequence, and in complete contrast to the treatment of Lysychansk victims in 2024, the Sarajevo 1992 victims were copiously mourned by the collective West’s politicians and media machine, whilst the designated perpetrators were indignantly vilified. Threats were made to exact harsh retribution on the perpetrators, even before any investigation to establish the facts has been conducted. Those threats were promptly carried out by inducing the UN Security Council to pass Resolution 757, inflicting punishment on the neighbouring Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by imposing a total trade embargo, followed by what the New York Times called “the most sweeping sanctions in history.” Yugoslavia was selected for such punishment because of its support for the Bosnian Serbs, who were accused, although firm evidence was not presented, of maliciously firing the mortar shell which resulted in the fatalities.

The killings in Lysychansk, by marked contrast, have passed virtually without comment in the Western media. No indignation was displayed and the sparse mention of the tragedy was peppered with qualifiers such as “alleged,” inserted to put in doubt the incident’s veracity. No urgent sessions of the UN Security Council were convened to assess what had happened in Lysychansk nor were furious calls heard to impose punitive sanctions either on the direct perpetrators or their foreign sponsors, on the latter for having supplied the lethal devices that caused the death of civilians in that particular breadline. This time, Russia did not even bother to try to convene a Security Council session, obviously realising there was no point following the recent downing of its airplane that was transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war to be exchanged, after its request for a Security Council meeting was flatly denied by the French rotating president of that body.

Nor is the 2024 Lysychansk massacre likely to have any other repercussions comparable to what followed the similar incident which took place in Sarajevo in 1992. To this day there is no conclusive proof of  where the mortar shell that struck the Sarajevo breadline originated, but circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that it may have been staged by Sarajevo authorities to provide a rationale for punishing their adversaries. Nevertheless, the massacre was featured in the Hague Tribunal indictment of Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadžić. The embarrassing inadequacy of the evidence subsequently presented by the Prosecution caused that charge to be quietly passed over in the final verdict. There is no indication that the International Court of Justice, also in the Hague, is entertaining the thought of similarly calling the political and military leadership in Kiev to account for committing a strikingly analogous crime in Lysychansk, or even of undertaking a pro forma investigation to sort out what happened.

In reacting selectively to lethal wartime incidents the collective West has displayed a hypocrisy breath-taking in scope as it shamelessly and publicly adheres to double standards motivated entirely by utilitarian considerations and political favouritism. Even-handed respect for human life or international humanitarian law does not seem to play any role. Western policy and the stance of the media have followed exactly the analytical paradigm elaborated by Edward Herman and David Peterson in their seminal study The Politics of Genocide for the classification of atrocities and the distinction between worthy and unworthy victims“:

“When we ourselves commit mass-atrocity crimes, the atrocities are Constructive, our victims are unworthy of our attention and indignation, and never suffer ‘genocide’ at our hands… But when the perpetrator of  mass-atrocity crimes is our enemy or a state targeted by us for destabilization and attack, the converse is true. Then the atrocities are Nefarious and their victims worthy of our focus, sympathy, public displays of solidarity, and calls for inquiry and punishment.“ [P. 103]

The characteristic of Constructive atrocities (and presumably the mass killing of civilians in Lysychansk and more broadly in the Donbass fits that description) is that “the victims were rarely acknowledged, the crimes against them rarely punished (with only low-level personnel brought to book in well-publicised cases like My Lai)“ [p. 19] because demonization of the real victims and atrocities management remain as important as ever and keeps the citizens of the imperial powers properly misinformed and supportive of bigtime atrocities.“ [P. 22]

“… [W]ith civilian killings largely kept off the official books,“ the authors continue, “and, even when acknowledged, treated tolerantly for these unworthy victims, such killings and bloodbaths … have been thoroughly normalised. “ [P. 37]

That, in sum, is the moral bookkeeping of the contemporary West.

*

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

Stephen Karganovic is president of “Srebrenica Historical Project,” an NGO registered in the Netherlands to investigate the factual matrix and background of events that took place in Srebrenica in July of 1995. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.  

Featured image source


Rethinking Srebrenica eBook : Karganovic, Stephen, Simic, Ljubisa: Amazon.co.uk: BooksRethinking Srebrenica

By Stephen Karganovic

Rethinking Srebrenica examines the forensic evidence of the alleged Srebrenica “massacre” possessed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Even though the ICTY created more than 3,500 autopsy reports, many of these autopsy reports were based on bone fragments, which do not represent complete bodies. An examination of the matching femur bones found reveals that there were only about 1,900 complete bodies that were exhumed. Of these, some 1,500 autopsy reports indicated a cause of death consistent with battlefield casualties. Only about 400 autopsy reports indicated execution as a cause of death, as revealed by ligatures and blindfolds. This forensic evidence does not warrant the conclusion of a genocide having taken place.

Karganovic examines the events that took place in Srebrenica in July 1995 in a wholistic manner instead of restricting it to a three-day event. The ten chapters cover:

1) Srebrenica: A Critical Overview;

2) Demilitarization of the UN Safe Zone of Srebrenica;

3) Genocide or Blowback?;

4) General Presentation and Interpretation of Srebrenica Forensic Data (Pattern of Injury Breakdown);

5) An Analysis of the Srebrenica Forensic Reports Prepared by the ICTY Prosecution Experts;

6) An Analysis of Muslim Column Losses Attributable to Minefields, Combat Activity, and Other Causes;

7) The Genocide Issue: Was there a Demonstrable Intent to Exterminate All Muslims?;

8) ICTY Radio Intercept Evidence;

9) The Balance Sheet; and

10) Srebrenica: Uses of the Narrative.

  • ASIN:‎ B0992RRJRK
  • Publisher: ‎Unwritten History, Inc.; 2 edition (July 8 2021)
  • Language: ‎English

Click here to purchase

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

June 2022 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – 39 year old nurse Terry (COVID-19 mRNA Vaccinated) had a cardiac arrest while driving and drove herself to the hospital where she almost died.

  • “As I was driving, I suddenly felt a sharp pain from my neck to my shoulder…the pain became so unbearable and panic set in…I drove myself to the hospital just in time as it turned out , I was having a heart attack”

  • “I’m not yet 40, an active runner, cyclist, nurse, wife and mama. But that’s the thing. It could happen to ANYONE”
  • “I was diagnosed with SCAD – Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection”

My Take… 

This Edmonton nurse is in my medical circle. She is fully COVID-19 Vaccinated.

Why is this case important?

  1. COVID-19 mRNA Vaccinated women are being decimated by cardiac injuries and deaths. She has discovered this herself (although hasn’t connected the dots all the way to the mRNA jab):

  1. These cardiac arrests can happen while driving and they’re extremely dangerous.

  2. She had her artery dissection when she started running again (the dangers of exercising when you’re COVID-19 Vaccinated)

  1. She was diagnosed with SCAD – Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection that lead to a cardiac arrest. “A rare condition leading to a tear in the artery”. This is not a congenital condition – spontaneous means it happened out of the blue and could happen to anyone.

  2. COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines damage blood vessels, which has been proven in many published cases with autopsy. There are two types of blood vessel damage they can case:

    1. aneurysms
    2. dissections

Nov. 2022 (Takashi et al) – An autopsy case report of aortic dissection complicated with histiolymphocytic pericarditis and aortic inflammation after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.

  • 90s year old Japanese man had his 3rd Pfizer dose.

  • He presented to doctor a week later for fatigue and dyspnea and was sent home with meds
  • He was found dead in the kitchen 4 days after the doctor visit.
  • Autopsy found: The ascending aorta had a 2.5 cm intimal tear at 4 cm above the aortic annulus. The aortic media was dissected, and the adventitia was perforated within the pericardial cavity
  • The aortic tear is shown below (the ascending aorta was dissected. The aortic intima was ruptured horizontally (white arrows))

Mar. 2022 (Chida et al) – Rupture of Vertebral Artery Dissecting Aneurysm after mRNA Anti-COVID-19 Vaccination: A Report of Two Cases.

  • mRNA jabs also damage blood vessels in the brain

  • Case 1: 60-year-old woman developed ruptured vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm (VADA), the day after her 1st Moderna mRNA
  • Case 2: 72-year-old woman developed ruptured vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm (VADA), 7 days after the first dose of the Pfizer mRNA
  • both cases survived and underwent stent-assisted coil embolization under general anesthesia

Conclusion 

COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Induced sudden cardiac arrest doesn’t have to be just due to myocarditis, or pericarditis.

COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines damage blood vessels due to inappropriate spike protein expression in vessel walls, and resulting aberrant immune response and inflammation.

Damage to blood vessels can happen anywhere in the body, however, aortic dissection is probably the most dangerous.

An Overview of Aortic Dissection

Does Terry realize she is COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine injured and almost died due to a mRNA injury? She doesn’t. At least, not yet.

*

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

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Joseph Biden and Rishi Sunak are Netanyahu’s willing executioners, as accessories to mass murder of an innocent civilian population of 2.3 million in Gaza: a strip of land previously under a 16- year blockade of essential goods, medicines and services by the Likud regime of extreme revisionist Zionist, Binyamin Netanyahu, the American-born, political architect of Israel. 

Each month, both the US House of Representatives and the UK Conservative government, vote to continue arming and abetting the out-of-control, Likud coalition regime, it being intent on revenge genocide of a people already the victims of the wholesale theft of their lands and assets.

As the world watches, democracy dies; as does the rule of law and the convention of freedom of movement of civilians and goods in a world now under threat from violence and nuclear war.

We are now, all of us, but minutes away from such a cataclysmic, global event.

Meanwhile, the children of Gaza and their mothers, scream out in hunger, malnutrition and sickness, before their eventual death from an Israeli missile fired from an American  F-16/32 warplane of the IAF. A warplane free to roam the skies at will, bombing, murdering, killing men, women and children, with no opposition or restriction.  

For Gaza has no planes, no food nor any humanity. Just a hate-filled, lethal, occupying attack force, there to raze, destroy, bomb, shoot, maim and kill anyone who lives – man, woman or child. 

*

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

Hans Stehling is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Video: Excess Deaths After COVID-19 Vaccination

February 12th, 2024 by Prof Denis Rancourt

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Our thanks to Dr. William Makis of COVID Intel for bringing this to our attention.

 

Click here to watch the video.

*

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

Featured image is from NaturalNews.com


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

Come Visit Beautiful Gaza!

February 12th, 2024 by Abby Zimet

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Putting a grotesquely duplicitous spin on already shady propaganda, Israel has released a sick faux tourist ad awash in glossy AI images inviting vacationers to come enjoy Gaza’s “stunning beaches and charming boardwalks,” swank hotels and vibrant night life – only to abruptly pivot and darkly note this would be Gaza, if not for Hamas. WTF. So blame Hamas for blockades, checkpoints, apartheid and collective punishment in a now-razed concentration camp? Hey Israel, you must mean, “This would be Gaza without Zionism.”

Israel’s latest offense against probity comes as a relentlessly rapacious Netanyahu continues burrowing into “the black hole of the messianic right,” rejecting the latest ceasefire proposal and raving, “We are on the way to an absolute victory” despite having destroyed less than a third of Hamas’ operations while killing, injuring or burying in rubble at least 100,000 Gazan civilians, most women and children. Now he’s reportedly planning to “evacuate” over 1.4 million hungry, thirsty, homeless, multiply-displaced, traumatized and increasingly ill Gazans packed into Rafah – a move beleaguered aid workers say would “exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare.” Panic is said to be growing among Palestinians trapped in Rafah’s tent cities with “nowhere left to flee”; says one, “We are waiting to be martyred.” For many, their anguish is exacerbated by the fact that Israel has continued their carnage despite the Hague ruling finding them complicit in genocide. “I don’t know who can help us,” says Fahmi Al-Rubai. “If (the ICJ) fails, we have no one but God.”

Still, Israel’s savagery – the devastation, civilian deaths, unending images of mangled children – has left them “in a losing battle for hearts and minds.” Most of the world wants a ceasefire, and many thousands have marched to demand it. Despite or thanks to Biden’s complicity, so do a majority of U.S. voters; activists remain camped outside Antony Blinken’s house, live-streaming each morning: “Wakey, wakey war criminal – how many kids did you kill while you were sleeping?” Faced with such rage, Israel’s hasbara, or propaganda machine, is flailing. Historically, it’s tended to praise Israel – moral army, blooming desert, civilized society – and paint Palestinians as the barbaric enemy. Since Oct. 7, the message has become: “All Palestinians are Hamas, Hamas commits atrocities, we must defend ourselves.” In an animated ad, Hamas are wolves attacking Goldilocks’ house; at Christmas, a child tells Santa, “Bad people came into our house.” But “bad” and “good” gets murky when you’re murdering, disfiguring, traumatizing children. In a classic deflection, enter the new “good” guys in, “Come Visit Beautiful Gaza!”

In their reality-free new ad, Israel has transformed itself from genocidal assailant into humanitarian savior. See what Gaza could be! See what evil Hamas has wrought for its people! See how we can help you “Free Gaza From Hamas”! The 30-second ad slickly moves from A1-generated images of laughing children on beaches, opulent spreads of “the best in Middle Eastern food” and “a culture rich in tradition” to ominous scenes of war-scarred landscapes, armed Hamas militants, sinister tunnels. Isn’t it terrible, the narrative suggests, what Hamas has done to once-stunning beaches and once-charming boardwalks? None of this is our fault, of course; we just want Gazans to enjoy their 5-star tropical paradise again (albeit maybe from Egypt)! The stunning lie turns the moral, political, economic and military tables to make Palestinian suffering the result of Palestinian crimes. In this fairytale, there is no Occupation, apartheid, blockade, open air prison. No ethnic cleansing, mass detention, ceaseless military raids. No denial of water, food, health care, safety, dignity – all at Zionist hands.

Flattening decades of bitter conflict between Israelis and Palestinians – and centuries of regional war – into a dazzling, deepfake, multi-hued fable, the ad seeks to assuage global censure by rewriting history: “This is what Gaza could have been like without Hamas.” In its shiny new narrative, Israel was minding its own lofty business Oct. 7, Gaza was a free, thriving state – no Occupation here – Hamas suddenly decided to attack, ruining all those nice beaches, and now kindhearted Zionists want to fix them for the good of all. The chutzpah astonishes; so does the fact that Israeli leaders seem to think we’re stupid and forgetful enough to buy it. Retired diplomat Charles Freeman quotes Lincoln’s “you can’t fool all of the people all of the time” adage to suggest that Netanyahu, like all authoritarian leaders, has been lulled by his own hubris and isolation into believing his own bullshit. “I think Israel has inhaled its own propaganda,” he says. “It has lost touch with the external realities that people outside its circle see” – and fiercely, righteously condemn.

Weirdly, they’re now seeing Israel’s delusional version on Hulu, which critics have excoriated for circulating what they call gross, vile, disgusting, inflammatory, dehumanizing and factually incorrect Zionist propaganda. “Why do you have ads promoting genocide?” asked one. “Do you often take money from governments that have killed 11,000 children in 4 months?” “Shame on Hulu,” wrote Khalil Sayegh, noting that despite years of siege and decades of occupation, Gaza remained “filled with life, beauty, and culture” until Oct. 7. “Israel, building settlements on land that doesn’t belong to it and engaging in systemic apartheid (and) ethnic cleansing is a nation well-known for not spreading terror,” wrote another. “Thanks for clarifying this.” And still it goes on. On reports Israel has approved a ground operation in Rafah, Norway said, “We fear a bloodbath.” Video surfaced of Israeli soldiers shooting at horses with tank fire and Palestinian doctors shot by Israeli snipers, one critically, as they were treating patients. The body of a six-year-old girl was found, with her murdered family and medics who tried to reach her, days after she’d called the Red Cross in terror pleading, “Please come get me.” No, it’s not Hamas who have decimated beautiful Gaza.

[From Common Dreams: Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.]

*

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

Abby Zimet has written CD’s Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist, she moved to the Maine woods in the early 70s, where she spent a dozen years building a house, hauling water and writing before moving to Portland. Having come of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women’s, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues. Email: [email protected]

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

When confronted with international appeals for humanitarian aid due to the ongoing crises in Gaza and Yemen, the United States and the United Kingdom have chosen instead to turn Yemen’s Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden into a combat zone, initiating an ariel bombing campaign against the war-torn country already suffering immensely from nine years of deadly conflict spearheaded by Saudi Arabia and backed by the U.S.

For weeks, U.S. and British naval vessels have been perched on the outskirts of Yemen’s territorial waters in the Red Sea, not only to protect ships carrying goods to Israel but to launch a series of airstrikes against Yemen, the poorest country in the world. In recent weeks, at least 320 airstrikes have been launched by warplanes that seem never to leave the skies over Yemen’s major cities. The latest strikes hit Friday morning, targeting Al-Jabana, Al-Taif, and Al-Kathib and followed renewed calls by U.S. officials for regional actors not to escalate conflict in the Middle East.

According to Yemeni citizens who spoke to MintPress, the U.S. bombing campaign, which has struck targets in crowded residential neighborhoods, is the last thing that Yemenis expected. Twenty-seven-year-odl Ibrahim al-Nahari lives with his family near Hodeida International Airport, which was targeted by US airstrikes on Monday afternoon. He said of the bombings: “I never expected we would be attacked because of our solidarity with hungry people in Gaza. Are these America’s morals?”

Last Monday, U.S. airstrikes targeted Yemen’s Al-Katnaib Coast Park, frequented by hundreds of visitors daily, and not only caused damage to nearby homes, hotels and shops but spread panic and fear among civilians. “We need food and medicine, not the ugly American bombs that we have tasted for nine years,” Al-Nahari told MintPress, waving a Palestinian flag at a massive demonstration in support of Gaza on Friday in central Hodeida.

Al-Nahari was among tens of thousands who took to the streets of Hodeida on Friday to condemn U.S.-British attacks on their country and renew their support for the Palestinian people. Massive protests featuring hundreds such as these have become a hallmark in Yemen’s northern provinces and beyond since Israel launched its attack on Gaza following Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7, 2023. In Al-Sabeen Square, south of the capital, Sanaa, officials estimate that an area of 100,000 square meters was packed with demonstrators standing shoulder to shoulder to express their outrage.

“We came here to prove that Palestine is the cause of the Yemeni people, and the world must know this,” Malik Almadani, a prominent writer and human rights activist, told MintPress. “We will not stop the demonstrations, and we will continue weekly. It is our sacred duty, rooted and deep in our souls,” he added. Almadani sees Palestine as a cause dear to Yemen’s people, not something that any authority in the country has the authority to negotiate on their behalf. He warned Western powers that any ground invasion of Yemen due to its support for Gaza would be a war against all of Yemen’s people, not against an institution, state, or party.

Red Sea Tensions Escalate

U.S. and British leaders have repeatedly stated that their bombing campaign in Yemen is intended to end Ansar Allah’s (known in the West as the Houthis) attacks on international shipping and naval vessels. They claim the strikes are necessary to limit the Houthis’ ability to launch further attacks. Yet, there is little to suggest the attacks are having their intended effect. Ansar Allah has maintained that U.S. and UK strikes have not achieved their military objectives and have done little more than incite terror in the hearts of Yemeni civilians. Indeed, nearly every bombing campaign has been met with renewed attacks by Ansar Allah against Israeli, British and U.S. interests in the region, often more extensive and brazen than the last.

This tit-for-tat is escalating too. This week alone saw at least 86 airstrikes against targets in Yemen, with populated regions of Hodeida hit particularly hard, including Al-Katheib, Ras Issa, Al-Zaidiyah, Al-Hawk, Al-Salif, and Al-Lahiya, which saw 28 separate strikes. Sanaa was targeted with 13 strikes, Taiz with 11, Al-Bayda with 7, Hajjah with seven raids, and Saad with over twenty. Despite the scale of the attacks, Yemeni officials maintain they’ve had little effect on the military capabilities of Ansar Allah.

“There have been casualties from U.S. and UK raids, and there is varying damage to some sites and camps. However, most of the military sites were already evacuated before the airstrikes began. Some of them had already been subjected to bombings in previous years,” Deputy Head of Moral Guidance for the Yemeni Army, Brigadier General Abdullah Bin Amer, told MintPress. “We can deal appropriately with these developments, benefiting from past experiences that began in 2015.”

By all accounts, the U.S.-led aerial campaign in Yemen is a violation of the tenets of just war, which dictates that nations must not only have a just cause for going to war but also resort to military force only after all other options have been exhausted. Despite White House claims to the contrary, the intervention in Yemen is clearly not a case of self-defense. The notion that Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, represents a military threat to International trade is absurd, especially as Ansar Allah officials have made it clear through both rhetoric and action that any nations not directly involved in supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza have been able to pass through the Red Sea unmolested.

An Ineffectual Campaign

Despite the U.S. feckless bombing campaign and its specious justification, the leader of Ansar Allah, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, has confirmed that operations in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait against Israel-linked ships will continue. In a televised speech on Tuesday, he said, “Our actions will escalate as long as the Israeli aggression and siege on the Palestinians continues. The correct solution is to bring food and medicine into Gaza, and continuing airstrikes will not benefit America, Britain, or Israel in any way.”

Al-Houthi blamed the actions of the White House for forcing Ansar Allah to target U.S. and British Naval ships near Yemen, saying, “The U.S. and UK’s involvement in Yemen will not protect Israeli ships, and for the first time since World War II, the Americans are exposing their battleships to being targeted.”

“The continued U.S. and UK aggression constitutes a violation of the sovereignty of an independent state, Muhammed AbdulSalam, the official spokesman for Ansar Allah, added, confirming that attacks will not prevent the Yemeni armed forces from continuing their support mission to Gaza, nor will the aggression be able to provide security for Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine. “It is this American-British aggression that threatens international navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden,” he added.

Origins of a Blockade

In a campaign they maintain is aimed at forcing Israel to allow food and medicine to be allowed into the besieged Gaza Strip, Ansar Allah’s forces have continued to target Israeli-owned, flagged or operated ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Seas, or those destined for Israeli ports. The latest such attack came last Tuesday when the Ansar Allah’s Naval Forces carried out two military operations in the Red Sea, the first against the American ship Star Nasia and another targeting the British ship the Morning Tide, according to the official spokesman for the Yemeni army, Yahya Saree.

Since November 19, when Ansar Allah’s maritime campaign began, the group has conducted at least 20 naval operations. More than 20 ships have been targeted, including three that were Israeli-owned, eight belonging to the U.S., four belonging to Britain, and ten that were en route to Israeli ports. Israel itself was not exempt; at least 200 drones and 50 ballistic and winged missiles have been launched against Israel from Yemen. These include sophisticated long-range ballistic missiles and drones such as the Toofan, a recently unveiled variant of the Zolfaghar mid-range ballistic missile, the Quds cruise missile, and the Samad drone. While relatively inexpensive to manufacture, these projectiles have challenged Western forces, who spend millions on sophisticated missiles to shoot them down, threatening to exhaust their stocks and incur a high financial cost in defense of Israeli interests.

It’s worth noting that Yemeni operations against American and British ships began in earnest only after Western forces started bombing Yemen. In its initial days, Ansar Allah’s campaign strictly targeted Israeli interests in support of Gaza, with Ansar Allah’s arsenal pointed at Israel’s Eliat Port. Washington responded by sending a massive naval flotilla to the Red Sea and with a slew of fiery statements by American officials. In the wake of this failed strategy of intimidation, the U.S. and Britain began launching missiles against Yemeni targets. It was only then that Ansar Allah began actively targeting U.S. and British naval assets.

Ansar Allah officials have reiterated their unwavering stance that the Red Sea is off-limits only to Israeli ships until Israel ensures the unfettered delivery of essential aid to Gaza. It remains open to international maritime shipping for countries not involved in supporting what the International Court of Justice has ruled in genocide in Gaza. Ansar Allah has also stated that operations will stop immediately as soon as medicine and food enter Gaza. Until this humanitarian goal is achieved, Ansar Allah officials maintain, the armed air, sea, and land forces will not only continue to target Israeli, American, and British ships but also escalate, even if it ultimately leads to a ground invasion of Yemen.

“The Cemetery of Invaders”

Asked about a possible U.S.-led ground invasion of Yemen, Brigadier General Bin Amer, who is also the author of the book “Yemen is the Cemetery of Invaders,” currently the most widely circulated book in Yemen, said, “The decision to invade a country like Yemen is certainly a difficult decision for any power. There are many factors and reasons that make those powers hesitate to make such a decision.”

Yemen’s terrain is the most rugged in the Middle East, posing a significant challenge to foreign invading forces. The country’s topography is characterized by steep mountains, deep valleys, and arid plateaus, creating a complex and challenging environment for foreigners, which complicates military operations and hinders the establishment of military infrastructure.

“Throughout history, Yemen has been the target of the ambitions of invaders, but the Yemeni people fiercely resisted all invasion campaigns and were able to defeat them and triumph over them in the end. The invaders on this land suffered great losses, and thus Yemen was nicknamed the cemetery of invaders.” General Bin Amer added.

According to Bin Amer, the Yemeni people do not accept occupation. They have a deep-rooted culture of independence. In addition, their battle today is a battle of principles and values ​​that have religious, moral, and humanitarian considerations, adding, “There is a popular consensus on this battle, and the Yemeni people, in addition to being natural fighters and an armed people, have an additional factor, which is leadership that expresses this. [This factor] certainly has its importance regarding organization and management under such exceptional circumstances.”

Both in the streets and among the highest echelons of Ansar Allah’s leaders, there is a feeling in Yemen that its military actions in support of Gaza have been validated by the International Court of Justice’s ruling ordering Israel to permit the entry of “humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza.”

But the likelihood of a Western-led ground invasion is still being taken seriously. Ansar Allah has undertaken an unprecedented military mobilization on a massive scale, including holding military courses, conducting maneuvers, and bolstering stocks of military equipment.

A Doctrine of Resistance

Although Yemen has garnered headlines in recent months for its defiant stance towards Israel, its support for Palestinians long predates October 7. MintPress spoke to Yemeni historical researcher Dr. Hammoud Al-Ahnoumi about the nature of Yemeni support for Palestine

In the wake of the second Palestinian intifada and the events of September 11 following the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, an indigenous Yemeni tribal group in the northern country began openly voicing its opposition to what it saw as the unjust colonial ambitions of  Israel and the United States in the region. The group traces its roots to the Arab Hamdani tribe residing in northern Yemen and is a subdivision of the larger Banu Hamdan tribe.

Over the years, many northern Yemenis joined the group known now as Ansar Allah. It wasn’t until Ansar Allah’s power began to gain momentum that it was given the moniker “Houthis” by the West and dismissed as an Iranian proxy in a bid to demoralize the movement and alienate it from the local population. Yet Ansar Allah’s on the Palestinian issue cannot be understood without understanding its history and political formation.

The political doctrine of Ansar Allah has its roots in the eighth century, particularly in Imam Zayd (695–740 CE), the son of Ali ibn al-Hussain ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib. Imam Zayd initiated a revolution against the repressive Umayyad Caliphate that became a symbol of resistance to oppression that permeates Yemeni culture to this day.

Over the years, Yemenis internalized and embraced these ideals to such a degree that they became a central tenant in what would become known as the Shia Islamic sect of Zaydis. According to Zaydis, Imam Zayd became the second Imam (leader) after his grandfather, Imam Hussain ibn Ali, who was also killed in a struggle against an oppressive government in Karbala, southern Iraq, on the tenth of Muharram in 680 CE.

Loyalty, resistance to oppression and solidarity with the oppressed have become the main principle of their faith and how they see their duty to God, according to Dr. Al-Ahnoumi. For them, he explained to MintPress, standing in support of Palestine is compliance with their doctrine, which calls for resistance against oppressors and supporting the oppressed.

“Though they may coincide with Iranian Revolutionary ideals of resistance against tyrants and oppressors, and oppose [what they view as] American and Israeli arrogance and tyranny,” Ansar Allah act entirely independently, Dr. Al-Ahnoumi insisted.

A Tinderbox

The fact that Ansar Allah’s operation in the Red Sea has been reduced by Western power to a binary question of freedom of navigation and framed in an Iran-centric geopolitical context bodes poorly for the chances of a peaceful resolution to the conflict. To avoid another disastrous war in Yemen and a U.S. quagmire in the Middle East, western political leaders and media alike must come to terms with the reality that is the tinderbox in Yemen.

Zaid Al-Gharsi, Head of the Media Department at the Presidency of the Republic of Yemen, blames Western leaders and media for distorting Yemen’s position. He urged media outlets and activists on social media, particularly in Western countries, not to take the White House’s narrative, which frames its bombing campaign as self-defense and protection of global navigation, at face value. The reality, he told MintPress, is “that America is an aggressor and an occupier that came from across the oceans to dominate, plunder, and destroy.”

*

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

Ahmed AbdulKareem is a Yemeni journalist based in Sana’a. He covers the war in Yemen for MintPress News as well as local Yemeni media.

Featured image source

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Israel’s reported ongoing destruction of all buildings along the border inside Gaza with the aim of creating a “buffer zone” is a war crime, the United Nations rights chief warned on Thursday.

In a statement, Volker Turk pointed to reports that the Israeli military is working inside the Gaza Strip to destroy all buildings within a kilometer of the border fence with Israel with the objective of creating a “buffer zone.”

“I stress to the Israeli authorities that Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits destruction by the occupying power of property belonging to private persons, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations’,” he said.

Turk warned that the objective of creating a buffer zone for general security purposes did “not appear consistent with the narrow ‘military operations’ exception set out in international humanitarian law.”

He added that such

“extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, amounts to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and a war crime.”

The war in Gaza followed Hamas’s attack in Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and launched relentless air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed at least 27,840 people, mostly women, adolescents and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that since October his office had recorded “widespread destruction and demolition by the (Israeli military) of civilian and other infrastructure.”

This included “residential buildings, schools and universities in areas in which fighting is not or no longer taking place,” he said.

He said such demolitions had also been seen in Beit Hanoun and Gaza City in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory, and the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, while numerous residential buildings had reportedly been demolished in Khan Younis in the south in recent weeks.

“Israel has not provided cogent reasons for such extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure,” Turk said.

“Such destruction of homes and other essential civilian infrastructure also entrenches the displacement of communities that were living in these areas prior to the escalation in hostilities,” he warned.

In fact, he said, they appeared “to be aimed at or (to have) the effect of rendering the return of civilians to these areas impossible.”

“I remind the authorities that forcible transfer of civilians may constitute a war crime.”

*

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

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Up to 775,992,000 bacteria-infected mosquitoes could be released in Maui every week for the next 20 years, according to Hawaii Unites, an environmental advocacy group that last month lost its bid to require the state to conduct an environmental impact statement before allowing the controversial project to proceed.

Hawaii Unites in May 2023 sued the state in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit in Hawaii. The group’s president and founder, Tina Lia, told The Defender:

“These biopesticide lab-altered mosquitoes are already being released in East Maui. Hawaii Unites has taken the state to court seeking a ruling to require an environmental impact statement for the project and comprehensive studies of the risks.”

She said Hawaii Unites describes itself as “a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of our environment and natural resources,” with a focus on “protecting the health of Hawai‘i’s people, wildlife, and the ‘āina from the State of Hawaii’s biopesticide bacteria-infected mosquito experiment.”

According to the group’s lawsuit, the state did not perform a sufficient environmental impact study prior to the launch of the project. Last year, state residents submitted 291 pages of public comments, both for and against the project.

“The final environmental assessment for this project is insufficient under the Hawai‘i Environmental Policy Act,” Lia said. “[It] fails to describe mitigation measures or biosecurity protocols for the mosquitoes, and the discussion of alternatives is inadequate.”

According to Lia, the Birds, Not Mosquitoes partnership claims it plans to suppress southern house mosquitoes that transmit avian malaria to native birds by rendering male mosquitoes — which carry the Wolbachia bacterium that causes avian malaria — unable to reproduce.

The technology, Wolbachia incompatible insect technique (IIT), previously was endorsed by Gates Philanthropy Partners, an arm of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, although there does not appear to be a direct link between these organizations and the Hawaii ongoing project.

An expert who testified on behalf of Hawaii Unites warned that the project, far from mitigating mosquito-borne illness, may lead to bacterial spread, the invasion of lab-altered mosquitoes into unintended areas and other environmental consequences.

But the court disagreed, ruling that the final environmental assessment “was compiled in good faith and set forth sufficient information to enable the [Board of Land and Natural Resources] to consider fully the environmental factors involved and to make a reasoned decision after balancing the risks of harm to the environment against the benefits to be derived from the proposed action.”

Court Did Not Acknowledge ‘Serious Concerns’ of Expert Witness

According to the lawsuit, “documentation and studies from several sources, including government agencies, confirm that the experiment may not even work for its intended purpose and has the potential for significant environmental impacts.”

The lawsuit also noted that the IIT method has never been tried in Hawaii, while “the

specific experimental technique planned for use in East Maui has never been tried before anywhere in the world.”

According to the lawsuit, the regions of Maui where the release will take place include “the fragile ecosystems of East Maui’s Haleakalā National Park, Ko‘olau Forest Reserve, Hāna Forest Reserve, Hanawī Natural Area Reserve, Kīpahulu Forest Reserve, Makawao Forest Reserve, and Waikamoi Preserve,” as well as privately managed lands.

“At the highest frequency, this could result in over 807 billion mosquitoes released in one of the most unique and fragile ecosystems in the world,” the lawsuit stated. “Contrary to the assertions in the [final environmental assessment], the plan could actually pose serious risks to native birds, wildlife, the ‘āina, and public health.”

The State of Hawaii refuted these claims in its motion for summary judgment, filed Dec. 22, 2023.

Hawaii Unites on Jan. 9 filed a 70-page memorandum further detailing the group’s arguments, but First Circuit Court Judge John M. Tonaki granted summary judgment in favor of the state.

Lia told The Defender there are “several issues” with the ruling should the group decide to appeal Tonaki’s decision.

Lia said that there are significant differences between what was proposed in the final environmental assessment and what is currently being implemented in East Maui. For example, she said the group believes mosquitoes are being released solely by helicopter rather than drones, which is inconsistent with the release system described in the environmental assessment.

“This means that helicopters are flying closer to the tree canopy than the level stated in the FEA [final environmental assessment], increasing the potential for adverse impacts such as noise disturbances; nesting, breeding, and roosting disturbances; helicopter rotor wash; accidents and collisions; and wildland fires,” she said.

According to Lia, Tonaki disregarded the testimony of an expert witness, tropical disease and vector expert Dr. Lorrin Pang, head of Hawaii’s District Health Office for Maui, who testified as a private citizen on behalf of Hawaii Unites “about the state’s lack of study of the risks of the project.”

Lia said:

“The court failed to acknowledge Dr. Pang’s serious concerns about horizontal transmission of introduced bacteria, biopesticide wind drift of lab-altered mosquitoes into unintended areas, superinfection of mosquitoes with multiple bacteria strains, increased pathogen infection and disease-spreading capability in mosquitoes, and the experimental nature of the project — all issues that were insufficiently addressed or missing entirely from the FEA, and facts material to the lawsuit.”

Project Enjoys Powerful Backing

According to Lia, the U.S. Department of the Interior provided more than $30 million for the avian malaria phase of the state’s plan. The project also has secured more than $14 million from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act enacted in 2021 and an additional $16 million through President Joe Biden’s 2023 Investing in America Agenda to Prevent the Imminent Extinction of Hawaiian Forest Birds.

“Grants, partnerships with mainland universities, and public and private funding are anticipated to incentivize the use of lab-altered mosquito technology in Hawai‘i well into the future,” she said.

Birds, Not Mosquitoes states that the project is funded through a mix of public and private donors, including anonymous donors, including the American Bird Conservancy, Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Previous funders included “the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council and anonymous private donors.”

Another organization that partners in the project, the Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project, lists Corteva Agriscience as one of its partners. Corteva Agriscience is a conglomerate formed via the merger of Dow AgroSciences and DuPont/Pioneer and owns many patents for the CRISPR gene-editing technology.

Notably though, the mosquitoes in use in the Hawaii project are not known to be genetically modified.

In a March 2022 interview with Gates Philanthropy Partners, Scott O’Neill, Ph.D., founder of the World Mosquito Program, praised the abilities of Wolbachia, the bacterium now in use in the Hawaii project, which he said is “safe for humans because it thrives in honeybees, butterflies, moths, and fruit flies,” as they are “part of our food chain.”

O’Neill added:

“What makes Wolbachia a medical miracle is the fact that when it is introduced into Aedes aegypti [mosquitoes], it effectively blocks the capacity of many of the viruses that make people sick from growing in the mosquito. And if the viruses can’t replicate, they can’t be transmitted to humans.

“Our team successfully introduced a strain of Wolbachia taken from fruit flies into Aedes aegypti more than a decade ago, and over the past 10 years, we have shown that when Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti are released into the environment, they collapse dengue transmission in that location. We are also confident that it is effective against chikungunya, Zika, and many other arboviruses based on our laboratory research.”

‘Maui Is Ground Zero for These Mosquito Releases’

Lia said her group is concerned that the mosquitoes currently being released are experimental.

“The state has lied about the fact that foreign bacteria is being brought into Hawai‘i through the infection of these mosquitoes, and the mosquitoes themselves are foreign organisms that originate from outside the islands. The state has also lied about the documentation showing that up to 3,103 lab-altered female mosquitoes that bite, breed and spread disease are allowed to be released weekly on Maui,” Lia added.

“There are no biosecurity protocols for these imported mosquitoes and no mitigation plan in place if something goes wrong,” she said.

“Wolbachia bacterium is a life form, and there’s no way for this project to be self-contained. The bacteria can transmit horizontally in the environment to wild mosquitoes and other insect vectors of disease.”

“Mosquito populations on Maui might be overtaken and replaced by these lab-altered mosquitoes,” Lia said.

“What if it turns out that they are more capable of spreading disease?” Lia asked. “Southern house mosquitoes transmit human diseases including West Nile virus, encephalitis and elephantiasis, and they’re a potential vector of Zika virus.”

She added:

“Pathogen screenings for these mosquitoes are unknown, and that information is being withheld from the public. Lab-infected male mosquitoes can transmit viruses to biting females through mating. Biopesticide drift, the drift of lab-altered mosquitoes on the wind to unintended areas, could affect not only the efficacy but the safety of the project. Superinfection of mosquitoes with multiple strains of Wolbachia bacteria could also impact efficacy and safety.

“All of these mechanisms can interact with each other and cumulatively have substantial adverse effects. None of this has been studied by the Birds, Not Mosquitoes agencies releasing these mosquitoes … The scope and magnitude of this plan have potential significant impacts that could cause catastrophic effects on the health of our islands.”

According to Lia, Hawaii Unites has launched a campaign to raise $30,000 needed by the end of the month to file an appeal.

“If the Judge’s decision is not appealed, it will set a precedent for allowing inadequate environmental review of future proposed experimental projects that could have significant impacts to our fragile ecosystems,” Lia said.

Should an appeal go forward, Lia said her group expects “to obtain admissions from the state that proper studies have not been done to assess the risks of this project.”

“We further anticipate that documents, contracts, and communications requested from the state will reveal important details about this project that have been misrepresented to the public,” she added.

“Maui is ground zero for these mosquito releases, and our case in environmental court can set a strong precedent for stopping this agenda from moving forward here in Hawai‘i and from expanding globally,” Lia said. “This case, and our voices as a community, have a right to be heard.”

*

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

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

Featured image is from CHD

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

In an interview with Fox News on February 10, American doctor Marty Makary stated that US President Joe Biden is experiencing a “cognitive decline right in front of our eyes.” His revelation comes only days after three reputable polling companies found that former US President Donald Trump had a 4- or 5-point advantage over Biden.

Makary, a professor and surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, one of the world’s most renowned medical teaching institutions, began by saying that it is normal sometimes to confuse words and make speech errors but that in the case of Biden, there is “a significant progression.” 

“So, it’s not subtle,” he said. “At this point, it’s not really a medical diagnosis as much as it is obvious to even a lawyer who essentially made the diagnosis in this report of age-related dementia. So, that’s the concern. You’ve got cognitive decline right in front of our eyes. It’s very obvious how he’s performing today versus, say, five years ago, and it’s sad, really.”

On February 8, attorney Robert Hur published a report on the case of Biden’s improper storage of confidential documents. Hur, who headed the investigation process, ruled that Biden did not remember the dates and, therefore, was confused about the details, which is why he improperly kept the papers. Hur described the US president “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Therefore, the prosecutor decided not to open criminal proceedings against Biden.

In another case, Ronny Jackson, personal physician to former US presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, stated that Biden must pass a battery of mental health tests before he can run in the next presidential election.

During the Fox News program, the presenter highlighted this same concern. Based on the statement that Biden’s decline has been notable in the last five years, the journalist questioned what Biden’s next five years would be like.

With such dynamics, it is extremely unlikely that a sudden stabilisation will occur, and this is an obvious “age-related dementia,” Makary warned.

“If this were the CEO of a company, people would not buy the stock. A board would likely intervene, and people are concerned about the long-term trajectory of another four years,” he continued.

“To have somebody with a distinguished career in any industry, let alone government service, to be out on public sort of display in this state — it’s not going to get better, and for that reason alone, I might suggest that somebody, you know, pass it on to somebody else because this is not a good way to go down after a long career,” the doctor said, adding: “It’s certainly humiliating.”

Makary’s statements come following an NBC News poll which found that three-quarters of voters, which includes half of registered Democrats, were concerned about Biden’s mental and physical health, whilst 76% of US voters said they had major or moderate concerns that Biden may not have the necessary mental and physical abilities necessary to succeed in a second term. Meanwhile, less than half of voters had concerns about the physical and mental health of Trump, the frontrunner candidate for the Republicans.

Chris LaCivita, a strategist in Trump’s team, told the New York Times that Hurt’s report is “damning and defining,” which only became evident when Biden on February 8 proclaimed, “My memory is fine” but then immediately referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the president of Mexico, which was preceded by gaffes involving the leaders of France and Germany.

Despite Biden’s obvious cognitive decline and unpopularity, he faces no competition for the Democratic nomination, whilst Trump has won the Republican one in everything except officiality. Biden and Trump squaring off for the US Presidency on November 5 will make it the first rematch election in almost 70 years, and although the latter lost in 2020, Biden’s presidency has been defined by high inflation, an uncontrolled border with Mexico, and the disaster that has been the US-war on Russia via the Ukraine proxy.

The recent CNN/SSRSReuters/Ipsos, and NBC News polls have given Trump a 4- or 5-point advantage over Biden among registered voters in a hypothetical general election. What is especially alarming for the current US president is that he has the worst approval rating at this point for any elected president in their first term.

Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates said of the NBC survey: “It is hard to imagine a more difficult set of numbers before a re-election.”

What is important to note is that these three polls were conducted before Makary’s revelation. Given that Biden’s cognitive decline is very evident, it will only progressively worsen as the presidential election approaches and will thus only bolster Trump’s popularity.

*

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

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

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s largest PR firms, recently agreed to pay a $350 million settlement over claims that its false and misleading marketing of opioids contributed to the lethal opioid epidemic in the U.S.

Accusations against Publicis Health, Purdue’s PR firm, included creating the marketing materials that convinced doctors to overprescribe OxyContin, placing illegal advertisements for OxyContin in the electronic medical records of patients, creating training materials for sales reps on how to combat doctor’s objections to the drugs, developing strategies to counter opioid guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and creating marketing strategies to “humanize” the OxyContin brand and counter negative press about addiction risks

The $350 million settlement will be divided among 50 states, with the highest settlement amounts being allocated to California, Florida and Texas. Publicis does not admit wrongdoing or liability as part of the settlement

Publicis, which is now paying its way out of legal trouble over the false marketing, is a funder of censorship. Publicis provided seed money to launch NewsGuard, and is officially partnered with NewsGuard “to fight the ‘infodemic’ of misinformation about COVID-19 and its vaccines”

Publicis is also a partner of the World Economic Forum, which is leading the call for a “Great Reset.” In fact, Publicis appears to be coordinating the global effort to suppress information that runs counter to the technocratic narrative about COVID-19, its origin, prevention and treatment

*

The Publicis Groupe — one of the world’s largest PR firms1 that represents major companies within the technology, pharmaceutical and banking industries — recently agreed to pay a $350 million settlement over claims that its false and misleading marketing contributed to the opioid epidemic.

Previous court cases demonstrated how Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, systematically misled doctors about the drug’s addictiveness to drive up sales, resulting in an avalanche of opioid addiction and subsequent deaths.

Accusations against Publicis Health, Purdue’s PR firm, included creating the marketing materials that convinced doctors to overprescribe the drug, placing illegal advertisements for OxyContin in the electronic medical records of patients, creating training materials for Purdue sales reps on how to combat doctors’ objections to the drugs, developing strategies to counter opioid guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and creating marketing strategies to “humanize” the OxyContin brand and counter negative press about addiction risks.

While $350 million may sound like a lot of money, it’s really a drop in the bucket when you consider the damage the opioid epidemic has inflicted, and the fact that the money is being divvied up among 50 states. As reported by CNBC:2

“New York will receive nearly $19.2 million from the total agreement, according to the state’s consent order with Publicis Health. The highest settlement amounts were allocated to California, Florida and Texas, which respectively received $34.4 million, $24.1 million and $21.6 million.”

Throughout, Publicis has insisted it did nothing wrong; it merely provided a service to its customer. Publicis also does not admit wrongdoing or liability as part of the settlement.

Publicis Is Part of the Censorship Network 

Publicis, which is now paying its way out of legal trouble over false marketing, is also funding the censorship of truth. Talk about putting its money where its mouth is. As detailed in “New Thought Police NewsGuard Is Owned by Big Pharma,” Publicis was the lead investor among a group of 18 that helped make NewsGuard a reality. Publicis is also officially partnered with NewsGuard “to fight the ‘infodemic’ of misinformation about COVID-19 and its vaccines.”3

Like Publicis, NewsGuard’s primary role is to deceive the public about what is true and what is not. It set itself up as the self-appointed global arbiter of what information is “trustworthy,” based on nine, self-described “credibility and transparency” factors — all of which are entirely subjective.

Using these arbitrary “trustworthiness” criteria, NewsGuard effectively helps suppress dissenting viewpoints by guiding people toward industry- and government-backed narratives and away from everything else, no matter how valid the information may be.

Case in point: In April 2020, NewsGuard declared my site was “fake news” because we reported that SARS-CoV-2 may have been leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. According to NewsGuard, there was “no evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the outbreak, and genomic evidence has found that the virus is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus.”

NewsGuard’s position was in direct conflict with published scientific evidence then, and it’s even more so now. In a January 25, 2024, article4 in the City Journal, science writer, editor and author Nicholas Wade details new evidence5 obtained by U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) that further strengthens the theory that SARS-CoV-2 was indeed made in a lab.6 For more details on this, check out the featured video.

Snopes Is Not an Impartial Fact Checker Either

While we’re on the topic of fact checks proven wrong, Snopes.com is another “fact checking” site that repeatedly claimed the COVID lab leak theory was complete bunk. Curiously, in late February 2023, Snopes fact checker David Emery suddenly tried to backtrack, claiming that “Snopes didn’t say the lab leak theory couldn’t be true,” and challenged people to present an instance where Snopes had made that claim.7

david emery tweet

As noted by Matt Orfalea at Censored News:8

“The arrogant ignorance of this Snopes fact-checker is truly something to behold … Not only did Snopes say the lab leak theory couldn’t be true, but Snopes did so repeatedly in at least nine separate ‘fact-check’ articles by four other Snopes ‘fact-checkers,’9 including the founder of Snopes! And at least one of the ‘fact-checks’ was shared by Emery himself on Twitter.”

Orfalea goes through them one by one in his article. As previously detailed, Snopes is NOT a fact checker to be taken seriously. While some still believe Snopes will provide unbiased feedback on widely circulated stories, the truth is, it too simply regurgitates industry talking points without critical analyses of any kind.

How BrandGuard Can Bankrupt Alt Media

Getting back to NewsGuard, as bad as it may be to receive a poor NewsGuard rating, that’s not the end of your troubles if you’re in the alternative media space, because NewsGuard also has a tool called BrandGuard that sends out “exclusion lists” to advertisers. If you’re on that list, it means you’re a reputational liability to the advertiser.

By getting advertisers to pull its ads from “problematic” media outlets, NewsGuard is directly contributing to the elimination of alternative media, as few can afford to keep going without the revenue stream that advertisers provide.

The scope of this alternative media suppression is greater than most realize, and that’s again in no small measure thanks to Publicis, which has integrated BrandGuard into its fleet of online advertising subsidiaries. As reported by investigative journalist Lee Fang:10

“The question of conflicts arises because Publicis represents a range of corporate and government clients, including Pfizer – whose COVID vaccine has been questioned by some news outlets that have received low scores …

NewsGuard has faced mounting criticism that rather than serving as a neutral public service against online propaganda, it instead acts as an opaque proxy for its government and corporate clients to stifle views that simply run counter to their own interests.

The criticism finds support in internal documents, such as the NewsGuard proposal to Twitter, which this reporter obtained during Twitter Files reporting last year, as well as in government records and discussions with independent media sites targeted by the startup.”

Consortium News Sues NewsGuard

One media site targeted by NewsGuard is Consortium News, founded by Polk Award-winning investigative journalist Robert Parry in 1995. In 2023, NewsGuard tagged Consortium News with a cautionary label, advising readers, advertisers and news aggregation portals to “proceed with caution” because the site had “published false claims about the Ukraine-Russia war.”

In response, Consortium News sued NewsGuard for First Amendment violations and defamation.11In an amended complaint, Consortium News attorney Bruce Afran also added the accusation that NewsGuard is suppressing foreign policy dissent at the behest of the U.S. military. As reported by Fang:12

“… NewsGuard … Consortium claims, is hardly a disinterested fact-checker because of federal influence over it. NewsGuard attached the label after pressing Consortium for retractions or corrections to six articles published on the site.

Those news articles dealt with widely reported claims about neo-Nazi elements in the Ukrainian military and U.S. influence over the country – issues substantiated by other credible media outlets.

After Consortium editors refused to remove the reporting and offered a detailed rebuttal, the entire site received a misinformation label, encompassing over 20,000 articles and videos published by the outlet since it was founded in 1995.

The left-wing news site believes the label was part of a pay-for-censorship scheme. It notes that Consortium News was targeted after NewsGuard received a $749,387 Defense Department contract in 2021 to identify ‘false narratives’ relating to the war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as other forms of foreign influence …

‘There’s a great danger in being maligned this way,’ Afran continued. ‘The government cannot evade the Constitution by hiring a private party.’”

Publicis Is Part of the Great Reset Cabal

Publicis is also a partner of the World Economic Forum, which is leading the call for a Great Reset. In fact, as detailed in “The Web of Players Trying to Silence Truth,” Publicis appears to be coordinating the global effort to suppress information that runs counter to the technocratic narrative about COVID-19, its origin, prevention and treatment — suppression and censorship that has been repeatedly aimed at this website specifically.

Publicis is part of an enormous network that includes international drug companies, fact checkers and “credibility raters” like NewsGuard, Google and other search engines, Microsoft, antivirus software companies like Trend Micro, public libraries, schools, the banking industry, the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense, the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum.

Mind you, this is not a comprehensive review of links. It’s merely a sampling of entities to give you an idea of the breadth of connections, which when taken together explain how certain views — such as information about COVID-19 and vaccines — can be so effectively erased.

To understand the power that PR companies such as Publicis wield, you also need to realize that PR has, by and large, replaced the free press. In decades past, pro-industry advertising stood in stark contrast to the free press, which would frequently expose problems with products and industries, thereby serving as a counterbalance to industry propaganda.

Today, the only counterbalance we have to PR, government propaganda and the mainstream press, is alternative media, which NewsGuard is now undermining.

Publicis Is an Arm of Notoriously Untruthful Industries

What Publicis and NewsGuard call “misinformation” is simply information that contradicts the propaganda being put out by the drug industry. History tells us companies driven by profit interest make poor truth tellers, as negative information will clearly have a detrimental impact on their bottom line. So, they lie and obfuscate for as long as they can get away with it. It’s that simple.

Public relations firms like Publicis are mere arms of these notoriously untruthful industries. They do their bidding because that’s what they’re paid to do. To think that Big Pharma and paid propagandists are looking out for anyone but themselves is dangerously naïve.

It’s ironic in the extreme to hear Publicis talk about the need to protect the public from misinformation that might put their health at risk, all while having played a crucial role in one of the deadliest health care schemes involving lies and deceit — the promotion of opioids as nonaddictive.

According to The Great Reset plan, we’re in for unprecedented changes — changes few if any would willingly agree to. That’s why dissenters must be silenced. The plan can easily get pushed off-track if the public doesn’t go along, and that’s precisely what can save us.

We must expose the machinations that allow this agenda to be pushed forward. Part of that exposure is looking at the role of big PR companies like Publicis, which helps influence the public mind so that the technocrats can maintain their lies until it’s too late to do anything about it.

*

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

Notes

1 World Economic Forum, Publicis Groupe

2 CNBC February 1, 2024

3 Twitter Publicis Health Media April 28, 2021

4 City Journal January 25, 2024

5 USRTK US Geological Survey letter December 5, 2023

6 USRTK January 18, 2024

7, 8 Censored News February 4, 2024

9 Lab Leak Fact Check Articles by Snopes

10, 12 LeeFang.com November 15, 2023

11 Consortium News October 23, 2023

What Is the Democrats’ Playbook? Paul Craig Roberts

February 12th, 2024 by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

I raised this question in a column or an interview as polls revealed declining public confidence even among Democrats that Biden was fit to serve a second term. I suggested that one possibility would be that a deal would be worked whereby Biden would be moved aside, Kamala would become President, choose Hillary as her Vice President and then resign, having been promised a cabinet or judicial appointment. This would place in the White House a candidate that Democrats and the presstitutes claim won the 2016 election before Putin allegedly  stole the election for Trump by hacking Hillary’s email.

Evidence that something of this sort might be in the works emerges from the way Biden’s Justice (sic) Department cleared Biden of charges of possession of classified documents more serious than those for which President Trump is being prosecuted. Biden was vice president with no power to declassify documents. Moreover, unlike Trump’s documents, which were stored in a secured room in a house in which US Secret Agents were present, Biden’s were scattered about in various insecure locations, including in the trunk of his Corvette in a garage.

Special Counsel Robert Hur cleared Biden from prosecution by finding that Biden was not mentally competent to stand trial. So how is Biden mentally competent to be President of the United States and to have the nuclear briefcase in his hands?

This is the Democrats’ dilemma. If Biden is judged capable of continuing as President, Robert Hur’s report comes across as more double standards in which a Democrat president is cleared of charges while a Republican is prosecuted for the same offense.

The Democrats might bank on the presstitutes obfuscating the matter, but even insouciant Americans are likely to notice. The rest of the world will conclude that Putin was correct when he said he doubted the president was the one really in charge.

As Kamala is not a viable candidate, she in turn would have to be moved aside. Her resignation would follow her choice of Hillary Clinton as her vice president. Under the 25th Amendment, when a vice president ascends to the presidency, the vacant office of vice president is filled by the president nominating a candidate, who is then confirmed by the House and Senate. As the Senate is under Democrat control, and as the House Republicans are filled with Rinos who would confirm Hillary, it is an easily done deal.

Trump himself might prefer the rematch in order to demonstrate a second victory over Hillary, one that the Democrats and media whores can’t again assign to Putin.

Anyhow, this is my take for now. I will stick with it unless counter-evidence emerges.  

*

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

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.

Featured image source

Genocide in Numbers – This Is What Israel Has Done to Gaza

February 12th, 2024 by Palestine Chronicle

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The Government Media Office in Gaza published an update about the scale of destruction by the Israeli army in the besieged Gaza Strip, starting on October 7.

The count is not final, due to the fact that over 7,000 Palestinians remain missing, and are presumed dead – either under the rubble of their homes, or scattered in the streets in areas that civil defense workers cannot reach. 

The numbers, stats and estimates below cover the period between October 7, 2023, and February 11, 2024. 

Genocide in Numbers

  • 128 days of the war.
  • 2,438 massacres.
  • 35,176 martyred and missing.
  • 28,176 martyrs whose bodies have reached the hospitals.
  • 12,300 child martyrs.
  • 8,400 women martyrs.
  • 340 medical worker martyrs.
  • 46 civil defense martyrs.
  • 124 journalist martyrs.
  • 7,000 missing; 70% of them are children and women.
  • 67,784 wounded.
  • 11,000 wounded in need of travel for life-saving and critical treatment.
  • 10,000 cancer patients at risk of death.
  • 700,000 Gazans infected with infectious diseases as a result of displacement.
  • 8,000 cases of viral hepatitis infection due to displacement.
  • 60,000 pregnant women are at risk due to lack of access to health care.
  • 350,000 chronic patients are at risk due to lack of administration of medications.
  • 99 arrests of health workers.
  • 10 arrests of journalists whose names are known.
  • 2 million displaced in the Gaza Strip.
  • 142 government headquarters destroyed by the occupation.
  • 100 schools and universities completely destroyed by the occupation.
  • 295 schools and universities partially destroyed by the occupation.
  • 184 mosques completely destroyed by the occupation.
  • 266 mosques partially destroyed by the occupation.
  • 3 churches targeted and destroyed by the occupation.
  • 70,000 residential units completely destroyed by the occupation.
  • 290,000 residential units partially destroyed by the occupation.
  • 66,000 tons of explosives dropped by the occupation on Gaza.
  • 30 hospitals taken out of service by the occupation.
  • 53 health centers taken out of service by the occupation.
  • 150 health centers partially destroyed by the occupation.
  • 123 ambulances completely destroyed by the occupation.
  • 200 archaeological and heritage sites destroyed by the occupation.

*

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

Featured image: Palestinians line up to fetch some water in a refugee camp in Gaza. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Leaks from within CNN reveal that for months its executives have been actively imposing an editorial line designed to reinforce Israel’s framing of events in Gaza, to the point of obscuring atrocities by the Israeli military.

The dictates, say insiders, have resulted in senior staff refusing to accept assignments to the region “because they do not believe they will be free to tell the whole story”. Others suspect they are being kept away by editors who fear they will fight the restrictions.

Internal memos insist that stories be approved by the station’s Jerusalem bureau, where staff are widely seen as partisans who slant reports in Israel’s favour. Palestinian perspectives are tightly restricted.

“Ultimately, CNN’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war amounts to journalistic malpractice,” one staffer told an investigation by the Guardian newspaper.

According to staff accounts, CNN’s pro-Israel directives come from the very top – Mark Thompson, a TV executive who was hired from the BBC. Thompson, the Guardian article notes, was remembered by BBC staff for “bowing to Israeli government pressure on a number of occasions” – presumably one of the qualifications that won him the job heading CNN.

It was he who notoriously championed in 2009 the BBC’s controversial decision for the first time not to air the annual fundraising appeal of the Disasters Emergency Committee, which is a group of major British charities, because the monies were going to Gaza after Israeli bombing had devastated it.

Alongside the unhappiness at CNN, there is reported to be disquiet at the BBC. Staff, including senior presenters, held a meeting last month with Director General Tim Davie, one of Thompson’s successors, to accuse the corporation of anti-Palestinian bias.

They expressed concerns about the “dehumanising” language used to describe Palestinians killed in Gaza and the BBC’s failure to cover important stories reported by Al Jazeera and other networks.

A source told the Deadline website that the group of dissenters was surprised by Davie’s candour. He is said to have admitted that the pro-Israel lobby “was more organised than Palestinian supporters in its dealings with the BBC”.

Skewed Agendas

None of this should come as a surprise.

Middle East Eye has highlighted the clearly skewed priorities of western news agendas since Hamas broke out of Gaza on 7 October – some 17 years after Israel began imposing a military siege that had already left the enclave barely habitable.

In the carnage that day caused by Hamas’ attack – as well as Israel’s indiscriminate violent response – some 1,139 people in Israel were killed.

As MEE has noted previously, the entire western press corps, not just CNN and the BBC, has failed in its basic duty to present a balanced picture of what has been going on over the past four months.

It has also failed to treat Israeli claims with the scepticism they deserve, especially since Israel has a long track record of being caught out in lies and deceptions.

Paradoxically, given its exposure of concerns at CNN, many of the accusations of journalistic failure levelled at CNN and the BBC could be directed at the Guardian newspaper too – or any other establishment media organisation.

Following Hamas’ 7 October break-out, Israel unleashed a devastating assault on Gaza’s population – so far leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians dead or missing under rubble.

Yet all western media misleadingly continue to frame Israel’s rampage in Gaza – including the collective punishment inflicted on civilians by denying them food and water – variously as “retaliation”, “a war with Hamas”, and “an operation to eliminate Hamas”.

Western media have also largely avoided characterising as “ethnic cleansing” the Israeli military’s order for Palestinians to leave their homes. As a result, 1.7 million have been trapped in a small area in southern Gaza where they face relentless bombing.

Similarly, there has been almost no mention of a long-held plan by Israel – which it now appears close to realising – to drive Gaza’s population into the Sinai desert, in neighbouring Egypt.

And the same media outlets have refused to connect the all-too-obvious dots that Israel – in destroying most of Gaza’s homes, forcibly shutting almost all of its medical facilities and cutting off food and water, while also demanding international defunding of Unrwa, the United Nations’ main aid agency to Gaza – is pursuing an openly genocidal policy.

Israel is making Gaza unlivable, just as Giora Eiland, adviser to the Israeli defence minister, vowed Israel would do at the outset of its assault: “Gaza will become an area where people cannot live.”

When the media do refer to genocide, it is strictly in the context of the International Court of Justice’s decision to put Israel on trial for the “crime of crimes”. Even then, the establishment media have largely minimised the significance of the World Court’s ruling, or even spun it as a victory for Israel.

Astonishingly, the ICJ’s panel of 17 justices has proven to be far more courageous than western media journalists.

Feeble Whistleblowers

It is notable that, although the Guardian refers to a “backlash” at CNN, the only meaningful evidence for that backlash is a group of journalists airing their grievances anonymously to the Guardian.

The self-professed “fearless truth-tellers” at CNN and the BBC have, by their own admission, exposed themselves as too cowed to report truthfully about Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.

It is not journalists and on-the-ground reporting that is shaping the news coverage, they complain. It is well-paid media executives, looking over their shoulders at corporate advertisers, government officials and a pro-Israel lobby tightly networked into both.

The journalists cited by the Guardian are too afraid even to go on the record with their criticisms. They are the very feeblest kind of whistleblowers.

They lack even the minimal courage shown by the 800 US and European officials who signed a statement condemning their governments for sidelining expert advice and risking complicity in “one of the worst human catastrophes of this century”.

Where are the western journalists demanding that Israel stop its campaign of assassinations of Palestinian journalists? Or that Israel end a media siege that prevents foreign correspondents from reaching a genocide zone unless they are embedded with Israeli soldiers?

Why are journalists not raising these matters in public, or putting the Israeli government officials they so regularly host on air on the spot by demanding an explanation?

There is also a fundamental misunderstanding demonstrated by the comments CNN staffers have made to the Guardian. One observed: “There’s a lot of internal strife and dissent. Some people are looking to get out.”

Another noted of the Jerusalem bureau’s role that “critical changes – from the introduction of imprecise language to an ignorance of crucial stories – ensure that nearly every report, no matter how damning, relieves Israel of wrongdoing”.

But while CNN may be the worst of a rotten bunch, the simple truth is that there are no establishment media destinations where these disillusioned journalists are going to find that they can speak freely about Israel’s crimes, let alone about its overarching genocidal goals.

Should they really try to act as truth-tellers, they are most likely to share the fate of Antoinette Lattouf, a journalist fired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for reposting a report by Human Rights Watch on Israeli atrocities.

Lattouf had been the focus of a pro-Israel lobby campaign demanding her dismissal after she investigated the veracity of a video purportingto show protest crowds in Sydney chanting “Gas the Jews”.

As usual, the story was unquestioningly reported by much of the western media. Last week, a lengthy New South Wales police investigation concluded that the audio track had been faked.

Left in the Dark

One of the main criticisms of CNN’s coverage under Thompson is that he has insisted on a pro-Israel framing. One management memo states: “We must continue always to remind our audiences of the immediate cause of this current conflict, namely the Hamas attack and mass murder and kidnap of civilians”.

According to the insiders, CNN has used Hamas’ 7 October attack “to implicitly justify Israeli actions, and that other context or history was often unwelcome or marginalised”.

As one staffer observed: “Every action by Israel – dropping massive bombs that wipe out entire streets, its obliteration of whole families – the coverage ends up massaged to create a ‘they had it coming’ narrative.”

But as MEE has detailed previously, it is not just CNN that has been determined to impose a bogus balance that usefully allows it to equivocate over genocide.

For months on end, the BBC and other outlets have revisited the historic horrors of 7 October, all too often at the expense of broadcasting the current horrors of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza.

The discovery, for example, of a mass grave last week in northern Gaza, the victims handcuffed and with signs that they had been tortured before execution, has been buried by the western media.

As Kenneth Roth, head of Human Rights Watch, wondered in a tweet: “Why isn’t this a bigger story?” Who can doubt it most certainly would have been, were the bodies Ukrainian and were Russia, not Israel, in the frame?

There is a pattern of omitting evidence that contradicts Israel’s official narrative, and one that began with the events of 7 October – supposedly the vital, immediate context CNN executives claim needs constantly emphasising as the “cause of this current conflict”.

Astonishingly, for weeks western outlets have refused to report on Israeli media investigations that have re-evaluated the events of October 7 and upended official Israeli claims.

Western audiences have been left completely in the dark.

Since 7 October, Israel and the western media have promoted the story that Hamas burned Israelis alive – apparent savagery that quickly became the chief justification for Israel’s genocidal bombing and starving of Gaza’s population. But Israeli media investigations stronglyindicate that it was not Hamas but Israel itself that incinerated many of its citizens with tank shells and Hellfire missiles fired by Apache helicopters.

Those reports reveal that Israeli commanders, blindsided by the Hamas attack, invoked the military’s notorious “Hannibal directive”, which requires Israeli soldiers to stop Israelis being taken hostage, even if it results in their being killed.

This “mass Hannibal”, as one Israeli commander called it, has been set out in great detail by veteran military correspondents at the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Similarly, none of the western media have seen fit to report that the Israeli military’s own ethics adviser, Professor Asa Kasher of Tel Aviv University, has called the Israeli military’s actions that day “horrifying” and in urgent need of investigation by a state commission of inquiry.

He told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper that he suspected the invocation of the Hannibal directive against Israeli civilians, rather than captured Israeli soldiers, was against Israeli law.

Career Suicide

The problem is not just that the western media have acted as one in blanking out persuasive evidence of the crimes Israel committed on 7 October. They have also, again as one, been credulously ascribing particularly barbarous crimes to Hamas on the most tenuous of evidence – unsubstantiated claims that Israel has then been using to justify its genocidal rampage.

That started in the immediate wake of 7 October with allegations that Hamas had variously beheaded babies, hung them from washing lines and roasted them in ovens. These claims were even echoed by the White House.

There is still zero evidence for any of them.

CNN staff are upset that Hadas Gold, one of its reporters in Jerusalem – part of the unit vetting all copy about Gaza – uncritically recycled lies from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

She described Hamas’ denials about the beheaded babies as unbelievable “when we literally have video of these guys, of these militants, of these terrorists doing exactly what they say they’re not doing to civilians and to children”.

In fact, no one had seen such videos, least of all CNN. She was simply repeating the falsehoods she was being told by Israeli officials and passing them off as incontrovertible facts. But this abandonment of the most basic of journalistic principles is not restricted to CNN. Most of the western media hurried to accuse Hamas of murdering and beheading babies. 

Caution can safely be thrown to the wind when it comes to claims against Hamas, when no western journalists would ever dare to so recklessly promote evidence-free claims against Israel. They do not need a memo from management to understand that it would be career suicide.

Which is why academic research into coverage of Israel and Palestine always reaches the same conclusion: that media bias against Palestinians is off the charts.

For instance, a study of the BBC’s first month of coverage of Israel’s attack on Gaza found a complete inconsistency in the language used. 

The terms “murder”, “murderous”, “mass murder”, “brutal murder” and “merciless murder” were used constantly to describe, and remind viewers of, the deaths of Israelis on the single day of 7 October. Those terms were not used once in covering the many weeks of Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians.

As ever, the media implicitly confers a legitimacy and legality on Israeli violence, even when it is committing genocide, that Palestinian violence is automatically denied.

Blackout of Hamas

This problem very much infects not just the popular press but the so-called serious, “liberal” media too. 

The Guardian has followed the New York Times in not only failing to report on the horrors Israel unleashed on its own citizens on 7 October. Both have also actively promoted the evidence-free claim against Hamas that it carried out “systematic” rape that day, using sexual violence as a weapon of war. 

The New York Times breathed credibility into this claim in a widely shared feature story in late December. The family of the supposed primary rape victim cited by the New York Times immediately accused the paper of advancing a falsehood and of manipulating them. There were other major discrepancies and inconsistencies in the report.

After mounting internal protests among staff over the poorly evidenced story, the paper has indefinitely postponed an episode of its flagship “The Daily” podcast that was supposed to expand on the Times’ original story. 

The Intercept set out the New York Times’ dilemma: either “run a version that hews closely to the previously published story and risk republishing serious mistakes, or publish a heavily toned-down version, raising questions about whether the paper still stands by the original report”. 

Even so, despite these evident weaknesses, the Guardian regurgitated the Times’ story precisely – based on the same discredited Israeli sources.

What makes these misrepresentations of the factual record so easy is the media’s exclusive reliance on, and reflexive trust of, Israeli sources.

The Guardian’s investigation of CNN, again paradoxically, cites concerns from staff that management has insisted on a blackout of Hamas statements, arguing that anything it says is “inflammatory rhetoric and propaganda” and therefore “not newsworthy”.

One staffer noted: “CNN viewers are being prevented from hearing from a central player in this story… It is not journalism to say we won’t talk to someone because we don’t like what they do.”

But this is standard media practice when it comes to Hamas. The BBC and other outlets indicate their inherent ideological bias in appending their governments’ self-serving designation of Hamas as “a terrorist organisation”. They would never dare describe Israel – quite accurately – as “on trial for genocide by the International Court of Justice”.

As former UK ambassador Craig Murray noted, the BBC led their news with an eight-minute segment recycling unevidenced Israeli allegations of involvement by UN refugee agency staff in Gaza with Hamas. The BBC’s reporting effectively rationalised the UK government’s decision to defund Unrwa, even in the face of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe there. 

It was Channel 4, in an all-too-rare moment of true journalism, that later showed that the documents sent by Israel to the UK and other governments provided no evidence to back up its claims. 

It is precisely the anti-journalistic decision to ignore Hamas’ views, as well as sidelining wider Palestinian perspectives, that gives Israel and its lobby groups free rein to spread their own inflammatory rhetoric and propaganda. 

All too often, Hamas is pre-judged as guilty, whatever it is accused of. This vilification process even extends to those showing solidarity with Gaza’s suffering, including millions who have marched in western cities. They have been repeatedly labelled and vilified as Hamas supporters.

The Real Pressures

The Guardian offers various explanations for why CNN has failed so dismally to cover properly the slaughter in Gaza. All have an element of truth about them. 

CNN is indeed afraid of antagonising the US government and challenging a critical part of its foreign policy agenda. 

There are undoubted commercial pressures from advertisers. The Israel lobby can be confident its threats will be taken seriously when journalists face being accused of antisemitism for stepping out of line.  And all of these pressures are compounded by the difficulties its journalists face in accessing Gaza. 

But what the Guardian does not want its readers to notice is that all of these pressures apply not just to CNN but to every other corporate media outfit, including the Guardian itself. Which is why the failures are across the board, not confined to one or two broadcasters. 

And those pressures are not just current ones. They are there all the time. Which is why the state-corporate media have refused to treat with any seriousness the arguments of leading Israeli and international human rights organisations that Israel is an apartheid, racist state, and one that systematically oppresses Palestinians. 

But even these explanations fail to tell the whole story. The deeper truth is that western commercial media is no more separate from the corporate interests of its advertisers than a state broadcaster like the BBC is from the key interests of the state that funds it. They are integrally tied together.

The large corporations and billionaires that own the media are heavily invested in the arms and fossil fuel industries that require the West’s continuing colonial-style, military dominance of the planet and its resources.

Israel has long been the lynchpin of western establishments’ control of the oil-rich Middle East, and a testbed for weapons, new technology, surveillance and missile interception systems. 

Although it is rarely mentioned, it is western bombs currently devastating Gaza, and it is western-financed technology that protects Israel from retaliation. Without endless western support, Israel would never have been established on the ruins of the Palestinians’ homeland. And, without unstinting backing, it would long ago have been forced to make peace with its neighbours.

It is with this context – and only this context – that the media’s consistent, predictable and reflexive coverage of the region can be explained. Israel is invariably given the benefit of the doubt, even when its crimes are unmistakable, while the Palestinians are assumed to be committing savagery, even when the evidence is flimsy or non-existent. 

The reality is that the western media can never truly report the nature and extent of Israel’s decades of criminality. Because to do so would be to expose their long-standing complicity in those crimes.

*

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

Featured image is from MEE

Absence of Evidence: Israel’s Case Against UNRWA

February 12th, 2024 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

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

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

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

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Statistics are often given lanky legs that take their user far. But how they are used, and how they are received, is striking. The current figure of 27,500 dead is a blighting, grotesque fact. But as they are Palestinians, the issue is less significant to certain parties than, say, 140 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

As with much in the noisy clatter of Middle Eastern violence, the value attributed to numbers alters in the shade of ideology and self-interest. Massacres become acts of self-defence; acts of self-defence become unconscionable inflictions of murder. It also follows that an organisation of 30,000 employees, working in the field of humanitarianism, aid and salvation, can be plastered as terrorist sponsors for having 12 individuals in their service allegedly involved in a murderous assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. Despite the relative smallness of this figure, the entire organisation itself becomes a target.

What, then, of the evidence? The state of Israel was initially adamant that 12 such individuals in UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) had participated in the October 7 attacks by Hamas, sharing the details on January 29 with several media outlets. The accusations were made via a thin dossier amounting to no more than six pages. Little by way of evidence was supplied, though Israel was content to make further claims that almost 10% of the agency’s staff had ties to Hamas. As UN Crisis Group expert Daniel Forti writes, “Thus far, Israel has not provided evidence in writing to the UN to substantiate its allegations.”

For a gaggle of Western states and donors, that hardly mattered. The mere mention of the Satanic Twelve had made their way into public and political consciousness, and something had to be done about it. Funding to the aid body was swiftly suspended by the United States, Germany, the European Union, Sweden, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. The organisation was smeared and threatened with functional incapacity and prospective oblivion, an outcome that would also, inevitably, doom Palestinians. Unchallenged accusations that the agency had long been a Hamas front – an article of faith among Israeli nationalists – were bandied about with abandon.

The United Nations, for its part, was unusually fleet footed in responding to the dossier. Contracts were terminated. Inquiries were announced, along with promises of stern self-examination, purging and cleansing.  On February 5, the UN Secretary General António Guterres announced that an independent panel had been created with the specific purpose of assessing “whether the agency is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made.”  The panel will be chaired by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who will work alongside a Scandinavian complement of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

With the setting up of such heavy machinery, the picture started getting foggier. Then a smiting report from the British news outlet Channel 4 took issue with the scanty material supplied in the document. As the network’s Lindsey Hilsum stated, “We got hold of Israel’s dossier against UNRWA – why did the donors including the UK withdraw funding on such flimsy unproven allegations before an investigation?”

Channel 4 goes on to reveal that the dossier “contains no evidence to support Israel’s explosive new claim other than stating, ‘From intelligence information, documents, and identity cards seized during the course of the fighting, it is now possible to flag around 190 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihadi terrorist operatives who serve as UNRWA employees. More than 10 UNRWA staffers took part in the events of October 7.”

Even the usually less than critical CNN network reported that it had “not seen the intelligence that underlies the summary of allegations”, going on to mention that the summary did “not provide evidence to support its claims.”

When Ophir Falk, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was asked by CNN anchor Anna Coren to provide evidence of the claims, he refused to do so. When asked why the alleged culprits had not been arrested, he merely replied that “the first step is for them to be fired”.

Outlets such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal were less than concerned by the gaping lacunae and skimpiness of Israel’s case. Instead, the latter could even go so far as to claim that the dossier provided “the most detailed look yet at the widespread links between the UNRWA employees and militants.” The ABC World News Tonight was clumsy enough to suggest that the UN had “not denied the claims”, implying a veneer of veracity.

Now, other countries are finding absence of evidence from the Israeli side more than awkward. Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, had to also admit that she had not been furnished with much in the way of evidence. “We have spoken to the Israelis and we have asked for further evidence,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s 7.30. When asked why she did not ask UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini about the subject, she simply reiterated the point that she had asked the Israelis directly and was not aware if Lazzarini had evidence. “He may, I don’t know what he has.”

With trademark oiliness, Wong countered that the allegations were what mattered. “I think it is clear from UNRWA’s own actions that they regard these allegations as serious.” They had done so by “terminating the employment of a number of employees and putting in place an inquiry – in fact, there are two inquiries.” Effectively, the agency was to be punished for its own enterprising efforts to investigate the claims, leaving the accusers free to level whatever charges they saw fit.

In the meantime, Lazzarini has been scrambling to fill the funding void, making visits to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait. The dying and starvation in Gaza continue with the prospect of even more horror as Israel’s armed forces prepare their offensive on Rafah. A fine thing, then, to see donor countries for UNRWA, some of whom continue funding Israel’s military efforts, to moralise about terrorists and the agency.

*

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

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). Email: [email protected] 

Featured image: Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) holds press conference in Jerusalem on October 27, 2023 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

In our complex world, understanding global events is crucial. We hunger for truth about Amazon rainforests, Tibet and China, Niger in Africa, Antarctica, Guyana, and the ongoing tensions between Russia and Europe in Ukraine, as well as the conflict between Hamas and Israel supported by the United States. To make informed decisions, we must carefully analyze the facts.

History teaches us that truth can be suppressed under regimes like Stalinist Russia, Hitlerite Germany, or the Iraq war waged on false intelligence. Manipulated narratives, elegant lies, and misinformation have led to devastating consequences, from gulags and wars to concentration camps. Yet, brave individuals—Socrates, Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, George Orwell, and Martin Luther King Jr.—stood by the truth, regardless of the odds.

Today, Julian Assange stands alongside these names. His work challenges power structures, revealing uncomfortable truths hidden by the United States Government.

We are now reaching a critical stage in Julian Assange’s fight against U.S. extradition with appeal hearings taking place at the U.K. High Court on February 20 and 21.

The new UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Jill Edwards on Tuesday called on the U.K. to halt the extradition, stating that if it goes forward, Assange would be at risk of treatment amounting to torture or other forms of ill-treatment or punishment.

Amnesty International in a petition it organizes says that “USA must drop charges against Julian Assange. He fully deserves to be released; he already paid a heavy price for what he did”.

To put as much pressure on the court as possible, we would also urge all of you to support these events before the hearings:

  • February 14: The Geneva Press Club, alongside RSF Switzerland, hosting an online and in-person talk with Stella Assange. Stella will be available for interviews after the event.
  • February 15: The Freedom of the Press Foundation online event on Assange. Speakers include Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute; Trevor Timm, executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation; and Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.

And here is this useful thread from Stella laying out the legal arguments in the case.

Let us champion honest information, for it is our shield against propaganda and our path to a more just world.

*

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

Dimitris Eleas is a New York City–based writer, independent researcher, and political activist. 

David Andersson is a citizen journalist, writer, activist, and Author of THE WHITE-WEST: A LOOK IN THE MIRROR

Featured image is from Elekhh (Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Eyewitness in Gaza

February 12th, 2024 by Andy Hedgecock

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

Rishi Sunak’s immediate response to military atrocities that have now killed 28,000 people, more than 11,000 of them children, was to tell Israel: “We want you to win.”

In October, Keir Starmer informed the Labour conference that Israel had “the right” to withhold water and power from Gaza. Interviewers on C4 and BBC failed to challenge the bellicose assertions of Israel’s British ambassador, Tzipi Hotovely. The journalists-turned-courtiers of the mainstream media are spinning acts of genocide against Gazans in terms of “Israel’s right to self-defence.” Meanwhile, the slaughter, privation and suffering continues.

Comma Press provide an effective antidote to the poison of corporate-controlled journalism in the form of an authentic voice from the front line of oppression. Don’t Look Left is a diary of devastation by Atef Abu Saif, a writer and minister for culture in the Palestinian Authority. Atef’s despatches — delivered to Comma’s Ra Page in English as WhatsApp texts and voice-memos — open with the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7 and cover 84 days of grief and courage. It’s harrowing, but life-affirming: Atef’s family and friends exhibit a breathtaking determination to retain their humanity and survive.

I would urge Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN special adviser on genocide who offered no criticism of Israel following the first wave of atrocities, to read Atef’s eyewitness accounts.

Inevitably, Atef reports body counts, woundings, grieving families and lives ruined by amputation or loss of sight — that’s where compassion must be directed in times of atrocity. But genocide exploits tools other than death and mutilation: the annihilation of a people requires the destruction of hope, the erasure of identity and the denial of opportunity to think of anything beyond survival.

Atef sees a pattern in the Israeli air strikes: the chosen targets are places reflecting the Gazans’ sense of self-worth, pride in their culture and belief in progress. For example, he describes an attack on the Karmel Tower, an exciting development that generated considerable investment and housed several media centres. Thriving bookstores, new housing complexes and mosques are reduced to rubble. For Atef, the message encoded in the cacophony of bombs and heaps of rubble is that any effort to make Gaza look anything but “poor and ugly” is doomed to futility.

But there is always hope, and resistance takes many forms. Twelve days into the attacks, Atef glimpses a girl in a hospital corridor, “amid all the chaos and the crowds,” quietly doing her school homework.

At the start of February, Israel accused people working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of involvement in terrorism. This led 16 countries to suspend funds to UNRWA. It is apparent from Atef’s diary that this catastrophic decision, led by the US, will intensify suffering in Gaza. Children are educated in UNRWA schools, displaced families shelter in UNRWA welfare centres, children queue at UNRWA water stations; and the agency is even involved in rubbish collection.

Atef’s writing is precise and vivid. The facts are horrendous — 600 people died in the attacks of October 22-23 — but the terrors of displacement go beyond the numbers. There are the smells of ash, burning metal and bodies rotting in the rubble; there are the screeches, flashes and explosions of Israeli ordnance; there are splintered doors, shattered windows and twisted aluminium; and there are heartbreaking scenes in which the people of Gaza wrestle with grief, fear and a growing sense of disconnection from reality.

A father wanders streets and alleys shouting to his dead children: “Wake up kids.”His lamentations are all but unbearable. Following an explosion, Atef is unable to retrieve the bodies of his sister-in-law’s family for eight days, and then locates a nephew’s body at the top of a building 70 metres away.

Hospitals, protected by international law, are destroyed; bakeries where children queue for bread and falafel are wiped out. On the fifth day of the conflict, Atef grabs a sandwich in the souk of Nuseirat Camp; later, he notes those queuing for food on the 15th day will have died in a targeted attack.

I’m happy to report that Atef and his 15-year-old son, Yasser, have survived their trek from the rubble of their family home to reach Port Said. But, as the author notes, his thoughts remain in Gaza. His diary entry for Day 20, when the death toll stood at 7,000, posed a question we should understand as a call to action: “How many of us need to die before the world is awakened from its slumber?”

*

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

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.

Big Tech’s Effort to Silence Truth-tellers: Global Research Online Referral Campaign

***

The 2023-2024 Gaza Massacre has continued now for nearly 4 months while the World looks on. The Zionist-subverted and US lackey Australian Labor Government  has fervently assisted Apartheid Israel diplomatically, with  key arms supplies, intelligence, weapons targeting and now with cessation of support for UNRWA – racist Labor is complicit in the US-Israeli massacre of  Palestinian children. Zionist-subverted Australian Mainstream media are complicit by lying for Apartheid Israel.

Set out below is a quantitative view of the Gaza Genocide from truthful reportage (notably from some prize-winning Western journalists) but which is overwhelmingly ignored by Zionist-subverted Mainstream Western and Australian media:

(1) Apartheid Israel allowed the 7 October (10/7) event to happen (like the US re 9/11).

(2) The 10/7 Breakout by lightly armed Palestinians from the Gaza Concentration Camp was to get hundreds of Israeli hostages to trade for 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli military prisons and indeed for 5.6 million highly abusively confined  Occupied Palestinians.

(3) The IDF response with high explosive tank shelling and helicopter missiles was responsible for a substantial proportion of the 1,200 Israelis killed – if deaths were proportional to firepower then most of the Israeli deaths on 7-8 October were due to the IDF.

(4) 97.5% (1,170) of the Israelis killed (1,200) were adults involved militarily in the 56 year Occupation because of Israeli compulsory military service. 2.5% (30) were children).

(5) 84.2% (1,010) of the Israeli dead were present serving Israeli military responsible for violently maintaining the 56-year Occupation and hermetically sealing the bombed and blockaded Gaza Concentration Camp.

(6) The Israeli-complicit 10/7 carnage (like the US-complicit 9/11 carnage from massive intelligence failure as adverted by both former US president Donald Trump and former US Vice President Al Gore) provided the “excuse” for disproportionate violence with genocidal intent.

(7). As of mid-January 2024, after 100 days  of the Gaza Massacre 100,000 Palestinians were killed, missing or wounded, and 31,497 Palestinians had been killed  including  12,345 children, 6,471 women and 245 health workers. 1,500 Palestinian fighters were killed in Israel on 7-8 October for a total of 33,000 Palestinians killed.

(8) In the present Gaza Massacre there is an Occupied/Occupier Reprisals Death Ratio of 33,000/1,200 = 27.5 (55 if the IDF killed 50% of the Israeli victims) versus the 10 ordered by Nazi leader Hitler in 1944 (and effected in the Ardeatine Massacre), and 30,000,000/3,000 = 10,000 in the post-9/11 US War on Terror (this including  avoidable deaths from war-imposed deprivation in 20 countries violated by the US Alliance).

(9) International Law expert Professor Francesca Albanese states that under International Law subjugated Occupied people (the Occupied Palestinians) have the right to defend themselves but the war criminal Occupiers (the genocidally racist Israelis) in an occupied territory do not.

(10) US, UK and Australian Mainstream media reportage is overwhelmingly dominated by lying Israeli propaganda. Thus a Google Search for “Hamas massacre” yields 500,000 results whereas that for “IDF massacre” yields 1,400 results.  

(11) Most of 2.3 million Gazans (nearly half of them children, nearly three quarters women and children) are living in tents, denied requisite water, food, sanitation, medicine and medical care, and facing an existential catastrophe due to deprivation and disease.

(12) The forced displacement of Gazans to the south is a Third major mass population expulsion after the 1948 Nakba (800,000 expelled) and the 1967 Naksa (400,000 expelled), with a feared  Fourth mass population expulsion of 2.3 million Palestinians into the Egyptian Sinai desert. Genocidally racist, settler-colonialist Apartheid Israel wants all the land of Palestine (plus neighbouring lands) but not the Indigenous inhabitants.

The civilized World is utterly horrified but must translate that horror into urgent action as summarized below:

(1) Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).

(2) Dump the US dollar.

(3) UNSC, UNGA and other action over genocidal Israeli violation of the South Africa-requested ICJ ruling on the Gaza Genocide.

(4) Young-impelled decent Third Parties (e.g. Greens) to urgently replace war criminal and climate criminal Western duopolies (e.g. the US Republican/ Democrat, UK Conservative/Labour and Australian Coalition/Labor political duopolies).

(5) Decent voter backlash in the US, UK, and US Alliance e.g. Australians voting for either the unforgivable, Apartheid Israel-supporting  Australian Labor Government or the even worse Coalition are complicit in genocidal Apartheid Israeli crimes.

(6) Unexceptional and immediate granting of  equal rights and all Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)-specified  human rights for 15 million sorely oppressed Palestinians.

(7) In relation to the present horrifying, Israel-imposed Gaza circumstances the Indigenous Palestinians should at the very least be immediately given the rights accorded  in law to pets and livestock in the West.

(8) If Palestinians are to continue to be denied life without foreign occupation the World should immediately insist on occupation by a decent non-Invader country (e.g. Switzerland, Ireland, Fiji).

(9) Immediate ceasefire with war criminal Apartheid Israel out of Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories immediately to permit entry of life-saving security, humanitarian aid, health workers, reconstruction teams, and forensic teams to examine all the dead (Israel was a world leader in illegal organ trading).  

(10) Action now – if the US Alliance-, UK- and Australia-backed  US and Apartheid Israel continue to get away with mass murder of children in Gaza then  we are all existentially threatened.

For details and documentation  (including the censoring and sacking of decent, truth-telling  Australian journalists) see Gideon Polya, “Lying Australian Media & Labor Government Complicit In US-Israeli Massacre Of Palestinian Children”, Countercurrents, 7 February 2023: see this. Please inform everyone you can – the mendacious Mainstream presstitutes certainly won’t.

*

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

Dr Gideon Polya taught science students at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia over 4 decades. He published some 130 works in a 5 decade scientific career, notably a huge pharmacological reference text “Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds” (2003). He has also published “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950” (2007, 2021), “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History” (1998, 2008, 2022), “US-imposed Post-9-11 Muslim Holocaust & Muslim Genocide” (2020), and “Climate Crisis, Climate Genocide & Solutions” (2020), and contributed to Soren Korsgaard (editor) “The Most Dangerous Book Ever Published – Dangerous Deception Exposed!” (2020). For images of Gideon Polya’s huge paintings for the Planet, Peace, Mother and Child, see this.  

Featured image source