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[Published with expressed written consent for Benjamin Roberts (Copyright © Oct 2023. Benjamin Roberts & EMS (LLC))]

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Just days ago, on October 2, 2023, I forwarded correspondence to the Nobel Peace Prize at their email contact page site on their awarding of their prize to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their having ‘saved lives’ with their breakthrough feat of providing humanity the Covid-19 M-RNA vaccine.

As what I submitted to them was typed into a comment box on that contact page, I have no way of retrieving that document, once submitted. As such I will attempt to paraphrase what was communicated to them, along with a request that they contact me back with any queries they might have, subsequent to what I shared. And based on what I shared they should have serious follow-up queries or comment. But as of now I have heard nothing back from them. Here is what I recall saying:

I am taken aback and quite disappointed that you would think it appropriate in awarding your prize to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for having ‘saved lives’ for their work on the Covid-19 M-RNA vaccine technology.

There is no evidence this synthetic therapeutic saved lives, though that claim continues to be made ‘ad infinitum.’ I would point you to two documents that should have you seriously reconsidering your choice for this award. The first is a document generated by the United States FDA at their in-house ‘Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee October 22, 2020 Meeting Presentation’ on the eve of the roll-out of the vaccines.

The document is titled: ‘FDA Safety Surveillance of Covid-19 Vaccine: DRAFT Working list of possible adverse event outcomes.’ This document, available at their site in early 2021 when I accessed it, and to date still currently available, lists 22 serious side-effects likely to result from inoculation. And in fact, given the gravity of these conditions that result, it is too kind to call them side-effects.

They should be more suitably referred to as ‘health disabling conditions’, with ‘death’ being one of the listed.

Hardly a criterion of recognition for having ‘saved lives.’

And subsequent to the implementation of these vaccines these ‘side effects’/’disabling health conditions’ have presented themselves starkly and with discomfiting regularity in real life for the vaccinated populace, only to be foolishly and recklessly dismissed time and time again as due to ‘underlying conditions.’ How utterly misleading.

Second is a document put out by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), which is their review of CDC data on deaths related to the pandemic for the years 2021-2022.

This document titled: ‘Share of Covid-19 Deaths by Vaccination Status, 30 Jurisdictions In the U.S., September 2021 to August 2022, Age 18 and Over.’ Incidentally this novel document magically appeared within months of me taking the CDC to task for their lack of responsibility in failing to provide a version of their highly-regarded MMWR detailing Covid-19 deaths for the unvaccinated vs.  vaccinated.

This document, in its chart presentation shows that in the Fall of 2021 most deaths from Covid-19 was in the unvaccinated ranks. However, after a robust vaccination campaign in 2021 and the early part of 2022 with close to 70% of the American populace vaccinated, we then see a marked shift, with the majority of those deaths occurring not in the unvaccinated but rather those who had gotten their first round of Covid-19 vaccines [note these subjects were considered only ‘partially vaccinated’]. If they died within two weeks of their 1st dose and within two weeks of their 2nd dose they were classified as being ‘unvaccinated’ This questionable system of classification means the actual percentage of ‘vaccinated deaths’ is even much higher than the chart claims.

When put together, these two sources of sobering information leave no doubt that your Nobel Prize selection committee made a grave error in the selection of these two individuals to be awarded your prestigious prize. Finding this valuable information required a moderate degree of diligence on my part, and it is my assumption that an agency such as yours that prides itself on excellence, would have employed a higher level of due diligence of Covid-19 vaccine review in implementing your award.

The question is this: ‘Is your Nobel Prize Committee, in making its selection, an unwitting participant in a misinformation exercise, or are you well aware of the easily accessed information I have provided you? My career background in research science affords me the ability to point out this poor decision on your part. Thank you, and do not hesitate to contact me on this matter.

Yours truly,

Benjamin Roberts B.Sc. MT, ASCP, M. Ac., L. Ac.

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Feb. 2023 – Sydney, NSW, Australia – 42 year old Darious works 5-7 days a week abseiling buildings in construction. He was bodybuilding and training 6 times a week. He had two Pfizer vaccines and barely survived a heart attack 2 weeks later – needed 5 stents put in

  • Darious was an extremely fit 42 year old
  • 2 weeks after his 2nd Pfizer mRNA, he had a heart attack, 99.3% blockage and had to have 5 stents put in
  • he still has chest pains up to 10/10 to this day
  • he has been on anti-depressants and has been suicidal

Nov. 25, 2022 – Margaret River, WA, Australia – 51 year old Mark was in peak health and fitness, worked on an Oil Rig as a Supervisor. Had three Pfizer mRNA jabs (Pfizer #1 FH3221, #2 FK6268, #3 1F1056A).

  • Got the Pfizer mRNA Booster on March 29, 2022
  • started having shortness of breath
  • April 26, 2022 hospitalized, April 27 open heart surgery to remove 30-40cm clot that was putting pressure on the heart
  • His Vaccine Injury compensation application was denied by Australian govt.

Nov. 25, 2021: Myrtle Beach, SC, Tim – “4 weeks after my last Pfizer vax, these passed through my heart, and I was subsequently life flighted to a Trauma Care Unit where my chest plate was knocked open and these were vacuumed out of my chest.”

Oct. 21, 2021 – Gosford, NSW, Australia – 19 year old Cienna Knowles was a professional equestrian. She got 2 Pfizer mRNA Vaccines (#1: FG3712, #2FG6431) and developed blood clots in the lungs and the heart 

  • Cienna had the 2nd Pfizer mRNA on Oct. 21, 2021
  • Oct. 24, 2021 she was told she has pulmonary embolism
  • Nov. 11, 2021 she was told 3 of 5 arteries in her heart were 100% blocked
  • She was put on Eliquis (Apixaban), Pfizer’s anti-coagulant drug

My Take… 

These situations are usually lethal.

According to a Dec.30, 2022 USA Today Fact check, there is NO LINK between Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines and blood clots.

FDA spokesperson Abigail Capobianco also told USA Today Fact Checkers that there is no link.

The COVID Cartel will simply NOT ALLOW a link to be established between Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines and blood clots, nor will it allow any research papers to be published. South Korean researchers tried, and they were forced to return with the “correct answer” a few months later.

That’s why the Australian government is denying all vaccine injury claims involving blood clots and mRNA vaccines.

Eliquis is a blood thinner developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer to treat blood clots.

  • Eliquis sales in 2019 were $12.1 billion
  • Eliquis sales in 2020 were $14.1 billion
  • Eliquis sales in 2021 were $16.7 billion
  • Eliquis sales in 2022 were $18.3 billion

AstraZeneca was taken off the market in March 2021 and very few J&J were given out. Both were taken off the market for causing “rare” blood clots.

That raises an interesting question.

What is driving the rise in Eliquis sales to the point where it is the 6th best selling drug in the world? Climate change? Long COVID?

I believe that Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines cause blood clots and just like what happened with myocarditis, the true risks of clotting from these mRNA vaccines have been greatly downplayed and suppressed by the authorities.

On October 3, 2023, Biden’s White House announced that the makers of Eliquis will participate in Biden’s “Inflation Reduction Act” program to “lower prescription drug costs for Americans.

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


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

by Michel Chossudovsky

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

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

Reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Russia Continues Supplying Food to Africa in Multipolar World

October 12th, 2023 by Kester Kenn Klomegah

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It all began in March 2023 with an ear-deafening applause during the inter-parliamentary conference under the theme ‘Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World’ that was held in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered what was referred to as ‘no-cost deliveries’ of grains to six African countries. This unique promise was consolidated and renewed during the second Russia-Africa summit held in St. Petersburg. Russian media, with its highest public oriented reports and propaganda narratives, keeps on informing its public that Russia feeds Africa and its 1.4 billion population.

Under the auspices of the State Duma of the Russian Federal Assembly on March 20, President Vladimir Putin was the guest speaker at the plenary session. Putin based his arguments for building stronger comprehensive relations on the fact that Africa is increasingly becoming a continent of opportunities, its potential economic attractiveness and, what’s more, it possesses vast resources.

He stressed that

“Russia is reliably fulfilling all its obligations pertaining to the supply of food, fertilisers, fuel and other products that are critically important to the countries of Africa, helping to ensure their food and energy security. We are ready to supply some of the resources to countries free of charge.”

Putin added:

“By the way, let me note that at the same time, despite all the restrictions and limitations, Russian grain, almost 12 million tonnes were sent from Russia to Africa. I would also like to add that Russia is ready to supply to the African countries in great need, at no expense.” (Applause.)

Russia’s Foreign Ministry understands the concern that its ‘African friends’ are desperate for food, and has repetitively offered warm assurances for the ‘no-cost deliveries’ of grains to Africa’s poorest countries. Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has been driving the Russia-Africa relations for almost two decades since his appointment in 2004, has also indicated in his speeches ‘free grains’ intended to feed Africa.

Lavrov, during a news conference following the 78th session of the UN General Assembly on September 23, indicated, over the questions relating Russia with Africa, that there were outcries about the Black Sea Initiative.

“It took six months for the first shipment of 20,000 tonnes to get to Malawi and another three months for 34,000 tonnes to reach Kenya. Now we cannot send 34,000 tonnes to Nigeria. They are just rotting there,” he said in his remark to a media question in New York.

On October 9, Lavrov meeting with Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit, recalled that during the Russia-Africa summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Moscow’s decision to “send a free large shipment of grain as humanitarian aid to six African countries that are on the World Food Program list.”

“These are the countries that are most in need of food. These supplies will be completed by the end of the year,” he said, and added that Russia “has already been compensating” for the grain deliveries that reached Africa’s poorest countries that are on the list of the World Food Programme.

Quoting Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev, Russian media Interfax News Agency in early October reported that Russian grain supplies to African countries would start within a month and a half. “We are now completing the work on all documents. I think they will go within one to 1.5 months,” Patrushev told the News Agency.

As reported, President Vladimir Putin said at the Russia-Africa forum in July that Russia was ready to supply from 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes of grain to several African countries free of charge in the coming months. He was referring to supplies to Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, Somalia and Zimbabwe. Grain delivery will be free, according to the October 6th news report.

According to the Kremlin’s and Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ description, the poorest African countries in need of food supplies include Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, Somalia and Zimbabwe.

Putin had previously announced that Moscow would send up to 50,000 tons of grain to six African countries at no cost.

“We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tons of free grain each in the next three to four months,” Putin told a Russia-Africa summit in July, adding that his country would also cover the delivery costs.

The biggest question is ensuring food security. African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, reiterated that “food aid cannot feed Africa,” stressing that the continent “does not need bowls in hand, but seeds in the ground, and mechanical harvesters to harvest bountiful food produced locally.”

“As far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t be talking about food security in Africa more than five years from now. There’s no reason for it,” he said, adding: “We have the technology and the financing to do it at scale.”

According to the estimates of the 2022 Global Report on Food Crises, 140 million people in Africa face acute food insecurity. But, Africa would be able to overcome food insecurity within the next five years as the continent has enough financial and technological resources to address the issue, according to Akinwumi Adesina.

In practical terms, Russia is not feeding the entire Africa and its population which stands at 1.4 billion, but only six (6) African countries. Geography documents Africa as consisting of 54 African countries. This can also be confirmed by the African Union. With current developments, African leaders have to make a complete shift, at least change their development paradigm and approach by adopting new measures toward prioritizing agriculture to feed its population.

At the Nairobi summit on Climate Change held in September 2023, primarily to review and systematize possible options for Africa to finance climate change, which invariably relates to agricultural production, African Union Commission head, Moussa Faki Mahamat, went straight to the point in his demand, on behalf of the 54-member states, that the international investment must be “massively scaled up to enable commitments to be turned into actions across the continent of Africa.”

Among most of the speakers at that Nairobi summit, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s remarks seemingly carried different weighty significance. While concluding his talk at the gathering, he reminded of the necessity for Africa to mobilize its own resources rather than extend hands for handouts that may aggravate the existing situation by inviting interference and corrupt practices. Mobilizing inside resources will be enabling and motivating creativity at the level of the continent.

Nevertheless, Isaias Afwerki strongly urged Africans to back away from accepting donations. Rather, better to mobilize resources and get away from this dependency that will definitely compromise everything at the level of the continent.

It is always puzzling that Africa has all the resources, arable lands and huge water resources. Yet, Africa is poor, the majority of the population is wallowing in abject poverty. Unbelievably low standard of living still persists and is widespread across Africa.

But the point here is that African leaders must get down to their tasks to avoid being always rebuked to leave their ‘begging bowls’ at home when travelling abroad. As always trumpeted, Africa is immensely rich. It is rather necessary to broaden engagement with external players in food production and to ensure food security within the context of the current geopolitical situation in the world.

In recent years, the People’s Republic of China has built increasingly stronger ties with African countries and is Africa’s largest trading partner. China has the desire to shift its focus to agriculture and industrialization on the continent. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently unveiled plans to build more manufacturing plants in Africa, ramp up food production there and equip thousands of Africans with vocational skills to support the continent’s agricultural modernization.

At the 15th BRICS summit – a platform hosted by South Africa last August with participation of African leaders, Xi Jinping made a number of concrete proposals including (i) China will launch the Initiative on Supporting Africa’s Industrialization and (ii) China will launch the Plan for Supporting Africa’s Agricultural Modernization.

A Harvard University study led by professor Calestous Juma showed that Africa could feed itself by making the transition from importer to self-sufficiency. African agriculture is at the crossroads. And that, Africa has to focus on agricultural innovation, follow by industrialization, as its new engine for regional trade and prosperity.

According to the United Nations Economic Development Report, Africa is now at risk of being in debt once again, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries. Time and again, Wikipedia also reminds that despite a wide range of natural resources and the human capital, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania.

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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.

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Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, appeared on corporate state media to disseminate perhaps the most overblown war propaganda to date in the already-hyperbolic state of affairs.

“It turned out to be ten times bigger than 9/11. Because, until now, we suffered 900 fatalities, so, proportionally, because the Israel’s population is smaller than ten million people, it’s like having more than 30,000 American fatalities. And, by the way, it’s more dangerous than even, bigger than, 9/11, sadly, I say, because your enemies are 7,000 miles away. Our enemies are 7,000 feet away.”

Let’s pump the brakes there, Sparky.

What is the mathematical alchemy by which one can judge the scale or severity of an attack by a mere assessment of the affected population as a proportion of the general population?

Gilead goes on to saber-rattle about Iran, provoking potentially World War III with this kind of overblown rhetoric now prevalent in corporate state media.

Even if you are supportive of the state of Israel, do you not recoil at this kind of disgusting emotional manipulation of a people still traumatized by 9/11?

If politicians like Gilead had any shame – or fear of political repercussions — they would never consider uttering such tripe on national television. If the American people had any red lines when it comes to Israel’s influence-peddling in the United States, he would be persona non-grata forever for his absurd claims.

Ludicrous comparisons notwithstanding, there are parallels between the Hamas attack and 9/11:

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

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

Featured image: Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan (Licensed under the Public Domain)

The “Post Cold War” 1993 Yeltsin-CIA Presidential Coup

October 12th, 2023 by William Walter Kay

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*** 

The August 1991 countercoup rendered redundant the unsigned Union of Sovereign States Treaty. By September 1, 11 Soviet republics had declared independence. By December 25, all had done so. Meanwhile:    

  • August 22 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin purges national security agencies. Gorbachev rubberstamps all decisions.
  • August 23 – U.S. President George Bush Sr watches live from Kennebunkport as Yeltsin compels a humiliated Mikhail Gorbachev to read aloud, to the Supreme Soviet, minutes of the Politburo meeting wherein coup-plotters denounced Gorbachev. Yeltsin suspends the Russian Communist Party.
  • August 24 – Gorbachev dissolves the Soviet Communist Party’s Central Committee.
  • August 25 – Yeltsin seizes Communist Party assets.
  • September 1 – USSR’s Armed Force’s Political Directorate closes.
  • September 5 – USSR’s Congress of Deputies self-liquidates.
  • December 8 – Presidents of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus sign the Commonwealth of Independent States Treaty. A breathless Yeltsin calls Bush panting: “Mr. President the Soviet Union is no more.” (Bush found out before Gorbachev.)
  • December 16 – U.S. Secretary of State James Baker arrives in Moscow to finalize nuclear details. 
  • December 25 – A live television broadcast shows Gorbachev resigning as USSR President and handing the nuclear briefcase to Yeltsin. Hammer-and-sickle lowers. Tricolor rises. (1)

In his first visit to the USA as Russian President (June 1992), Yeltsin chirped Reaganesque jingles to a joint session of Congress:

“Communism has no human face. Freedom and communism are incompatible…Today the freedom of America is being upheld in Russia.” (2)

Yeltsin asked Bush for a statement describing Russia as an “ally.” Bush demurred. (3)

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Yeltsin on 22 August 1991 (Licensed under CC BY 4.0)

The 1992 US Freedom Support Act earmarked $400 million for aid to post-Soviet states. A separate Cooperative Threat Reduction Program financed decommissioning of nuclear arsenals. These allotments were supplemented by European aid and by clandestine funds. Additional Western aid spooled through the World Bank and IMF. Yeltsin pleaded for aid while expressing fears of appearing dependent.

With the August 1991 countercoup Western intelligence services secured a lock on the executive chambers of the Russian state, and strengthened their influence over Russian media and civil society. The countercoup did not, however, accomplish their ultimate aim, which Satter, describes as:

“…to reach a ‘point of no return,’ beyond which it would be impossible to restore socialism regardless of the will of the people.” (4)

Privatization hit jarring turbulence January 2, 1992 when neoliberal zealot, Deputy Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, removed price controls. Gaidar’s “shock therapy” proved wildly unpopular. Russians joked “where’s the therapy?”. In December Yeltsin nominated Gaidar for Prime Minister. Parliament balked. (5)

In March 1993 Yeltsin decreed a period of “special rule” which his own Vice President, Alexander Rutskoi, wouldn’t countersign. Parliament and the Constitutional Court quashed numerous such decrees. Yeltsin responded by summoning a “constitutional committee.” A parliamentary impeachment vote fell just shy of the needed two-thirds support. Another impeachment vote loomed. (6)

On August 31, Yeltsin, sporting an Airborne beret, attended military exercises outside Moscow. The inspected units consisted of a handpicked tank brigade and Defense Minister Pavel Grachev’s former stomping-ground, the 106th Airborne. During the exercises ‘Mercedes’ Grachev flanked Yeltsin. Days later, Yeltsin fired VP Rutskoi, who, alongside Legislative Chair, Ruslan Khasbulatov (both former Yeltsin allies) would lead opposition to the 1993 Presidential Coup. (7)

In September 21, Yeltsin read Decree 1400 on a nationwide television broadcast. Decree 1400 dissolved parliament and stripped parliamentarians of immunity. It suspended both the Constitutional Court and key sections of the constitution. (8)

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Yeltsin during the signature ceremony of the START II in Moscow, 3 January 1993 (Licensed under the Public Domain)

There is no doubting Decree 1400’s criminality. Even Short acknowledges it was illegal, and that Yeltsin knew this. (9) Colton, in his go-to biography, Yeltsin, confirms Yeltsin: “had no right to resolve a deadlock by ending a session of parliament” (10), adding:

“As he (Yeltsin) wrote a year later, ‘Here I was, the first popularly elected President, violating the law’.” (11)

The Constitutional Court declared Decree 1400 invalid and removed Yeltsin from his post, making Rutskoi President. (12) Russia’s largest trade union federation denounced Decree 1400, as did the overwhelming majority of its affiliates. (13) Eighty-three of 89 regions in the Russian Federation (including Moscow and St. Petersburg) proclaimed Decree 1400 illegal. (14)

Ruslan Khasbulatov christened Decree 1400 the inauguration of a “fascist dictatorship” (15) recounting:

“This person (Yeltsin) degenerated before my very eyes. He stopped being a leader and converted himself into a kind of puppet of those who have been called a ‘collective Rasputin’…” (16)

According to Khasbulatov, Yeltsin became “a plaything of shadowy power brokers” seeking a “semicolonial regime” wherein a “criminal and semifeudal” Russian state would be bonded to foreign interests. (17)

Khasbulatov recalled: “Yeltsin’s entourage was full of Americansa hundred CIA employees determined everything.” Yeltsin sent security officials and department heads to the USA to be vetted. (18) Rutskoi claimed a dozen CIA agents micromanaged privatization. (19)

Colton details how Yeltsin routinely consulted Western leaders, and how a “mutual admiration society” existed between Yeltsin and US Ambassador Robert Strauss, with Strauss “grooming” Yeltsin. (20)

*

Parliament’s anointing of a Rutskoi presidency made violence inevitable. Television stations backed Yeltsin to the hilt. On October 3, Gaidar broadcast an emotional call-to-the-streets. 20,000 Muscovites responded. Pro-parliament crowds were far larger and more impassioned[WK1] . Brute armed force alone saved Yeltsin. Grachev’s 106th Airborne and the select tank division surrounded, then bombarded, the parliament building. (21)

Efforts by civilians to overrun the Ostankino Television station fell into a trap. Hundreds of heavily armed commandos lay in wait. Few in the civilian crowd approaching the station possessed weapons. Despite this, the commandos raked the entire crowd with machine-gun fire. Unarmed protesters were forced to lay on the asphalt… then strafed again. Spectators were shot running away. Ambulance crews were shot.

The several hundred democracy defenders holed-up at the parliament building surrendered after the building took multiple tank rounds. They were detained by OMON officers, who, after being plied with crates of vodka, embarked on an orgy of beating and killing. (22) In the aftermath, one witness recounted:

“The morgue was filled to overflowing. Corpses lay piled on stretchers, one on top of the other. Many of the corpses had horribly mutilated faces, which people had covered with towels.” (23) 

Airborne and OMON snipers fired throughout the night; seemingly at any civilian in their sights.

The government initially refused to report casualties. When they did, their tally – 187 killed and 1,000 wounded – was absurdly low. All unofficial accounts arrive at much higher figures.(24) A team of Ukrainian journalists put the civilian death toll at 2,783. (25) Wounded and severely battered people must have exceeded 10,000.

*

In November, Russians caught their first glimpse of the draft constitution on which a referendum would be held 30 days later. Duma elections occurred simultaneously. Opposition papers were banned. Pro-government papers received vast subsidies. Radio and television coverage was censored and biased.

(The US Government’s Radio Liberty had enjoyed unrestricted broadcasting privileges since August 1991.) Opposition groups were denied public meeting venues. OMON troops trashed their offices. In Moscow 275 neighborhood self-management committees were disbursed. The Electoral Commission barred scrutineers. The Constitutional Court was padlocked. The fire-scorched parliament building sat vacant.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) won the right to participate; albeit two weeks before the deadline for registration, which required a massive list of signatures. The CPRF came through, outstripping all parties in signatures collected. (26) They, and all oppositionists, endured torrents of threats.

The Referendum Law stipulated that a vote be held on an alternative draft constitution if sufficient petitioners so requested. This threshold was met with a petition signed by 1.2 million. The law was disregarded. (27)

The Referendum Law required proposed constitutional changes be approved by 50% of registered voters. By the time polls closed fewer than 40% had voted. Suddenly, inexplicably the vote tally jumped by 25%. Fraud was blatant and sloppy. Commissioners issued two different tallies; neither added up. A majority of registered voters did not validate the 1993 constitution. (28)

The 1993 constitution is hyper-presidential. Presidents possess exclusive right to nominate prime ministers, military commanders, judges, ambassadors. If parliaments reject prime ministers, presidents dissolve parliament. Procedures for removing presidents are so complex and difficult as to render impeachment impossible. Presidents may veto any law. Overturning vetoes is all but impossible.

The constitution specified sitting judges were to remain in place until a new judicial law passed. On the first day the constitution came into effect Yeltsin broke this law; firing the Constitutional Court. (29)

*

The 1993 Presidential Coup played out in microcosm in St. Petersburg where Mayor Sobchak crushed democratic aspirations. When the coup began Sobchak and local military commanders declared support for Yeltsin. City Council split, most considering Yeltsin’s conduct illegal.

The crisis afforded Vladimir Putin an opportunity to audition before foreign consuls with daily briefings:

“Putin told the consuls that ‘prophylactic measures’ had been taken against armed extremists and OMON detachments had been assigned to protect the television station, the City Hall, and other sensitive locations. Asked about the authorities in the Leningrad Region, who had supported Khasbulatov’s insurgency, he replied contemptuously that they were irrelevant. “They have no money and no means of influencing the situation. At most they can get some collective farm to demonstrate.” (30)

The Swedish Consul dispatched rave reviews back to Stockholm:

“Here spoke a man… who knew how to exercise power…He (Putin) showed …unequivocal support for Yeltsin and a slightly arrogant conviction that the coup makers did not stand a chance.” (31)

A victorious Yeltsin augmented Sobchak’s powers with the additional title of “Chair of Civic Chamber.” Sobchak ordered Councilors to remove personal belongings from their offices and vacate Council premises, which were then sealed by an OMON detachment. (32)

Liberated from Council oversight onto his local foreign affairs fiefdom Putin grew more neoliberal than thou. While Yeltsin and Sobchak bitterly complained about Western powers not doing enough to stabilize Russia and facilitate the transition to capitalism, Putin wouldn’t whisper a defiant word. He defended all Western measures, especially those of the World Bank and IMF.  

Putin toed the ruling line on the touchstone issue of homosexuality; straying far from traditional values. A flamboyantly gay American concert promoter was hired by St. Petersburg’s cultural affairs department. Sobchak couldn’t stomach him. Putin cherished him. To mark the gay American’s departure Putin threw a lavish lunch in his honor, toasting him as “a member of our family.” Putin’s conduct “went far beyond the obligatory minimum for a departing adviser.” (33)

Deputy Mayor Putin cloyingly co-mingled with West Europeans, especially those with aristocratic pedigree. Between 1991 and 1996 Putin sallied through Western Europe hundreds of times.

*

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William Walter Kay is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Notes

1 Colton, Timothy, J. Yeltsin, Basic Books (Perseus Books), New York, 2008, p. 202-7

2 Ibid, p. 266

Ibid, p. 267

Satter, David. The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep: Russia’s Road to Terror and Dictatorship Under Yeltsin and Putin, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2017, p. 41 

Colton, p. 272

Ibid, p. 273-7

Ibid, p. 276-7

Buzgalin, Alexander and Kolganov, Andrei. Bloody October in Moscow: Political Repression in the Name of Reform, Monthly Review Press, New York, 1994, p. 34 

Short, Philip. Putin, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2022, p. 172

10 Colton, p. 272

11 Ibid, p. 277

12 Buzgalin, p. 42

13 Ibid, p. 43

14 Ibid, p. 49

15 Colton, p. 276-7

16 Ibid, p. 275

17 Ibid, p. 275

18 Tickle, Jonny. Boris Yeltsin had entourage of hundreds of CIA agents June 12, 2021, RT (article also carried by news agency, Mehr)

19 Ibid

20 Colton, p. 267 and 299

21 Short, p. 173

22 Buzgalin, p. 163-94

23 Ibid, p. 190

24 Short, p. 174

25 Satter, p. 62

26 Buzgalin, p. 195-201

27 Ibid, p. 200

28 Ibid, p. 199

29 Ibid, p. 200

30 Short, p. 172-4

31 Ibid, p. 174

32 Ibid, p. 174

33 Ibid, p. 550-1

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*** 

The US is hitting a brick wall.

The result of dissolution inside and around the US is dominating the headlines.

In the US, the House Republicans can still not get another House Speaker elected. The Republicans nominated Steve Scalise, but Scalise is not expected to get enough votes on the Floor. And some Republicans still try to get Kevin McCarthy reinstalled as Speaker. All this means that the House of Representatives – and thereby all of Congress and all the US legislative and budget passing process — is blocked for an indefinite period. The US cannot pass laws and cannot send money – not to anybody.

Scalise is a scandal. He has compared himself to David Duke, the notorious leader of the Ku Klux Klan! Though Scalise added “without the baggage.” Scalise hails the leader of an organization which lynched, killed, and tortured lots of Black people. Like the Ku Klux Klan, Scalise himself is from the US South, from Tennessee. Scalise is against Social Security and higher taxes. This will be very poisonous for solving the crisis of financing the US government.

Not only can the US not send more money to Ukraine or Israel right now. The US budget is about to explode, and the whole US government is at grave risk to come to a stop with no more funding when the temporary funding runs out on 17 November 2023 – in little more than a month from now.

Last time the House of Representatives elected a Speaker, it took them 15 rounds to agree on one (McCarthy), and that Speaker got ousted again after only nine months. It is easy to see how the remaining 4-5 weeks until 17 November 2023 can be consumed by bickering over the Speaker issue, with the US not being able to pass anything when the funding ends 17 November 2023.

In Ukraine, we see these days Russia conducting a big and successful offensive against Ukraine’s biggest stronghold in Avdiivka. A stronghold where Ukraine has bombed Russian civilians (including cluster bombs against children) in Donetsk city for nine years since 2014. Avdiivka is a factory fortress, and it is said that it is also a NATO headquarters in the war in the Ukraine, where lots of high-ranking US and other NATO generals are leading the war against Russia at the front.

Ukraine’s “biggest counteroffensive” has come to a stop everywhere. Ukraine doesn’t even have artillery ammunition left to try and hit nearly any of the Russians as the Russians advance. And with any US artillery ammunition going to Israel, it is over and out for Ukraine’s artillery.

Russian troopers are already moving freely in the open without fear of being hit by artillery grenades. At the same time, Russia advances not only around Avdiivka, but also pushes to enclose Ukraine in the North East at Kupyansk, and further South. Ukrainian reserves of men and machines have been depleted, and Russia is sucking up every kind of force which Ukraine has got left.

In the Middle East, all the analyses you can get say that Israel has “no good options.” Even the US Council on Foreign Relations writes that in their magazine, Foreign Affairs. The New York Times warns that Gaza is a “trap” for Israel.

Everything is unravelling for the US now.

Israel will always be prioritized over Ukraine. To keep funds for Ukraine, Biden is trying to link an Israel weapons package into a Ukraine package but that is meeting resistance among House Republicans. House Republicans stick to their guns, willing to make a quick package for Israel, but on Ukraine insisting to link any money for Ukraine with the border issue.

Money, however, does not change the fact that the US has run out of items like artillery shells and anti-air missiles to give away. As Ukraine has stopped all its “counteroffensives” everywhere, due to losses and being out of ammo, Israel may hope that the US might still give some of its strategic artillery shell stocks reserved for its own defense – Ukraine is not important enough for the US for that.

If the US gives artillery shells to Israel, the US will have no ammunition after a very short time in case of any conflict anywhere else. Some specialists have said that the US already now would run out of artillery ammo after just 30 days of conflict – shortening that even more is catastrophic for the US. The US is now militarily completely unprepared and incapable of managing any conflict like Taiwan. China can make any move it wants to.

With the US incapable of managing neither Russia, nor Iran, nor China, the Gaza war is pressing the US empire even more beyond is capabilities by adding one more burning hot spot which the US can’t handle.

Faced with these limitations, the war party in the US is already fuming that they want a US military “big enough” which can beat Russia, beat China around Taiwan, protect Israel, attack Iran, and intervene who-knows-where else (like Syria).

Even outgoing US Chair of Joint Chiefs Milley talked nonsense about a possible “doubling” of the US defense budget, meaning adding another nearly $1 trillion in defense spending. As if the US had a magic wand to do so.

In US politics which includes both politicians, generals, and media, we see how the US war party is adding half the world to their already impossible military to-do list whom the US wants to defeat in war. The US will not give up its ambitions to control the world with war, even as Washington is hitting a brick wall of military impossibility. And after decades of deindustrialization, the US cannot just ramp up military production, no matter the money available.

Israel is adding to this defeat of US power. After 20 years, the US could not defeat Taliban. Hamas is the same. One commentator added that Israel will lose if Hezbollah intervenes with missiles from Lebanon. Hezbollah has many-many thousands of rockets in its arsenals and Israel has no more rockets left in its air defense, meaning that a conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon will result in destruction of Israel by a rain of missiles.

The Port of Haifa faces destruction as do Israel’s government buildings. There is nothing Israel can do. The last time Israel invaded Lebanon, Hezbollah stopped the Israeli tanks just a few hundred meters inside Lebanon. At that point, a US military expert noted that the Israelis are no longer the best soldiers in the world – Hezbollah are. Two US aircraft carriers at the coast of Lebanon are not going to change that. US soldiers in Syria have now become not a force, but a bunch of hostages to Iran, if the US tries anything silly.

At the same time as everybody in Washington (right and left) demand much higher military spending, the US deficit, debt, and interest payments are exploding. US interest payments are about to go far above $1 trillion per year. The military spending of $0.9 trillion is not yet over 1 trillion, but Biden and the US war party will want to push it above. Social Security and Medicare are $1.3 trillion, and Biden cannot cut there either.

House Republicans were ready to stop all US government funding, but in the end may end up voting for far bigger military spending without being able to press through sufficient budget offset in other areas or higher taxes. As a result, US spending and the deficit therefore continue to increase. The House Republicans may stop all US spending but suddenly they realize that if they do so, they will stop money for the military as well. It’s lose-lose situation for them all in the US.

The US is therefore hitting a brick wall of military and financial self-destruction.

*

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

He is a regular contributor to Global Research. 

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First published on October 7, 2023

***

Two scientists who pioneered the creation of the mRNA vaccine technology were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize for Medicine. Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman were credited with “helping to change the course of the pandemic”. 

“When SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2019 and rapidly spread to all parts of the world, few thought that vaccines could be developed in time to help curb the increasing global disease burden.

Yet, several vaccines were approved in record time, with two of the fastest approved and most effective vaccines produced with the new mRNA technology.”….

This decision of the Nobel Committee is part of the propaganda campaign, i.e. to provide legitimacy and acceptance of the mRNA vaccine.

Amply documented: The mRNA Covid Jab (formally endorsed by the Nobel Committee) is best described as a “a killer vaccine” which from the outset in December 2020 has resulted in a Worldwide upward movement in mortality and morbidity.  

Our message to the Nobel Committee:

You are gravely mistaken.

Examine the data from government sources as well as the reports of more than a thousand scientists and medical doctors. 

The evidence amply confirms that the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine is a dangerous substance. 

This is also confirmed by the Pfizer Confidential Report released under Freedom of Information (FOI) in October 2021. It come’s from the Horse’s Mouth. It cannot be refuted. It is Pfizer’s data which was intended to remain confidential. 

See analysis of the Pfizer report

See the numerous documented case studies

Debate at the European Parliament

“This vaccine campaign will go down as the biggest scandal in medical history, … moreover, it will be known as the biggest crime ever committed on humanity.” –MP Christine Anderson, Member of the European Parliament, July 2022. 

Yes, It’s a killer vaccine. That message should be loud and clear. This is happening all over the world: children and adolescents are dying. Crimes against humanity, crimes against our children.

What is the Impact of the Covid-19 “Vaccine” at the Level of the Entire Planet?

How does it affect humanity’s population of 8 billion people including new born children as well as the unborn?

To save lives, it is important that the Covid-19 Vaccine be cancelled and discontinued Worldwide, without delay.

We respectfully call upon the Nobel Committee to Rescind its Decision without Delay. 

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, October 4, 2023

To access the Nobel Committee document drafted by the Karolinska Institute (Sweden’s renowned School of Medicine (pdf), click here

***

But there is another prominent Nobel Prize Laureate whose name is barely mentioned

Dr. Kary Mullis, the prominent scientist  who invented the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) “Test” was granted the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1993) 

Dr. Kary Mullis –who passed away just a few months before the outbreak of the alleged Covid-19 pandemic– warned us about the misuse of the PCR.

According to the late Dr. Kary Mullis: The PCR is not a “Test”: 

“The PCR is a process. It does not tell you that you are sick.”

The PCR has been deliberately misused to wrongly diagnose Covid and boost the fear campaign.

“To claim that it is meaningful”? … 

“The measurement for it [PCR] is not exact.

“It [PCR] is not as good of our measurement for things like Apples. An apple is an Apple”. (Kary Mullis, video interview below)

The PCR “Test” Cannot Detect the Identity of the Virus, nor Can it Detect its Variants and Sub-variants.

Dr. Kary Mullis. His Legacy will Prevail. 

***

Smoking Gun: The Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) “Test”

The PCR is a process. It does not tell you that you are sick.” –Dr. Kary Mullis, Nobel Laureate and Inventor of the RT-PCR, passed away in August 2019.

“…All or a substantial part of these positives could be due to what’s called false positives tests.” –Dr. Michael Yeadon, distinguished scientist, former Vice President and Chief Science Officer of Pfizer

“This misuse of the RT-PCR technique is applied as a relentless and intentional strategy by some governments to justify excessive measures such as the violation of a large number of constitutional rights, … under the pretext of a pandemic based on a number of positive RT-PCR tests, and not on a real number of patients.” –Dr. Pascal Sacré, Belgian physician specialized in critical care and renowned public health analyst.

 ***

The slanted methodology applied under WHO guidance for detecting the alleged spread of the virus is the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test, which has been routinely applied all over the world since February 2020.

The RT-PCR test has been used worldwide to generate millions of erroneous “COVID-19 confirmed cases”, which are then used to sustain the illusion that the alleged pandemic is real.

This assessment based on erroneous numbers has been used in the course of the last three years to spearhead and sustain the fear campaign.

And people are now led to believe that the COVID-19 “vaccine” is the “solution”. And that “normality” will be restored once the entire population of planet Earth has been vaccinated.

“Confirmed” is a misnomer. A “confirmed RT-PCR positive case” does not imply a “COVID-19 confirmed case”.

“Positive RT-PCR is not synonymous with the COVID-19 disease! PCR specialists make it clear that a test must always be compared with the clinical record of the patient being tested, with the patient’s state of health to confirm its value [reliability].” (Dr. Pascal Sacré)7

The procedure used by the national health authorities is to categorize all RT-PCR positive cases as “COVID-19 confirmed cases” (with or without a medical diagnosis). Ironically, this routine process of identifying “confirmed cases” is in derogation of the CDC’s own guidelines:

“Detection of viral RNA may not indicate the presence of infectious virus or that 2019-nCoV is the causative agent for clinical symptoms. The performance of this test has not been established for monitoring treatment of 2019-nCoV infection. This test cannot rule out diseases caused by other bacterial or viral pathogens.”8 

The methodology used to detect and estimate the spread of the virus is flawed and invalid.

False Positives

The earlier debate at the outset of the crisis focused on the issue of “false positives.” Acknowledged by the WHO and the CDC, the RT-PCR test was known to produce a high percentage of false positives. According to Dr. Pascal Sacré:

“Today, as authorities test more people, there are bound to be more positive RT-PCR tests. This does not mean that COVID-19 is coming back, or that the epidemic is moving in waves. There are more people being tested, that’s all.”9

The debate on false positives (acknowledged by health authorities) points to so-called errors without necessarily questioning the overall validity of the RT-PCR test as a means to detecting the alleged spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The PCR Test Does Not Detect the Identity of the Virus

The RT-PCR test does not identify/detect the virus. What the PCR test identifies are genetic fragments of numerous viruses (including influenza viruses types A and B and coronaviruses which trigger common colds).

The results of the RT-PCR test cannot “confirm” whether an individual who undertakes the test is infected with SARS-CoV-2.

All that is required is the presence of “viral genetic material” for it to be categorized as “positive”. The procedure does not identify or isolate SARS-COV-2. What appears in the tests are fragments of the virus.

Excerpts from Chapter III of Michel Chossudovsky‘s Book entitled: The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity.  Click here to download.

***

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

by Michel Chossudovsky

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

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

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

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

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

  • Posted in English
  • Comments Off on Video: Dr. Kary Mullis, The Other “Covid Nobel Prize”. Inventor of PCR “Test”, Died in August 2019
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*** 

What do we do when our agencies, institutions, and the very machinery of democratic government have been commandeered by profit interests and weaponized against the people? We call for a new Nuremberg.

Over the last three years, the FDA, the CDC, the NIH, the NIAID, the AMA and U.S. Public Health Service, and a group of over 3900 American local and legacy media partners[1 2 3] engaged in a conspiracy of misinformation and misdirection which led to the preventable[4] deaths of almost 3.4 million people globally, and the preventable injuries and hospitalizations of millions or billions more. It opened the gate for the administration of over 13.5 billion doses of the world’s deadliest product ever marketed as a vaccine.[5]

This conspiracy of misinformation centered in part around the intentional suppression of ivermectin. A conscious disinformation campaign spearheaded by the FDA conflated human formulations of ivermectin with animal formulations. One of the tweets from the FDA’s[6 7 8 9] communications team’s “successful” “new engagement strategy,” reads: “You are not a[10] horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

This “strategy” influenced medical[11] organizations, pharmacy boards, and hospitals. Their propaganda was widely cited in newspapers, magazines, digital media outlets, and medical and professional advisories. Additionally, federal and state courts began citing the posts in cases involving ivermectin, and they were referenced in legal complaints and judicial opinions across the US.[12]

This campaign was conducted with apparent malice of forethought. These acts culminated in what can only be called medical genocide. Never in recent history has a fraud of such magnitude and lethality been carried out.

Drs. Bryan Tyson and George Fareed of the United States treated 20,000 people with ivermectin, reporting 99.9 percent improvement and that none of those people went to the hospital. Dr. Shankara Chetty of South Africa reported treating 8,000 with zero mortality and 100 percent improvement. Dr. Jeff Davis of the United States reported treating 6,000 people with 100 percent improvement and zero mortality. Dr. Ben Marble of the U.S. reported treating 150,000 people with zero mortality and 99.9 percent improvement.

A case series of 39[13] physicians and their teams from around the world, all of whom used ivermectin as part of an early treatment protocol, including those physicians just mentioned, were found to have a mean improvement of over 94 percent, treating a total of 237,521 people.[14]

Dr. Mary Talley Bowden treated more than 3,900 patients for COVID-19, with a success rate of over 99.97 percent. None of the people she treated early required hospitalization. Were she and these other successful doctors celebrated? No. As a result of her success, Bowden was forced to resign her hospital privileges.[15]

The website c19early.org displays the totality of the evidence on the safety and efficacy of different early treatments, presenting real-time analysis of 3,335 studies of 56 early Covid early treatments, from a database of 5,674 treatments.

Source: c19early.org

According to this website, Ivermectin has been studied in 222 studies for Covid-19, 172 of which were peer reviewed, and 99 of which compared the treatment to a control group. These 99 studies were conducted by a total of 1089 scientists, involving 137,255 patients in 28 countries.

Ivermectin was found to be associated with statistically significant lower risk of mortality, ventilation, ICU, hospitalization and cases. Overall studies of early treatment with ivermectin show a 62 percent reduction of risk. Early treatment with ivermectin resulted in a 49 percent reduction in mortality.[16]

But instead of recommending ivermectin, the health establishment vilified it, calling it “horse dewormer.” Instead Anthony Fauci said that Gilead’s drug remdesivir would become the standard of care. According to c19early.org, remdesivir has been studied in 58 published[17] studies, conducted by a total of 946 scientists, involving 155,923 patients in 20 countries. Overall, studies of remdesivir show a 10 percent improvement. Clearly, remdesivir doesn’t[18] hold a candle to ivermectin in efficacy.

But it is more than just a question of efficacy. Ivermectin has a very high safety profile. Remdesivir, on the other hand, is consistently found to result in acute kidney failure.[19 20 21 22 23] It also appears to be dangerous if taken as a late treatment, evidence of which is presented below. None of the studies of ivermectin display risks comparable to those of remdesivir.

Sydney Wolfe of the public advocacy group Public Citizen wrote a letter to the FDA in April 2021 accusing them of improperly expediting approval for remdesivir, bypassing review by its public advisory committee. [24]

But the FDA, the CDC, the NIAID, the NIH, HHS, and their hired media partners insisted that ivermectin was dangerous and might kill you. They loudly broadcast the “news” that FDA/CDC partnered poison centers across America were fielding elevated numbers of “exposures” to ivermectin, incidentally at exactly the same time that prescriptions of ivermectin were noted anxiously by the CDC to be rising dramatically.[25]

An exposure is not a poisoning. A phone call without reported details does not itself mean[26] that it is a toxic case. The caller may have simply taken ivermectin along with five other medicines, or given animal ivermectin to his or her dog and got some on her fingers. If a person was hospitalized “after taking ivermectin,” that doesn’t mean she was hospitalized because she took ivermectin.

As far as we can determine, the basis of their propaganda[27] against ivermectin was based on a statistical hoax. In fact, we could not find evidence of a single poisoning attributable to ivermectin reported by an uncompromised, unbiased source in preparing this article. (see supplement for full analysis) On the other hand, acetaminophen, or Tylenol, is responsible for 56,000 emergency department visits, 2,600 hospitalizations, and[28 29] 500 deaths per year in the United States.[30]

Three doctors who prescribed ivermectin brought suit against the FDA and HHS and three health officials for their “horse dewormer” campaign, detailing the toll it took on their reputations and careers, such as suspensions and loss of hospital privileges. A new ruling has recently been presented on the case.

The judges ruled that the FDA’s anti-ivermectin[31] messaging stepped over the line into the realm of “practicing medicine,” which as a health agency it is not allowed to do. Its campaign against ivermectin to treat Covid-19 was not protected by its “sovereign immunity,” which shields it from being sued while carrying out its duties.

We present here the evidence that by waging an illegal propaganda war against ivermectin, the FDA, the CDC, HHS and their partners in crime were directly responsible for the wrongful deaths of 3.4 million people globally and the wrongful injuries and hospitalizations of millions or billions more. If ivermectin had not been effectively blacklisted, its use in early treatment could have saved millions of lives.

We present the peer-reviewed scientific studies from the National Library of Medicine that show that ivermectin is a safe and effective drug therapy, and could have reduced illness by up to 62 percent and mortality by 49 percent.[32]

We also present evidence that the protocols authorized for emergency use, including the kidney-toxic drug remdesivir, were deadly and never should have been considered safe or effective, as is clearly shown by the science.

Here are a few examples from the peer-reviewed literature of the benefits offered by ivermectin:

Ivermectin’s efficacy, from studies with statistically significant outcomes

  • Akhtar et al found that ivermectin was significantly associated with 90 percent lower mortality, 72 percent lower ICU admission, and 80 percent higher hospital discharge.[33]
  • Thairu et al found that ivermectin was significantly associated with 55 percent higher hospital discharge.[34]
  • Kerr et al found that treatment with ivermectin was significantly associated with 92 percent lower mortality. In another study, the same authors found that treatment with ivermectin in[35] hospitals was significantly associated with 45 percent lower mortality. In a third study, Kerr et[36] al found that treatment with ivermectin was associated with 70 percent lower mortality, 67 percent lower hospitalization, and 44 percent fewer cases.[37]
  • AscencioMontiel et al found that treatment with ivermectin was significantly associated with 59 percent lower mortality/hospitalization.[38]
  • Shimizu et al found that ivermectin was significantly associated with 100 percent lower mortality, 48 percent lower ventilation, 43 percent lower ICU admission, 38 percent less ICU time once admitted, and 78 percent less GI complications while ventilated.[39]
  • Zein et al found that people treated with ivermectin had significantly lower mortality (61 percent).[40]
  • Mayer et al found that people treated with ivermectin had 55 percent lower mortality.[41]
  • Samajdar et al found that people treated with ivermectin had significantly fewer cases (80 percent).[42]

Here are a few examples from the peer-reviewed literature of the dangers of late treatment with remdesivir:

  • Dangers of late treatment with remdesivir, from studies with statistically significant outcomes Mitsushima et al in a retrospective analysis of 18,566 people hospitalized in Japan, found a 44 percent higher rate of mortality with late treatment using remdesivir.[43]
  • Leo et al found that late treatment with remdesivir was associated with 416 percent higher disease progression.[44]
  • Bowen et al found that late treatment with remdesivir was significantly associated with 57 percent higher mortality.[45]
  • Alshamrani et al found that people treated late with remdesivir experienced 43 percent longer ICU admission.[46]
  • Arch et al found that late treatment with remdesivir was associated with 68 percent higher ventilation.[47]
  • Ohl et al found that those treated late with remdesivir had 100 percent longer hospital stays.[48]
  • Schmidt et al found that late treatment with remdesivir was associated with 509 percent higher incidence of severe cases (p=.000015). [49]
  • Kurniyanto et al found that late treatment with remdesivir was associated with 460 percent higher mortality (p = .0009).[50]
  • Kim et al. found that late treatment with remdesivir was associated with 1612.4% higher risk of death, though the results of this study were not statistically significant.[51]

But did the results of these studies ever pass before the eyes of any of the complicit media organizations who daily recited the FDA and CDC’s official lines, completely without scientific basis though they may have been?

Thousands of media organizations parroted health agencies’ claims that the officially prescribed Covid medical interventions are safe and effective, and that ivermectin and other safe early treatments are unsafe and ineffective. The truth is just the opposite. Any of these journalists and editors could have found what we found if they had spent even two hours looking.

But they did not do that. Instead, they took orders from on high, and fell into lockstep with a tyrannical and catastrophic breakaway government. With clear malice of forethought, and by abandoning the duties of their professions, they engaged in a conspiracy against the American people, each contributing in his own way to millions of unnecessary deaths and injuries.

Intubation, Debunked Preventative Measures, EUA of Deadly mRNA Injections

The kidney-toxic remdesivir was used alongside protocols for unnecessary and lethal intubation. Most people who were intubated died. One study recorded that 76 percent of people died after intubation.[52]

Remdesivir was also used on people who were ill and weakened from dutifully following the fraudulent “preventive measures,” promoted as fervently as ivermectin was vilified. All of these have now been debunked.

They included masks, social distancing, the quarantining of healthy people and lockdowns. Ivermectin was suppressed, most importantly and most fatally, in order to clear the way for the emergency use authorization (EUA) of the mRNA gene therapy injections known as the Covid-19 “vaccines.”

These “vaccines” are a novel technology bearing no resemblance to the traditional vaccines. These mRNA injections were responsible for the injuries and death of millions of people.[53]

According to former BlackRock portfolio manager Edward Dowd and his team of PhDs and data scientists analyzing disability, actuarial and other official data sources, as of March,[54] 2023, the Covid-19 vaccines were responsible for three hundred thousand excess deaths, 26.6 million injuries, and 1.36 million disabilities. He also believes they are the cause of an 84[55] percent increase in deaths among millennials in the United States in the third quarter of 2021. [56]

The Official Death Toll: A Caveat

Altogether nearly 7 million people worldwide are estimated to have died from Covid-19. These figures are promoted forcefully and ad nauseam by the legacy media and health agencies in order to justify the narrative that Covid-19 was a health crisis of unprecedented proportions.

This narrative has been and is still being used to terrorize people, distract them, and immobilize them from rebelling at all costs and defending the few remaining threads of democratic government, civil society and the protections afforded by our Constitutional rights. Deceived by this false narrative, people became paralyzed with fear.

Then, they meekly stood by while the medical industrial complex, in coordination with captured governments and other self-interested parties, further eroded and dismantled our few remaining societal protections and democratic institutions, and ushered in a new totalitarian paradigm of bio-medical fascism and tyranny far surpassing that which existed before.

These 7 million deaths attributed to Covid must be carefully scrutinized. They have been estimated by a variety of altogether deceitful means. They cannot be trusted in any way. Most significantly, they were determined based on a fraudulent test, the PCR test, which is not a diagnostic test at all but an amplification technique designed to replicate bits of genetic material present in the system.

It cannot tell you if there is any pathogenic activity, infection or[57] disease. This fact alone simply evaporates the notion that any deaths determined by this test can be attributed to Covid-19 at all.

But with this caveat accounted for, supposing we take these official numbers of Covid deaths at face value: supposing there really were 7 million deaths from Covid-19. Ivermectin reduces risk of the most serious outcomes by 62 percent. It reduces mortality by 49 percent.

4,340,000 cases of the most serious outcomes could have been averted through the early use of ivermectin alone. 3,430,000 lives could have been saved. It is important to bear in mind that are no completely accurate statistics of how many people actually had Covid, were hospitalized or died.

How did the health authorities and the media vilify this drug? Ivermectin has a long record of safety and use. It won the Nobel Prize and was on the World Health Organization’s list of[58 59 60] essential medicines. It has been prescribed safely in humans ever since it was first marketed by Merck in 1988.

How did the health establishment convince people that this drug wasn’t the relatively safe and effective drug it has always previously been considered to be?

They engaged in a deliberate conspiracy. Through false propaganda and a marketing technique known as “informational flooding” they spread a false narrative that ivermectin was “horse[61] dewormer” and dangerous for humans to take.

They flooded the media with spurious articles promoting misleading and contradictory statistics designed to make it appear that many people were going to the hospital from ivermectin poisoning when in fact no evidence of even one poisoning, let alone one hospitalization or death, was presented by an unbiased source discoverable during the research for this article.

Then, they made it almost impossible for doctors to prescribe ivermectin to their patients by calling for a pharmacy ban on the drug. Doctors and pharmacists were intimidated by the lobby organizations for the medical industrial complex, the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), into acquiescing to their demands.

The AMA collects data on and maintains a full prescription history for every doctor in the United States, and would know when he or she prescribes ivermectin. Board certification organizations were threatening to[62] revoke the licenses of doctors who engaged in “misinformation and disinformation.”

They revoked the board certification or suspended the licenses of several doctors such as Meryl Nass, Pierre Kory and Paul Marik. This was to serve as an example of what other “heretical” doctors could expect to happen to them if they followed suit.[63 64 65]

This is not an isolated event in history that has been concluded and no longer poses a threat. Though the “Covid-19 pandemic” has been officially called to an end, the new architecture of “public health” and medical tyranny is ongoing and advancing, and the global framework which facilitated these atrocities can at any time be resurrected and put to fresh use. How do we stop this?

Here’s what we can prove: there was no legitimate reason for the FDA to fast-track any of the experimental vaccines under the Emergency Use Authorization policy. Because according to the FDA’s own literature, as long as there is an FDA approved drug in existence that can be used for a given disease, then you cannot have another drug or vaccine given the emergency use authorization.

However, the commercial value of marketing ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, monocolonal antibodies, azythramyacin, vitamin C, vitamin D3, zinc and quercetin — all of which are supportive when used in combinations in stopping the spread of Covid from infection to illness and death. However, these remedies are not profitable to individuals, industries or hospitals.

Never before, as far as we are aware, has the entire machinery of federal government gone to such extreme lengths to attack, vilify and destroy a drug that has been given in billions of doses as anti-parasitic medication in humans over decades, and then to attack and vilify and cancel the reputations of mainstream highly respected physicians and scientists for using a drug successfully on their patients.

Ivermectin and these other therapies are supported by volumes in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. But the motive for destroying ivermectin and other therapies was that it was not profitable and they didn’t have control of it. This means that what they did, they did with malice and, in our opinion, unmitigated greed.

But at the time these officials made these choices, there were no counterbalancing voices in the media or governmental agencies saying, “Stop, this makes no sense. We’re talking about a medicine that clinics and physicians could use to save hundreds of thousands of lives. We should pay attention to this and do clinical studies on this.”

As a result, the man who said that he represented science, Anthony Fauci, thwarted every effort to fund a clinical study using ivermectin hydroxychloroquine, azythromyacin, monocolonal antibodies, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, and quercetin. But others over the next two years did do studies showing how each of these individually had statistically significant even remarkable results of saving lives.

That means that with all the outstanding resources, the very capable intelligent and skilled journalists in the media establishment could have found this information just as easily as we did. Therefore we must consider the culpability of the entire media and entire Washington health establishment as responsible for millions of preventable deaths and tens of millions of preventable hospitalizations, injuries and other suffering.

All of our footnotes and the expanded analysis offered in the technical supplement to this commentary can be used by those wanting to take this further, including class action lawsuits. They should review the information carefully.

*

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Richard Gale is the Executive Producer of the Progressive Radio Network and a former Senior Research Analyst in the biotechnology and genomic industries.

Dr. Gary Null is host of the nation’s longest running public radio program on alternative and nutritional health and a multi-award-winning documentary film director, including his recent Last Call to Tomorrow.

They are regular contributors to Global Research.

Notes

1 Media Partners. We Can Do This Campaign. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://wecandothis.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ Paid%20Media%20List%20for%20Posting%207.12.22_508c.pdf

2 www.wecandothis.hhs.gov.

3 Celia Farber. THEY KNEW–FOIA Emails Sent To Daily Clout Team Reveal WH/CDC/NIH KNEW Covid Shots Were Causing Deadly Blood Clots And Myocarditis In MAY 2021—Senior WH Team Colluded To LIE To The American People. The Truth Barrier Substack. September 22, 2023. https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/they-knew-foia-emails- sent-to-daily

4 APTER v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HUMAN SERVICES No. 22-40802 (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas Galveston Division, 2023). https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-5th-circuit/115011736.html; No. 3:22-cv-184, June 2022 https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/322cv184-three-doctors-sue-fda-over- ivermectin.pdf

5 “Globally, as of 6:32pm CEST, 27 September 2023, there have been 770,875,433 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,959,316 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 19 September 2023, a total of 13,505,262,477 vaccine
doses have been administered”.WHO Coronavirus Dashboard. Accessed September 29, 2023. https:// covid19.who.int/?mapFilter=deaths

6 Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Content Current as of 12/10/2021. Accessed September 22, 2023. https:// www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or- prevent-covid-19

7 FAQ: COVID-19 and Ivermectin Intended for Animals. Content current as of April 26, 2021. archive.org Wayback Machine. Archived from the website of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on December 1, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211201192728/https:// www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/product-safety-information/faq-covid-19-and-ivermectin- intended-animals?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

8 August 21, 2021. U.S. FDA (fda): https://www.instagram.com/p/CS1giIfJ0sa/?hl=en

9 April 26, 2022. U.S. FDA (@US_FDA). https://twitter.com/US_FDA/status/ 1518942739639017472

10 APTER v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HUMAN SERVICES No. 22-40802 (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas Galveston Division, 2023). https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-5th-circuit/115011736.html; No. 3:22-cv-184, June 2022 https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/322cv184-three-doctors-sue-fda-over- ivermectin.pdf

11 August 21, 2021. U.S. FDA (@US_FDA). https://twitter.com/US_FDA/status/ 1429050070243192839

12 APTER v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HUMAN SERVICES No. 22-40802 (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas Galveston Division, 2023). https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-5th- circuit/115011736.html; No. 3:22-cv-184, June 2022 https://www.courthousenews.com/wp- content/uploads/2023/08/322cv184-three-doctors-sue-fda-over-ivermectin.pdf

13 Physician Case Series Results. Version 215. August 10, 2023. Covid-19 Treatment Research. Accessed September 21, 2023. https://c19ivm.org/meta.html#fig_fpv

14 Physician Case Series Results. Version 215. August 10, 2023. Covid-19 Treatment Research. Accessed September 21, 2023. https://c19ivm.org/meta.html#fig_fpv

15 APTER v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HUMAN SERVICES No. 22-40802 (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas Galveston Division, 2023). p. 6. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-5th-circuit/115011736.html; No. 3:22- cv-184, June 2022 https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/322cv184-three-doctors-sue- fda-over-ivermectin.pdf

16 225 ivermectin COVID-19 studies, 175 peer reviewed, 99 comparing treatment and control groups. Covid-19 Treatment Research. Last accessed October 2, 2023. https://c19ivm.org/ meta.html#fig_fpv

17 Sue Hughes, Remdesivir Now ‘Standard of Care’ for COVID-19, Fauci Says, Medscape, Apr. 29, 2020, https:// www.medscape.com/viewarticle/929685 (accessed Aug. 5, 2020).

18 Remdesivir for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 58 studies. September 2023. Covid-19 Treatment Research. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://c19early.org/smeta.html

19 Zhou et al., Acute Kidney Injury and Drugs Prescribed for COVID-19 in Diabetes Patients: A Real-World Disproportionality Analysis, Frontiers in Pharmacology, frontiersin.org, doi.org.

20 Wu et al., Acute Kidney Injury Associated With Remdesivir: A Comprehensive Pharmacovigilance Analysis of COVID-19 Reports in FAERS, Frontiers in Pharmacology, frontiersin.org, doi.org.

21 Gérard et al., Remdesivir and Acute Renal Failure: A Potential Safety Signal From Disproportionality Analysis of the WHO Safety Database, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, wiley.com, doi.org.

22 Charan J, Kaur RJ, Bhardwaj P, Haque M, Sharma P, Misra S, Godman B. Rapid review of suspected adverse drug events due to remdesivir in the WHO database; findings and implications. Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2021 Jan;14(1):95-103. doi: 10.1080/17512433.2021.1856655. Epub 2020 Dec 29. PMID: 33252992; PMCID: PMC7784780.

23 Veklury 100 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion remdesivir. Last revised in 01/2023. https:// www.medicines.org.uk/emc/files/pil.11597.pdf

24 https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/did-the-u-s-fda-improperly-expedite-remdesivirs-approval- the-public-citizen-demand-letter-to-fda-plus-a-trialsite-perspective

25 Rapid Increase in Ivermectin Prescriptions and Reports of Severe Illness Associated with Use of Products Containing Ivermectin to Prevent or Treat COVID-19. CDCHAN-00449. August 26, 2021. https://emergency.cdc.gov/ han/2021/han00449.asp

26 EXPOSURE VERSUS POISONING: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? Washington Poison Center. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://www.wapc.org/programs/education/exposure-versus- poisoning-whats-the-difference/

27 Gustaf Kilander. Two dead from taking ivermectin in New Mexico. September 27, 2021. Independent. https:// www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ivermectin-dead-new-mexico-covid-b1927767.html

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29 Lee WM. Acetaminophen (APAP) hepatotoxicity-Isn’t it time for APAP to go away? J Hepatol. 2017 Dec;67(6):1324-1331. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.07.005. Epub 2017 Jul 20. PMID: 28734939; PMCID: PMC5696016.

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31 APTER v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HUMAN SERVICES No. 22-40802 (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas Galveston Division, 2023). https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-5th-circuit/115011736.html; No. 3:22-cv-184, June 2022 https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/322cv184-three-doctors-sue-fda-over- ivermectin.pdf

32 225 ivermectin COVID-19 studies, 175 peer reviewed, 99 comparing treatment and control groups. Covid-19 Treatment Research. Last accessed October 2, 2023. https://c19ivm.org/ meta.html#fig_fpv

33 Akhtar, Tehseen & Hanif, Amber & Ali, Pyar & Haroon, Muhammad & Akram, Nimra & Raza, Muhammad & Imran, Khalid & Shakeel, Nimra & Shakeel, Ramsha. (2022). Does ivermectin reduce COVID-19 mortality and progression of disease severity? – A retrospective study.. The Professional Medical Journal. 29. 1384-1391. 10.29309/TPMJ/2022.29.09.6634.

34 Thairu, Y. & Babalola, Olufemi & Ajayi, A. & Ndanusa, Y. & Ogedengbe, John & O., Omede. (2022). A Comparison of Ivermectin and Non Ivermectin Based Regimen for COVID-19 in Abuja: Effects on Virus Clearance, Days-to-discharge and Mortality. Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International. 1-19. 10.9734/jpri/2022/v34i44A36328.

35 Kerr L, Baldi F, Lobo R, et al. (August 31, 2022) Regular Use of Ivermectin as Prophylaxis for COVID-19 Led Up to a 92% Reduction in COVID-19 Mortality Rate in a Dose-Response Manner: Results of a Prospective Observational Study of a Strictly Controlled Population of 88,012 Subjects. Cureus 14(8): e28624. doi:10.7759/cureus.28624

36 Kerr, Lucy & Baldi, Fernando & Lôbo, Raysildo & Assagra, Washington & Proença, Fernando & Hibberd, Jennifer & Chamie, Juan & Kory, Pierre & Flávio, Cadegiani. (2021). COVID-19 In- Hospital Mortality Rate is Reduced by Prophylactic Use of Ivermectin: Findings From a City- Wide, Prospective Observational Study Using Propensity Score Matching (PSM). 10.13140/ RG.2.2.26793.52327.

37 Kerr L, Cadegiani F A, Baldi F, et al. (January 15, 2022) Ivermectin Prophylaxis Used for COVID-19: A Citywide, Prospective, Observational Study of 223,128 Subjects Using Propensity Score Matching. Cureus 14(1): e21272. doi:10.7759/cureus.21272

38 Ascencio-Montiel IJ, Tomás-López JC, Álvarez-Medina V, Gil-Velázquez LE, Vega-Vega H, Vargas-Sánchez HR, Cervantes-Ocampo M, Villasís-Keever MÁ, González-Bonilla CR, Duque- Molina C. A Multimodal Strategy to Reduce the Risk of Hospitalization/death in Ambulatory Patients with COVID-19. Arch Med Res. 2022 Apr;53(3):323-328. doi: 10.1016/ j.arcmed.2022.01.002. Epub 2022 Jan 24. PMID: 35123809; PMCID: PMC8784438.

39 Shimizu K, Hirata H, Kabata D, Tokuhira N, Koide M, Ueda A, Tachino J, Shintani A, Uchiyama A, Fujino Y, Ogura H. Ivermectin administration is associated with lower gastrointestinal complications and greater ventilator-free days in ventilated patients with COVID-19: A propensity score analysis. J Infect Chemother. 2022 Apr;28(4):548-553. doi: 10.1016/j.jiac.2021.12.024. Epub 2021 Dec 31. PMID: 35016823; PMCID: PMC8718885.

40 Zein AFMZ, Sulistiyana CS, Raffaelo WM, Pranata R. Ivermectin and mortality in patients with COVID-19: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of randomized controlled trials. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2021 Jul-Aug;15(4):102186. doi: 10.1016/ j.dsx.2021.102186. Epub 2021 Jun 27. PMID: 34237554; PMCID: PMC8236126.

41 Mayer MA, Krolewiecki A, Ferrero A, Bocchio M, Barbero J, Miguel M, Paladini A, Delgado C, Ojeda JR, Elorza C, Bertone A, Fleitas PE, Vera G and Kohan MR (2022) Safety and Efficacy of a MEURI Program for the Use of High Dose Ivermectin in COVID-19 Patients. Front. Public Health 10:813378. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.813378

42 Samajdar SS, Mukherjee S, Mondal T, Paul J, Tripathi SK, Chakrbarty A, Saha B, Bhattacharrya D, Tripathi R. Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine for Chemo-Prophylaxis of COVID-19: A Questionnaire Survey of Perception and Prescribing Practice of Physicians vis-a- vis Outcomes. J Assoc Physicians India. 2021 Nov;69(11):11-12. PMID: 34781604.

43 Mitsushima S, Horiguchi H, Taniguchi K. Risk of Underlying Diseases and Effectiveness of Drugs on COVID-19 Inpatients Assessed Using Medical Claims in Japan: Retrospective Observational Study. Int J Gen Med. 2023;16:657-672. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S394413

44 Leo M, Galante A, Pagnamenta A, Ruinelli L, Ponziani FR, Gasbarrini A, De Gottardi A. Hepatocellular liver injury in hospitalized patients affected by COVID-19: Presence of different risk factors at different time points. Dig Liver Dis. 2022 May;54(5):565-571. doi: 10.1016/ j.dld.2021.12.014. Epub 2021 Dec 27. PMID: 35093272; PMCID: PMC8710398.

45 Anthony Bowen, Jason Zucker, Yanhan Shen, Simian Huang, Qiheng Yan, Medini K Annavajhala, Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, Louise Kuhn, Magdalena Sobieszczyk, Delivette Castor, Reduction in Risk of Death Among Patients Admitted With COVID-19 Between the First and Second Epidemic Waves in New York City, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 9, September 2022, ofac436, https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofac436

46 Alshamrani AA, Assiri AM, Almohammed OA. Comprehensive evaluation of six interventions for hospitalized patients with COVID-19: A propensity score matching study. Saudi Pharm J. 2023 Apr;31(4):517-525. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2023.02.004. Epub 2023 Feb 15. PMID: 36819112; PMCID: PMC9930407.

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48 Ohl ME, Miller DR, Lund BC, et al. Association of Remdesivir Treatment With Survival and Length of Hospital Stay Among US Veterans Hospitalized With COVID-19. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(7):e2114741. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.14741

49 Schmidt AL, Tucker MD, Bakouny Z, et al. Association Between Androgen Deprivation Therapy and Mortality Among Patients With Prostate Cancer and COVID-19. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(11):e2134330. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.34330

50 Kurniyanto, Setianegari Y, Kurniaty L, Luhulima DEJ, Utomo BSR, Langi LA, Ronny, Arodes ES, Wiyanto M, Suarthana E, Wahyuningsih R. Factors associated with death and ICU referral among COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the secondary referral academic hospital in East Jakarta, Indonesia. J Clin Virol Plus. 2022 Jun;2(2):100068. doi: 10.1016/j.jcvp.2022.100068. Epub 2022 Feb 22. PMID: 35261996; PMCID: PMC8861124.

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56 Edward Dowd. They Lied People Died. https://www.theyliedpeopledied.com/

57 Dr. Jessica Rose. Are ‘they’ trying to kill us? Unacceptable Jessica Substack. September 16, 2023. https:// jessicar.substack.com/p/are-they-trying-to-kill-us

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62 Sidney M. Wolfe. The American Medical Association and Its Dubious Revenue Streams. Public Citizen Health Letter. Vol. 28. No. 11. p. 1-2. https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/ uploads/hl_201211.pdf

63 Emily Bader. Maine physician who prescribed discredited COVID treatments wanted to make a ‘spectacle’ of a state investigation. 18 months later, she said she has. The Maine Monitor. July 31, 2023. https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/health/meryl-nass-maine- covid-robert-f-kennedy-jr-us-fda-ivermectin/97-a611d052-b764-4f3a-be5e-cb6e5a4caad2

64 Pierre Kory. The American Board of Internal Medicine’s Longstanding War On Doctors Is Escalating. Pierre Kory’s Medial Musings. August 23, 2023. https:// pierrekorymedicalmusings.com/p/the-american-board-of-internal-medicines? utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

65 Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. Medical Board Chief Who Wanted Doctors Delicensed for ‘Misinformation’ in Bed With PR Firm Tied to CDC, Pfizer, Moderna. August 18, 2023. The Defender. Accessed September 22, 2023. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/richard- baron-misinformation-weber-shandwick-conflict-of-interest-pharma-cdc/


Annex: Supplementary Materials

  • Studies on ivermectin (page 7) courtesy https://c19ivm.org/
  • Studies on vitamin C (page 54) courtesy https://c19early.org/c
  • Studies on vitamin D3 (page 86) courtesy https://c19early.org/d
  • Studies on zinc (page 198) courtesy https://c19early.org/z
  • Studies on quercetin (page 242) courtesy https://c19early.org/q
  • Studies on hydroxychloroquine (page 254) courtesy https://c19hcq.org
  • Appendix with more detailed information and analysis about the issues mentioned in this report (page 373)

Peer-reviewed and other studies on Ivermectin

Sep 13, Liu et al., Stem Cell Research & Therapy, doi:10.1186/ s13287-023-03485-3: SARS-CoV-2 viral genes Nsp6, Nsp8, and M compromise cellular ATP levels to impair survival and function of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes

In Vitro study showing that ivermectin and meclizine mitigated cardiac cell death and dysfunction caused by SARS-CoV-2 viral genes. Authors found that SARS-CoV-2 viral genes Nsp6, Nsp8, and M had harmful effects on human cardiomyocytes (h..

Aug 17, Redação MPV: Greg Tucker-Kellogg publishes fraudulent study to attack ivermectin

Discussion of errors in [medrxiv.org]. This paper is highly flawed. For example, authors claim that there were “499 reported deaths – a citywide post-hospitalisation COVID death rate of 30.1% during the study period”, whi..

Aug 10, Covid Analysis: Ivermectin for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 99 studies (ivmmeta)

Statistically significant lower risk is seen for mortality, ventilation, ICU admission, hospitalization, recovery, cases, and viral clearance. All remain significant for higher quality studies. 60 studies from 54 independent teams in 24..

Aug 8, Chamie et al., Cureus, doi:10.7759/ cureus.43168: COVID-19 Excess Deaths in Peru’s 25 States in 2020: Nationwide Trends, Confounding Factors, and Correlations With the Extent of Ivermectin Treatment by State

Ecological analysis showing that ivermectin distribution correlated significantly (p<0.002) with the reduction in excess deaths across 25 states in Peru. Ivermectin was authorized for COVID-19 treatment in Peru in May 2020 and distributed..

Jul 16, Osati et al., medRxiv, doi:10.1101/2023.07.13.2 3292643: Clinical manifestations and mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Tanzania, 2021-2022.

32% lower mortality (p=0.02). Retrospective 1,387 hospitalized PCR confirmed COVID-19 patients in Tanzania, showing lower mortality with ivermectin treatment and with steroid treatment in multivariable analysis.

Jul 14, Vottero et al., Molecular Sciences, doi:10.3390/ ijms241411449: Computational Prediction of the Interaction of Ivermectin with Fibrinogen

In Silico study showing that ivermectin may bind with high affinity to multiple sites on fibrinogen and may interfere with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein – fibrinogen binding, potentially inhibiting the formation of fibrin clots resistant to de..

 

Click here to see the full list.

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Peer-reviewed and other studies on Vitamin C

Oct 4, Covid Analysis: Vitamin C for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 66 studies (64 treatment studies and 2 sufficiency studies)

Statistically significant lower risk is seen for mortality, ICU admission, hospitalization, and recovery. 22 studies from 22 independent teams in 12 countries show statistically significant improvements. • Meta analysis using the most s..

Sep 22, Seely et al., BMJ Open, doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2023-073761: Dietary supplements to reduce symptom severity and duration in people with SARS-CoV-2: a double-blind randomised controlled trial

14% improved recovery (p=0.41). Early terminated low-risk population (no hospitalization) very late treatment (mean 8 days) RCT with 44 patients treated with vitamin C, D, K, and zinc, and 46 control patients, showing no significant differences. Authors acknowledge that..

Sep 13, Albóniga et al., Scientific Reports, doi:10.1038/ s41598-023-40999-5: Differential abundance of lipids and metabolites related to SARS-CoV-2 infection and susceptibility

Plasma metabolomic analysis showing significantly lower threonic acid levels for severe and mild COVID-19 cases compared with moderate cases. Threonic acid is a metabolite of vitamin C. The expected relationship in non-linear and depends ..

Sep 8, Sun et al., Nutrition Reviews, doi:10.1093/ nutrit/nuad105: Therapeutic effects of high-dose vitamin C supplementation in patients with COVID-19: a meta-analysis

66% lower progression (p=0.03). Meta analysis of 14 studies showing lower COVID-19 progression with high- dose vitamin C treatment.

Aug 20, Boerenkamp et al., Nutrients, doi:10.3390/ nu15163653: Low Levels of Serum and Intracellular Vitamin C in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

56% lower severe cases (p=0.1). Analysis of serum and intracellular vitamin C levels in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Low vitamin C levels were common with 36% having serum levels <26 μmol/L and 15% <11 μmol/L. Intracellular vitamin C levels in peripheral blood mononu..

Jul 15, Graydon et al., Current Research in Immunology, doi:10.1016/ j.crimmu.2023.100064: High baseline frequencies of natural killer cells are associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection

Analysis of 88 COVID+ patients in the USA showing that a higher frequency of natural killer (NK) cells was associated with asymptomatic infection. Improved NK cell numbers and functioning has been shown for exercise [Oh], better sleep [Ir..

 

Click here to see the full list.

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Peer-reviewed and other studies on Vitamin D3

Oct 2, Covid Analysis: Vitamin D for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 302 studies (116 treatment studies and 186 sufficiency studies)

116 treatment studies show statistically significant lower risk for mortality, ICU admission, hospitalization, and cases. 58 studies from 54 independent teams in 20 countries show statistically significant lower risk. • Random effects m..

Sep 22, Seely et al., BMJ Open, doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2023-073761: Dietary supplements to reduce symptom severity and duration in people with SARS-CoV-2: a double-blind randomised controlled trial

14% improved recovery (p=0.41). Early terminated low-risk population (no hospitalization) very late treatment (mean 8 days) RCT with 44 patients treated with vitamin C, D, K, and zinc, and 46 control patients, showing no significant differences. Authors acknowledge that..

Sep 13, Qiu et al., Virology Journal, doi:10.1186/ s12985-023-02165-1: Vitamin D status in hospitalized COVID‐19 patients is associated with disease severity and IL-5 production

Retrospective 399 hospitalized patients in China, showing that lower vitamin D levels and higher IL-5 levels were independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity.

Sep 1, Konikowska et al., Frontiers in Immunology, doi:10.3389/ fimmu.2023.1231813: Association of serum vitamin D concentration with the final course of hospitalization in patients with COVID-19

Retrospective 474 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Poland, showing lower vitamin D levels associated with mortality.

Sep 1, Ogasawara et al., Clinical Nutrition, doi:10.1016/ j.clnu.2023.08.021: The effect of 1-hydroxy-vitamin D treatment in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: A retrospective study

78% lower progression (p=0.05) and 75% lower need for oxygen therapy (p=0.09). PSM retrospective 312 hospitalized patients in Japan, showing lower progression with vitamin D (alfacalcidol) treatment, statistically significant via KM log-rank.

Aug 25, Mbata et al., Journal of Clinical Medicine, doi:10.3390/jcm12175520: Is Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Level Associated with Severity of COVID-19? A Retrospective Study

Retrospective 763 hospitalized COVID-19 patients showing no significant difference in outcomes based on serum levels. Unadjusted results show non-significantly lower risk of critical severity, death, and complications with vitamin D suffi..

Click here to see the full list.

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Peer reviewed and other studies on zinc

Oct 5, Covid Analysis: Zinc for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 58 studies (43 treatment studies and 15 sufficiency studies)

Statistically significant lower risk is seen for mortality, ventilation, hospitalization, progression, recovery, and viral clearance. 17 studies from 17 independent teams in 9 countries show statistically significant improvements. • Met..

Sep 22, Seely et al., BMJ Open, doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2023-073 761: Dietary supplements to reduce symptom severity and duration in people with SARS-CoV-2: a double-blind randomised controlled trial

14% improved recovery (p=0.41). Early terminated low-risk population (no hospitalization) very late treatment (mean 8 days) RCT with 44 patients treated with vitamin C, D, K, and zinc, and 46 control patients, showing no significant differences. Authors acknowledge that..

Aug 9, Herrera- Quintana et al., Metabolites, doi:10.3390/ metabo13080931: Evolution of Status of Trace Elements and Metallothioneins in Patients with COVID-19: Relationship with Clinical, Biochemical, and Inflammatory Parameters

Prospective study of 86 critical COVID-19 patients in Spain showing that low zinc levels were predictive of severity. There was a high prevalence of zinc deficiency.

Jul 26, Wozniak et al., Nutrients, doi:10.3390/ nu15153308: Association of Trace Element Levels with Outcomes in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients

47% lower mortality (p=0.3) and 62% lower progression (p=0.06). Retrospective 345 COVID-19 patients in Switzerland, showing significantly different zinc levels with ICU patients < hospitalized patients < outpatients. For ICU patients, there was higher mortality, septic shock, and mechanical ventilatio..

Jul 18, İşler et al., Life and Medical Sciences, doi:10.54584/ lms.2023.39: Evaluation of the Serum Zinc Level in Patients Followed in Hospital with the Diagnosis of COVID-19 in Samsun Province, Türkiye

88% fewer cases (p=0.04). Retrospective 51 COVID-19 patients and 26 healthy controls in Turkey, showing significantly lower zinc levels in COVID-19 patients, and zinc deficiency associated with COVID-19 in unadjusted results.

Click here to see the full list.

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Peer reviewed studies on quercetin

Oct 5, Covid Analysis: Quercetin for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 11 studies

Statistically significant lower risk is seen for ICU admission, hospitalization, recovery, cases, and viral clearance. 10 studies from 8 independent teams in 7 countries show statistically significant improvements. • Meta analysis using..

Sep 26, Ziaei et al., Food Science & Nutrition, doi:10.1002/fsn3.3715: The effect of quercetin supplementation on clinical outcomes in COVID‐19 patients: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Systematic review and meta analysis of 5 studies, showing significantly lower mortality, ICU admission, and hospitalization with quercetin treatment.

Sep 19, Thapa et al., Makara Journal of Science, doi:10.7454/ mss.v27i3.1609: In-silico Approach for Predicting the Inhibitory Effect of Home Remedies on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2

In Silico analysis showing that curcumin and quercetin may be beneficial for COVID-19 by binding to the main protease (Mpro), spike protein, and ACE2 receptor. Both compounds had suitable ADME properties and minimal predicted toxicity.

Sep 5, Xu et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi:10.1073/ pnas.2309870120: Reply to Yan et al.: Quercetin possesses a fluorescence quenching effect but is a weak inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2 main protease

In Vitro study [Yan] and associated response from the original authors [Xu], collectively showing that quercetin and echinatin had weak SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibition in SDS-PAGE assays [Xu], despite false positive FRET results from MCA-A..

Sep 5, Yan et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi:10.1073/ pnas.2309289120: Reframing quercetin as a promiscuous inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2 main protease

In Vitro study [Yan] and associated response from the original authors [Xu], collectively showing that quercetin and echinatin had weak SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibition in SDS-PAGE assays [Xu], despite false positive FRET results from MCA-A..

Click here to see the full list.

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*** 

In this episode of the ICIC, Dr. Reiner Fuellmich and co-host Dagmar Schoen, attorney at law, speak with Peter Koenig, an economist and geopolitical analyst. Subjects include the old economic, financial and geopolitical structures and agendas, and the rays of hope for liberating mankind from the clutches of a small but very well-connected financial elite that has reinforced its power over decades.

To strengthen their power, this financial elite used and still uses an artificially created financial system; the FED (Federal Reserve Bank) in the USA.

The FED is still mistakenly seen by many people as a state institution.

However, it is a private association of financiers who, through the issuance of banknotes, the dollar, and with the help of financial institutions, corporate and NGO conglomerates (such as Black Rock, Vanguard, the WEF and the WHO) have brought the entire world economy as well as entire nations under their control. They will use all possible means to maintain their power.

Of these methods, bribery and extortion are the most humane. This elite does not shy away from doing things that are difficult to surpass in malice to satisfy their greed. One should think of waging wars and assassinating non-compliant heads of state. Not to mention human trafficking and (ritual) child abuse.

Peter Koenig reports on his experiences with these institutions and with individuals when he used to work in the financial sector.

Today he recognizes their modus operandi and sees a danger of abuse of power in the emergence and growth of new associations such as the BRICS states. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation he remains optimistic. He believes that the rapidly growing community of the BRICS states should be given a chance. Let’s see if they will implement a move away from the petrodollar and separate themselves from the old parasitic structures.

To better understand the current situation, Peter Koenig also sheds light on the historical geopolitical background of today’s world: why which wars were waged, which were the sponsors, who played which role and why is Germany the scapegoat. Germany, in his opinion, is to this day not a sovereign country.

To end this perfidious blinding of us the people and to end the money fraud by the elite, there is a need for broad public understanding of how such a global power grab could happen in the first place.

The only way to free ourselves from this elite’s clutches is by sovereignty.

We should connect with other people and build sovereign, independent communities that take care of themselves and whose members live as they see fit.

Communities that create their own laws by which they are governed. Communities which connect with other sovereign communities through, for example, economic trade.

This way we can detach from the control of the political and financial puppets; detach from our leaders.

Our leaders serve the few that stay in the background and pull the strings. Let us cut these strings by taking up our personal responsibility, creativity and sovereignty.

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Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He 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.

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*** 

Israel has now chosen the path of committing genocide against two million civilians — women, children, elderly and the sick — who are trapped in Gaza which is being bombed into rubble by the IDF.

The United Nations has condemned Israel’s actions as war crimes under existing UN conventions. Turkey, Iran, Syria and various groups are warning that if Israel pursues the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians, they will attack (invade?) Israel and turn this conflict into a world war.

Today I interviewed Martin Armstrong who offers detailed analysis of this situation, also covering Ukraine, Russia, US debt, oil prices and other geopolitical analysis.

This is a can’t-miss broadcast with an urgent warning about the spiral of violence plunging us all into the next World War.

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Palestine and Ukraine: Peace Is Possible

October 12th, 2023 by Prof. Yakov M. Rabkin

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*** 

The Brandenburg Gate and the White House are laser-painted in Israeli blue-and-white colours. They used to harbour the Ukrainian blue-and-yellow colours. In both cases, Western governments pledge unlimited support and declare the recent attacks on Israel, as earlier on Ukraine, allegedly unprovoked and evil. Déjà vu.

But there is more in common than sanctimonious self-righteousness. In both cases, there is an adamant refusal to look into the obvious causes of violence. In the case of Israel, this refusal is particularly appalling. For 75 years, Israel dispossessed, exiled, imprisoned, and tortured Palestinians who never knew a day of freedom. As the Israeli journalist Gideon Levy sarcastically put it:

“We’ll fire at innocent people, take out people’s eyes and smash their faces, expel, confiscate, rob, grab people from their beds, carry out ethnic cleansing and of course continue with the unbelievable siege of the Gaza Strip, and everything will be all right.”

Indeed, most Israelis are accustomed to living in denial. They party and enjoy themselves while a few minutes’ drive away armed Zionist settlers set Palestinian villages on fire, attack olive growers, and beat up anyone daring to defend them. This indifference and oblivion turned to tragedy when a music festival was organized on the border with Gaza, where millions of Palestinians endured a brutal siege imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt. Many Israeli ravers ended up killed in the recent attack from Gaza. Israeli civilians who had felt safely sheltered in their private lives were meted a dreadful reminder of the decades-long violence experienced by the Palestinians living under Israeli siege and control. Israelis found themselves in the hell Palestinians live in every day.

It was also a reminder that Israel since its very beginning has been the most dangerous place for Jews. Built on systemic violence against the local population, Israel has relied on naked force to keep that population under control. No wonder, Palestinians try to resist, and this largely desperate resistance targets every Israeli Jew. Moreover, the dangerous conflation of Zionism with Judaism threatens the safety of Jews around the world.

The Israeli government reacted to the recent attack from Gaza with vengeful anger. It unleashed its entire arsenal against Gaza causing death and destruction to Palestinian civilians. Israeli politicians and generals declare that they are fighting against “animals” and “Nazis”. In a remake of the siege of Leningrad, Israel cut all supplies of food and energy to Gaza while bombing its infrastructure. Many of those surviving the bombardment are likely to starve or die of disease caused by the lack of water. Another man-made humanitarian catastrophe descends upon the long-suffering Palestinians.

All this was preventable. Innumerable United Nations resolutions called upon Israel to allow refugees to return to their homes, to allow them to build their own state. Yet, imbued with the colonialist’s sense of superiority and entitlement, Israeli leaders undermined those prospects with unrelenting dispossession of the Palestinians.

This impunity stems from Western, particularly American support. There are geopolitical reasons to keep Israel armed and intransigent. Israel has become an ally, a warehouse for American weapons and an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” in the middle of the Arab world. It helped Washington keep control of much of West Asia.

Similarly, the desire to encircle and weaken Russia explains the U.S. grooming of Ukraine ever since Yeltsin handed its independence over thirty years ago. Twice, in 2004 and 2014 it fomented coups installing politicians bent on destroying traditional economic, cultural and political links with Russia. When Russia finally awoke from its slumber and proposed negotiations of the security arrangements in Europe, Washington, blinded by its sense of omnipotence, disdained the proposal. This is what incited the war in Ukraine. Just as the recent attack from Gaza, the Ukraine war was not unprovoked. Both wars advance American interests but require no American boots on the ground.

In both cases, there is a road to peace. It lies in the recognition of the legitimacy of concerns of the Other. Exact configurations of peace can be hammered out in negotiations. But for this to happen, both Israel and the collective West must abandon hubris and belief in its exceptionality. All colonial powers, be it Britain, France, Netherlands, or Portugal, finally gave up. But first, they violently resisted decolonization and caused unspeakable violence and starvation to keep their colonies. When will Israel see the light, recognize their humanity, and find a reasonable accommodation with the Palestinians? Or will it opt to kill, starve, and expel the survivors far away from their native land as some Zionists have advocated for decades?

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

Featured image is from Pressenza

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*** 

Gaza’s ongoing military operation against Israel should have surprised no one, least of all Israel, which has besieged, blockaded and brutalised the 2.2 million Palestinian inhabitants of the narrow coastal strip for decades. Israel’s initial occupation of Gaza and Egyptian Sinai took place in October 1956 when France, Britain and Israel attacked Egypt to counter Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalisation of the Suez Canal. While Israel sought to end Palestinian resistance raids from Gaza, France and Britain aimed to topple Nasser. When Israeli forces reached the bank of the Suez Canal then Israeli David Ben Gurion proclaimed his intention of subduing the strip’s fedayeen (fighters) and absorbing Gaza into Israel.

The allies chose the wrong moment to mount their ill-fated Suez campaign as it coincided with Russia’s invasion of Hungary to crush that country’s anti-Soviet revolt. US President Dwight Eisenhower was furious and had no choice but to order the aggressors to withdraw. Israel withdrew from Sinai in February 1957 and Gaza in March, leaving an angry and abused Palestinians, the majority of whom were 1948 refugees, who were determined to resist Israel.

General Ariel Sharon took a tough line with Gaza after Israel’s second occupation of the strip. He set the tone by bulldozing scores of Palestinian homes and arresting Palestinians who dared to resist the occupation. Realising the risks posed by Gaza, he withdrew Israeli soldiers and settlers in August 2005 but, instead of granting Gazans freedom, he imposed Israeli land, sea and air control from the periphery. After Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election Israel instituted its siege and blockade, deepening Gaza’s isolation after Hamas took control in mid-2007. Since then Gazans have been subjected to major Israeli attacks four times.

Hamas has been preparing for Operation Aqsa Flood for many months. The movement has amassed weapons, ammunition and paragliders and staged large and small-scale military exercises. Hamas has also acquired the skills to evade Israel’s sophisticated surveillance of the strip and deal with its spies. Deception became the means to lull Israel to believe Hamas did not intend to mount anything which the Israeli armed forces could not manage. A sense of false security reigned in Israel.

The operation was launched after Hamas jammed Israel’s electronic equipment strategically placed around the Gaza strip. Hamas claims 5,000 rockets (were fired into Israel early Saturday to cover flights across the border with Israel by paragliders and incursions by foot soldiers, and sea-born infilrators into Israel. Once on the Israeli side paraglider troops unlocked and opened gates in Israel’s fence which surrounds Gaza. Bulldozers blundered through others. Israel was warned of the invasion as the fence is well protected by ground sensors and other devices and topped with razor wire. Palestinian fighters fanned out to attack Israeli military posts and adjacent settlements and a rave festival being held nearby. Palestinian commandoes took prisoners which could be exchanged for high profile Palestinians among the 5,200 political detainees in Israeli prisons. In the evening, Hamas fired more rockets into Israel where sirens wailed in Tel Aviv and other cities. This was the first time Palestinians have plotted a campaign with such precision.

Hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians died and thousands were wounded on Saturday. Israeli casualties, the highest ever in a single day, shocked Israel and its friends in the West who routinely note and then ignore Palestinian fatalities and injuries.

With this operation Hamas demonstrated a high degree of competence which Israel and the West never dreamed it had acquired. Hamas suddenly became a ferocious, punitive opponent rather than an enemy which did not have the ability to mount a serious challenge to Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Hamas and will do his best to carry out this mission. Gaza and its hapless citizens are certain to pay a terrible price. Netanyahu will have to wreak vengeance because of the failure of his government, three intelligence services, and army to pre-empt Hamas’ offensive which was modeled on the 1973 war when Egypt and Syrian mounted a surprise attack on Israel on October 6th of that year. In the aftermath of that war, which Israel won, its generals squabbled and the then Prime Minister Golda Meir was compelled to resign.

Netanyahu is not Meir who was honoured as a founder of the state. For several years, Netanyahu has been mired in indictments for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He is determined to use all means to stay in office to avoid prison. His current, extreme right, wing coalition and campaign to weaken Israel’s supreme court endangering Israel’s democracy are intended to keep him in office for as long as possible. His failure to understand what Hamas was preparing could bring him down along with his radical ministers and consign him to jail time.

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*** 

Al Qaeda has recently carried out attacks on a military academy in Homs, Syria. 

It is being completely ignored in Western media that the drones, the technology used during graduation day have been supplied by NATO member states to Al Qaeda in Idlib. 

Watch the interview of Vanessa Beeley with UK Column below.

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Our thanks to Mark Taliano for bringing this interview to our attention.

Vanessa Beeley is an award-winning independent investigative journalist and photographer who has worked extensively in the Middle East – on the ground in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine, while also covering the conflict in Yemen since 2015.  Vanessa contributes regularly to Mint Press News, Russia Today, UK Column, The Last American Vagabond, Sputnik radio, 21st Century Wire, Global Research and many other independent media outlets.

Featured image is a screenshot from the video


Order Mark Taliano’s Book “Voices from Syria” directly from Global Research.

**Voices from Syria**

Author: Mark Taliano

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-9-1

Year: 2017

Product Type: PDF File

List Price: $6.50

Special Offer: $5.00 

Click to order.

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*** 

“We Are at War!” declares the Israeli leadership. Oh really?

Do Israelis and their allies count only bombings and armored tank attacks as war?

Then what have Israeli troops been doing daily and ceaselessly as they storm into West Bank neighborhoods, killing, terrorizing families, abducting youths?

What was it that killed 243 Gazans in May 2021?

What have armed Jewish settlers been doing when they attack towns, commandeer roads and burn homes in Arab villages around their fortified settlements?

What did Israel’s prime minister dare at the United Nations just days ago, wantonly brandishing a map of Israel absent any reference to Palestine, neither historical Palestine nor the rumps of villages left by Jewish colonization?

What are Israeli bulldozers doing when they uproot Palestinian orchards, when settlers pour a farmer’s harvest of olive oil into his ravaged field on his way home from the oil press?

What are Israeli troops doing when they prevent an ambulance reaching a wounded Palestinian?

What are Israeli intelligence agents doing when they threaten, bribe and coerce Palestinian to work for them as informants?

What are roadblocks and the close scrutiny of any Arab traveler along any road in Israel and the occupied lands?

What are Israeli supporters doing worldwide when they suffocate anyone daring to criticize the apartheid state?

What is Israel doing when it chokes all Gazans with sanctions that reduce people to penury, only surviving on charity organizations?

What is Israeli doing when it constructs walls through Arab neighborhoods, dividing a family from its fields?

There are endless means of recording war.

I add two more to my questions: words penned long ago by poet Mahmoud Darwish, and a video clip of some bulldozers in action, a common occurrence (posted July 20, 2023 on X) widely viewed it seems, but unnoticed.

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

She is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Razan al-Najjar, the 21 year old Gaza medic killed by an Israeli sniper on June 1, 2018 treating an injured man, undated photo from Palestine Live on twitter.


“Yogmaya and Durga Devi: Rebel Women of Nepal”

By Barbara Nimri Aziz

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

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

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

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

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

Click here to order.

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*** 

The postulates of the 1993 Oslo Accords signed between Fatah leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Rabin,  were the creation of “an interim Palestinian self-government” for the West Bank and Gaza during a period of transition “no more than five years until it leads to a permanent solution based on UN Security Council resolution 242”. This involved “the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories they occupied during the 1967 war and the creation of a sovereign Palestinian State alongside Israel”.

However, these postulates were a missile in the waterline of the Zionist doctrine that aspires to resurrect the endemism of Greater Israel (Eretz Israel),  so the Israeli Mossad proceeded to the gestation of Hamas in 1987.

Thus, in 2007, following Caesar’s motto, “divide et impera”, Israel got the two Palestinian factions to openly confront each other over the struggle for power, after which the influence of Mahmoud Abbas and Al Fatah was schised into a West Bank turned into a mere protectorate of Israel while Hamas assumed absolute power in the Gaza Strip isolated by a Wall that has degenerated into a deep humanitarian crisis among its most of two million inhabitants, achieving Israel’s primary objective of breaking up the former Palestinian unity of action.

Is Hamas a Creation of Israel?

The term Hamas refers to the acronym “Islamic Resistance Movement” and emerged in 1987 led by Imam Ahmed Yassin to create an Islamic State encompassing Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank and openly confronted the leader of the PLO,  Yasser Arafat, supporter of a secular state.

Hamas refused to be part of the newly created Palestinian National Authority, which had been in existence since 1994, and began a campaign of bloody attacks which led Israeli society to reject the Oslo agreements by a majority, process that ended with the assassination of Isaac Rabin by the ultra-nationalist Yigal Amir.

From the beginning, Hamas was nursed and remotely run by the Israeli Mossad while being funded by successive Jewish governments. Thus, Israeli journalist Amnon Abramovich blamed Netanyahu on television for “turning a blind eye to Hamas in search of its own political achievements until the wave has overtaken it, now trying to counter it”.

Indeed, in 2019 the current Israeli Prime Minister told members of his party’s Knesset that “favoring the terrorist gang was a torpedo to the creation of a potential Palestinian state in the future.”

He added that “anyone who wants to block the creation of a Palestinian state must support the growth of Hamas and transfer money to Hamas. It is part of our strategy: isolating the Palestinians of Gaza from the Palestinians of the West Bank”, which corroborated the suspicions that Hamas was a spawn of Israel remotely directed by Mossad.

Does the Hamas Offensive Favor Netanyahu?

Taking advantage of the alleged security holes in the Israeli Defense caused by the schism between the reservists and Netanyahu, the armed wing of the Islamist group Hamas, launched the largest military offensive since 2007 with the infiltration of dozens of its members into Israeli localities and the launching of thousands of shells against large areas, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israel would have implied that such an offensive had totally surprised him as he was celebrating his Autumn feasts. Thus, in statements to Israeli Channel 12, the former Israeli security chief Amos Yadlin, said that “there has been a surprise of intelligence and when you are surprised, the price is always high,” but after the initial surprise of Hamas we witnessed the devastating response of the Israeli Army, not being excluded that the offensive extends to the Lebanese and Syrian border with the entry on stage of Hezbollah and members of the Fatemiyoun Brigade, Shiite militia with organic dependence on the elite of the Iranian Armed Forces or Pasdarn and risk extension of the conflict to the entire Middle East.

Netanyahu, using the invisible dictatorship of fear of the Third Holocaust, comes from Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran, has taken the opportunity to declare a state of war (defense of Israel’s security) and unleash a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip that will give him an increase in popularity lost to his alleged legal reform and allow him to bypass the judicial process in which he is accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, but his political myopia prevents him from intuiting that a new asymmetric punishment in Gaza will put an end to the entente between the US, Israel, Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for a next attack on Iran.

If we add to that, Israeli public opinion would already be holding Netanyahu responsible for the shocking Israeli security failure by belittling the Egyptian reports that 10 days earlier allegedly warned Netanyahu that Hamas was preparing a major offensive, the already significant disaffection of the Israeli people towards the Netanyahu government could be increased, and the calling of new elections and the initiation of criminal proceedings against Netanyahu would not be ruled out, the Minister of Defence and the director of Mossad, which would mean their final political demise.

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Germán Gorraiz López is a Political Analyst. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from IMEMC

Information Compliance — Bill Passed to Demolish Free Speech

October 12th, 2023 by Dr. Joseph Mercola

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September 19, 2023, the U.K. passed a new law to censor online content. The Online Safety Bill has been described as “one of the most far-reaching attempts by Western democracy to regulate online speech”

The bill has been in the works for the last five years, again proving that online censorship is not something that sprang up in response to COVID

In addition to stricter regulations on pornography and content that promotes suicide and self-harm, “vaccine misinformation” and any other material that may be “harmful to health” is also barred under the bill

The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) also recently took effect, and it too requires online companies to actively police their platforms

September 29, 2023, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) also announced all “online streaming services that offer podcasts” must now register and conform to regulatory controls

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If you think freedom of speech has gone down the tubes, you haven’t seen the half of it yet. September 19, 2023, the U.K. passed a new law to “regulate” (read, censor) online content. The so-called Online Safety Bill has been described as “one of the most far-reaching attempts by Western democracy to regulate online speech.”1

Interestingly, the bill has been in the works for the last five years,2 again proving that online censorship is not something that sprang up in response to COVID. Governments have been steadily moving in this direction for a long time.

As reported by The New York Times,3 the bill forces online platforms to “proactively screen for objectionable material and to judge whether it is illegal, rather than requiring them to act only after being alerted to illicit content.”

Outsourcing Censorship

Of course, we now know that flagging material for removal is how the U.S. government has illegally circumvented constitutional free speech rights for the past few years.

September 8, 2023, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld part of the lower court’s injunction, banning the White House, surgeon general, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI from influencing social media companies to remove “disinformation.”4

Unfortunately, the appellate court also reversed, vacated and modified other parts of the original injunction,5 leaving the door wide open for certain federal agencies to continue their censorship activities. 

Importantly, officials from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) were excluded,6 even though CISA has played a major, if not central, role in the government’s censorship of Americans.

CISA partnered with the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), later renamed the Virality Project,7 and in an Atlantic Council interview, EIP head Alex Stamos openly admitted that the partnership was set up to outsource censorship that the government could not do due to “lack of legal authorization.”8

Chances are, other Western countries have been using similar kinds of censorship schemes up to this point. Now, however, the U.K. and EU have enshrined censorship in law, requiring companies to do their dirty work.

This is because, of course, someone will have to decide what kind of information is “legal” and what’s not, and that decision is most likely going to come either from the government, or some unelected deep state organization like the World Health Organization.

If a similar law makes its way to the U.S., it would effectively constitute an end run around the Constitution, because the Constitution does not allow the government to outsource freedom of speech restrictions, which is basically what the Online Safety Bill does.

New Law Assumes Precognitive Abilities

Lorna Woods, a professor of internet law at the University of Essex, who helped draft the law, told The New York Times:9

“At its heart, the bill contains a simple idea: that providers should consider the foreseeable risks to which their services give rise and seek to mitigate — like many other industries already do.”

One wonders whether she’s talking about the endless warnings companies place on their products, like “Warning: Coffee may be hot!” or “Do not hold the wrong end of a chainsaw,” “Do not operate while sleeping,” or “Do not drive with sunshield in place.”10 But can anyone truly foresee the risks of sharing information?

Sure, those who champion the bill highlight the risks of sharing pornography and information that might promote suicide, self-harm or eating disorders. That kind of information must either be restricted, using age-verification and other measures, or eliminated.

Few ought to have qualms about that, but we can be sure that that’s not the primary aim of this bill. Ultimately, it will be used to stifle or ban information that is inconvenient to those in power. “Vaccine misinformation,” for example, will be barred under the new bill, along with any other material that may be “harmful to health.”11

But who decides what might harm health? Those in power, of course, whether we can identify them or not. We know, however, that the World Health Organization’s pandemic treaty and the International Health Regulation (IHR) amendments designate the WHO as the final arbiter of truth regarding health.

Considering the WHO is owned by its funders, with Bill Gates topping that list, we can be assured that things like holistic health and accurate dietary information will end up on the chopping block, as it already has.

Incidentally, many argue that “anti-vaxxers” must be censored lest they profit from their misinformation, but recent research12 actually found that “Contrary to expectations, websites promoted in pro-vaccine venues do more to monetize attention than those promoted in anti-vaccine venues.” In other words, pro-vaccine sources are profiting from their information sharing to a far greater degree than those sharing information that is derogatory.

Judicial Processes Are Out the Window

We’ve also seen how the bill is already being used to silence specific individuals, such as Russell Brand, who is being accused of sexual improprieties and other abuses by four women he allegedly accosted between 2006 and 2013. Curiously, these accusations only arose after he started supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign and warning about the global coup underway.

In September 2023, Dame Caroline Dinenage, chairwoman of the British Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee — whose husband was commander in the British Army’s psy-ops division13 — wrote a letter14 to Rumble asking them to demonetize Brand’s channel.15

By then, he’d already been demonetized by YouTube, based on the sexual abuse allegations levied against him.16 YouTube reportedly justified their action saying Brand had violated its “creator responsibility policy.”

As noted by The Gray Zone,17 “This marks the first time a content creator has been financially punished by the company for reasons other than the videos published on the site.” A spokesperson for YouTube confirmed that the platform will now “take action” “if a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem.”

Rumble’s chief executive Chris Pavlovski refused to demonetize Brand, stating, “We regard it as deeply inappropriate and dangerous that the U.K. parliament would attempt to control who is allowed to speak on our platform or to earn a living.”18

That refusal may ultimately lead to Rumble being banned in the U.K. under the new law. It’s even been suggested that Rumble executives may be at risk of being arrested should they visit the U.K.19Brand, for his part, has accused the British government of “bypassing judicial process.” Speaking in a live stream, Brand said:

“You know I’ve been demonetized on YouTube. You are aware that the government wrote to social media platforms to demand that I be further censored.

In a sense, the bypassing of judicial process, right to punitive measures, financial ones, seems like an interesting stance for a government minister to be suggesting to a big tech platform.

What we appear to be looking at here are a set of collaborating institutions that have an agenda, and pursue that agenda, even when in pursuing it they have to bypass, obstruct, or absolutely ignore existing judicial or regulatory bodies by moving straight to punitive measures.”

It doesn’t matter how you feel about Brand, or whether you believe the accusations against him. The danger inherent in these punitive measures should be self-evident to everyone.

Anyone can falsely accuse you of something and effectively destroy your ability to make a living if government and/or tech companies have the ability to act as judge and jury. Is that really the kind of society we want?

Many Companies Will Not be Able to Comply

It’s quite clear that many companies will not be able to comply with the new law. The Wikimedia Foundation, for example, which operates Wikipedia, has already said it’ll be unable to do so, and may be blocked in the U.K. as a result.

This isn’t a great loss, per se, considering Wikipedia is an information warfare tool, but countless other information brokers will likely find that they are unable to predict the “foreseeable risks” of the information shared on their platform.

Compliance failures can cost companies up to $22.3 million, or up to 10% of global revenue, whichever is higher. Company executives can also be held criminally liable if they fail to comply with investigative efforts and/or fail to comply with rules related to child safety and the sexual exploitation of children.

Considering the liabilities, those who decide to abide by the new law will likely follow the rule of “better safe than sorry” and use their censorship powers with an excessively heavy hand.

In the end, what we may be left with is state-sponsored propaganda and videos of puppies and kittens. Everything else will be too risky to keep on the platform, because who knows what information might become inconvenient next?

EU Requires Platforms to Police Speech Too

The new U.K. law is not alone in requiring censorship. The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) also recently took effect, and it too requires online companies to actively police their platforms. As reported by The Verge:20

“Starting on August 25th, 2023, tech giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and more must comply with sweeping legislation that holds online platforms legally accountable for the content posted to them …

Under the new rules, online platforms must implement ways to prevent and remove posts containing illegal goods, services, or content while simultaneously giving users the means to report this type of content.”

On the upside, the DSA also bans targeted advertising and restricts ads targeting children. It also requires platforms to be more transparent about how their algorithms work, and requires “very large” platforms — any online company with more than 45 million monthly EU users — to allow users to opt out of profiling and personalization engines.

This includes Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Shapchat, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Bing and several others.21

On the other hand, the law also requires very large platforms to share data with researchers and authorities, and to cooperate with “crisis response requirements.” The Digital Services Coordinator and the EU Commission will also have the power to “require immediate actions where necessary to address very serious harms.”

Compliance failures can cost a company up to 6% of their global revenue, and repeated refusal to comply with rules or requests for action can result in suspension of the platform within the EU.

Canada Announces New Rules for Streaming Services

Canada is also upping the ante. September 29, 2023, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced all “online streaming services that offer podcasts” must now register and conform to regulatory controls. As reported in an official press release:22

“Today, the CRTC is advancing its regulatory plan to modernize Canada’s broadcasting framework and ensure online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content …

First, the CRTC is setting out which online streaming services need to provide information about their activities in Canada.

Online streaming services that operate in Canada, offer broadcasting content, and earn $10 million or more in annual revenues will need to complete a registration form by November 28, 2023 …

Second, the CRTC is setting conditions for online streaming services to operate in Canada. These conditions take effect today and require certain online streaming services to provide the CRTC with information related to their content and subscribership.

The decision also requires those services to make content available in a way that is not tied to a specific mobile or Internet service. A third consultation is ongoing. It considers contributions traditional broadcasters and online streaming services will need to make to support Canadian and Indigenous content.”

Large-Enough Content Providers Must Register as Well

Initially, the CRTC promised that content providers who simply upload their podcasts to available broadcasting services would not be impacted, but that turned out to be another bait-and-switch. What’s more, the CRTC conveniently didn’t mention this detail in its press release. For those details, you have to read through the actual regulatory policy.23 As reported by independent journalist Michael Shellenberger, October 2, 2023:24

“For months, representatives of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government insisted that their plans to regulate Big Tech social media platforms wouldn’t impact independent news outlets or podcasters … But it turns out that the government is, in fact, going to regulate content providers, not just Big Tech social media platforms.

The government regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), announced on Friday that it would require registration by independent content producers, including online news companies and ‘individuals that host podcasts on their own websites.’

The CRTC says that the law only covers media companies with $10 million or more per year in revenue and that the information it is demanding is minimal … But, notes Canadian legal analyst Michael Geist, ‘The takeaway from the decision is obvious: registration is the first step toward regulation … In fact, the rationale for the CRTC to include many of the services is that without such information, it is not well positioned to regulate.’

The Liberal Party plainly misled the public into thinking that platforms would only be regulated, not content providers. There are many independent media companies with over $10 million annually in revenue that will be forced to register.”

Canada’s Online News Act

Earlier this year, Canada also rolled out its new Online News Act,25 which requires “dominant platforms” to “compensate news businesses when their content is made available on their services.” As a result, Facebook and Instagram ended up eliminating Canadians’ ability to view any news on its platform, regardless of where the news originates from. As explained by Facebook, June 1, 2023:26

“In order to comply with the Online News Act, we have begun the process of ending news availability in Canada … News links and content posted by news publishers and broadcasters in Canada will no longer be viewable by people in Canada …

News publishers and broadcasters outside of Canada will continue to be able to post news links and content, however, that content will not be viewable by people in Canada … People in Canada will no longer be able to view or share news content on Facebook and Instagram, including news articles and audio-visual content posted by news outlets.”

Synchronized Censorship Push

What we’re seeing is a synchronized push for more radical censorship, upheld by law, and while it’s currently focused in the EU, Britain and Canada, we can be sure that it’s coming to the U.S. as well.

It would be here already were it not for our Constitution, which is slowing things down. Still, the noose is tightening with each passing day, as the U.S. government is working overtime to figure out how to circumvent the highest law of the land.

There are no easy answers to this problem. One basic suggestion, however, would be to withdraw support from censorship-based platforms like YouTube, and support free speech platforms like Rumble instead.

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Notes

1, 2, 3, 9 New York Times September 19, 2023, Updated September 20, 2023

4, 5 US Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit Case 23-30445 September 8, 2023

6 US Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit Case 23-30445 September 8, 2023, page 72

7, 8 Foundation for Freedom Online November 9, 2022

10 Forbes February 23, 2011

11, 15, 18, 19 The Sun September 23, 2023

12 Scientific Reports 2023; 13, Article number 15964

13, 14, 17 The Gray Zone September 21, 2023

16 Sky News September 25, 2023

20, 21 The Verge August 25, 2023

22 Canada.ca News Release September 29, 2023

23 CRTC Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2023-329

24 Public Substack October 2, 2023

25 Canada.ca The Online News Act

26 Facebook June 1, 2023, Updated August 1, 2023

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Al-Furqan neighborhood in the norther Gaza Strip is not a military base. But the Israeli army believe that many of the resident of the small area are supporters of Hamas. In Israeli military thinking, this made Furqan part of Gaza’s ‘terrorist infrastructure’.

The Israeli military announced that its warplanes carried out raids on 450 targets in the Al-Furqan neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.

The Israeli army explained that dozens of its warplanes bombed more than 200 targets at Al-Furqan at night, making it the third attack in the last 24 hours.

This brought the total number of targets throughout the neighborhood alone to more than 450.

The army claimed in a statement carried by Anadolu news agency that the Al-Furqan neighborhood is a ‘launchpad’ for Hamas’ activities against Israel, and bombing it is part of the continued attack on the movement’s infrastructure.

Since last Saturday, the Israeli occupation army has launched intensive raids on the Gaza Strip, which have left more than 900 dead and 4500 wounded, causing extensive destruction to residential buildings and vital facilities.

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Featured image: Entire neighborhoods have been leveled in the Israeli bombing campaigns. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, Palestine Chronicle)

“Dear Students”: Breaking Bread at the Terminus of Learning

October 12th, 2023 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

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Let this be a lesson to you students. You are now coming to the end of another semester, arbitrarily designated as having an even number of weeks, crammed with a range of objectives that no doubt most of you have not met. For one thing, you did not read. But my, did one try to encourage you. You will have a chance to punish your teacher with absurd course ratings and meaningless criteria. You will be able to “rate your professor” in the worst sense of the practice.

Modern education, if nothing else, is the elevation of admired, if predictable failure, over heroic, diligent success. The latter are always seen as the tossers of the classroom, because they let the side down. Let’s face it: the mediocrats will always get top billing from the managers, largely because the mediocrats are the managers.

Do not, however, despair.  To have you, dear students, in the classroom, is to feel vitality and strength, to find a sense of purpose.  Despite every attempt by the educational commissars to hack, diminish and denude the worth of a university education, some of you have realised that a love of the word and the feeling for learning is a love like no other.  It is orgiastic in release, and cathartic in cleansing: to be able to wash, bathe and cleanse in a text, and leave it invigorated. To be able to feel glorious cerebration.

Ultimately, you are the only reason the academic functions, why the university breathes in its staggered, desperate way, escaping the shot that will end it. The only reason the teacher or instructor has any calculable worth, can turn up on their hindlegs and brave a sea of faces in the muddled search for knowledge, hoping that a message might mind find its mark in the dark recess of a journey.

That student-teacher relationship is almost more important than a love affair or conjugal union. It is an admission of unadulterated trust, a conveyance of one being’s wonder into another’s quest to shape it. For in that union, the mind plays with thoughts expressed, the assignments and papers submitted depictions of an inner self, a vulnerable being held up for the most intense questioning. The instructor reads the student’s work as a full statement of effort, defect and all, weakness displayed, error prostrate.

It is the task of the instructor to show a way to best understand such defects, to warn of the potholes in the learning life, to issue caveats over those gnarly points where you might be caught out. Make sure you do not trip over a source with origins that may compromise its worth. (The opinion of a law company website can hardly rise to the level of a court opinion, as much as the authors might think it does.) Make sure you state a claim clearly. Avoid the clunky, the waffly, the syntactically vicious. The savagery of conciseness will set you free.

In recent years, you can even say decades, that sacred union between yearning, curious student and profound, eager pedagogue has been assailed, if not destroyed altogether. The bureaucrats have decided to mock and ridicule the academic as ornately irrelevant, a clown in the front of a room who deserves nothing but contempt. Somewhere along the line, a number of risible morons decided that students and teachers were somehow equal in their possession of knowledge, presuming that all opinions have equivalent weight. That bastard beast known as the lectorial was born – or was it the “flipped classroom”? Some academics have turned into bureaucrats, the Vichy-Quisling class who have sold out their own in an effort to rise up that greasiest of poles: middle management. In such desert spaces, ideas, and learning, go to perish in horrible ways, most commonly by means of the spreadsheet.

A relentless pushdown, even pulverising of the beauty that is abstract learning, complex form, Platonic ecstasy, has been taking place across teaching institutions, largely in the hope of securing more students who are best treated as dunderheaded gullible consumers than learning vessels filled with wonder. The advent of the coronavirus pandemic simply added a drug-filled impetus to the measure, a nightmarish fuel to the fire of isolated despair. Get online everyone: you know you want to.

On this day, we are engaged in that most glorious of occasions an instructor, a lecturer, a pedagogue can ever have with their students: break bread and reflect sweetly upon the weeks passed. It is a most solemn yet deeply felt occasion. It is the end of the semester, and when you leave this classroom, a vestigial thought might stir on what you learnt.  At an opportune moment, it might comfort you, even save you.

This is unlikely to happen in the future. We are now at a terminus – of sorts. Universities may be liquidated (in some cases, deservedly) by the gibbering hordes and minions of the Artificial Intelligence revolution. Lectures and seminars will become programmatic spouts and spurts arranged and organised for delivery, leaving academics to suicide in libraries without books.  Essays will be derivative, machine products, tested on the quality of the AI function, rather than the quality of the human endeavour. The idea of a crafted essay with all its beautiful, unintended faults: the misplaced colon, the split infinitive, the tormenting tautology, will pass into an anodyne, textual sludge called technological perfection. When that happens, we all best take leave, and depart this earth. But even then, it could be artificially generated.

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Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a regular contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research. Email: [email protected]

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In the aftermath of Saturday’s terrorist and military attacks on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared,

“The forces of civilization must support Israel in defeating Hamas…In fighting Hamas, Israel is not only fighting for its own people, it is fighting for every country that stands against barbarism.”

Those sentiments are quite different from ones Netanyahu privately shared in 2019.

“Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas,” Netanyahu told Likud Party legislators.

Doing so would help prevent the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) from ruling Gaza and giving Palestinians a relatively moderate, unified voice at the negotiating table.

“This is part of our strategy — to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.”

Israel’s reckless exploitation of Hamas is as old as the group itself. Indeed, decades before Netanyahu’s closed-door candor, the Israeli government pushed Hamas into its initial prominence, with direct and indirect financial support.

Throughout the 1970s, Israel’s nemesis was the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In stark contrast to Hamas — which emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood — the PLO was a secular, leftist organization, led by Yasser Arafat, who headed the PLO’s Fatah faction.

As a former senior CIA official told UPI’s Richard Sale in 2001, Israel’s initial boosting of Hamas “was a direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious alternative.”

Islamist groups began rising in prominence in Gaza in the wake of the 1967 War, as they undertook educational, cultural, social and infrastructure initiatives to make life better for Palestinian refugees there.

When it first registered with Israeli authorities in 1978, Hamas was led by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a half-blind, wheelchair-bound Muslim cleric who launched schools and clinics throughout Gaza. Israel backed his efforts, and also approved the founding of the Islamic University of Gaza…which would go on to become an extremist hub deemed worthy of Israeli bombs.

Israeli Brigadier General Yitzhak Segev, who was governor of Gaza and in frequent touch with Yassin, told the Wall Street Journal that he fully grasped Yassin’s ultimate aims — to replace Israel with an Islamic state — and the dangers of the Hamas ideology. However, at the time, Israel prioritized undermining the PLO-leading Fatah.

In the wake of Iran’s 1979 revolution that saw a secular, US-backed regime replaced with an Islamic republic, Hamas and other Islamists grew more popular, ambitious — and violent.

Regardless, Israel’s financial backing continued, a US intelligence source told UPI, saying the support now had an additional rationale — to gain intelligence and identify the most dangerous of Hamas members.

However, another US government official highlighted a far more sinister Israeli aim: to obliterate the chance for progress in resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “The thinking on the part of some of the right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the other groups, if they gained control, would refuse to have anything to do with the peace process and would torpedo any agreements put in place,” the official said.

That would enable Israel to continue paying lip service to a two-state solution while disingenuously bemoaning its lack of a “partner for peace” on the Palestinian side. In the mean time, Israel would continue changing “facts on the ground” by demolishing Palestinian homes, authorizing more West Bank Israeli settlements and precluding the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Settlements throughout the West Bank have eliminated any real chance for a contiguous Palestinian state (via Vox)

In 2015, Bazalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party and now Israel’s finance minister in 2015 said,

“On the international playing field, in this game of the delegitimization…the PA is a liability and Hamas is an asset. It’s a terrorist organization. Nobody will recognize it, nobody will give it status at the [International Criminal Court] and nobody will let them push resolutions at the UN.”

“In the eyes of the Israeli right, the real threat to Israel is not Hamas’ violence and terrorism — the danger is a peace agreement…and the establishment of a Palestinian state,” wrote Meron Rapoport at Tel Aviv-based +972 Magazine.

Hamas isn’t the only extremist group the Israeli right has a soft spot for. Under an earlier Netanyahu government, Israel gave medical assistance to wounded al-Qaeda members and sent them back to fight the secular, Iran-aligned government in Syria…where they’d inevitably abduct, torture and murder civilians too. Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy said Israel’s aid was acceptable because “Al Qaeda, to the best of my recollection, has not attacked Israel.”

In a deposition for one of the corruption cases against him, Netanyahu — referring to Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah — said,

“We have neighbors who are bitter enemies…It’s impossible to reach an agreement with them…Everyone knows this, but we control the height of the flames.”

That statement does more than showcase Netanyahu’s legendary arrogance. In light of reports that Egypt’s intelligence minister directly warned Netanyahu to prepare for a surprise Hamas assault — “something big” — it also underscores the possibility that Netanyahu was content to allow an attack of unknown dimensions to unfold, with hopes that “flames” of a tolerable height would be useful to his extremist government’s agenda.

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Featured image: Members of the Hamas al-Qassam Brigade at an event marking the anniversary of Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza (EPA-EFE/Mohammed Saber via Euractiv)

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As war between Israel and Palestinian groups enters a fifth day, misinformation about the events is spreading like wildfire on social media. 

Israeli forces have rained down a barrage of air strikes on the Gaza Strip this week, killing at least 950 people.

It came after Hamas launched a surprise multi-front assault on Israeli communities on Saturday, firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters into Israel across land, air and sea. More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed, and around 130 people taken captive back to Gaza.

The escalating situation is playing out in real-time online, particularly on X (formerly known as Twitter). But scores of posts going viral on social media are either completely false or misleading.

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, appeared to add to the problem on Sunday, by urging users (in a now deleted post) to stay up to date on the situation in Israel and Palestine by following two accounts known for previously peddling misinformation.

Much of the misinformation has been published by accounts with blue checkmarks, which signify a user has purchased a premium X subscription for $8 per month.

The blue ticks have given the posts a veneer of authenticity, and ensured they appear high on users’ timelines, irrespective of accuracy. 

False assertions include purported bombings in Gaza that actually show Algerian football fans, a fake Taliban spokesperson claiming the Afghan group is joining Hamas’s war efforts, and video game footage passed off as air strikes. 

Middle East Eye debunks some of the misleading posts that have gone viral in recent days:

Attacks that Didn’t Happen

A video posted by right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong claimed Hamas fighters were going from house to house killing all the people inside the houses.

ian miles cheong tweet

Users were quick to point out that the video he posted was actually of Israeli police, based on their uniforms. A “community note” was eventually added to the post by X to point out the inaccuracy, before it was eventually deleted by Cheong.

Elsewhere, blue-tick accounts claimed that Israel had bombed the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest church in Gaza.

The church took to Facebook to clarify that the reports were false – and that it had in fact opened its doors to people displaced by Israel’s bombing campaign in the besieged enclave. 

One video claiming to show “Hamas fighters shooting down Israel war helicopter in Gaza” – was actually footage from the video game Arma 3. 

Clips from the same video game were falsely posted by far-right Britain First leader Paul Golding as Israel “about to rain down hellfire on Gaza”. 

Another post spuriously claimed that Israel had approved a “tactical nuclear strike on the Gaza Strip”. The claim was false, and the footage shared was of nuclear testing in the United States several decades ago. 

Syria Bombings and Algerian Football 

Several false videos widely shared on social media purport to show the conflict originate in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa, or showed old footage in Israel and Palestine.

A tweet from an India-based blue-tick account with nearly 400,000 followers appeared to show a mosque being bombed, with the caption: “Israel should have let the adhaan [call to prayer] be complete,” with a laughing emoji.

The post (which is still up, with no community note) actually shows a mosque destroyed by the Islamic State militant group in Raqqa, Syria in 2014. 

In another clip that originates from Syria, blue-tick accounts claimed to show Hamas fighters laughing, before an Israeli bomb is dropped. 

The original video was posted on YouTube at least four years ago, and appears to show an attack on a convoy in Syria. 

Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesperson for Arab media, posted a video with multiple pieces of footage, purporting to show Israel bombing Gaza. 

The first of those clips instead shows Syrian government forces bombing the city of Ariha in the rebel-held Idlib province of northwest Syria. 

Elsewhere, an Indian-based verified account claimed to show Israel responding to Hamas with air strikes, commenting: “well done… great retaliation”. 

But the video didn’t show that at all: it was a video of Algerian football fans celebrating the football club Belouizdad winning the domestic league title earlier this year. 

jim ferguson post on x

Some footage shared online did show Israeli bombings on Gaza, but were not from recent days.

A post by a right-wing British political candidate, Jim Ferguson, purporting to show Israel “hit[ting] back”, was footage from a Gaza tower block being bombed during Israel’s May 2021 offensive

Another post, by Shurat HaDin, a pro-Israel legal centre, claimed to be Israel “striking terror targets in Gaza”. While it did show an Israeli strike on Gaza, it originated from 13 May, as reported by open source journalist Chris Osieck. 

False Stories About Children and Babies 

Several false or misleading videos relating to the mistreatment of babies and children during the conflict have also emerged.

American-Israeli lawyer and Republican official Mark Zell posted a video claiming to show a Jewish baby kidnapped by a “Hamas terrorist”.

But the video was shared on TikTok in September, and is completely unrelated to the current situation in Gaza. 

Elsewhere, a blue-tick account posted a video of cameras filming a child actor on the floor, as evidence of Israelis “making fake videos saying that Palestine Freedom Fighters killed children”. 

The video is actually from a Palestinian short film called Empty Place, directed by Awni Eshtaiwe, which is based on the imprisonment of Palestinian detainee Ahmed Manasra. 

Another widely circulated video claimed to show Israeli children “kidnapped and kept in cages by Hamas”. 

There is no evidence to suggest such a thing happened.

While it’s not immediately clear from where or when the footage originates, it was posted on TikTok on 4 October – before Palestinian fighters attacked Israel. 

Purported Taliban and US Support

Another false tweet – from a now suspended account claiming to represent the Taliban’s public relations department – claimed that the Afghan group had asked the governments of Iran, Iraq and Jordan for passage so they could join the war effort in Gaza. 

false taliban tweet

Tweet from an account purporting to belong to a Taliban spokesperson (Screengrab/X)

The false report, which was even reported in the Jerusalem Post, was denied by a Taliban spokesperson on Saturday. The blue-tick account which posted it has now been suspended.

In another example of false reports about expressions of international support, a doctored image purported to show a memorandum written by US President Joe Biden in which he approved $8bn in military aid to Israel in response to the situation. 

The claim is completely made up, and was debunked in a fact-check by AFP. No such memorandum was written by the White House, which confirmed in a statement that the letter was fake. 

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Featured image: Misleading posts about the Israel-Palestine war, superimposed over an Israeli army self-propelled howitzer firing rounds in southern Israel, near the border with Gaza, on 11 October 2023 (MEE/AFP)

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*** 

Gaza City – As I write this, I no longer believe we will get out of this alive.

On Wednesday, I woke from my sporadic sleep to the sound of the bombardment that has continued nonstop for the past four nights. Each day we wake up in a different house. But each day the sounds and smells we wake to are the same.

Our home was badly damaged on the first night of the bombardment. So we moved to my parents’ home. Then on Tuesday, a missile strike that destroyed a home just one building away left my parents’ home uninhabitable. So we came to the home of my in-laws. Now, there are 40 of us here. It feels as though the missiles are following us – getting closer with each strike – and we are running out of places to run to.

I prayed fajr, the pre-sunrise prayer, and then lay down beside my two-month-old son as he slept. I couldn’t smell his skin, his hair through the stench of gunpowder, smoke and dust that seems to permanently fill the air.

It was just a few minutes later that the windows blew in, covering us with shards of glass. I instinctively covered his tiny body with my own. Then, I grabbed him and ran, all the while crying out for my eight-year-old daughter.

“Banias! Where is Banias?” I pleaded as everyone ran, all of us calling out for our children, our parents amid the mayhem. When I found her, she was crying and shaking. My husband and I took turns hugging her to comfort her as best we could, knowing that there was so little comfort to be found.

Diary from Gaza

The shattered glass and a cut from an early morning explosion on October 11, 2023 [Maram Humaid/Al Jazeera]

Still shaken, we ran downstairs to the ground floor, so we could leave if needed, but then, the bombardment appeared to stop. Outside, the air attacks had levelled yet another home, just metres from where we were. It was hit without prior warning. Oftentimes, a small strike is followed by a larger one. Thankfully, the people who lived there were not inside when it struck.

When we were still at my parents’ home, we had similarly run downstairs amid the shouts and cries of neighbours warning one another to take cover after a strike hit a nearby building. The moments waiting for the second, bigger strike to hit were unbearable. I held my baby tightly and turned his face towards my chest as though I could shield him from the dust and the fumes from the explosives.

Hours passed. Then on Tuesday evening, a big missile hit, flattening the building. Our screams filled the air amid the sound of shattering glass and objects. About 10 minutes later after the dust had settled, we saw my parents’ front door and windows had been destroyed and the furniture was covered in debris. We quickly packed our belongings and left.

I thought my parents’ home would be safe. I thought my in-law’s place would be safe.

But where do we go next? There is not a home in Gaza that is safe.

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Featured image: Children from Maram’s family shelter together after an air strike hit near her in-laws’ home [Maram Humaid/Al Jazeera]

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*** 

Scientists and doctors critical of COVID-19 vaccines had harsh criticism for the Norwegian Nobel Committee after it awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to a pair of University of Pennsylvania biochemists for their work in developing “effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.”

Katalin Karikó, Ph.D., and Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D., on Monday were awarded the prize for their “groundbreaking findings … of how mRNA interacts with our immune system [and for contributing] to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” according to the Nobel Committee press release.

Dr. Robert Malone, the reputed inventor of mRNA technology, responded on X/Twitter:

“Karikó and Weissman get the Nobel, not for inventing mRNA vaccines (because I did that) but for adding the pseudouridine that allowed unlimited spike toxins to be manufactured in what could have been a safe and effective vaccine platform, if safely developed.”

Malone challenged the integrity of the award, claiming Big Pharma was behind it.

“Pfizer has been campaigning for this since 2020 — at first, they’ve claimed (as did Karikó) that she invented the mRNA vaccine technology,” he said, noting that “Pfizer donates heavily to theKarolinska Institutet, which awards the Nobel.”

“Science has been hijacked again by big pharma,” he concluded.

Dr. Peter McCullough said, “This Nobel decision will not do well over the course of history,” citing the World Council for Health’s pharmacovigilance report of adverse events for the COVID-19 vaccines:

Other notable researchers, scientists and organizations also weighed in. Here is a sampling:

Children’s Health Defense President Mary Holland told The Defender:

“Scientific evidence suggests that mRNA products will never be safe for all people or animals, and yet the headlong rush to ‘immunize’ everyone in the world continues.

“The gap between evidence and propaganda has never been greater; it’s revolting to see the Nobel Prize serve propaganda rather than science.”

A photo of Karikó and Weissman, both wearing face masks while holding prize plaques, surfaced on Twitter soon after the announcement. Some claimed it was photoshopped, although PBS/NPR posted it in an article about the Nobel Prize winners. The photo was later identified as originating from a 2022 event in Japan.

Nobel Committee Members ‘Underplaying’ Long-term Myocarditis Lethality

Jikkyleaks on Twitter Wednesday reposted a short video of a Chinese journalist asking Nobel committee members Olle Kämpe, M.D., Ph.D., and Rickard Sandberg, Ph.D., “With the mRNA, we don’t know the long-term effects yet. So do we have any concern over that?”

Sandberg answered, “The mRNA that is given is very transient … The amount of side effects noted to date is extremely limited, so I don’t think it’s a major concern.”

Kämpe added, “Well it can’t be integrated into the nucleus, into the DNA, and that’s a safety precaution. The effects noted are mostly myocarditis and perimyocarditis, mainly affecting young males, but that normally resolves without any long-term effects.”

Commenting on their answers, Jikkyleaks wrote, “Not only are two senior scientists overtly lying about the mechanism of these drugs … But to underplay myocarditis (with long-term lethality) just shows how lab scientists can be turned into Joseph Mengeles with a bit of propaganda.”

Jikkyleaks followed with a post stating myocarditis carries a prognosis of 50% (death) at 10 years, referencing a German study in the PubMed database on the mortality rates of different types of myocarditis.

Chris Martenson, Ph.D., responded to Kämpe’s and Sandberg’s statements, calling them “blatant misinformation.”

“If ‘transient’ now includes the prospect of something lasting for *at least* 60 days,” Martenson wrote, “then this statement is accurate.” He shared a paper from March 2022 showing mRNA was detected in lymph nodes 60 days after the last injection.

Challenging Sandberg’s claim about limited side effects, Martenson pointed out the more than 300,000 serious adverse events recorded by Germany’s Paul Ehrlich Institute. “Germany’s own health minister at the time now admits up to 1 in 1,000 vaccinees experience a bad side effect,” he said.

Regarding Kämpe’s claim that mRNA cannot be integrated into DNA, Martenson pointed to#plasmidgate research and the work of scientist and genomics expert Kevin McKernan and others.

Lots and lots of DNA, encoded with a nuclear transport signal, for some reason, came along for the ride with the mRNA shots,” Martenson said. “So, instead of a ‘safety precaution,’ the exact opposite was included in every vial.”

Martenson called the claim that myocarditis normally resolves without long-term effects “spectacularly untrue,” saying Kämpe’s statement “doesn’t even qualify as ‘misinformed’ — it’s either pure ignorance or straight-up lying.”

He added:

“The annals of science are now stocked full of people who have died from this ‘mild’ myocarditis or continue to suffer from the effects years later.

“But, as bad as the myocarditis is, it’s just one of dozens of different and quite serious side effects, so it represents a serious deflection as well as a material misstatement of fact.

“CONCLUSION: It’s not possible for such intelligent and accomplished people to be this badly misinformed. It has to be a willful act. That means their moral character is permanently stained and they should be shunned from polite society.”

McKernan called Kämpe’s and Sandberg’s answers, “The ‘Nobel Lie,’” and in another tweet said, “Usually the Nobel committee likes to wait a decade to see if things really pan out … lest they award another lobotomy medal.”

‘Manipulating Our Cells … Might Have Its Downsides’

Karikó’s and Weissman’s mRNA breakthrough was first published in a 2005 paper, where they shared their solution to the problem of synthetic RNA causing inflammatory responses — “a strong immune reaction to elevated protective antibodies” — according to an article in Scientific American.

That reaction caused the mRNA to degrade and therefore to lose its ability to replicate.

The researchers solved the problem by modifying one of the mRNA nucleoside bases, replacing uridine with the isomer pseudouridine.

This change allowed the synthetic RNA to “evade our immune defenses and trick human cells into producing whatever proteins the injected RNA might code for,” wrote Substack author Eugyppius.

In 2015, the pair found a way to deliver mRNA into mice using lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that further protect its mRNA payload from degradation, allowing it to be delivered into cells.

Karikó’s and Weissman’s work “made the Moderna and the BioNTech/Pfizer jabs possible,” Eugyppius wrote, adding, “That our natural biological defenses might have a purpose, and that manipulating our cells to manufacture pharmaceutical products in our own bodies might have its downsides, are reservations that the Nobel Committee do not share.”

Doctors for COVID Ethics (D4CE) in their book, “mRNA Vaccine Toxicity,” released in July, said LNPs not only “fly under the radar of the immune system,” making their way into many different kinds of cells — with liver, spleen and ovaries accumulating particularly high amounts — but also produce an immunosuppressive effect on our body’s lymphocytes (T cells, B cells and others).

They cited a study showing changes to the pattern of immune responses are passed on to the offspring of LNP-injected mice.

Prize Awarded with Hope It Would ‘Make Hesitant People Take the Vaccine’

Eugyppius claimed Karikó and Weissman were not obvious candidates for the Nobel Prize because “neither their publications nor their citations were sufficient to place them among the frontrunners.” 

Phys.org also took note of the unusual choice, writing “The Nobel committee broke with its usual practice of honoring decades-old discoveries.”

But Kämpe, in what Eugyppius called a “backhanded acknowledgment,” tipped his hand when he said he hoped the award “may make hesitant people take the vaccine and be sure that it’s very efficient and safe.”

Nobel committee chair Gunilla Karlsson-Hedestam said in the prize announcement, “What’s important here I think is that vaccines could be developed so fast,” and credited Kariko’s and Weissman’s contributions for making that possible.

Peter Maybarduk, director of the Access to Medicines program at the Washington advocacy group Public Citizen, applauded the recognition of mRNA but said Western countries should find it “deeply embarrassing” that only a small number of the shots were made available to poorer countries months after vaccination started in rich countries, PBS/NPR reported.

“The award, to me, is really a victory for vaccines and the potential for vaccines to advance health and improve equity,” Kathleen Neuzil told Scientific American.

Neuzil is a vaccinology professor and director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She said:

“We’re coming off the worst pandemic in more than a century, and certainly these vaccines contributed to lives saved and to less morbidity …

“I think an adaptation of this technology and mRNA vaccines could really be transformative, particularly for low- and middle-income countries, because of the adaptability and flexibility of the platform.”

However, Dr. Byram W. Bridle wrote in his Substack that the mRNA shots were not only ineffective but that data showed “they may have predisposed people to getting COVID-19.”

Bridle added:

“The day the Nobel prize gets awarded for a medical technology that has dramatically underperformed and possibly backfired, and that still has not undergone full and proper clinical trial testing, is the day that I lose all respect for the once noble award. Sadly, that day has come.”

Weissman Issued Warning About mRNA Dangers in 2018

In a tweet Monday, Andrew Bostom, M.D., M.S., noted that Weissman in a 2018 Nature article issued an “honest warning” about the potential toxicity of mRNA vaccines, specifically listing hyperinflammatory responses, autoimmune triggering and thrombosis.

Weissman wrote:

“Potential safety concerns … clinical studies include local and systemic inflammation, the biodistribution and persistence of expressed immunogen, stimulation of auto-reactive antibodies and potential toxic effects of any non-native nucleotides and delivery system components. …

“Extracellular RNA during mRNA vaccination [can promote] blood coagulation andpathological thrombus formation [blood clots].

Responding to Bostom’s tweet, @CdnFreedomGirl wrote:

“So basically Dr. Weissman was well aware of these potential side effects, then these side effects actually occurred in real life. Some people paid with their lives. Yet these shots are still being peddled as safe and effective and Dr. Weissman gets a Nobel Prize and accepts it with complete disregard for humanity.”

Chief Nerd posted a tweet Monday featuring a brief clip from a 2021 video of Weissman denying the vaccine would cause any harm. Weissman said:

“The mRNA in the vaccine is identical to the RNA in your cells. The RNA in your cells isn’t causing long-term adverse events so the RNA in the vaccine won’t either. The RNA is degraded, probably within a week it’s completely gone … Nothing of the vaccine is left after days two to a week or so … The only really serious adverse event is this anaphylaxis-like reaction.”

Weismann is knowingly misspeaking here, for as already noted the pseudouridine used to alter the RNA turns it into modified RNA (or modRNA) specifically designed to make it more stable and long-lived, less immunogenic and more efficient at self-replicating.

Penn Also Considered mRNA Research Risky

Karikó joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1989 as an adjunct professor and researcher, before she began collaborating with Weissman in 1995.

However, in 1995, the university considered Karikó’s mRNA research too risky — even calling it “not of faculty quality.” Because she failed to attract sufficient grant funding, it offered the tenure-bound professor a choice either to leave or be demoted with a pay cut, according to Forbes.

Karikó accepted the demotion and continued her work. But in 2013, she left her senior research investigator position to become vice president at BioNTech, co-manufacturer with Pfizer of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

Members of the Penn medical and academic communities criticized the university and urged it to apologize for its celebratory page on the Nobel Prize winners that omitted any reference to Karikó’s earlier demotion.

‘The Potential Is Just Enormous’ for mRNA Applications

Karikó, Weissman and other mRNA researchers are already working to apply the technology to autoimmune diseases, cancers, food and environmental allergies, bacterial and insect-borne diseases, including “HIV, norovirus and malaria” according to Scientific American.

“Now we can give them an off-the-shelf injection of RNA and cure their disease,” Weissman said. “And then you can expand that to liver, to lung, to brain, to every other organ therapeutics … The potential is just enormous.”

Weissman is currently developing a pan-coronavirus mRNA vaccine that would “defeat COVID forever,” according to a France 24 article. He claimed it would be better than annual booster shots and “should cover all future variants — and any bat coronaviruses that might cross over into people.”

“We’ve really expanded our scope of research — and that’s been allowed because the world … now recognizes RNA as important,” Weismann said, adding that it’s “an incredibly important thing to give access to RNA technology to every part of the world.”

In their book, “mRNA Vaccine Toxicity,” D4CE warned about the future use of the biotechnology:

“Every future mRNA vaccine will induce our cells to produce its own specific antigen, related to the particular microbe it targets. We must therefore expect each such vaccines to induce immunological damage on a similar scale as we have witnessed with those directed against COVID-19.”

In the foreword to the book, Holland noted that despite the well-documented harms of the mRNA shots, “the CDC has the audacity to call the vaccines ‘safe,’” adding, “This undeclared war against humanity is not over, and we must arm ourselves with knowledge.”

The authors concluded the book with this warning:

“It is not possible to interpret the actions of the authorities as ‘honest mistakes.’ Too much has occurred that points unequivocally to a sinister agenda behind the gene-based COVID-19 vaccines. The rushed approval without necessity, the outright threats and the coercion, the systematic censorship of honest science and the suppression of the truth about the numerous killed or severely injured vaccine victims have all gone on for far too long to permit any doubts as to intent and purpose.”

The book is available to download free of charge or order in print.

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John-Michael Dumais is a news editor for The Defender. He has been a writer and community organizer on a variety of issues, including the death penalty, war, health freedom and all things related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Featured image is from CHD

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*** 

In moments of crisis, it’s the job of a statesman to resolve problems, not inflame them. It’s their job to show wisdom, to ignore popular clamour, to remind all parties of their obligations under international law, to emphasise our common humanity, and to look for long-term solutions that avoid a return to past horrors.

Statesmanship has been utterly lacking in Britain ever since Hamas broke out of Gaza last week.

Let’s look at the shocking display from Labour leader Keir Starmer on LBC radio on Wednesday. He said that Israel had the “right to defend itself” against the Hamas attack. Then Starmer went a step further when asked about Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s grim announcement of a “complete siege” of Gaza, in which Gallant said: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed” – adding for good measure that Israel was fighting “human animals”.

Asked whether cutting off water and electricity supplies was a proportionate response to the Hamas attacks, Starmer said: “I think that Israel does have that right. It is an ongoing situation, obviously everything should be done within international law.”

But Starmer of all people, with his distinguished legal background, must know that depriving a population of food, power and electricity amounts to collective punishment, which is illegal under international law. 

There’s a terrible risk here. These remarks from a man seen as the British prime minister-in-waiting have given a green light for future war crimes.

‘Unequivocal’ Support

To be fair to Starmer, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been no better. After the Palestinian fighters attack, he went on television to express support for Israel. Then he went on to note that this support was “unequivocal”, which amounts to a blank cheque from Britain to Israel to conduct itself in any way it chooses over the terrifying weeks ahead. 

We have seen humane and responsible talk from leaders of international organisations. In a statement on Tuesday, Martin Griffiths, under-secretary general at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said:

“My message to all sides is unequivocal: The laws of war must be upheld. Those held captive must be treated humanely. Hostages must be released without delay.

“Throughout hostilities, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. Civilians must be allowed to leave for safer areas. And humanitarian relief and vital services and supplies to Gaza must not be blocked. The whole region is at a tipping point. The violence must stop.”

But from Sunak, we had no mention of human rights, let alone the type of call for proportionality that we heard from Irish leader Leo Varadkar, who warned that current solidarity could “fall apart” if Israel goes “too far in terms of its actions in Gaza”.

Meanwhile, British Home Secretary Suella Braverman is doing her best to inflame domestic tensions by suggesting that waving a Palestinian flag could become a criminal offence. 

Apocalyptic Talk

The responses from Starmer, Sunak, Braverman, and others are especially reckless because of the horrifying language already being used by senior Israelis. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel’s response will “change the Middle East”. Gallant said that Gaza “will never go back to what it was”. A former Israeli general said that Israel “must create an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in Gaza”, adding that the “ultimate tool” was damage to the water system.

This is apocalyptic talk. Israel’s right to self-defence does not extend to the wiping out of entire neighbourhoods, medieval siege, random slaughter of children, or damaging water supplies. Yet western leaders are going along with all of this.

Some commentators have compared the Hamas assault to 9/11. To my mind, this makes little sense. But I am troubled by the memory of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s promise to former US President George W Bush to “be with you, whatever” in the wake of the destruction of the Twin Towers. In the end, that vow of loyalty led to the bloodshed and horror of the Iraq War and its awful aftermath. 

Meanwhile, the bombing in Gaza continues. Some 300,000 people are already in the streets after the destruction of their homes, and the Israeli military has only just begun. The ground invasion could start at any moment. Who knows how many will die.

Some now speak of a second Nakba – only this time, even worse than the tragedy of 1948, with millions of Palestinians potentially being driven from their homes.

In a heartrending tweet on Wednesday, Palestinian playwright Samah Sabawi noted:

“I told my family in #Gaza to get out when I heard reports the US is coordinating a plan to offer safe passage for civilians out of Gaza into Egypt. My aunty said ‘Do you guarantee we would be allowed to return?’ I couldn’t. I know ethnic cleansing when I see it. She refuses to leave. Death or eternal refugeehood. What would you choose?” 

I pray that I am wrong, but I fear western leaders are now establishing the political foundation that would leave us complicit in massacres, indiscriminate bombing, and ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, inflammatory and reckless media reporting is establishing the emotional foundation. Never has the time for statesmanship been more needed. 

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Peter Oborne won best commentary/blogging in both 2022 and 2017, and was also named freelancer of the year in 2016 at the Drum Online Media Awards for articles he wrote for Middle East Eye. He was also named as British Press Awards Columnist of the Year in 2013. He resigned as chief political columnist of the Daily Telegraph in 2015. His latest book is The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong about Islam, published in May by Simon & Schuster. His previous books include The Triumph of the Political Class, The Rise of Political Lying, Why the West is Wrong about Nuclear Iran and The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism.

Featured image: Israel counterattack on Gaza (By Trong Khiem Nguyen / Flickr)

Declaration of a Planetary Emergency to Begin “the Long Term Reduction of Global Population”

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Breast Cancer Stage 4: Very Young Age, Triple Negative, New Mothers: Features of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Turbo Cancer; 30 Cases

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Erdogan, Friend or Foe of Netanyahu? On Whose Side Is Turkey in Latest Israel-Gaza Escalation?

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Guns for Hire: America’s Crisis State Goes Global

By John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead, October 11, 2023

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The Black Alliance for Peace stands in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians under occupation in the racist, apartheid settler state of Israel. We recognize the right of Palestine to exist and the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation. We call on African/Black people to remember our long tradition of solidarity with Palestine.

“Israel’s 9/11” Is a Slogan to Rationalize Open-Ended Massacre of Palestinian Civilians

By Norman Solomon, October 11, 2023

While the phrase might seem logical, “Israel’s 9/11” is already being used as a huge propaganda weapon by Israel’s government—now engaged in massive war crimes against civilians in Gaza, after mass murder of Israelis by Hamas last weekend.

UK Allows Key Hamas Funder to Have Military Base in Northern England

By Mark Curtis, October 11, 2023

As Gaza continues to endure all-out war, UK ministers have been lining up to say they “stand with Israel”. They have unequivocally condemned as terrorism the actions of Hamas, whose militants moved into southern Israel from Gaza on Saturday.

Palestine Letter: Israel Is Imposing a Blackout on Gaza to Hide a Massacre

By Tareq Hajjaj, October 11, 2023

I pack some of my clothes, identifying documents, belongings, and batteries to charge my phone and stay connected to the situation around me. My family and I are evacuating our home in the al-Shuja’iyya neighborhood east of Gaza. I definitely need a larger bag to fit my life into it.

A Message to Donald Rumsfeld’s Ghost About My Known Knowns

By Edward Curtin, October 11, 2023

On February 12, 2002 at a Pentagon news conference, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked by Jim Miklaszewski, the NBC Pentagon correspondent, if he had any evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was supplying them to terrorists.

Video: Swiss Cardiologist on Truth about the RNA Bioweapon – Smash the WHO!

By Dr. Thomas Binder, October 11, 2023

Currently, the pharmaceutical industry is working on transferring all vaccinations to the modified RNA vaccine platform. It is doing so, though just being able to count and to distinguish foreign from self, even having a trace of intelligence, is enough to realize that the modified RNA vaccine platform is totally nonsensical and life threatening.

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Oct. 1, 2023 – International champion Soprano, 25 year old Patricia Janeckova, Slovak Opera Singer, lost her battle with breast cancer after being diagnosed in Feb. 2022 at the age of 23.

Oct. 10, 2023 – Pearsall, WA, Australia – 25 year old Megan Lynch was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes and her lung. At the moment, she is responding to chemotherapy.

Oct. 5, 2023 – Florida Ridge, FL – Jenny was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer in April 2023 which has spread to the bones (spine, hip, femur, pelvis). She also has recent bone fractures. She is being treated in the Mayo Clinic.

Oct. 3, 2023 – Sandy, OR – 29 year old Kylie Stoddard, a veterinary technician, was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic invasive ductal carcinoma. A bone scan revealed she had fractures all over her body including a shattered left hip from bone metastases. She is currently struggling with chemo.

Sep. 30, 2023 – Springfield, IL – Tiffany Martinez-Rodriguez was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast cancer, the primary is a large 5.5cm tumor and it is fast growing.

Sep. 29, 2023 – O’Fallon, MO – 29 year old Hannah Goymerac was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer in June 2022. Her treatment is not working and she now has 11 tumors in her brain.

Sep. 19, 2023 – Denton, TX – 29 year old Amanda Anderson-Barberis was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer while pregnant with her youngest child and died when he was 9 months old.

Sep. 5, 2023 – Bolton, ON – 28 year old Meghan Duca is a Canadian Paramedic. She was as mandated COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines to keep her job during the pandemic. She was just diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer that spread to her spine.

Aug. 31, 2023 – Marlton, NJ – 26 year old nursing student Jillian Schlueter, was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast cancer in May 2021 as a nursing student. In August 2023 she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Triple negative breast cancer that has spread to her brain, liver, lungs and bones.

Aug. 29, 2023 – UK – 34 year old Rebecca Robson was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer and had 6 months of chemo. Her cancer didn’t respond to chemo and her cancer metastasized to the lungs.

Aug. 27, 2023 – Zionsville, IN – 29 year old Susy was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. She has a BRCA-1 mutation, but doctors were surprised she developed it this early. After surgery, pathology came back worse than expected – it is Triple Negative.

Aug. 25, 2023 – Phoenix, AZ – 34 year old Clarice Miles was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer and died three months later on Aug. 25, 2023.

Aug. 12, 2023 – UK – Claire Louise Bovis – 48 year old Clare was diagnosed with HER-2 positive breast cancer in Jan. 2022. She was cancer free by Aug. 2022. In April 2023 her cancer returned and had MUTATED to Stage 4 Triple Negative breast cancer. She was given 2 years to live and died 4 months later.

July 6, 2023 – Donahue, IA – 44 year old Jamie Eggers was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer that seems to be growing rapidly, because she was then diagnosed as stage 3 and then Stage 4 in very rapid succession.

July 3, 2023 – Jackson, NJ – 24 year old Jillian Cillo was diagnosed with Triple Negative breast cancer and needed an aggressive treatment plan.

Click here to read the full article.

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


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

by Michel Chossudovsky

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

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

Reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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*** 

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used genocidal language and ordered mass war crimes in the occupied Gaza Strip on Monday in response to Hamas’ weekend assault and massacre of Israeli civilians, setting the stage for a large-scale escalation of the violence that has already led to the killing of at least 800 Israelis and more than 500 Palestinians.

Gallant said that he had ordered “a complete siege of the Gaza Strip,” which is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, nearly half of them children.

“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” he said. “We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.”

What Gallant ordered — the collective punishment of a civilian population — amounts to a war crime under international law, as well as potentially a crime against humanity and the crime of genocide, some international law experts have pointed out. Hamas’s massacre of civilians and taking of at least 150 hostages, whom it has reportedly threatened to execute in response to the targeting of civilians in Gaza, are also war crimes.

Hamas and Israel’s crimes against civilians, which are likely to escalate in the coming days, come after years of impunity for Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. The historical lack of accountability has bred a culture of disregard for international law that directly resulted in the weekend’s violence, human rights advocates say.

“Deliberate killings of civilians, hostage-taking, and collective punishment are heinous crimes that have no justification,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “The unlawful attacks and systematic repression that have mired the region for decades will continue, so long as human rights and accountability are disregarded.”

In the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Saturday, the Israeli military launched a bombing campaign on Gaza. Israeli raids flattened residential buildings and targeted a densely populated refugee camp over the weekend.

Humanitarian workers in the Gaza strip have also reported that hospitals are completely overwhelmed by the number of casualties and ambulances are coming under fire. A ground invasion of the occupied territory is also widely expected in the coming days.

Experts have noted that Israel’s practice of “warning” civilians — like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call on Gaza’s residents to “leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere” — is not sufficient.

There is nowhere for people to seek safety in the Gaza strip, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, since Israel imposed an air, land, and sea blockade on the territory in 2007, effectively trapping them in. 

War crimes fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, which, in 2021, opened an investigation on war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories. The investigation prompted fierce opposition by Israel and the United States — neither of which are members of the court — and it has largely stalled.

Human rights advocates quickly pointed to Gallant’s words as an “admission of intent” to commit crimes, calling on ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to take notice. But international officials’ responses to his comments were largely muted. The Biden administration has repeatedly stated its support for Israel since Saturday’s attack, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledging the U.S.’s “unwavering focus on halting the attacks by Hamas” but offering no immediate comment on Israel’s declared retaliation against Palestinian civilians.

A spokesperson for Khan’s office wrote in a statement to The Intercept that the ICC’s mandate in Palestine “is ongoing and applies to crimes committed in the current context.” The spokesperson called on those with information relevant to investigation to provide it to the office, but did not comment on Gallant’s words or on criticism that the stalling of its investigation might have contributed to recent crimes.

The Consequences of Impunity

As human rights advocates and international law experts have long warned, impunity for war crimes only leads to more. Last year, as Russia staged a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many pointed to the impunity for war crimes it committed in Syria and elsewhere and argued that the lack of accountability directly enabled similar crimes to be committed in Ukraine. The ICC, for its part, responded to Russian crimes in Ukraine by immediately dispatching investigators there, leading to charges implicating Russian leadership all the way up to President Vladimir Putin earlier this year. But there was no such response following Israeli crimes in Gaza, including after military campaigns in 2018, 2021, and 2022 that left hundreds of Palestinian civilians dead.

“If we’ve learned anything through prior escalations, it is that so long as there is impunity for serious abuses, we will continue to see more repression and shedding of civilian blood,” said Shakir. Human Rights Watch called on the ICC “to accelerate its investigation into serious crimes committed by all parties in Palestine.”

While both parties committed heinous crimes, Gallant’s call for a complete siege on Gaza revealed the underlying imbalance at play: While Hamas’s attack shocked Israelis and the world and amounted to the most serious attack on Israel in five decades, it paled in comparison to Gallant’s threat to starve 2.3 million trapped civilians.

“This is why this never was and never will be a ‘war’ of equals,” media critic Sana Saeed noted on Monday. “Because one side has the power to entirely eliminate an entire population, to control whether they live or die.”

Gallant wasn’t the only Israeli leader to tap into genocidal rhetoric in response to Hamas’s attack, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declaring, “It’s time to be cruel,” and Knesset member Ariel Kallner calling for a “Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of 48,” a reference to the massacre and expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians upon Israel’s founding. 

Other observers denounced efforts by either party to use crimes committed by the other as justification for committing more crimes.

“Failure of one party to a conflict to abide by the laws of war does not absolve the other party from complying with the laws of war,” noted Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Democracy for the Arab World Now.

“Israel certainly cannot claim the upper moral hand. Israeli government ministers now calling to kill, destroy, crush and even starve the residents of Gaza forget that this is already Israeli policy,” the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem echoed in a statement. “Intentional attacks on civilians are prohibited and unacceptable. There is no justification for such crimes, whether they are committed as part of a struggle for freedom from oppression or cited as part of a war against terror.” 

Palestinian and international human rights groups also called on the United Nations to address the underlying causes behind this weekend’s events.

“Israel has a horrific track record of committing war crimes with impunity in previous wars on Gaza,” Amnesty International wrote in a statement that called on Palestinian armed groups to refrain from targeting civilians. 

“The root causes of these repeated cycles of violence must be addressed as a matter of urgency. This requires upholding international law and ending Israel’s 16-year-long illegal blockade on Gaza, and all other aspects of Israel’s system of apartheid imposed on all Palestinians.” 

Palestinian human rights groups echoed that call. 

“For decades, Palestinians have been calling on the international community to take concrete and meaningful actions, beyond statements of condemnation, to put an end to these violations,” Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights wrote in an open letter to the United Nations on Monday. “The international community’s lack of political will to hold Israel to account only emboldens Israel to continue committing crimes against the Palestinian people as a whole.”

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*** 

After the latest Israel-Gaza escalation, the world has effectively split into three groups. Apart from those that expressed open support for either side, the largest part of the globe has opted for neutrality.

Obviously, an immediate ceasefire would be the best solution, as thousands on both sides have already been killed, many of them women, children, the elderly, as well as hundreds of soldiers, the vast majority of whom are young people. Anyone sensible would want such tragedy to stop.

However, the interests of various powerful foreign entities are fueling and escalating the conflict. The involvement of regional powers is also of crucial importance and their relationship with both sides is dominated by complicated (geo)politics that transcend the question of religion and even the popular opinion of their respective electorates.

Turkey is a very good example of this. While the country is mostly Muslim, its political elites have always had the tendency to lean towards Israel, although they’d never admit it.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is extremely prone to accept any ideological amalgam that furthers his Neo-Ottomanist ambitions. For instance, while he is officially an outspoken Islamist, he also pushes a very nationalistic agenda, such as the idea of pan-Turkism which isn’t always in line with Islamism and Neo-Ottomanism.

Erdogan and Ariel Sharon Meeting in 2004

Erdogan and the Turkish elite on the whole have used this volatile ideological mix that overlaps in many ways (but can also be very contradictory) to expand Turkey’s zone of power and interests. As some other Turkic states also are coordinating their efforts with Ankara, a good example of this is the Azeri-Israeli partnership.

Their mutual enemy, Iran, is also a target of the Neo-Ottomanist/pan-Turkic ambitions of both Ankara and Baku.

And while Israeli-Iranian rivalry is religious and ideological, Azerbaijan’s beef with Tehran boils down to its nationalist idea of carving up northwestern Iran for itself, as the area is mainly populated by ethnic Azeris.

In fact, according to various estimates, there could be well over 20 million of them living in Iran, approximately three times as many as in Azerbaijan itself. Erdogan, although privately very supportive of the idea as it would significantly strengthen Turkey’s geopolitical standing (and further open the gates of Central Asia), avoids stating this publicly for the simple reason it would very likely jeopardize his strategic goal of becoming the absolute authority and “leader of political Islam”.

Ankara’s close ties with Israel are perhaps the key issue in this regard, as the latter’s conflict with much of the Arab world is effectively strengthening Turkey’s standing in the region.

This is best seen in Syria, where Turkish-Israeli coordination against President Bashar al-Assad has been a major obstacle for the final peace settlement.

In many ways, only Russia’s masterful usage of diplomacy and solid working relations with all of Syria’s neighbors are the reason why the troubles Damascus is going through aren’t far worse.

Still, while Syria is also a major target for Turkish expansionism, Ankara can’t exactly publicly reveal it’s coordinating this with Israel. This is partially why the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, one of Israel’s archenemies, has been so resolute in its support for Damascus and President Assad.

After the outbreak of direct hostilities in and around Gaza, Hezbollah was quick to activate its forces in the border area between Israel and Lebanon, obviously hoping to tie in as many IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) troops as possible and prevent their redeployment to southern Israel.

It should be noted that Hezbollah is actually a much bigger threat to Israel than Hamas ever was, with much more capable and better equipped combat units that include some of the latest and most advanced infantry weapons.

In fact, Hezbollah even repelled a major IDF attack in 2006, which is perhaps the only known example of an Israeli military defeat to date. IDF’s officer corps, otherwise virtually unmatched in the region, takes Hezbollah’s capabilities extremely seriously, which is why most of Israel’s best troops are in the north.

Hezbollah also supports Hamas, but their relationship is not as simple as one would expect. Namely, until relatively recently, Hamas was allied to the Muslim Brotherhood, an extremist organization that Erdogan’s AKP is strongly associated with.

And while the group lost much of its influence, their old ties don’t break as easily. In addition, as previously mentioned, Erdogan himself needs to maintain a semblance of being the self-proclaimed “leader of political Islam”, meaning that he can’t publicly support Israel.

Thus, Hamas, which still has solid relations with Turkey, is also effectively allied with Hezbollah, an organization that Ankara has waged war with on and off since the 1980s. As we can see, “the enemy of my enemy…” could still be “my enemy”, since this logic doesn’t always apply in the Middle East, the world’s No. 1 geopolitical conundrum.

On the other hand, Turkish-Israeli cooperation isn’t only limited to the strategic arena, but it also extends to the tactical level. Namely, Israel has been instrumental in Ankara’s major military modernization programs, including the Turkish Army’s upgrade of old M60 “Patton” tanks with “Sabra” Mk II kits, as well as the Turkish Air Force’s Cold War-era F-4E “Phantom” fighter jets that were modernized to the “Terminator 2020” standard.

When combined with massive Israeli arms shipments to Azerbaijan, it’s naive (to say the least) to even think that Turkey would ever ditch Israel for Palestine.

Ankara will surely continue to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians, as well as try to play the role of a supposed protector and mediator between the two warring sides, but nothing will change behind the scenes.

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Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.

Featured image is from Ramil Sitdikov / Sputnik

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

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*** 

Part I 

Netanyahu’s “False Flag” 

Most people, including journalists on both sides of the aisle – mainstream and non-mainstream — seem to believe that this a one-off war, a surprise attack by Hamas, the “defenders” of Palestine.

It is not.

Connecting a few dots over the past 70 years may help better understand what is going on in the Middle East, Israel-Palestine – and around the world. How the bloody Israel-Palestine conflict fits into the Big Picture.

What if Hamas has been created either by Israel directly, or rather by the US-UK-Israel Secret Services for the “benefit” of Israel, for precisely the reason they (Hamas) are used today: to justify Israel’s all-out war for wiping out Palestine, for extending her territory, absorbing over time about as much as a third or half of the current Middle East – into Greater Israel? 

For the wellbeing of the “Chosen People”?

Hamas has no chance in heaven to win this war. It is David against Goliath. Except in this case, David is Hamas and Goliath is Israel. Both Hamas and Israel know it.

What if Hezbollah was also created by the same villains for the same reasons, to create chaos and eventually war in the Middle East? They are the official “protectors” of Lebanon (similar to Hamas for Palestine) but, with their possible aggression on Israel, or their involvement in the current war, they will make sure that Lebanon will be one of the countries absorbed by Israel. Israel’s massively US-military-supported IDF (Israel Defense Forces) may just crush Hezbollah and take over Lebanon.

This plan is not known by most people. Netanyahu becoming prime minister again in December 2022, despite his narrowly losing the election, is a well-planned scam, supported by the well-known secret services and the Kazarian Zionists, supporting Israel’s expansion throughout the Middle East.

Let us not forget, Israel is the power broker for the western world. They control worldwide banking and corporate finance, communication, Hollywood, art, education systems – and more.

Already in 1815, Nathan Rothschild, British financier and member of the Rothschild banking family, made his famous statement:

“I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls the British money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply.”

The same Nathan Rothschild also infamously said, “the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.”

See this and this.

This is precisely a reflection on what we are living today – a limitless quest for superiority, no matter what it costs, in money and blood.

Back to Hezbollah: Lebanon has also lots of natural resources, off-shore oil and a deep off-shore sweet water aquifer. Current Israeli territories have almost no fresh water, one of the reasons (among many others) Israel wants to take over the so-called West Bank, where about 80% of all the fresh water sources of greater Palestine (before 1948) is located and which Israel now is virtually stealing from Palestine.

Palestine also has natural gas. The Gaza Marine is a natural gas field less than 40 km off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The deposits of the Gaza Marine natural gas field are estimated at 35 BCM, larger than those of Israel’s Yam Tethys maritime gas field. See this.

The Role of Al Qaeda

In the same spirit of Hamas and Hezbollah, Al Qaeda was created in the early 1980s. Al Qaeda is a Sunni pan-Islamist militant organization; an international “terrorist” organization which was to generate unrest around the world, as needed, to justify military interventions – mostly by the US and UK – and destabilization of otherwise stable (and mostly resources-rich) Middle East and African countries. Al Qaeda has also been operating in Asia — for example in Pakistan, where it supposedly was founded; also in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and elsewhere.

U.S. Weapons for Hamas 

It is no coincidence that weapons used by Hamas in this “assault” on Israel are of US origin, earlier shipped to Kiev to fight Russia. By now it is no secret that about 70% of US- and EU-supplied weapons never made it to the Ukrainian front fighting Russia, but rather to the black market, from where tracing them was thought to be next to impossible. See this.

Washington and Brussels – the EU puppets of the wannabe empire – knew from the beginning about the deviation of a large proportion of weaponry to the black market. But they did nothing against it. Did they know this was a covert way of arming Hamas and possibly Hezbollah for a soon to come, well-planned “hot” war with Israel?

Amazingly, since Benjamin Netanyahu had been made PM again, he had been advancing a judicial reform which was considered as damaging to Israel’s democracy and devastating to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Many potential recruits have refused to serve. Analysts warned that this might crack the IDF and its ability to defend the state. See this.

Would Netanyahu not have known about the risks to the IDF of his judicial reform?

Part II

The Broader Picture. Connecting the Dots 

The Washington Consensus 

In parallel with these “terrorist” organizations — the creations of US-UK-Israel secret services – the financial behemoths also worked their program out. They convened the so-called Washington Consensus, created in 1989, by the three key US-controlled Financial Organizations: Federal Reserve, IMF and World Bank.

The covert purpose of the Washington Consensus was to indebt the so-called developing world, beginning with Latin America (the “US backyard,” a Washington-coined term), to make them (fully) dependent on the US.

Loans were no longer development project-based but rather “blank checks”, according to a list of “goodies” that were to be purchased or built, and conditions for tranches of disbursements within a given timeframe but hardly any supervision by the lenders on whether the items on the list and conditions were fulfilled.

With corruption rampant on both sides of the aisle – lenders and recipients – money often disappeared but accumulated as debt in the countries’ treasuries.

Washington Consensus policies were applied throughout the world, with the same purpose. Through these policies and the largely dollarized economies of the purported “Third World” countries, economic crises could be created at will, and as needed, provoked, or accompanied by terrorist-caused chaos and upheavals to shuffle more of the resources, natural and otherwise, from these countries to the top, the US and European world elite.

With this “economic domination” and the terror created to cause unrest when needed, the control of much of the Global South could be guaranteed.

Intelligence Ops. and “Climate Change”

At about the same time from the 1950’s to the 90s, Operation Gladio was launched by the CIA and other western secret services, especially in Italy, France and Germany, to wipe out or convert the then-strong socialist and left movements. They were literally disabled in Europe.

In the 1980s, overlapping with the annihilation of the left, the Green Movement took hold in Europe and later in the US. Leaders were Greenpeace, the World Wild Life Fund, Friends of the Earth – among many – gradually converting the minds of the left into defending nature, fighting so-called Ozone holes, “Climate Change” and more.

With the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro attended by 172 nations, the cornerstone for what has since become the “climate change” movement with the ensuing so far about 27 COPs, had been set.

COP stands for “Conference of the Parties,” meaning those countries who joined are “party to,” and belong to the international treaty called the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change  (UNFCCC). See this.

“Climate Change” — the all-infiltrating climate change agenda has since become a religion. The social and mind manipulation necessary to make it a religion is largely the achievement of the Tavistock Institute for Social Engineering based in the UK, in close collaboration with DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), a military-security and intelligence thinktank linked to the Pentagon.

The conversion from socialist thinking to green thinking is also mostly the work of Tavistock and DARPA.

Since the 1940s, Tavistock and DARPA – and possibly others – have gained scientific knowledge on how humans’ psyche and social behavior tick to bend and “influence” them, according to the needs of the elite and wannabe One World Order (OWO) gurus.

The Cold War and Its Aftermath

One of the main precursors to this sequence of events was the Club of Rome, a first informal meeting took place in Rome in 1956. It was then overshadowed by the Cold War, which was supposed to squash the already WWII-weakened Soviet Union.

The US funded Hitler’s war to fight the USSR, the main purpose of WWII.

It failed miserably. The funding came directly from the US Fed via the Basel-based Bank for International Settlement (BIS – Rothschild controlled), located just a few kilometres  from the German border, making for easy transfer to the German Reichsbank, at that time in suitcases full of cash.

The first President of the BIS was a former Deputy Chairman of the Fed.

Since this approach to conquer Russia (USSR) failed, the Cold War was introduced under totally false pretenses. It eventually succeeded, temporarily (from 1991 to 1999) to break the Soviet Union, with the collaboration of the corrupted Yeltsin Government, compliments of Washington. Then Vladimir Putin arrived on the scene to salvage his country. He has done so astonishingly well.

The West is in steep decline and will not be able to conquer Russia nor China. They have different profiles of ethics, morale, and humanity.

The Club of Rome

The formal creation of the Club of Rome (COR), a Rockefeller idea (not European), took place in 1968 in Rome. The COR is since headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, along with many other dubious organizations protected by generous Swiss legislation.

From the beginning, the COR was pushing for a United Europe but never a sovereign European Federation à la US of A, with their own Constitution, lest Washington would not be able to control her (the European Union).

The EU must have a common currency, the little sister of the US dollar (same principle, made of thin air), which, of course, the founders knew would not work. A single currency for the 19 of the 27 countries, with different legislation, economies, cultures, languages, and no common Constitution, i.e., monetary policy and legislation, is bound to fail.

The break-up of the EU is just a matter of time. It will blend in with the rest of the chaos which is ever rising, with accelerating speed, and causing millions of deaths.

An estimated 25 to 30 million people perished since WWII caused by US-initiated conflicts and wars around the globe. The Israel-Palestine confrontation is just the latest of such killing machine.

Many analysts warn about a nuclear WWIII. They did so with Ukraine, and now again with this deadly Israel-Palestine conflict.

We are already in WWIII, just not nuclear. Nuclear is no longer necessary, as it might destroy most of modern infrastructure, life on earth – all the things the wannabe reigning elite covets. And who knows, they may risk their own lives with a potential nuclear confrontation.

Today’s bio-warfare, Directed Energy Weapons (DEW – see Maui, Hawaii, and California) and not least, geoengineering the climate – to destroy in a targeted way food crops, infrastructure, and housing around the world, with extreme heat waves, flooding, hurricanes and even earthquakes, can do at least as much damage in terms of famine, misery and death, as a nuclear war.

Plus, with a Tavistock-engineered mind, the damage is easily being ascribed to “climate change.”

In 1972, the COR issued the infamous “Limits to Growth” report, which as of this day is the blueprint for the WEF’s Great Reset and the UN Agenda 2030 with one of the key objectives: reducing massively the world population, also called “useless eaters”, by Israeli professor Yuval Noah Hariri, Klaus Schwab’s close advisor. Gigantic population reduction is one of the main goals of the WEF’s Great Reset and the interlinked UN Agenda 2030.

The UN-WEF Pact of Cooperation


In 2019, WEF Chairman, Klaus Schwab, and UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, signed a Pact of Cooperation that is illegal, immoral, and a huge conflict of interest.

Image left, Klaus Schwab and UNSG Antonio Guterres 

The UN is no longer a trustworthy 193-member international organization, created in 1945 to foster world peace.

Nowadays, illegality as we knew it, does not count anymore. The world is now “guided” by the elite’s “rules-based order” — a set of non-legal rules that can be adapted according to the needs of the wannabe “rulers.”

Interestingly, nobody protested this unholy partnership between the UN and the World Economic Forum. So, UN Agenda 2030 and the Great Reset / 4th Industrial Revolution are identical per se, pursuing the same objectives and goals.

As a face-saving stint of cosmetics over the stained UN image, a special UN commission may launch an inquiry into war crimes committed during the Israel-Palestine war. The outcome will likely be what most people guess it will be – Israel is absolved. See this.

An author of Limits to Growth, Dennis Meadows, recently said in a video the world is overpopulated and its inhabitants must be massively (about 86%) reduced for good equilibrium. Although, he did not volunteer as one of those having to be “reduced”. See this.

Concluding Remarks

The current Israel-Palestine war will not be short, predicted and announced by PM Benjamin Netanyahu on the first day of the war on Saturday 7 October 2023. How does he know?

It looks like this conflict may go into the direction of the never-ending, like Afghanistan, Ukraine, Somalia, Sudan and of course, still troubled Iraq, and many more. All of which are contributing to this Death Cult – genocide for population reduction, chaos, wherever you look – and fear, fear, and more fear, weapon of choice to cause submission and destruction of economies and eventually transfer of resources from the bottom to the top.

The new war also contributes to the pursuit of the un-pursuable — a One World Government — and as an agenda within the agenda — to the achievement of Greater Israel for the “Chosen People.”

It will not happen.

But the human suffering until the collapse of this diabolical nightmare may be horrendous.

We, the People, must plan creating another society based on independent and sovereign communities, with own money and own local banking, trading with each other, maybe in the future linking up communities. And foremost, away from all-controlling digitization.

Dynamics – no dictate – of this new “society”, hopefully one day “new civilization”, must be the primary guiding light.

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Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He 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: Palestinian residents of Huwara walk among their burned homes, cars, and businesses the morning after Israeli settlers rampaged through their town in the West Bank, Feb. 27, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

Guns for Hire: America’s Crisis State Goes Global

October 11th, 2023 by John W. Whitehead

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“Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great staffs, both of the old parties have ganged aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests which use them in martialling [sic] to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.—Theodore Roosevelt

From being a nation in a permanent state of emergency, America’s crisis state has gone global.

The military industrial complex, which has established itself as the “solution” to all of our worldly problems (at taxpayer expense, of course), has mired the nation in endless wars abroad waged by U.S. military servicepeople who have been reduced to little more than guns for hire.

Every successive president starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt has been bought—lock, stock and barrel—and made to dance to the tune of the police state, a.k.a. the Deep State, a.k.a. the military industrial complex, a.k.a. the surveillance state complex.

Even Dwight D. Eisenhower, the retired five-star Army general-turned-president who warned against the disastrous rise of misplaced power by the military industrial complex was complicit in contributing to the build-up of the military’s role in dictating national and international policy.

The Biden Administration’s response to the latest carnage in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war merely plays into the hands of a salivating military industrial complex for whom war is merely a means to a larger profit margin.

War has become a huge money-making venture, and America, with its vast military empire and its incestuous relationship with a host of international defense contractors, is one of its best buyers and sellers.

Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. military dropped a bomb every 12 minutes.

President Obama, the antiwar candidate and Nobel Peace Prize winner, waged war longer than any American president. His administration’s targeted-drone killings resulted in at least 1.3 million lives lost to the U.S.-led war on terror.

America has long had a penchant for endless wars that empty our national coffers while fattening those of the military industrial complex.

The United States has been at war for all but 15 years in its 247-year history.

Since 9/11, we’ve spent more than $8 trillion to wage wars abroad, including the lifetime price of health care for disabled veterans and interest on the national debt.

The average American pays over $2300 a year in taxes to support the military, half of which goes to military contractors.

Even with America’s military might spread thin, the war drums continue to sound as the Pentagon polices the rest of the world with counterterror activities in 85 countries.

The American Empire—with its endless wars waged by U.S. military servicepeople who have been reduced to little more than guns for hire: outsourced, stretched too thin, and deployed to far-flung places to police the globe—is approaching a breaking point.

Aided and abetted by the U.S government, the American military-industrial complex has erected an empire unsurpassed in history in its breadth and scope, one dedicated to conducting perpetual warfare throughout the earth.

Although the U.S. constitutes barely 5% of the world’s population, America boasts almost 40% of the world’s total military expenditure, spending more on the military than the next 10 biggest spending nations combined.

Unfortunately, this level of war-mongering doesn’t come cheap to the taxpayers who are forced to foot the bill.

Having been co-opted by greedy defense contractors, corrupt politicians and incompetent government officials, America’s expanding military empire is bleeding the country dry. In fact, the U.S. government is spending money it doesn’t have on a military empire it can’t afford.

As investigative journalist Uri Friedman puts it, for more than 15 years now, the United States has been fighting terrorism with a credit card, “essentially bankrolling the wars with debt, in the form of purchases of U.S. Treasury bonds by U.S.-based entities like pension funds and state and local governments, and by countries like China and Japan.”

War is not cheap, but it becomes outrageously costly when you factor in government incompetence, fraud, and greedy contractors.

For example, a leading accounting firm concluded that one of the Pentagon’s largest agencies “can’t account for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of spending.”

Unfortunately, the outlook isn’t much better for the spending that can be tracked.

Consider that the government lost more than $160 billion to waste and fraud by military and defense contractors. With paid contractors often outnumbering enlisted combat troops, the American war effort dubbed as the “coalition of the willing” has quickly evolved into the “coalition of the billing,” with American taxpayers forced to cough up billions of dollars for cash bribes, luxury bases, a highway to nowhere, faulty equipment, salaries for so-called “ghost soldiers,” and overpriced anything and everything associated with the war effort, including a $640 toilet seat and a $7600 coffee pot.

A government audit found that defense contractor Boeing had been massively overcharging taxpayers for mundane parts, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in overspending. As the report noted, the American taxpayer paid:

$71 for a metal pin that should cost just 4 cents; $644.75 for a small gear smaller than a dime that sells for $12.51: more than a 5,100 percent increase in price. $1,678.61 for another tiny part, also smaller than a dime, that could have been bought within DoD for $7.71: a 21,000 percent increase. $71.01 for a straight, thin metal pin that DoD had on hand, unused by the tens of thousands, for 4 cents: an increase of over 177,000 percent.

That price gouging has become an accepted form of corruption within the American military empire is a sad statement on how little control “we the people” have over our runaway government.

It’s not just the American economy that is being gouged, unfortunately.

There’s a good reason why “bloated,” “corrupt” and “inefficient” are among the words most commonly applied to the government, especially the Department of Defense and its contractors.

Driven by a greedy defense sector, the American homeland has been transformed into a battlefield with militarized police and weapons better suited to a war zone. Biden, no different from his predecessors, has continued to expand America’s military empire abroad and domestically, calling on Congress to approve billions that pander to the powerful money interests (military, corporate and security) that run the Deep State and hold the government in its clutches.

Mind you, this isn’t just corrupt behavior. It’s deadly, downright immoral behavior.

Essentially, in order to fund this burgeoning military empire that polices the globe, the U.S. government is prepared to bankrupt the nation, jeopardize our servicemen and women, increase the chances of terrorism and blowback domestically, and push the nation that much closer to eventual collapse.

Clearly, our national priorities are in desperate need of an overhauling.

The illicit merger of the global armaments industry and the Pentagon that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us against more than 60 years ago has come to represent perhaps the greatest threat to the nation’s fragile infrastructure today.

The government is destabilizing the economy, destroying the national infrastructure through neglect and a lack of resources, and turning taxpayer dollars into blood money with its endless wars, drone strikes and mounting death tolls.

This is exactly the scenario Eisenhower warned against when he cautioned the citizenry not to let the profit-driven war machine endanger our liberties or democratic processes:

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is, I repeat, the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”

We failed to heed Eisenhower’s warning.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, the growth of and reliance on militarism as the solution for our problems both domestically and abroad bodes ill for the constitutional principles which form the basis of the American experiment in freedom.

As James Madison warned, “Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes… known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”

At the height of its power, even the mighty Roman Empire could not stare down a collapsing economy and a burgeoning military. Prolonged periods of war and false economic prosperity largely led to its demise. As historian Chalmers Johnson predicts:

The fate of previous democratic empires suggests that such a conflict is unsustainable and will be resolved in one of two ways. Rome attempted to keep its empire and lost its democracy. Britain chose to remain democratic and in the process let go its empire. Intentionally or not, the people of the United States already are well embarked upon the course of non-democratic empire.

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This article was originally published on The Rutherford Institute.

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at [email protected].

Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

They are regular contributors to Global Research.

Featured image is from The Unz Review

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The Black Alliance for Peace stands in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians under occupation in the racist, apartheid settler state of Israel. We recognize the right of Palestine to exist and the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation. We call on African/Black people to remember our long tradition of solidarity with Palestine.

We condemn the monstrous and cowardly actions of the racist Zionist entity which is committing mass atrocities against the two million people who are locked in the open air prison of Gaza. As the crazed Zionists indiscriminately bomb civilians in Gaza, while characterizing Palestinians as “animals,” we are witnessing an international crime in real time – a genocide. This is a genocide that is fully supported and celebrated by other Western racist settler states – the morally depraved “international community.” 

The real world, that is the world beyond the 10% of the global population that is the “collective West,” is outraged by the systematic barbarism it is witnessing with the collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza. What is their crime? To rise up against their occupying power, to take the daily war that they have to endure as Israel murders and incarcerates their children, bombs their infrastructure, denies them medical care, cuts off their water and supplies – to take that war to the occupying power itself.

The Black Alliance for Peace condemns the barbarism of the illegal zionist settler-colonial, apartheid state. We fully support the Palestinian people’s right to fight against occupation, and we defend Palestinian calls for decolonization and their right to self-determination. Since there is currently no fair and just “international law” to support the Palestinian peoples, we will continue to call for the right of all peoples to struggle for national liberation, self-determination, and people(s)-centered human rights.

The Congressional Black Caucus in the U.S. congress, as well as most congressional representatives, including the phony “progressive caucus,” have abandoned the Palestinian people and given their support to Israeli apartheid.

But we remember the solidarity that Black people in the U.S. received from Palestinians in 2020 as they fought against the Israeli-trained police forces across the U.S. during the George Floyd protests. We also say that the attack on Gaza mirrors the pending attack on Haiti by the racist, Western colonialist forces. Both represent the racist violence and absolute contempt for human life that has been the cornerstone of the rise of European rule over the planet. The Black Alliance for Peace will not abandon the Palestinian people. Solidarity must be reciprocal. Our peoples both suffer the consequences of living in a white supremacist settler-colonial state; we are bound together in that reality and our collective struggles.

With the full support of the Western “international community,” the insane, fascist Netanyahu government has temporarily displaced the consequences of the internal contradictions in Israel with this war it is waging on Palestinian people. But the ultimate contradiction, the contradiction between the colonial state and the colonized peoples, will be resolved with the victory of all colonized peoples. Of that, we are certain.

Palestine will be free!

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Featured image: Israeli warplanes attacked hundreds of towers and civilian ‘targets’ in the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

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As in the aftermath of 9/11, official claims to be only fighting terrorism will continue to serve as PR smokescreens for a government terrorizing and inflicting mass carnage on Palestinians.

When Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations spoke outside the Security Council on Sunday, he said: “This is Israel’s 9/11. This is Israel’s 9/11.” Meanwhile, in a PBS NewsHour interview, Israel’s ambassador to the United States said: “This is, as someone said, our 9/11.”

While the phrase might seem logical, “Israel’s 9/11” is already being used as a huge propaganda weapon by Israel’s government—now engaged in massive war crimes against civilians in Gaza, after mass murder of Israelis by Hamas last weekend.

On the surface, an analogy between the atrocities just suffered by Israelis and what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 might seem to justify calls for unequivocal solidarity with Israel. But horrific actions are in process from an Israeli government that has long maintained a system of apartheid while crushing basic human rights of Palestinian people.

What is very sinister about trumpeting “Israel’s 9/11” is what happened after America’s 9/11. Wearing the shroud of victim, the United States proceeded to use the horrible tragedy suffered inside its own borders as a license to kill vast numbers of people in the name of retaliation, righteousness, and, of course, the “war on terror.”

It’s a playbook that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is currently adapting and implementing with a vengeance. Now underway, Israel’s collective punishment of 2.3 million people in Gaza is an intensification of what Israel has been doing to Palestinians for decades. But Israel’s extremism, more than ever touting itself as a matter of self-defense, is at new racist depths of willingness to treat human beings as suitable for extermination.

Now underway, Israel’s collective punishment of 2.3 million people in Gaza is an intensification of what Israel has been doing to Palestinians for decades.

On Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described Palestinians as “beastly people” and said: “We are fighting animals and are acting accordingly.”

Indiscriminate bombing is now happening along with a cutoff of food, water, electricity, and fuel. Noting that “even before the latest restrictions, residents of Gaza already faced widespread food insecurity, restrictions on movement and water shortages,” the BBC reported that a UN official said people in Gaza “were ‘terrified’ by the current situation and worried for their safety—as well as that of their children and families.”

This is a terrible echo from the post-9/11 approach of the U.S. government, which from the outset after Sept. 11, 2001 conferred advance absolution on itself for any and all of its future crimes against humanity.

In the name of fighting terrorism, the United States inflicted collective punishment on huge numbers of people who had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. The Costs of War project at Brown University calculates more than 400,000 direct civilian deaths “in the violence of the U.S. post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere.”

Early in the “war on terror,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had fashioned a template to provide approval for virtually any killing by the U.S. military.

“We did not start this war,” he said at a news briefing in December 2001, two months into the Afghanistan war. “So understand, responsibility for every single casualty in this war, whether they’re innocent Afghans or innocent Americans, rests at the feet of the al Qaeda and the Taliban.”

Rumsfeld was showered with acclaim from the U.S. media establishment. While he not only insisted that the U.S. government had no responsibility for the deaths caused by its armed forces, he also attested to the American military’s notable decency.

“The targeting capabilities, and the care that goes into targeting, to see that the precise targets are struck, and that other targets are not struck, is as impressive as anything anyone could see,” Rumsfeld said. He lauded “the care that goes into it, the humanity that goes into it.”

Even before its current high-tech attack on Gaza, Israel had amassed a long track record of killing civilians there, while denying it every step of the way. For instance, the United Nations found that during Israel’s 2014 “Operation Protective Edge” assault, 1,462 Palestinian civilians died, including 495 children.

There’s no reason to doubt that the civilian death toll from the present Israeli military actions in Gaza will soon climb far above the number of people killed by the Hamas assault days ago. As in the aftermath of 9/11, official claims to be only fighting terrorism will continue to serve as PR smokescreens for a government terrorizing and inflicting mass carnage on Palestinians. Deserving only unequivocal condemnation, Hamas’s killing and abduction of civilians set the stage for Israel’s slaughter of civilians now underway in Gaza.

Absent from the New York Times home page Monday night and relegated to page 9 of the newspaper’s print edition on Tuesday, a grisly news story began this way:

“Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza on Monday, flattening mosques over the heads of worshipers, wiping away a busy marketplace full of shoppers and killing entire families, witnesses and authorities in Gaza said. Five Israeli airstrikes ripped through the marketplace in the Jabaliya refugee camp, reducing it to rubble and killing dozens, the authorities said. Other strikes hit four mosques in the Shati refugee camp and killed people worshiping inside, they said. Witnesses said boys had been playing soccer outside one of the mosques when it was struck.”

Along with releasing a statement about the latest tragic turn of events, at RootsAction.org we’ve offered supporters of a just peace a quick way to email their members of Congress and President Biden. The gist of the message is that “the horrific cycle of violence in the Middle East will not end until the Israeli occupation ends—and a huge obstacle to ending the occupation has been the U.S. government.”

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

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Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His new book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, was published in June 2023 by The New Press.

Featured image: Pro-Palestinian protest in Istanbul, Turkey (Licensed under the Public Domain)

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*** 

As Gaza continues to endure all-out war, UK ministers have been lining up to say they “stand with Israel”. They have unequivocally condemned as terrorism the actions of Hamas, whose militants moved into southern Israel from Gaza on Saturday.

The Israeli military’s now massive bombardment of Gaza, which is deemed by international bodies to be under Israeli occupation, threatens to engulf Gaza in its most brutal conflict yet. 

The UK’s extensive military support of Israel has been all but erased by the British media in recent years – but so too has Whitehall’s new special relationship with a key Hamas supporter, the authoritarian Gulf regime of Qatar.

While Iran is Hamas’ main funder, Qatar’s financial support of the group dates back to at least 2008 and has involved hundreds of millions of dollars for Hamas’ political and humanitarian wings. 

In the past Qatar has also funded Hamas “military personnel”, one of the group’s leaders said in 2016. The UK designates the whole of Hamas, including its military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, which is also mainlyfunded by Iran, as a terrorist organisation.

Yet the RAF operates two joint squadrons with Qatar, the first with any nation since the Second World War when Polish pilots helped fight the Battle of Britain.

One squadron operates out of RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and was agreed in 2017. It was part of a £6bn arms deal in which the UK will sell Qatar 24 Typhoon warplanes alongside the nine Hawk aircraft, both manufactured by British firm BAE Systems. The UK also provides a “bespoke support and training package”.

The other squadron is a joint training unit for the Hawk fighter, based at RAF Leeming in Yorkshire.

“Qatar and the UK share mutual interests in ensuring stability in the Middle East”, the RAF has stated, having recently agreed to extend the joint squadron at Coningsby for a further two years.

Qatari Funding

The Gaza Strip has been subjected to a brutal Israeli blockade, which has been termed illegal by the UN, since 2007. Hamas has controlled Gaza since it won elections in 2006. 

Some estimates are that Qatar funds Hamas to the tune of over $360m a year, which the group uses to buy fuel, support impoverished Gazan families and pay the salaries of the Hamas bureaucracy.

“Qatari spending in Gaza might look humanitarian, but in reality, Doha is funding Hamas’ coffers through oil sales”, writes Hussain Abdul-Hussain, an analyst at the right-wing Foundation for Defense of Democracies in the US.

“Without Qatari money, Hamas’s governorship of Gaza would have become untenable and its popularity among Palestinians would have collapsed”, he adds.

Another view is that “Qatar’s relationship with Hamas has been subjected to misinformation and mis-categorisation”, says Sultan Al-Khulaifi, in a recent blog for the London School of Economics.

He writes that, far from funding terrorism, Qatar’s support for Hamas is based on backing the Palestinian cause, acting as a mediator to promote regional stability and addressing the humanitarian catastrophe faced by the people of Gaza. 

Since January 2020, Qatar has hosted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and before that it offered a base to Khaled Meshaal, who served as the group’s leader from 2004 until 2017.

UK Qatari ‘Interoperability’

The joint squadron at RAF Leeming, which was agreed in 2021, will train British and Qatari pilots on Hawk fighter aircraft and enhance “interoperability and coordination between both air forces”.

The Yorkshire base will permanently host nine Hawk aircraft the UK is selling to the Qataris. These jets are currently being built by BAE at its factory in Warton, Lancashire.

The squadron at RAF Coningsby started flying in June 2020, with joint activities including “heavy weapons training” and exercises with Britain’s Royal Navy. The squadron also provided security for the football World Cup in Qatar last year.

The UK also has a security pact with Qatar to share classified intelligence, involving GCHQ, the UK’s largest spy agency.

A tiny resource-rich peninsula adjacent to Saudi Arabia, with a population of just over two million, Qatar is one of the leading suppliers of natural gas to the UK.

British ministers have allowed Qatar to invest over £40bn in Britain, in assets including Harrods and the London Stock Exchange, mainly through the state-run Qatar Investment Authority.

The Gulf state has been ruled by the al-Thani family since the mid-nineteenth century. Its current emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, took over from his father in 2013.

Terrorism

Qatar’s government is more widely accused of funding terrorism. It “has paid ransom demands, shipped supplies, and funnelled billions of dollars of funding” to militant groups across the Middle East, according to the Counter-Extremism Project (CEP), a think tank close to the US establishment.

In 2019, eight Syrian refugees filed a lawsuit in the UK alleging that accounts at the Doha Bank in Qatar had been used to channel funds to the Nusra Front in Syria. The Nusra Front was the al-Qaeda affiliate fighting to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad, before it merged into a broader Islamist militant force known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. 

The Doha Bank, whose largest shareholder is the Qatar Investment Authority and whose directors include members of the ruling al-Thani family, has denied the allegations.

In 2021, a separate legal claim was issued at the High Court in London against the Qatari state, accusing it of playing a central role in secret money-laundering operations to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the Nusra Front.

As reported by The Times, the claim alleges that the conspiracy was driven “by high-ranking members of the Qatari ruling elite”, all of whom deny the allegations. The case is being brought by nine Syrians who say they were persecuted by the Nusra Front.

A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson previously told Declassified: “The long-standing friendship between the UK and Qatar is more important than ever. With shared defence and security interests, it is vital we work together for both regional and global stability.”

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Mark Curtis is the editor of Declassified UK, and the author of five books and many articles on UK foreign policy.

Featured image: Qatari military personnel at their base at RAF Leeming in Yorkshire, England. (Photo: UK Ministry of Defence)

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I pack some of my clothes, identifying documents, belongings, and batteries to charge my phone and stay connected to the situation around me. My family and I are evacuating our home in the al-Shuja’iyya neighborhood east of Gaza. I definitely need a larger bag to fit my life into it.

In the afternoon of the second day of the attack, the Israeli army sent a message to my eldest brother — we all live in the same building — telling him that he must evacuate the building and head to the center of Gaza City.

I live on the ground floor. My elderly mother, who is blind, lives with me and my wife alongside our nine-month-old boy, who has already witnessed two Israeli wars in his short life.

“We need to evacuate right now while we have time,” my brother Hani tells me. “If night falls and we’re still here, we’ll be in danger.”

I try to tell him that we should stay — I think no place in Gaza is safe from Israel’s warplanes. But we’re both right.

I make dozens of calls to people to find an apartment for my family, but I don’t want to go to another residential tower — I have already reported on how many of them are the first sites to go in an Israeli airstrike.

Everyone I call tells me that if I manage to find somewhere safe, I should take them with me too. Everyone’s desperate for somewhere, anywhere safe.

I put my suitcase in the car and help my mother into the backseat. We’re going to my father-in-law’s house, which is in the western part of al-Shuja’iyya. As the bombardment of the neighborhood continues, we make our way west. Smoke rises up behind us, filling the air and plunging us into darkness.

All around us, it looks like another Nakba. People are carrying bags on their backs, fastening furniture on top of cars, and fleeing on foot in every direction. They don’t know if they will even be able to return to find their homes intact. Neither do I. Before I left, I stood in the middle of my home and said goodbye to every corner and every stone.

Slowly, the smoke begins to clear, giving way to light. We can tell we’ve moved away from the area from the smell of it.

Yet in these circumstances, I’m considered lucky. I’ve been able to find a place for my family. Thousands of people in Gaza do not have this option. They go to UNRWA schools, which are not equipped to house so many people. They don’t even have anywhere to use the bathroom or the shower.

My father-in-law, who is a journalist and a retired director in the Information Ministry, knows the circumstances of my work. He prepared an office for me to keep working. I go online and continue to follow the news. But sometimes I wish that I don’t have to.

The first thing I see is a video of a woman in al-Shifa’ hospital — the main hospital in Gaza City. She is wearing a white coat, which means she is a doctor or nurse. She is running out of the hospital, raising her two hands in the air, her fingers drawing the “victory” sign as she cries. I later learn that she was a doctor who had gone into a dying patient’s room, only to realize that he was her husband — he died while she had been treating other patients. The shock of it all pushed her to run out of the hospital, crying and screaming in front of dozens of cameras.

“My husband was killed, my husband was killed, my husband was killed,” she repeats, V sign still in the air.

The next video I watch is so horrific that I can’t look away. A man in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza searches beneath the rubble of his home for his family. He is holding severed body parts — part of a child’s head, some fingers, and other bits of flesh mutilated beyond recognition.

“This is my family,” the man opens his hand, showing the parts he collects. “This is what remains of my children. I can’t find any more of them.” He is screaming.

We’re only at the beginning of one of the most protracted and brutal wars in Gaza’s history. I dread the upcoming days. This might be our time to leave this world, torn apart in a random Israeli airstrike.

The next day, electricity, internet, and water are all cut off. I start to feel that, step by step, we’re being cut off from the outside world, until it doesn’t exist. Israel wants to intentionally cause a blackout so that we can’t report on the massacres it’s committing in Gaza. They’re preparing for something huge, and without a way of telling the world, no one will know until it’s too late.

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Featured image: PALESTINIANS INSPECT THE DAMAGE FOLLOWING AN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE ON THE SOUSI MOSQUE IN GAZA CITY, OCTOBER 9, 2023. (PHOTO: NAAMAN OMAR/APA IMAGES)

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*** 

“We are in a state of war…. The enemy will pay a price like they have never known before,” declared Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, immediately after the beginning of the Hamas forces’ military operation against Israel.

Netanyahu’s words conceal a fundamental historical fact: Israel has been in a state of war against the people of Palestine, whom he now blatantly calls “the enemy,” for the past 75 years. The “enemy” he is referring to are the Palestinian people, who have been enduring 75 years of violent occupation, bombings, mass arrests and imprisonment, torture, assassinations, and exile at the hands of the Israeli State, just because they would refuse to submit to the illegal occupation of their land and the blatant violation of their fundamental human rights by the Israeli occupation forces.

More deceiving is the claim that this was a “surprise” attack by the Palestinians. But looking back at the shameful history of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people in the past seven decades, and its recent offending actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, no rational mind would be “surprised” by the Palestinian reaction.

The historically inevitable bloodshed that has started, and has already taken too many lives, is the Israeli States’ own doing. The State of Israel has no other party to blame for this human catastrophe than itself.

However, this is not where the blame stops. The government of the United States is equally — if not more — responsible for the current tragedy. Decades of unconditional support for the Israeli State’s violations of international law and human rights, tens of billions of dollars’ worth of military aid to Israel with eyes closed to the atrocities and terrorism committed by Israeli military and settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories, and persistent blocking of every effort by the international community to call Israel into account for its illegal actions, all have contributed to this horrendous situation.

We call upon the international community to take every necessary collective action to stop this bloodshed based upon the globally recognized international law and the United Nations Charter.

This bloodshed will not be the last until the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is ended and the human rights of the Palestinian people are recognized and fully realized.

*

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Featured image: Gazan artist killed by Israeli soldiers (Source: Just World Educational)

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*** 

Lawmakers in the US and Israel have called for the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on southern Israel that has killed at least 1,000 Israelis. So far, Israeli retaliation has killed 900 Palestinians, a number that’s growing amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Revital “Tally” Gotliv, a member of Israel’s Knesset and the Likud party, called for Israel to use its nuclear weapons, which Israel has never formally acknowledged exist.

“Jericho Missile! Jericho Missile! Strategic alert. Before considering the introduction of forces. Doomsday weapon! This is my opinion. May God preserve all our strength,” Gotliv wrote on X on Monday.

In another post, she urged for Israel to use “Doomsday weapons” and “everything in its arsenal.” The following day, she continued to call for a massive strike on Gaza, which is home to over two million people, about half of whom are children.

“Only an explosion that shakes the Middle East will restore this country’s dignity, strength and security!” she wrote. “It’s time to kiss doomsday. Shooting powerful missiles without limit. Not flattening a neighborhood. Crushing and flattening Gaza… without mercy! without mercy!”

Over in the US, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) also called for mass slaughter in Gaza.

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Rubio:

“Is there a way for Israel to destroy Hamas without causing massive casualties against the innocent people of Gaza? There are more than two million people in the Gaza Strip and roughly a million of them are children.”

Rubio replied:

“Yeah, I don’t think there’s any way Israel can be expected to co-exist or find some diplomatic off-ramp with these savages. I mean, these are people, as you’ve been reporting and others have seen, that deliberately targeted teenage girls, women, children, the elderly … just horrifying things, and I don’t think we know the full extent of it yet. I mean, there’s more to come in the days and weeks ahead. You can’t exist. They have to be eradicated.”

In an apparent reference to civilian casualties, Rubio continued,

“And you pointed out the difficult challenge. This is going to be incredibly painful. This is going to be incredibly difficult. And it’s going to be horrifying, the price to pay. But even more horrifying is allowing a group like this to continue to be a viable group operating from a space that they control. I wish, you know, in an ideal world, people will tell you that there is, but I just don’t — I don’t see any other option. It’s a terrible option, but it remains the only option.”

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Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.

Featured image is from IMEMC

Fast-Food Graveyard – Sickened for Profit

October 11th, 2023 by Colin Todhunter

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The modern food system is responsible for making swathes of humanity ill, causing unnecessary suffering and sending many people to an early grave. It is part of a grotesque food-pharma conveyor belt that results in massive profits for the dominant agrifood and pharmaceuticals corporations.  

Much of the modern food system has been shaped by big agribusiness concerns like Monsanto (now Bayer) and Cargillgiant food companies like Nestle, Pepsico and Kellog’s and, more recently, institutional investors like BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street.

For the likes of BlackRock, which invests in both food and pharma, fuelling a system increasingly based on ultra processed food (UPF) with its cheap and unhealthy ingredients is a sure-fire money spinner.

Toxic Junk  

Consider that fast food is consumed by 85 million US citizens each day. Several chains are the primary suppliers of many school lunches. Some 30 million school meals are served to children each day. For millions of underprivileged children in the US, these meals are their only access to nutrition.

In 2022, Moms Across America (MAA) and Children’s Health Defense (CHD) commissioned the testing of school lunches and found that 5.3 per cent contained carcinogenic, endocrine-disrupting and liver disease-causing glyphosate; 74 per cent contained at least one of 29 harmful pesticides; four veterinary drugs and hormones were found in nine of the 43 meals tested; and all of the lunches contained heavy metals at levels up to 6,293 times higher than the US Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum levels allowed in drinking water. Moreover, the majority of the meals were abysmally low in nutrients.

As a follow up, MAA, a non-profit organisation, with support from CHD and the Centner Academy, recently decided to have the top ten most popular fast-food brand meals extensively tested for 104 of the most commonly used veterinary drugs and hormones.

The Health Research Institute tested 42 fast-food meals from 21 locations nationwide. The top ten brands tested were McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, TacoBell, Wendy’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Burger King, Subway, Domino’s and Chipotle.

Collectively, these companies’ annual gross sales are $134,308,000,000.

Three veterinary drugs and hormones were found in ten fast food samples tested. One sample from Chick-fil-A contained a contraceptive and antiparasitic called Nicarbazin, which has been prohibited.

Some 60 per cent of the samples contained the antibiotic Monesin, which is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for human use and has been shown to cause severe harm when consumed by humans.

40 per cent contained the antibiotic Narasin. MAA says that animal studies show this substance causes anorexia, diarrhoea, dyspnea, depression, ataxia, recumbency and death, among other things.

Monensin and Narasin are antibiotic ionophores, toxic to horses and dogs at extremely low levels, leaving their hind legs dysfunctional. Ionophores cause weight gain in beef and dairy cattle and are therefore widely used but also “cause acute cardiac rhabdomyocyte degeneration and necrosis”, according to a 2017 paper published in Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology (Second Edition).

For many years, ionophores have also been used to control coccidiosis in poultry. However, misuse of ionophores can cause toxicity with significant clinical symptoms. Studies show that ionophore toxicity mainly affects myocardial and skeletal muscle cells.

Only Chipotle and Subway had no detectable levels of veterinary drugs and hormones.

Following these findings, MAA has expressed grave concern about the dangers faced by people, especially children, who are unknowingly eating unprescribed antibiotic ionophores. The non-profit asks: are the side effects of these ionophores in dogs and horses, leaving their hind legs dysfunctional, related to millions of US citizens presenting with restless leg syndrome and neuropathy? These conditions were unknown in most humans just a generation or two ago.

A concerning contraceptive (for geese and pigeons), an antiparasitic called Nicarbazin, prohibited after many years of use, was found in Chick fil-A sandwich samples.

The executive director of MAA, Zen Honeycutt, concludes:

“The impact of millions of Americans, especially children and young adults, consuming a known animal contraceptive daily is concerning. With infertility problems on the rise, the reproductive health of this generation is front and center for us, in light of these results.”

MAA says that it is not uncommon for millions of US citizens to consume fast food for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or all three meals, every day. School lunches are often provided by fast-food suppliers and typically are the only meals underprivileged children receive and a major component of the food consumed by most children.

Exposure to hormones from consuming ​​concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) livestock could be linked to the early onset of puberty, miscarriages, increasing incidence of twin births and reproductive problems. These hormones have been linked to cancers, such as breast and uterine, reproductive issues and developmental problems in children.

So, how can it be that food – something that is supposed to nourish and sustain life – has now become so toxic?

Corporate Influence 

One answer lies in the influence of a relative handful of food conglomerates, which shape food policy and dominate the market.

For instance, recent studies have linked UPFs such as ice-cream, fizzy drinks and ready meals to poor health, including an increased risk of cancer, weight gain and heart disease. Global consumption of the products is soaring and UPFs now make up more than half the average diet in the UK and US.

In late September, however, a media briefing in London suggested consumers should not be too concerned about UPFs. After the event, The Guardian newspaper reported that three out of five scientists on the expert panel for the briefing who suggested UPFs are being unfairly demonised had ties to the world’s largest manufacturers of the products.

The briefing generated various positive media headlines on UPFs, including “Ultra-processed foods as good as homemade fare, say experts” and “Ultra-processed foods can sometimes be better for you, experts claim”.

It was reported by The Guardian that three of the five scientific experts on the panel had either received financial support for research from UPF manufacturers or hold key positions with organisations that are funded by them. The manufacturers include Nestlé, Mondelēz, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever and General Mills.

Professor Janet Cade (University of Leeds) told the briefing that most research suggesting a link between UPFs and poor health cannot show cause and effect, adding that processing can help to preserve nutrients. Cade is the chair of the advisory committee of the British Nutrition Foundation, whose corporate members include McDonald’s, British Sugar and Mars. It is funded by companies including Nestlé, Mondelēz and Coca-Cola.

Professor Pete Wilde (Quadram Institute) also defended UPFs, comparing then favourably with homemade items. Wilde has received support for his research from Unilever, Mondelēz and Nestlé.

Professor Ciarán Forde (Wageningen University in the Netherlands) told the briefing that advice to avoid UPF “risks demonising foods that are nutritionally beneficial”. Forde was previously employed by Nestlé and has received financial support for research from companies including PepsiCo and General Mills.

Despite what industry-backed scientists may say, increased consumption of UPFs was associated with more than 10 per cent of all-cause premature, preventable deaths in Brazil in 2019, according to a 2022 published peer-reviewed study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

In high-income countries, such as the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, UPFs account for more than half of total calorific intake. Brazilians consume far less of these products than countries with high incomes. This means the impact would be even higher in richer nations.

In a 2016 report by the research and campaign group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), it was noted that obesity rates were rising fastest among lowest socio-economic groups. That is because energy-dense foods of poor nutritional value are cheaper than more nutritious foods.

At the time, key trade associations, companies and lobby groups related to sugary food and drinks were together spending an estimated €21.3 million annually to lobby the EU.

One of the best-known industry front groups with global influence is the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI). In January 2019, two papers by Harvard Professor Susan Greenhalgh in the BMJ and in the Journal of Public Health Policy revealed ILSI’s influence on the Chinese government concerning issues related to obesity.

2017 media report noted that ILSI-India was being actively consulted by India’s apex policy-formulating body – Niti Aayog. ILSI-India’s board of trustees was dominated by food and beverage companies. ILSI’s expanding influence coincides with India’s mounting rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

In 2020, a study published in Public Health Nutrition revealed details about which companies fund the group. ILSI North America’s draft 2016 IRS form 990 shows a $317,827 contribution from PepsiCo, contributions greater than $200,000 from Mars, Coca-Cola and Mondelez and contributions greater than $100,000 from General Mills, Nestle, Kellogg, Hershey, Kraft, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Starbucks Coffee, Cargill, Unilever and Campbell Soup.

Professor Janet Cade told the recent media briefing in London that people rely on processed foods for a wide number of reasons; if they were removed, this would require a huge change in the food supply. She added that this would be unachievable for most people and potentially result in further stigmatisation and guilt for those who rely on processed foods, promoting further inequalities in disadvantaged groups.

While part of the solution lies in tackling poverty and reliance on junk food, the focus must be on challenging the power wielded by a small group of food corporations and redirecting the massive subsidies poured into the agrifood system that ensure massive corporate profit while fuelling bad food, poor health and food insecurity.

A healthier food regime centred on human need rather than corporate profit is required. This would entail strengthening local markets, prioritising short supply chains from farm to fork and supporting independent smallholder organic agriculturalists (incentivised to grow a more diverse range of nutrient-dense crops) and small-scale retailers.

Saying that eradicating UPFs would result in denying the poor access to cheap, affordable food is like saying let them eat poison.

Given the scale of the problem, change cannot be achieved overnight. However, a long food movement (leading up to 2045) could transform the food system, a strategy set out in a 2021 report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems and ETC Group.

More people should be getting on board with this and promoting it at media briefings. But that might result in biting the hand that feeds.

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Renowned author Colin Todhunter specialises in development, food and agriculture. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Featured image is from World Hunger


Read Colin Todhunter’s e-Book entitled

Food, Dispossession and Dependency. Resisting the New World Order

We are currently seeing an acceleration of the corporate consolidation of the entire global agri-food chain. The high-tech/big data conglomerates, including Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and Google, have joined traditional agribusiness giants, such as Corteva, Bayer, Cargill and Syngenta, in a quest to impose their model of food and agriculture on the world.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also involved (documented in ‘Gates to a Global Empire‘ by Navdanya International), whether through buying up huge tracts of farmland, promoting a much-heralded (but failed) ‘green revolution’ for Africa, pushing biosynthetic food and genetic engineering technologies or more generally facilitating the aims of the mega agri-food corporations.

Click here to read.

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*** 

 

 

On February 12, 2002 at a Pentagon news conference, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked by Jim Miklaszewski, the NBC Pentagon correspondent, if he had any evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was supplying them to terrorists. Rumsfeld delivered a famous non-answer answer and said:

Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.

When he was pressed by Jamie McIntyre, CNN’s Pentagon correspondent, to answer the question about evidence, he continued to talk gobbledygook, saying, “I could have said that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, or vice versa.”

He never said he had evidence, because he didn’t.

Rumsfeld, who enjoyed his verbal games, was the quintessential bullshitter and liar for the warfare state. This encounter took place when Rumsfeld and his co-conspirators were promoting lie after lie about the attacks of September 11, 2001 and conflating false stories about an alliance between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden in order to build a case to wage another war against Iraq, in order to supplement the one in Afghanistan and the war on “terror” that they launched post September 11 and the subsequently linked anthrax attacks.

A year later on February 5, 2003, U. S. Secretary of State Colin Powell went before the U. N. Security Council and in a command performance assured the world that the U.S. had solid evidence that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction,” repeating that phrase 17 times as he held up a stage prop vial of anthrax to make his point. He said,

“My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources — solid sources. These are not assertions. What we’re giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.” 

He was lying, but to this very day his defenders falsely claim he was the victim of an “intelligence failure,” a typical deceitful excuse along with “it was a mistake.” Of course, Iraq did not have “weapons of mass destruction” and the savage war waged on Iraq was not a mistake.

Scott Ritter, the former Marine U.N. weapons inspector,  made it very clear back then that there was no evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but his expertise was dismissed, just as his current analysis of the war in Ukraine is. See his recent tweet about Senator Diane Feinstein in this regard:

Thirteen months after Rumsfeld’s exchange in the news conference, the United States invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003, knowing it had no justification. It was a war of aggression. Millions died as a result. And none of the killers have been prosecuted for their massive war crimes. The war was not launched on mistaken evidence; it was premeditated and based on lies easy to see. Very, very easy to see.

On January 28, 2003, eleven days before Powell’s performance, I, an independent writer, wrote a newspaper Op Ed, “The War Hoax,” saying:

The Bush administration has a problem: How to start a war without having a justifiable reason for one.  No doubt they are working hard to solve this urgent problem.  If they can’t find a justification, they may have to create one.  Or perhaps they will find what they have already created. . . . Yet once again, the American people are being played for fools, by the government and the media. 

“The open secret, the insider’s fact, is that the United States plans to attack Iraq in the near future.  The administration knows this, the media knows it, but the Bush scenario, written many months ago, is to act as if it weren’t so, to act as if a peaceful solution were being seriously considered. . . . Don’t buy it.”

Only one very small regional Massachusetts newspaper, the North Adams Transcript, was willing to publish the piece.

I mention this because I think it has been very obvious for a very long time that the evidence for United States’ crimes of all sorts has been available to anyone who wished to face the truth. It does not take great expertise, just an eye for the obvious and the willingness to do a little homework.

Despite this, I have noticed that journalists and writers on the left have continued to admit that they were beguiled by people such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joseph Biden, con men and women all. I do not mean writers for the mainstream press, but those considered oppositional.

Many have, for reasons only they can answer, put hope in these obvious charlatans, and some prominent ones have refused to analyze such matters as the JFK assassination, September 11th, or Covid-19, to name a few issues. Was it because they considered these politicians and matters known unknowns, even when the writing was on the wall?

Those on the right have rolled with Reagan, the Bushes, and Trump in a similar manner, albeit for different reasons. It causes me to shake my head in amazement. When will people learn? How long does it take to realize that all these people are part of a vast criminal enterprise that has been continuously waging wars and lying while raking in vast spoils for the military-industrial complex.  There is one party in the U.S. – the War Party.

If you have lived long enough, as have I, you reach a point when you have, through study and the accumulation of evidence, arrived at a long list of known knowns. So with a backhand slap to Donald Rumsfeld, that long serving servant of the U.S. war machine, I will list a very partial number of my known knowns in chronological order.

Each could be greatly expanded. There is an abundance of easily available evidence for all of them – nothing secret – but one needs to have the will for truth and do one’s homework. All of these known knowns are the result of U.S. deep state conspiracies and lies, aided and abetted by the lies of mass corporate media.

My Known Knowns

  • The U.S. national security state led by the CIA, assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. This is The foundational event for everything that has followed.  It set the tone and sent the message that deep state forces will do anything to wage their wars at home and abroad.  They killed JFK because he was ending the war against Vietnam, the Cold War, and the nuclear arms race.
  • Those same forces assassinated Malcolm X fourteen months later on February 21, 1965 because he too had become a champion of peace, human rights, and racial justice with his budding alliance with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Such an alliance of these two black leaders posed too great a threat to the racist warfare state.  This conspiracy was carried out by the Nation of Islam, the New York Police Department, and U.S. intelligence agencies.
  • The Indonesian government’s slaughter of more than one million mainly poor rice farmers in 1965-6 was the result of a scheme planned by ex-CIA Director Allen Dulles, whom JFK had fired. It was connected to Dulles’s role in the assassination of JFK, the CIA-engineered coup against Indonesian President Sukarno, his replacement by the dictator Suharto, and his mass slaughter ten years later, starting in December 1975.  The American-installed Indonesian dictator Suharto, after meeting with Henry Kissinger and President Ford and receiving their approval, would slaughter hundreds of thousands of East Timorese with American-supplied weapons in a repeat of the slaughter of more than a million Indonesians in 1965.
  • In June of 1967, Israel, a purported ally of the U.S., attacked and destroyed the Egyptian and Syrian armies, claiming falsely that Egypt was about to attack Israel. This was a lie that was later admitted by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in a speech he gave in 1982 in Washington, D.C.  Israel annexed the West Bank and Gaza and still occupies the Golan Heights as well.  In June 1967, Israel also attacked and tried to sink the U.S. intelligence gathering ship the U.S. Liberty, killing 34 U.S. sailors and wounding 170 others.  Washington covered up these intentional murders to protect Israel.
  • On April 4, 1968, these same intelligence forces led by the FBI, assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. He was not shot by James Earl Ray, the officially alleged assassin, but by a hit man who was part of another intricate government conspiracy.  King was killed because of his work for racial and human rights and justice, his opposition to the Vietnam War, and his push for economic justice with the Poor People’s Campaign.
  • Two months later, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, on his way to the presidency, was also assassinated by deep state intelligence forces in another vastly intricate conspiracy. He was not killed by Sirhan Sirhan, who was a hypnotized patsy standing in front of RFK. He was assassinated by a CIA hit man who was standing behind him and shot him from close range.  RFK, also, was assassinated because he was intent on ending the war against Vietnam, bringing racial and economic justice to the country, and pursuing the assassins of his brother John.
  • The escalation of the war against Vietnam by President Lyndon Johnson was based on the Tonkin Gulf lies. It’s savage waging by Richard Nixon for eight years was based on endless lies.  These men were war criminals of the highest order.  Nixon’s 1968 election was facilitated by the “October Surprise” when South Vietnam withdrew from peace negotiations to end the war.  This was secretly arranged by Nixon and his intermediaries.
  • The well-known Watergate scandal story, as told by Woodward and Bernstein of The Washington Post, that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation in August 1974, is an entertaining fiction concealing intelligence operations.
  • Another October Surprise was arranged for the 1980 presidential election. It was linked to the subsequent Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, led by future CIA Director under Reagan, William Casey, and former CIA Director and Vice-President under Reagan, George H. W. Bush.  As in 1968, a secret deal was made to secure the Republican’s election by making a deal with Iran to withhold releasing the American hostages they held until after the election.  They were released minutes after Reagan was sworn in on January 20, 1981.  American presidential elections have been fraught with scandals, as in 2000 when George W. Bush and team stole the election from Democrat Al Gore, and Russia-gate was conjured up by the Democrats in 2016 to try to prevent Trump’s election.
  • The Reagan administration, together with the CIA, armed the so-called “Contras” to wage war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua that had overthrown the vicious U.S. supported dictator Anastasio Somoza. The Contras were Somoza supporters and part of a long line of terrorists that the U.S. had used throughout Latin America where they supported dictators and death squads to squelch democratic movements. Such state terrorism was of a piece with the September 11, 1973 U.S. engineered coup against the democratic government of President Salvadore Allende in Chile and his replacement with the dictator Augusto Pinochet.
  • The Persian Gulf War waged by George H.W. Bush in 1991 – the first made for TV war – was based on lie upon lie promoted by the administration and their public relations firm. It was a war of aggression celebrated by CNN and other media as a joyous July 4th fireworks display.
  • Then the neoliberal phony William Clinton spent eight years bombing Iraq, dismantling the social safety net, deregulating the banks, attacking and dismantling Yugoslavia and savagely bombing Serbia. In a span of four months in 1999 he bombed four countries: Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, and Yugoslavia.  He maintained the U.S. sanctions placed on Iraq following the Gulf War that resulted in the death of 500,000 Iraqi children.  When his Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was asked by Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes if the price was worth it, Albright said, “We think the price is worth it.”
  • The attacks of September 11, 2001, referred to as 9/11 in an act of linguistic mind control in order to create an ongoing sense of national emergency, and the anthrax attacks that followed, were a joint inside operation – a false flag – carried out by elements within the U.S. deep state.  Together with the CIA assassination of JFK, these acts of state terrorism mark a second fundamental turning point in efforts to extinguish any sense of democratic control in the United States.  Thus The Patriot Act, government spying, censorship, and ongoing attacks on individual rights.
  • The George W. Bush-led U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and its “war on terror” were efforts to terrorize and control the Middle East, Southwest Asia, as well as the people of the U.S. The aforementioned Mr. Rumsfeld, along with his partner in crime Dick Cheney, carried out Bush’s known known war crimes justified by the crimes of Sept 11 as they simultaneously created a vast Homeland Security spying network while eliminating Americans’ basic freedoms.
  • Barack Obama was one of the most effective imperialist presidents in U.S. history. Although this is factually true, he was able to provide a smiling veneer to his work at institutionalizing the permanent warfare state.  When first entering office, he finished George W. Bush’s unfinished task of bailing out the finance capitalist class of Wall St.  Having hoodwinked liberals of his bona fides, he then spent eight years presiding over extrajudicial murders, drone attacks, the destruction of Libya, a coup in Ukraine bringing neo-Nazis to power.  In 2016 alone he bombed seven countries Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, and Iraq.  He expanded U.S. military bases throughout the world and sent special forces throughout Africa and Latin America.  He supported the new Cold War with sanctions on Russia.  He was a fitting successor to Bush junior.
  • Donald Trump, a New York City reality TV star and real estate tycoon, the surprise winner of the 2016 U.S. presidential election despite the Democratic Party’s false Russia-gate propaganda, attacked Syria from sea and air in the first two years of his presidency, claiming falsely that these strikes were for Syria’s use of chemical weapons at Douma and for producing chemical weapons. In doing so, he warned Russia not to be associated with Syrian President Assad, a “mass murderer of men, women, and children.”  He did not criticize Israel that to the present day continues to bomb Syria, but he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He ordered the assassination by drone of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport while on a visit to meet with Iraq’s prime minister.  As an insider contrary to all portrayals, he presided over Operation Warp Speed Covid vaccination development and deployment, which was a military-pharmaceutical-CIA program, whose key player was Robert Kadlec (former colleague of Donal Rumsfeld with deep ties to spy agencies), Trump’s Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Preparedness and Response and an ally of Dr. Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.  On December 8, 2020 Trump joyously declared: “Before Operation Warp Speed, the typical time-frame for development and approval [for vaccines], as you know, could be infinity. And we were very, very happy that we were able to get things done at a level that nobody has ever seen before. The gold standard vaccine has been done in less than nine months.”  And he announced they he will quickly distribute such a “verifiably safe and effective vaccine” as soon as the FDA approved it because “We are the most exceptional nation in the history of the world. Today, we’re on the verge of another American medical miracle.”  The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved three days later. Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine received FDA emergency use authorization a week later.
  • This Covid-19 medical miracle was a con-job from the start. The official Covid operation launched in March 11, 2020 with worldwide lockdowns that destroyed economies while enriching the super-rich and devastating regular people, was a propaganda achievement carried out by intelligence and military apparatuses in conjunction with Big Pharma, the WHO, the World Economic Forum and promulgated by a vast around-the-clock corporate media disinformation campaign.  It was the third fundamental turning point – following the JFK assassination and the attacks of September 11, 2001 and anthrax – in destabilizing the economic, social and political life of all nations while undermining their sovereignty.  It was based on false science in the interests of further establishing a biosecurity state.  The intelligence agency planners who had conducted many germ war game simulations leading up to Covid -19 referred to a future arising out of such “attacks,” as the “New Normal.”  A close study of these  precedents, game-planning, and players makes this evident.  The aim was to militarize medicine and produce a centralized authoritarian state.  Its use of the PCR “test” to detect the virus was a lie from the start.  The Nobel Award winning scientist who developed the test, Kary Mullis, made it clear that “the PCR is a process. It does not tell you that you are sick.”  It is a processto make a whole lot of something out of nothing,” but it can not detect a specific virus.  That it was used to detect all these Covid “cases” is all one needs to know about the fraud.
  • Joseph Biden, who was Obama’s point man for Ukraine while vice-president and the U.S. engineered the 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine, came into office intent on promoting the New Cold War with Russia and refused all Russian efforts to peacefully settle the Ukrainian crisis. He pushed NATO to further provoke Russia by moving farther to the east, surrounding Russia’s borders.  He supported the neo-Nazi Ukrainian elements and its government’s continuous attacks on the Russian speaking Donbass region in eastern Ukraine. In doing so, he clearly provoked Russian into sending troops into Ukraine on 24 February 2022.  He has fueled this war relentlessly and has pushed the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation.  He supported the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.  He currently presides over an aggressive provocation of China.  And like his predecessor Trump, he promotes the Covid disinformation campaign and the use of “vaccines,” urging people to get their jabs.
  • Throughout all these decades and the matters touched upon here – some of my known knowns – there is another dominant theme that recurs again and again.  It is the support for Israel and its evil apartheid regime’s repeated slaughters and persecution of the Palestinian people after having dispossessed them of their ancestral land. This has been a constant fact throughout all U.S. administrations since the JFK assassination and Israel’s subsequent acquisition of nuclear weapons that Kennedy opposed.  It is been aided and abetted by the rise of the neocon elements within the U.S. government and the 1997 formation of The Project for the New American Century, founded by William Kristol and Donald Kagan, whose signees included Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, et al., and their claim for the need “for a new Pearl Harbor.”  Many of these people, who held dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship, became members of the Bush administration.  Once the attacks of September 11th occurred and a summer of moviegoers watching the new film Pearl Harbor had passed, George W. Bush and the corporate media immediately and repeatedly proclaimed the attacks a new Pearl Harbor.  Once again, the Palestinian’s and Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that is widely and falsely reported as unprovoked, as is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been referred to as “a Pearl Harbor Moment.”  By today, Monday 9 Oct. 2023, President Biden has already given full U.S. support to Israel as it savagely attacks Gaza and has said that additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces is now on its way to Israel with more to follow over the coming days. Rather than acting as an instrument for peace, the U.S. government continues its  support for Israel’s crimes as if it were the same country. The Israel Lobby and the government of Israel has for decades exerted a powerful control over U.S. Middle East policies and much more as well.  The Mossad has often worked closely under the aegis of the CIA together with Britain’s M16 to assassinate opponents and provoke war after war.

Donald Rumsfeld, as a key long time insider to U.S. deep state operations, was surely aware of my list of known knowns. He was just one of many such slick talkers involved in demonic U.S. operations that have always been justified, denied, or kept secret by him and his ilk.

One does not have to be a criminologist to realize these things. It is easy to imagine that Rumsfeld’s forlorn ghost is wandering since he went to his grave with his false “unknown unknowns” tucked away.

When he said, “I could have said that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, or vice-versa,” he did say it, of course.  Despite double-talkers like him, evidence of decades of U.S. propaganda is easy to see through if one is compelled by the will-to-truth.

“Ancestral voices prophesying war; ancestral spirits in the danse macabre or war dance; Valhalla, ghostly warriors who kill each other and are reborn to fight again.  All warfare is ghostly, every army an exercitus feralis (army of ghosts), every soldier a living corpse.”  – Norman O. Brown

Note:  If you think I too have no evidence, look at this for many of them.

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This article was originally published on the author’s blog site, Behind the Curtain.

Edward Curtin is a prominent author, researcher and sociologist based in Western Massachusetts. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Ucrania – La ferocidad antisocial de los neoliberales

October 11th, 2023 by Olena Slobodien

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[We repost this article first published in July 2021.]

*** 

Police made sweeping arrests of Israel’s large minority of Palestinian citizens after protests rocked the country in May during Israel’s 11-day attack on Gaza. Officers were documented beating demonstrators, and in some cases torturing them while in detention. Police also failed to protect the Palestinian minority from planned, vigilante-style attacks by far-right Jewish extremists.

This was the damning verdict of an Amnesty International report published last week. The findings indicate that Israeli police view the country’s Palestinian minority, a fifth of the population, as an enemy rather than as citizens with a right to protest.

The report echoes what Palestinian leaders in Israel and local human rights groups have long said: that the default policing of the Palestinian community in Israel is racist and violent. It reflects the same values of Jewish supremacism seen in the Israeli army’s brutal treatment of Palestinians under occupation.

The contrast between how police responded to protests by Palestinian citizens and supportive statements from their leaders, on the one hand, and to incitement from Israeli Jewish leaders and violent backlash from the Jewish extreme right, on the other, is stark indeed.

More than 2,150 arrests were made following May’s inter-communal violence. But according to reports cited by Amnesty, more than 90 percent of those detained were Palestinian – either citizens of Israel or residents of occupied East Jerusalem.

Most face charges unrelated to attacks on people or property, despite how their demonstrations were widely portrayed by police and Israeli media. Rather, Palestinian protesters were indicted on charges such as “insulting or assaulting a police officer” or “taking part in an illegal gathering” – matters related to the repressive policing faced by the Palestinian minority.

‘Torture Room’

Amnesty cites repeated examples of unprovoked police assaults on peaceful protesters in cities such as Nazareth and Haifa. That contrasts with the continuing indulgence by police of provocations by the Jewish far-right, such as their march through Palestinian neighbourhoods of occupied East Jerusalem on 15 June, during which participants chanted: “Death to Arabs” and “May your village burn.”

Patriot missiles in Israel target an Iraqi Scud missile. Alpert Nathan / Government Press Office. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Amnesty also documents testimony that Israeli police beat bound detainees in Nazareth’s police station – setting up what the local legal rights group Adalah has described as an improvised “torture room”.

In addition, a protester in Haifa appears to have been tied to a chair and deprived of sleep for nine days, using torture techniques familiar to Palestinians in the occupied territories.

In contrast, Israeli police were alerted in real time to messages from Jewish far-right groups about precise plans to smash up “Arab” shops and assault Palestinian citizens on the street. And yet, police either ignored those warnings or were slow to respond. An investigation by Haaretz has further suggested that police subsequently failed to use film footage to identify these Jewish vigilantes and, as a result, made few arrests.

This picture of police turning a blind eye to planned Jewish violence echoes scenes from the time of the protests. Footage showed police officers allowing armed Jewish thugs – many bused in from settlements – to wander freely around Palestinian neighbourhoods during a curfew on the city of Lod. There was even footage of police and Jewish far-right extremists conducting what looked like joint “operations”, with police throwing stun grenades as Jewish extremists threw stones.

Jewish politicians who incited against the Palestinian minority – from Israel’s former president, Reuven Rivlin, and Lod’s mayor, Yair Revivo, to far-right legislator Itamar Ben-Gvir – have faced no consequences.

Charged with ‘Terror Acts’

Instead, police arranged what amounted to a provocative, entirely unnecessary assault by special forces on the home of a Palestinian community leader, Kamal al-Khatib, to arrest him. The deputy head of the northern Islamic Movement was charged with supporting terrorism after he expressed pride at what he called the minority’s solidarity with the people of Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem.

And last week, apparently too late for inclusion in the Amnesty report, Israel’s racist policing moved in new directions.

Small numbers of Palestinian citizens suspected of attacking Jews were charged with “terror acts”, in some cases without any physical or DNA evidence tying them to the crime. In several cases, the defendants were indicted based on confessions made after prolonged interrogation by Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet.

Israel’s legal system is treating inter-communal violence as an act of terror when Palestinian citizens are involved, and as an ordinary law-and-order issue – assuming it is dealt with at all – when Israeli Jews are involved.

Underlining this distinction is the decision to place Palestinian citizens of Israel under administrative detention, jailing them without charge and not allowing lawyers to see the supposed evidence against their clients. This draconian move – with one such order approved last week by Defence Minister Benny Gantz – is usually reserved for Palestinians under occupation, not Israeli citizens.

Settling Scores

In its report, Amnesty pointed to public statements from Israeli police commanders indicating that the current harsh crackdown is really about “settling scores”. And in part, that is true.

Nearly two decades ago, a judicial-led public inquiry concluded that Israeli police treated Palestinian citizens as “the enemy”. Nothing has changed since. Police regard it as their primary job to protect the privileges of the Jewish majority by keeping the Palestinian minority crushed and obedient, as a subordinate community inside a self-declared Jewish state.

The eruption of protests in May, which caught police off-guard, was implicitly a sign that they had failed in that role. Police interpreted the demonstrations as a public humiliation for which “deterrence” needed to be urgently restored.

Israeli politicians, including the then-police minister, Amir Ohana, as well as the Jewish far-right, viewed the protests in much the same light. They argued at the time that police were being held back by legal niceties, and that it was the job of Jewish citizens to back police by taking the law into their own hands.

Yet, the “settling of scores” with the Palestinian minority relates to a separate matter. External observers, such as Amnesty, tend to notice Israel’s racist policing only when direct violence is used against Palestinian citizens. But the Palestinian minority’s experience of discrimination from police is much broader.

For years, the minority has been taking to the streets in large numbers to protest against not only the violent policing of dissent, but a complementary near-absence of policing towards Palestinian communities in Israel when it comes to tackling crime.

The harsh repression seen in recent weeks contrasts strongly with police inaction as a crime wave has swept Palestinian communities, with each year bringing a record number of violent deaths. Both Palestinian and Jewish criminal gangs have exploited the policing void in Palestinian towns and villages, knowing that they are free to act as long as the violence is “Arab-on-Arab”.

Even during the Covid-19 lockdowns, Palestinian community leaders kept up the pressure, leading go-slow convoys of dozens of cars along Israel’s busiest roads to draw attention to Israel’s racist policing priorities.

These presented a different kind of humiliation for police. Unusually, commanders were forced onto the back foot, swallowing unrelenting criticism and condemnation for failing to deal with crime in Palestinian communities. It even became one of the top issues for Palestinian parties in Israel’s string of recent elections.

Now, police are having their moment of revenge. “You want more active policing? We’ll give you more active policing. See how you like this!” seems to be the new message of the mass round-ups.

Jewish Supremacism

The reality is that both kinds of policing towards Palestinian citizens – the violent policing of dissent, and the lack of policing of crime – are rooted in the same, ugly ideology of Jewish supremacism.

This is the same supremacism highlighted in a report early this year by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. It broke new ground in the human rights community by explicitly identifying Israel as an apartheid state, one that treats Palestinians as inferior, whether in the occupied territories or inside Israel, and Jews as superior, whether in Israel or in the illegal settlements.

The new Amnesty report is the latest snapshot of a society where everything follows that apartheid logic, including policing. That should surprise no one, because apartheid is, by definition, systematic.

Most Jewish Israelis, whether they identify with the left or right, have shown little interest in the lethal crime wave that for years has washed over Palestinian communities near their own, despite the regular protest campaigns by the Palestinian minority.

And now – through their silence – most ordinary Jewish Israelis and their politicians have demonstrated that they support, or are at least indifferent to, the current crackdown by police on the Palestinian minority. The deeper causes of May’s protests, and the violent backlash from the far right, appear to have provoked little self-reflection.

The Israeli Jewish public seems equally unconcerned by the fact that Jewish far-right thugs have chanted “death to Arabs” on their streets, that videos show police cooperating with those thugs, or that police have been making mass arrests of Palestinian citizens for weeks on end, while failing to search for the Jews who were filmed attacking Palestinians.

Belligerent Occupation

The truth is that Israeli police get away with racist, violent policing because wider Israeli Jewish society approves. Police regard themselves as defenders of a Jewish supremacism that many ordinary Jewish citizens see as their birthright.

The Palestinian minority hoped that it had opened a tentative conversation with Israeli Jews both about the responsibilities of police in a state claiming to be a democracy, and about the right of Israel’s 1.8 million Palestinian citizens to personal security.

There was much fanfare at Mansour Abbas’s United Arab List becoming last month the first party representing Palestinian citizens to enter an Israeli government coalition, ousting former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power. Like other Palestinian parties, Abbas put changes to the racist police culture in Israel at the top of his platform.

But any signs of progress have been all too readily snuffed out by a reassertion of Jewish supremacism by police and their Jewish far-right allies, and by the silent complicity of wider Israeli Jewish society.

Israel had a chance to address its racist policing policies, but that would have required the difficult work of examining the much wider apartheid structures that underpin them. Instead, most Israeli Jews are happy to reassert the status quo – oppressing all Palestinians under Jewish rule, whether they are subjects of a belligerent occupation or third-class citizens of a Jewish state.

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Jonathan Cook, a British journalist based in Nazareth since 2001, is the the author of three books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is a past winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His website and blog can be found at: www.jonathan-cook.net

He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: ISRAELI BORDER POLICE OPERATING IN THE CITY OF LYDDA (LOD), MAY 11, 2021. (PHOTO: TWITTER/@IL_POLICE)

Israeli War Crimes Against Palestine: Witness Testimonies. Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal

October 11th, 2023 by Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission (KLWCC)

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[We repost this important article first published in November 2012 in relation to the current developments in Gaza.]

*** 

Global Research Editor’s Note

At the height of the bombing of Gaza,  legal proceedings directed against the State of Israel involving the initial hearings of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission were launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The decision to launch these proceedings was taken by the Commission in May of 2012.

Pertaining to alleged Israeli war crimes, the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission heard the testimonies of nine complainants.

The following summary of testimonies presented to the Commission provides a historical background on Israeli crimes against humanity extending from the Sabra Shatila Massacres to the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead, which resulted in the killings of entire families.

We invite our readers to carefully examine these witness testimonies. They are of crucial importance in an understanding of the current situation in Gaza. Selected excerpts and quotations below. Scroll down for prosecutors’ press release :

“Why were the young children killed? [Gaza, January 2009]They are so young and cannot even hold a stone. Like my brother Ahmad. My cousins who were infants were also killed. I have heard that the soldier who kills more – and younger children – moves up higher in ranks.”

“What did the children do to deserve to die this way? What did the women do to become widows and what did the old people do to see all this? Nobody is defending us. It is like we are nothing. We do not have a normal happy life like other children. Where is the human right of the child?”

Mahmoud who was only 12-years-old at the time of 2009 attacks, saw his father shot in cold blood by the Israeli soldiers. He told the panel that he and his friends were playing football and mud balls around a fruit tree when they saw F16 planes flying in the area and shooting bombs and missiles.

Displaying maturity beyond his young age, Mahmoud related the terrifying ordeal he and his family underwent during the January 2009 attacks. The soldiers while shooting randomly at the family shot his 4-year-old brother twice in the chest and once in the head and four of his other brothers in their legs and behind the ear.

[Gaza, January 2009] “I went to her and realized that my mother (Rahma Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Samony, then aged 43) died with half of her face blown away. My father (Talal Hilmy Mahmoud Al-Samony, then aged 49) and my only daughter (Aza Salah Talal Al-Samony, then aged 2.5) also died, with their face disfigured. A total of 21 of my family members died. More than 50 of them were injured. There was screaming, shouting and crying. Blood was everywhere. I lifted my daughter and she had wounds on her neck and stomach. She was dead. Then, I heard my wife calling my name. I went to her. There were a lot of dead bodies on top of her. Then, I slowly pulled her out. She was injured and she was covered in blood. Three of my sons were badly injured and the other one had difficulties in breathing even now.”

In the early hours of the morning [Sabra and Shatila witness testimony], about 16-17 armed soldiers entered her home and shot her husband, brother and cousin dead in front of her and children. She related that militia entered homes and shot at everyone including children and animals.

“Along the way to the stadium, I saw my cousin’s daughter who was pregnant lying dead. The murderers had opened her body and taken out her baby and put the baby on her. The child was dead as well. She was lying on the street.”

“Along the street there were a lot of dead bodies. Hundreds of bodies were strewn all over. We climbed a hill to the stadium. At the nearest houses I could see bodies of children. Between the houses, which had been half destroyed, there were bodies of men, and also women and children and animals.”

On May 11 2012 the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal rendered a historical guilty verdict  in The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission v. George Walker Bush et al . The decision to launch a legal war crimes procedure against the State of Israel was taken by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission in the wake of this historic judgment.

Michel Chossudovsky,

Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) and Member of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission,

Kuala Lumpur, November 22, 2012


I – KUALA LUMPUR, 20 November 2012 – The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission commenced hearing the testimonies of four of the nine complainants today. The prosecution team had intended to present 11 witnesses at the two-day Commission hearing, but only nine could make it to Kuala Lumpur. Two of the witnesses were unable to make it due to the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The prosecution’s first witness was 33-year-old Palestinian Salah Al Sammouni who testified to the 5-panel Commission that 21 members of his family including his father, mother and only infant daughter were killed during a massive Israeli attack in the al-Zaytoun neighbourhood in the South-East of Gaza on 5 January 2009. The remaining 52 injured members of his family and Salah himself (covered in blood and shrapnel) amid firing bullets managed to make their way out of the neighbourhood and found civilians who were kind enough to drive them to the hospital.

He testified that the Israeli military forces, who had bombed their house three times, had denied entry to the Red Cross and hospital ambulances into neighbourhood to tend to the wounded. The ambulances only managed to make their way into his neighbourhood three days after the attack. During the attacks, a sharp metal piece had pierced his forehead and until today the doctors are unable to remove that metal piece.

Here an excerpt of his testimony –

“A short while after the explosion, I heard a very loud explosion about 2 or 3 times. There was dust all over the house. I could not see anything. Later, I saw one missile come through the roof; another from the window and the third one, I do not from where. I then looked around and I saw my mother. I went to her and realized that my mother (Rahma Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Samony, then aged 43) died with half of her face blown away. My father (Talal Hilmy Mahmoud Al-Samony, then aged 49) and my only daughter (Aza Salah Talal Al-Samony, then aged 2.5) also died, with their face disfigured. A total of 21 of my family members died. More than 50 of them were injured. There was screaming, shouting and crying. Blood was everywhere. I lifted my daughter and she had wounds on her neck and stomach. She was dead. Then, I heard my wife calling my name. I went to her. There were a lot of dead bodies on top of her. Then, I slowly pulled her out. She was injured and she was covered in blood. Three of my sons were badly injured and the other one had difficulties in breathing even now.”

Salah’s 15-year-old cousin, Mahmoud Al Sammouni, one of the few survivors of the same attack on that fateful day, also gave his statement at the hearing. However, the young teen could only give part of his testimony to the panel as he had received word that more of his family members were killed in the current conflict in the last few days. He will continue to give his testimony on Wednesday.

Mahmoud who was only 12-years-old at the time of 2009 attacks, saw his father shot in cold blood by the Israeli soldiers. He told the panel that he and his friends were playing football and mud balls around a fruit tree when they saw F16 planes flying in the area and shooting bombs and missiles. He related that there were also many soldiers on the grounds shooting at the walls of homes. He also saw parachutists coming down and landing on the highest buildings in the area and anyone who went out of their homes were shot dead.

Displaying maturity beyond his young age, Mahmoud related the terrifying ordeal he and his family underwent during the January 2009 attacks. The soldiers while shooting randomly at the family shot his 4-year-old brother twice in the chest and once in the head and four of his other brothers in their legs and behind the ear.

He related that they walked barefooted to seek help at the Al Shifa Hospital. “We went to the main road. Along the way we saw a lot of blood on the street, spent bullet shells, shoes. Iron and metal pieces were all across the street so that no one could pass. The soldiers were shooting randomly and people were scared. As we walked along the road, we saw a tank at the side of the road. It was facing the other way. When the soldiers saw us, the tank was turned in our direction and they shot right above our heads.”

The prosecution’s third witness was 22-year-old Nabil Al-Issawi from Bethlehem, West Bank. The 22-year-old former student of the Ahliya University in Bethlehem was part of a peaceful student demonstration near the Azah Refugee Camp when he was shot in the stomach by an Israeli sniper with a Dum Dum bullet (a bullet which expand on impact). As he lay bleeding on the street, the Israeli soldiers refused to give him immediate aid instead took pictures of him and made fun of him.

The use of Dum Dum bullets during a military occupation is a war crime and Nabil confirmed that the usage of Dum Dum bullets were a norm in the Palestine- Isreali conflict.

He was informed by the doctors that the Dum Dum bullet once penetrated in his body had broken into 3 pieces going into 3 different directions: 2 went out of his body through the back and his rectum while the third stayed inside his bladder near the lower spine. He was hospitalised for almost 6 1/2 months and underwent four operations.

“As a result I missed my last semester in the school (namely, from January to Jun 2008). This affected my academic performance, and I scored poorly in the CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average). As a result, I was precluded from pursuing the university course of my choice, namely law,” said Nabil who is currently pursing business studies.

“The course of my life has been altered dramatically. As of now, I have an abdominal scar for life and discomfort in sitting upright. I cannot swim competitively as I used to. Apart from this, my family members and I have been prohibited from going to Israel. Further, whenever I go through the Israeli military checkpoints, I am always harassed. I have been traumatised by the incident. Whenever I am about to go through numerous military checkpoints in West Bank, I am in the constant state of anxiety and fear,” said Nabil who also informed the panel that he and his family is blacklisted from travelling to the nearby Jerusalem since he was shot.

He demands freedom in his country, stressing that it is the basic right of human beings not to be harassed by forces that have been placed there illegally.

The fourth witness who appeared before the Commission was 42-year-old Jawwad Musleh from Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, West Bank. The tourism program coordinator gave testimony of the repeated incidents of incarceration that he had been subjected to since the age of 15 and gave the Commission a clearer picture of the socio-economic outlook of West Bank.

He testified that he was first arrested in 1985 when he was 15-years-old on the accusation that he was a member of the Palestine Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

He said, “I was first taken a place called Elmaskobeya Prison in West Jerusalem for investigation. Later I was taken to Damoun prison located in Haifa and finally I was taken to Ramallah prison in the West Bank.”

He told the panel that the Israeli forces had used different kinds of torture on him. He revealed that they especially used mental and psychological torture and wanted him to admit that he was a member of the PFLP. He was held prisoner for 20 months.

He  revealed, “The main charge against me was that I was a member of the Palestine Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). They wanted me to admit that I was a member of the PFLP. They tried to make me believe that they knew everything about me. I refused to confess. Then they began to beat me all over using clubs, sticks, even their feet and hands. The worst part was when there was no interrogation. They put me in confinement with my hands tied behind my back and a hood over my head. The hood was extremely smelly. I could barely breathe. I could not move. My hands were cuffed behind either to a chair or a piece of iron welded to a wall. I had no opportunity to go to the bathroom or to eat. When I did ask for water or to go to the bathroom, the soldiers would blackmail me. They asked me to confess, and only then would they give me water or take me to the bathroom. They prevented me from sleeping or eating or drinking.”

“In the end I did confess. I was just a kid. There was a court hearing and there was a lawyer representing me. However, from what I know the decision is usually made by the Israeli intelligence.”

Since then, he has been arrested a total of 8 times and each time he was tortured when he was incarcerated. During each interrogation, they wanted to know about his activities and his relationship with PFLP. There were various charges against him: rioting, participating in demonstrations, illegal activities, boycotting Israeli goods and inciting others to do the same, that he was security threat and a danger to the state of Israel.

He testified, “In the last 2 detentions in 1989 and 1990, I was arrested for “administrative reasons”. This is a tool the Israelis use for people who are suspected of being active in political activities but for which there is no proof. In such detentions, a person is not entitled to a hearing or lawyers to object to or challenge the detention. You are sent straight to prison. You can only object to the period of detention. The period of detention is usually 6 months. Very often the sentence is confirmed for 6 months. Only in rare cases, it may be decreased to 4 or 3 months.”

He added, “These kinds of arrests are common. Before the advent of the Palestinian authority in 1994, it occurred more frequently and more people were arrested. Now there are more than 5000 prisoners in Israeli prisons.”

The focus of the interrogation was always on his relationship with political parties, and they would also try to find out more about other people, as they wanted to get the names of other people active in the Palestinian cause.

He related, “Twice, I was sent to Qeziot Military Camp located in the Negev desert south of Palestine. It looks exactly like a Nazi concentration camp with watchtowers and fences. It is located in the middle of the desert and completely isolated from the world. There is no radio, television, newspapers or even visits. I had no access to my family or lawyers for 6 months each time. It was very difficult to lawyers to visit us. I only met my lawyer once each time. The situation in this military camp is horrible because I was isolated, and I had very little food, and even what I had was of poor quality.

In Qeziot, we were all housed in tents. These tents were installed on sandy ground. Each section had 10 tents. There were fences all around. In one tent, there would be 20 to 22 persons. It was very crowded. It was always dusty. Dust and sand would get into our food. We didn’t have books or anything to read and write. All we got was some food and a small mattress.”

“I was also held 3 times at the Dahariyeh Military Camp located south of Hebron That is also a very horrible place. The rooms were small and very, very crowded. We used to sleep with our legs over each other. There was no space to move. The rooms also very dirty. We were forced to wear prison clothes that were dirty and smelly. There was no access to any bathroom or toilet. The prison guards would bring us a barrel. All of us had to ease ourselves in the barrel openly in the room. When the barrel was full, we were allowed to take it out and empty it and bring it back. Everything used to smell bad, our mattresses and our clothes. There was no natural light. We were not allowed to leave the room. In other prisons, prisoners are allowed 1 or 2 hours in open space. In Dahariyeh, prisoners cannot go out unless going to court or being transferred to other prisons. I was never visited by my family or lawyer.”

“We were sometimes beaten by soldiers, although no interrogation was being carried out. They would count us 3 times a day. We would have to stand with our faces towards the wall. If anyone moves or talks, we were beaten hard with clubs. If anyone moved an inch or coughed or sneezed, all would be beaten.”

In December 1992 while preparing for participation in a peaceful demonstration on the anniversary of PFLP, he was shot twice in the leg by the Israeli army. It damaged a sciatic nerve in his leg and caused complete impairment and paralysis of his foot.

“Being detained and spending time in prison hardened my resolve to struggle. I became more aware of the cause of the struggle, the history and later I continued being active in the cause. The Israeli forces think that they can kill our soul and patriotism by sending us to prison. However, it is there that our loyalty to our homeland is strengthened.”

He added, “More and more Palestinian lands are being taken away. More and more Israeli colonies are being built on lands in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The situation is more complicated now. There are 700,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is being “Judaised” or “Israelised”. The Israelis are taking more and more Palestinian lands and building more and more settlements around Jerusalem to make it more and more Jewish and to force Palestinians to leave Jerusalem.”

On the subject of the Wall, he testifies, “When it came to building the apartheid wall, the Israelis said it is a security barrier. However, it is actually a strategy to confiscate and expropriate more land. It is not built on the border but inside the West Bank, and this has further reduced the landmass of the West Bank. So Jerusalem, which was part of the West Bank, has now been taken away and annexed to Israel by the construction of the wall.”

He said, “Life for Palestinians in Jerusalem is very difficult. The strategy is to make Palestinians leave and to replace them with Jews to make a Jewish city. Now about 200,000 Palestinians live in and around East Jerusalem mainly, and this number is getting less and less by the day. Israel says that Jerusalem is its capital.”

He further related, “Jerusalem is important for Muslims and Christians. For Muslims, the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque are very sacred places. The sacred places for Christians are the Sepulchre Church the Via Dolorosa. But both Christian and Muslim Palestinians cannot visit these places. Historically, Jerusalem has always been the centre and the heart of Palestine, economically, culturally, historically but now we are not allowed.”

He said, “To move from one place to another in the West Bank, we have to pass through check points. At every checkpoint we have to show identification. There are at the moment 730 checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank. This excludes ‘flying checkpoints’, which the Israeli set up at any place at any time.”

He related that the Israeli army control the checkpoints, some checkpoints they can pass with no problem, in some they have to submit ID, while others they have to wait for hours as they are very crowded. He revealed that a journey of one hour could take five hours. And when there is a demonstration, the checkpoints are simply shutdown.

On the issue of water supply, he revealed that Palestinians suffer from water shortages as the Israeli authorities control the control of water. “Water is supplied to the Israeli settlers at a cheaper price, and 5 times more in volume, compared to Palestinians. It is our land, but we pay more and get less water. The water supplied to Palestinians is inadequate for our daily use and causes us great hardship and suffering,” he said.

He further revealed, “Many farmers depend on olive harvests. Palestine is full of olive trees. Many farmers’ lands have been divided by the wall or the farms are located next to Israeli settlements or military camps. Farmers are therefore deprived of access to their lands. In some cases, they are only given permits to go to their lands during harvest in October. But because they are deprived of access throughout the year to fertilise, water and tend to their trees, the harvest is poor. In many instances, settlers have stolen olives from the farms. In other instances, settlers have burned the trees. Most of the Israeli settlements are located in higher land. Sewage water is discharged to the lower lands, where most of the Palestinians reside. This destroys the farms and trees, and damages the environment.”

Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal

II – KUALA LUMPUR, 21 November 2012 – The Commission heard testimonies of witnesses continuing with the 15-year-old Mahmoud whose 21 family members were massacred by Israeli armed forces under Operation Cast Lead in 2009 where Israeli armed forces attacked Gaza. They also called five other witnesses to testify.

Today, the teenager told the Commission the ordeal his 10-year-old sister Amal endured during the attacks in 2009. Amal who was buried under dead bodies for four days is now visually impaired, her hearing is affected and she has 15 pieces of shrapnel’s in her head that are medically too risky to remove.

Once again the teenager impressed the Commissioners and those who attended the hearing with his maturity and insights into the conflict.

A video animation called Samouni Street, which he was involved in the making off, was shown depicting Mahmoud’s life in a peaceful farming community that was destroyed in 2009. It was a moving account of a child.

He asked, “Why were the young children killed? They are so young and cannot even hold a stone. Like my brother Ahmad. My cousins who were infants were also killed. I have heard that the soldier who kills more – and younger children – moves up higher in ranks.”

He said, “What did the children do to deserve to die this way? What did the women do to become widows and what did the old people do to see all this? Nobody is defending us. It is like we are nothing. We do not have a normal happy life like other children. Where is the human right of the child?”

Even in the recent attacks, some of his neighbours have been killed. He fears for his family and relatives.

Dr. Walid Elkhatib, another witness, who comes from Bethlehem District, West Bank is a qualified medical doctor, with a Masters in Public Health, and Higher Diploma in Health Management, testified on the effects of Israeli occupation on Palestinians, especially children.

He testified, “From 1988 until 1996, I worked as a general practitioner. I worked at an emergency clinic during the 1st intifada. I saw many patients who were brought in with different kinds of injuries as a result of Israeli violence – people with gun shot wounds, who had been exposed to tear gas and people who were physically abused by Israeli soldiers.”

“Today, I am in charge of child health and protection, social health and Palestinian child law and rights,” said the 52-year-old doctor who developed hearing problems due to constant exposure to explosions and has himself come close to being killed several times by the Israeli soldiers.

“I looked at particularly Palestinian children health, not only from the physical point of view but how much Israeli occupation has affected Palestinian children health beyond physical health. It is not merely absence of disease and disability. What I perceived as equally important was emotional, social, mental and environmental health, nutrition and behaviour.”

He said, “According to a survey conducted in Palestine in 2010 in cooperation with the World Health Organisation, which I personally oversaw, 24% of schoolchildren in Palestine have suicidal tendencies.”

He further added, “There is also increased incidents of disability among Palestinians. Among 20% of injured people have become disabled during the 2nd uprising (Intifada). The most recent report from Palestinian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Affairs (2011) showed that 7% of Palestinian children are disabled, some because of the intifada. Generally the number is 1-2% higher in Palestine because of the violence.”

He said, “From 2001-2011, there were 2282 cases of disability (93.9% male, 6.1% female). Most of the men were involved in the intifada. 65.6% of them suffered disability as a result of live ammunition. Others were affected by shrapnel, rubber bullet, explosions.”

“As a result of the greater number of disabilities, it means that these persons also have less opportunities for work and end up in poverty. There is greater pressure on the government to support these persons, by way of provision of social services, health services, education etc.”

“Poverty is rife in the West Bank and Gaza. It increased from an average of 20% prior to the intifada to up to 51% during the intifada. Conditions of poverty also mean poor nutrition. We found that during the Intifada, children’s growth was stunted because they did not have enough protein. There are many cases of children with low weight. During the 2nd intifada, the rate of children with low weight (less than 5 years old) increased from 2.5% to 3.2%, the rate of low height increased from 7.5% to 7.9%, and wasting (severe loss of weight) increased from 1.4% to 1.7%.”

“According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), there was a 40% increase of prematurity and miscarriages in pregnant women during the 2nd intifada. Israeli soldiers have also violated international law by attacking hospitals and ambulances with shelling and shooting on the excuse that wanted people or terrorists are in the hospital. Currently 53% of the Palestinian population is below 18 years old.”

He said, “Israeli forces attack hospitals and ambulances on the pretext that there are Palestinian fighters hiding there. Which is not true. I have never seen such a situation. It is my opinion that the Israeli forces allege such incidents but do so to merely justify their inhuman actions of attacking hospitals.”

It is a slow and certain destruction of a society mentally, physically and socially.

He said, “Over the years, the situation in the West Bank and Gaza has become worse. The Israeli authorities have increased in strength. We can only estimate that it will get worse in the future. The Palestinians face a lot of challenges. We are being threatened all the time by the US and Israel – they threaten to cease the transfer of taxes, to strengthen the checkpoints, to stop aid, to completely stop entry to Jerusalem.”

He continued, “Before the 2nd intifada, I believed that Israel was looking for peace with Palestinians. But now I do not believe it. Israel does not believe Palestinian territory belongs to Palestinians. They believe that it is historically Israeli and they are taking it back. They threaten to increase settlements in Palestinian territories if Palestine continues to try and gain recognition as a state from the United Nations (without membership). Israeli actions amount to the extermination of a whole state. Israel believes that eventually Palestinians will leave their lands beyond the walls. Israeli strategy is to deprive the Palestinians of their basic needs to make them leave. The Palestinians are badly in need of support services Otherwise they will have no choice but to leave.”

The prosecution subsequent witness was 54-years-old Chahira Abouardini, a mother of three who is a Palestinian refugee (political refugee) living in Camp Shatila, Beirut. She told the Commission about the events that took place at Camp Shatila, Beirut in the month of September 1982, in the now infamous Sabra & Shatila massacre.

She testified, “On 14 September 1982, the Lebanese President Bachir Gemayel was assassinated. After that incident, there were a lot of aircraft flying around Beirut. My husband told me that the situation may get worse, and to prepare the children so that we could leave. On 16 September we went to my father’s brick house on Sabra Street. There were other family members as well – my father, my sister (17 years old), my brother (24 years old) and his pregnant wife and 2 children, and my cousin and his wife and 2 children.”

Chahira who broke down while giving testimony said, “In the evening beginning from about 5pm, flares were thrown to light up the area. This went on throughout the night. The camp was full of light throughout the night. We did not know what was happening outside. We heard shooting and screaming outside. At about dusk, my sister ran out into the street to see what was happening. She was shot dead by armed militia. When my sister was shot, she shouted for my father. My father came out of the house to see what had happened to my sister. He was also shot and killed. Their bodies were left on the street. Later I found out that those who shot my sister and father were Lebanese Phalangist militia.”

In the early hours of the morning, about 16-17 armed soldiers entered her home and shot her husband, brother and cousin dead in front of her and children. She related that militia entered homes and shot at everyone including children and animals.

She said, “Along the way to the stadium, I saw my cousin’s daughter who was pregnant lying dead. The murderers had opened her body and taken out her baby and put the baby on her. The child was dead as well. She was lying on the street.”

“Along the street there were a lot of dead bodies. Hundreds of bodies were strewn all over. We climbed a hill to the stadium. At the nearest houses I could see bodies of children. Between the houses, which had been half destroyed, there were bodies of men, and also women and children and animals.”

The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission hearing on Palestine. The world must do more to help Palestinians. Pic by Chan Wai YewShe testified, “In 36 hours, up to 3500 to 5,000 people from Shatila and Sabra had been massacred, There are also people unaccounted for who had disappeared. The Phalangist militia worked together with the Israelis. They were known to be puppets for Israeli forces. Israelis used them to go into our houses, because these soldiers knew the place, and could speak Lebanese. The Israelis were afraid to go in themselves.”

She concluded, “What I want is justice to be done and that those who killed my family members and all the people at Shatila and Sabra to be punished for their crimes.”

The prosecution’s next witness was Taghreed Nimat from Nablus, West Bank. Due to Taghreed’s father’s imprisonment for singing nationalistic Palestinian songs, the Israeli forces often targeted her, accusing her for promoting hatred against the Israeli government. In 2004, the Israeli soldiers attacked the Dr Sayed Kamal Mental Hospital in Bethlehem where she was staying and working as a psychologist. The 47-year-old Palestinian’s experiences during the hospital attack caused her to suffer a breakdown causing her to take ASVL sedatives twice and other medication for five months.

She also related how she was often harassed unnecessarily by the Israeli military soldiers whatever she went through checkpoints. They soldiers would detain her at these checkpoints for one or two hours or several hours before allowing her through or sometimes refusing entry.

The prosecution also called Anne Sunde, a 66-year-old Norwegian who is residing in Belgium. She was working as a volunteer social worker for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Beirut in the Sabra and Shatila Camps.

She related, “On 4 June 1982, I visited my friend at Fakhani. While we are chatting in the building, which housed the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) offices, we heard loud noises of planes flying over. We rushed to the shelter in the basement of the building. Then we heard bombing nearby our building. It was loud. The building shook and I was expecting to die under it. It was my first experience of direct violence. One becomes aware what life is. The bombing seemed eternity.”

She said, “After a few days the PRCS set up a hospital in La Houd School, Hamra. Since nobody among the volunteers wanted to do cleaning (janitor), I volunteered. I did this together with Kurdish refugees.”

She said, “Finally I decided to go back to Belgium on 15 September 1982 via Damascus. However, since it was the morning after Bachir Gemayel’s (the then President-elect) death, there were no taxis to take me to Damascus. Great nervousness was felt in town. I returned to the PRCS headquarter in Hamra where most of the foreigners were located.”

She then proceeded to relate her harrowing experiences of the killings at the Sabra and Shatila Camps. She further related that when she went to the Shatila Camp she saw many dead bodies of adults and children, both male and female, in strange positions. I also saw dead animals. The bodies were already decomposing and bloated in the summer heat. The smell, she said, was unbearable and there were flies all over.

She added, “It was a horrible scene and they were digging mass graves to bury the dead.”

The prosecution next called the 66-year-old Italian expert witness Paola Manduca, a retired Professor at University of Genoa, Italy who is an expert Geneticist. In 2011, she conducted and coordinated two research projects relating to the impact of weapons on reproductive health arising from the attacks in Gaza, especially to children. She also personally spent about more then a year from December 2010 to April 2012 in Gaza, conducting research in Pediatric and maternity hospitals.

She said, “The outcome of our research points to the degradation of the reproductive health and increase in major structural birth defects, following and correlated to the military attacks and possibly to the input of toxic, carcinogen and teratogen (development interfering) agents delivered by weaponry in the environment and in the wounds of victims, and of their assumption by the inhabitants.”

She related, “We showed by analytical chemistry methods that in Gaza teratogen and carcinogen metals are found in wounds, in craters since 2006 attacks and in White Phosphorus ammunitions in 2009 and children hair one year after the 2008/09 attacks.”

She said, “Our study of birth defects in 0 to 2 year old children registered in 5 paediatric hospitals in Gaza Strip showed that there is a 1.8 fold higher frequency of birth defects in the first 6 months of year 2010, compared to the same period in 2006.”

She testified that there was an increase in birth defects in Gaza starting in 2005-06. “It is our view that such sudden increases in birth defects are usually associated to significant and sudden environmental changes.”

She confirmed that the start of the increases is correlated in their timing to the military attacks, after the Israeli armed forces left Gaza, and the first news from medical personnel on “unprecedented” wounds, meaning new kinds of wounds from weapons.

She said, “We found that 66% of Gaza parents with a birth defect child were exposed to bombing or /and White Phosphorus shelling during Operation Cast Lead in 2008/09.”

She continued, “Couples with birth defect children reported exposure to White Phosphorus 15 fold more often than couples with normal child.”

She added, “Our studies have presented proof of a rise in birth defects in Gaza, increasing after the attacks in 2006 and continuing increase up to 2011. It showed correlation of birth defect occurrence with exposure to White Phosphorus shelling. In also showed contamination of the soil by teratogen and carcinogen metals. It showed accumulation of these teratogen and carcinogen metals in children’ hair. She also presented proof that teratogen and carcinogen metals are delivered by weapons into the flesh of victims.”

She concluded that there is long-term effect on reproductive health associated to metal contamination by exposure to weaponry during war and by war remnants.

KUALA LUMPUR, 21 November 2012 – The Commission heard testimonies of witnesses continuing with the 15-year-old Mahmoud whose 21 family members were massacred by Israeli armed forces under Operation Cast Lead in 2009 where Israeli armed forces attacked Gaza. They also called five other witnesses to testify.

Today, the teenager told the Commission the ordeal his 10-year-old sister Amal endured during the attacks in 2009. Amal who was buried under dead bodies for four days is now visually impaired, her hearing is affected and she has 15 pieces of shrapnel’s in her head that are medically too risky to remove.

Once again the teenager impressed the Commissioners and those who attended the hearing with his maturity and insights into the conflict.

A video animation called Samouni Street, which he was involved in the making off, was shown depicting Mahmoud’s life in a peaceful farming community that was destroyed in 2009. It was a moving account of a child.

He asked, “Why were the young children killed? They are so young and cannot even hold a stone. Like my brother Ahmad. My cousins who were infants were also killed. I have heard that the soldier who kills more – and younger children – moves up higher in ranks.”

He said, “What did the children do to deserve to die this way? What did the women do to become widows and what did the old people do to see all this? Nobody is defending us. It is like we are nothing. We do not have a normal happy life like other children. Where is the human right of the child?”

Even in the recent attacks, some of his neighbours have been killed. He fears for his family and relatives.

Dr. Walid Elkhatib, another witness, who comes from Bethlehem District, West Bank is a qualified medical doctor, with a Masters in Public Health, and Higher Diploma in Health Management, testified on the effects of Israeli occupation on Palestinians, especially children.

He testified, “From 1988 until 1996, I worked as a general practitioner. I worked at an emergency clinic during the 1st intifada. I saw many patients who were brought in with different kinds of injuries as a result of Israeli violence – people with gun shot wounds, who had been exposed to tear gas and people who were physically abused by Israeli soldiers.”

“Today, I am in charge of child health and protection, social health and Palestinian child law and rights,” said the 52-year-old doctor who developed hearing problems due to constant exposure to explosions and has himself come close to being killed several times by the Israeli soldiers.

“I looked at particularly Palestinian children health, not only from the physical point of view but how much Israeli occupation has affected Palestinian children health beyond physical health. It is not merely absence of disease and disability. What I perceived as equally important was emotional, social, mental and environmental health, nutrition and behaviour.”

He said, “According to a survey conducted in Palestine in 2010 in cooperation with the World Health Organisation, which I personally oversaw, 24% of schoolchildren in Palestine have suicidal tendencies.”

He further added, “There is also increased incidents of disability among Palestinians. Among 20% of injured people have become disabled during the 2nd uprising (Intifada). The most recent report from Palestinian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Affairs (2011) showed that 7% of Palestinian children are disabled, some because of the intifada. Generally the number is 1-2% higher in Palestine because of the violence.”

He said, “From 2001-2011, there were 2282 cases of disability (93.9% male, 6.1% female). Most of the men were involved in the intifada. 65.6% of them suffered disability as a result of live ammunition. Others were affected by shrapnel, rubber bullet, explosions.”

“As a result of the greater number of disabilities, it means that these persons also have less opportunities for work and end up in poverty. There is greater pressure on the government to support these persons, by way of provision of social services, health services, education etc.”

“Poverty is rife in the West Bank and Gaza. It increased from an average of 20% prior to the intifada to up to 51% during the intifada. Conditions of poverty also mean poor nutrition. We found that during the Intifada, children’s growth was stunted because they did not have enough protein. There are many cases of children with low weight. During the 2nd intifada, the rate of children with low weight (less than 5 years old) increased from 2.5% to 3.2%, the rate of low height increased from 7.5% to 7.9%, and wasting (severe loss of weight) increased from 1.4% to 1.7%.”

“According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), there was a 40% increase of prematurity and miscarriages in pregnant women during the 2nd intifada. Israeli soldiers have also violated international law by attacking hospitals and ambulances with shelling and shooting on the excuse that wanted people or terrorists are in the hospital. Currently 53% of the Palestinian population is below 18 years old.”

He said, “Israeli forces attack hospitals and ambulances on the pretext that there are Palestinian fighters hiding there. Which is not true. I have never seen such a situation. It is my opinion that the Israeli forces allege such incidents but do so to merely justify their inhuman actions of attacking hospitals.”

It is a slow and certain destruction of a society mentally, physically and socially.

He said, “Over the years, the situation in the West Bank and Gaza has become worse. The Israeli authorities have increased in strength. We can only estimate that it will get worse in the future. The Palestinians face a lot of challenges. We are being threatened all the time by the US and Israel – they threaten to cease the transfer of taxes, to strengthen the checkpoints, to stop aid, to completely stop entry to Jerusalem.”

He continued, “Before the 2nd intifada, I believed that Israel was looking for peace with Palestinians. But now I do not believe it. Israel does not believe Palestinian territory belongs to Palestinians. They believe that it is historically Israeli and they are taking it back. They threaten to increase settlements in Palestinian territories if Palestine continues to try and gain recognition as a state from the United Nations (without membership). Israeli actions amount to the extermination of a whole state. Israel believes that eventually Palestinians will leave their lands beyond the walls. Israeli strategy is to deprive the Palestinians of their basic needs to make them leave. The Palestinians are badly in need of support services Otherwise they will have no choice but to leave.”

The prosecution subsequent witness was 54-years-old Chahira Abouardini, a mother of three who is a Palestinian refugee (political refugee) living in Camp Shatila, Beirut. She told the Commission about the events that took place at Camp Shatila, Beirut in the month of September 1982, in the now infamous Sabra & Shatila massacre.

She testified, “On 14 September1982, the Lebanese President Bachir Gemayel was assassinated. After that incident, there were a lot of aircraft flying around Beirut. My husband told me that the situation may get worse, and to prepare the children so that we could leave. On 16 September we went to my father’s brick house on Sabra Street. There were other family members as well – my father, my sister (17 years old), my brother (24 years old) and his pregnant wife and 2 children, and my cousin and his wife and 2 children.”

Chahira who broke down while giving testimony said, “In the evening beginning from about 5pm, flares were thrown to light up the area. This went on throughout the night. The camp was full of light throughout the night. We did not know what was happening outside. We heard shooting and screaming outside. At about dusk, my sister ran out into the street to see what was happening. She was shot dead by armed militia. When my sister was shot, she shouted for my father. My father came out of the house to see what had happened to my sister. He was also shot and killed. Their bodies were left on the street. Later I found out that those who shot my sister and father were Lebanese Phalangist militia.”
In the early hours of the morning, about 16-17 armed soldiers entered her home and shot her husband, brother and cousin dead in front of her and children. She related that militia entered homes and shot at everyone including children and animals.

She said, “Along the way to the stadium, I saw my cousin’s daughter who was pregnant lying dead. The murderers had opened her body and taken out her baby and put the baby on her. The child was dead as well. She was lying on the street.”

“Along the street there were a lot of dead bodies. Hundreds of bodies were strewn all over. We climbed a hill to the stadium. At the nearest houses I could see bodies of children. Between the houses, which had been half destroyed, there were bodies of men, and also women and children and animals.”

She testified, “In 36 hours, up to 3500 to 5,000 people from Shatila and Sabra had been massacred, There are also people unaccounted for who had disappeared. The Phalangist militia worked together with the Israelis. They were known to be puppets for Israeli forces. Israelis used them to go into our houses, because these soldiers knew the place, and could speak Lebanese. The Israelis were afraid to go in themselves.”
She concluded, “What I want is justice to be done and that those who killed my family members and all the people at Shatila and Sabra to be punished for their crimes.”

The prosecution’s next witness was Taghreed Nimat from Nablus, West Bank. Due to Taghreed’s father’s imprisonment for singing nationalistic Palestinian songs, the Israeli forces often targeted her, accusing her for promoting hatred against the Israeli government. In 2004, the Israeli soldiers attacked the Dr Sayed Kamal Mental Hospital in Bethlehem where she was staying and working as a psychologist. The 47-year-old Palestinian’s experiences during the hospital attack caused her to suffer a breakdown causing her to take ASVL sedatives twice and other medication for five months.

She also related how she was often harassed unnecessarily by the Israeli military soldiers whatever she went through checkpoints. They soldiers would detain her at these checkpoints for one or two hours or several hours before allowing her through or sometimes refusing entry.
The prosecution also called Anne Sunde, a 66-year-old Norwegian who is residing in Belgium. She was working as a volunteer social worker for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Beirut in the Sabra and Shatila Camps.

She related, “On 4 June 1982, I visited my friend at Fakhani. While we are chatting in the building, which housed the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) offices, we heard loud noises of planes flying over. We rushed to the shelter in the basement of the building. Then we heard bombing nearby our building. It was loud. The building shook and I was expecting to die under it. It was my first experience of direct violence. One becomes aware what life is. The bombing seemed eternity.”

She said, “After a few days the PRCS set up a hospital in La Houd School, Hamra. Since nobody among the volunteers wanted to do cleaning (janitor), I volunteered. I did this together with Kurdish refugees.”

She said, “Finally I decided to go back to Belgium on 15 September 1982 via Damascus. However, since it was the morning after Bachir Gemayel’s (the then President-elect) death, there were no taxis to take me to Damascus. Great nervousness was felt in town. I returned to the PRCS headquarter in Hamra where most of the foreigners were located.”

She then proceeded to relate her harrowing experiences of the killings at the Sabra and Shatila Camps. She further related that when she went to the Shatila Camp she saw many dead bodies of adults and children, both male and female, in strange positions. I also saw dead animals. The bodies were already decomposing and bloated in the summer heat. The smell, she said, was unbearable and there were flies all over.
She added, “It was a horrible scene and they were digging mass graves to bury the dead.”

The prosecution next called the 66-year-old Italian expert witness Paola Manduca, a retired Professor at University of Genoa, Italy who is an expert Geneticist. In 2011, she conducted and coordinated two research projects relating to the impact of weapons on reproductive health arising from the attacks in Gaza, especially to children. She also personally spent about more then a year from December 2010 to April 2012 in Gaza, conducting research in Pediatric and maternity hospitals.

She said, “The outcome of our research points to the degradation of the reproductive health and increase in major structural birth defects, following and correlated to the military attacks and possibly to the input of toxic, carcinogen and teratogen (development interfering) agents delivered by weaponry in the environment and in the wounds of victims, and of their assumption by the inhabitants.”

She related, “We showed by analytical chemistry methods that in Gaza teratogen and carcinogen metals are found in wounds, in craters since 2006 attacks and in White Phosphorus ammunitions in 2009 and children hair one year after the 2008/09 attacks.”

She said, “Our study of birth defects in 0 to 2 year old children registered in 5 paediatric hospitals in Gaza Strip showed that there is a 1.8 fold higher frequency of birth defects in the first 6 months of year 2010, compared to the same period in 2006.”

She testified that there was an increase in birth defects in Gaza starting in 2005-06. “It is our view that such sudden increases in birth defects are usually associated to significant and sudden environmental changes.”

She confirmed that the start of the increases is correlated in their timing to the military attacks, after the Israeli armed forces left Gaza, and the first news from medical personnel on “unprecedented” wounds, meaning new kinds of wounds from weapons.

She said, “We found that 66% of Gaza parents with a birth defect child were exposed to bombing or /and White Phosphorus shelling during Operation Cast Lead in 2008/09.”

She continued, “Couples with birth defect children reported exposure to White Phosphorus 15 fold more often than couples with normal child.”
She added, “Our studies have presented proof of a rise in birth defects in Gaza, increasing after the attacks in 2006 and continuing increase up to 2011. It showed correlation of birth defect occurrence with exposure to White Phosphorus shelling. In also showed contamination of the soil by teratogen and carcinogen metals. It showed accumulation of these teratogen and carcinogen metals in children’ hair. She also presented proof that teratogen and carcinogen metals are delivered by weapons into the flesh of victims.”

She concluded that there is long-term effect on reproductive health associated to metal contamination by exposure to weaponry during war and by war remnants.

The Prosecution in its submission urged the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission (KLWCC) to make the necessary recommendations on the indictment and persons to be charged to the KLWC Tribunal. They recommended that the state of Israel be indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide from the evidence tendered.

International commissions over the years have concluded that Israel had committed genocide and war crimes. After Operation Cast Lead the UN Goldstone Report stated that Israel committed war crimes in the destruction of civilian infrastructure and in the killing of civilians.

The UN Security Council resolution 521 (1982) condemned the criminal massacre of Palestinian civilians in Sabra and Shatila. The UN General Assembly resolution (ES-7/9 24 September 1982) resolved that the massacre was an act of genocide. The UN MacBride Commission formed after the Sabra and Shatila massacre concluded that Israel had committed genocide and war crimes.

The UN General Assembly on 16 December 1982 passed a resolution reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention to the protection of civilians in the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories including Jerusalem. It noted the failure of Israel to comply with numerous resolutions. It noted also that the actions and record establish conclusively that it is not a peace loving member state and has not carried out its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations.

And yet the international community has failed to take any action against Israel.

Genocide, under the 1948 Genocide Convention is the deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a people in whole or in part. The evidence adduced show that the state of Israel has been engaged in acts of genocide against the Palestinian people. Genocide includes both physical and mental harm caused by the Israeli occupation as well as the bombing and killing of civilians that is going on even now in Gaza.

Gaza and West Bank are under military occupation of Israel. The Fourth Geneva Convention provides protection for people under a military occupation. Israel has breached practically all the articles of the Geneva Convention.

Israel’s contention that it is not in occupation of Gaza and West Bank once it withdrew its troops. The reality is Israel is in occupation since the test is belligerent control –Israel is in control. It has blockaded Gaza from the sea and surrounded it by a wall on the land. The Egyptian border is sealed with Gaza. Israel exercises control with the blockade of Gaza, the attack and killing of civilians, the denial of essential supplies, constant killing of civilians. Gaza is under siege.

The World Court in its Advisory Opinion in ‘the wall case’ in July 2004, participated by the Israeli and Palestinians, rejected all of Israel’s arguments that they are not an occupying force. The opinion of the World Court was that the construction of the wall in Occupied Palestinian Territory is contrary to international law.

Israel is stealing Palestinian water and diverting it to Israel and its settlers while Palestinians are being deprived of water. Hundreds of checkpoints have been established by Israel across West Bank and Gaza limiting the access of Palestinians travelling from town to town. With the wall built by Israel the Palestinians are almost in a ‘prison’.

Wide spread systematic torture of Palestinians as shown in evidence before the Commission have in numerous cases been documented extensively over the years by human rights organisations including Amnesty International that clearly show that Israel has committed war crimes.

Based on evidence and records, the Sabra and Shatila massacre is a clear case of genocide and war crimes. The Israeli forces had played a key role in working with the Phalangist militia in perpetrating this crime. The Palestinian fighters had withdrawn to Tunisia and the Palestinian civilians at the camps were assured by the US that they would be protected under the Habib Agreement. The International forces consisting of Italian, French and US forces withdrew a day before the massacre started and reappeared after that in Beirut.

Crimes against humanity come from the Nuremberg trials drafted by the US to deal with the Nazis prosecution of Jews which include murder, torture, imprisonment, rape, persecution of a specific identifiable group based on racial, national, ethnic basis. Interestingly, the Israeli war crimes are the same with the only difference being the scale but it is an on going process of destruction of the Palestinian people.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) had refused to accept the Palestine complaint on war crimes against Israel. Palestinians have tried to obtain justice that has been continuously denied to them. The Palestinian complainants now turn to the KLWCC for assistance in obtaining justice.

The Commission upon hearing the evidence and the prosecution submissions announced that as per the charter of the KLWCC they would be deliberate on the facts and the law and prepare a report and its recommendations at a later date.

The 5-panel Commissioners’ is headed by Musa Ismail, a former Magistrate, who is currently a practicing lawyer. The other Commissioners include lecturer and author Prof Hans-Christof von Sponeck, who was also a former UN Assistant Secretary General responsible for humanitarian operations in Iraq, Nobel peace prize nominee Denis J. Halliday, who worked for the UN for 34 years and was head of the UN Humanitarian Programme in Iraq, Dr Zulaiha Ismail, former Dean of the Centre for Graduate Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and currently actively involved with NGOs specifically on the plight of the Palestinians and Michel Chossudovsky, professor of economics emeritus, University of Ottawa and Director, Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG).

The prosecution team for the commission hearing is lead by Prof Gurdial Singh Nijar, prominent law professor and author of several law publications. He is assisted by Prof Francis Boyle, Avtaran Singh and Gan Pei Fern.

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Are Hamas Fighters Using American Weapons Meant for Ukraine? Scott Ritter

By Scott Ritter, October 10, 2023

US weapons provided to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for the purpose of fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels were being seized by the Houthi on the battlefield and being turned against the original owners. Moreover, some of these weapons found their way into the hands of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.

The Gaza Prison Break and the Prospect of a “Final Solution” in the Israel-Palestine Conflict

By Prof. Anthony J. Hall, October 10, 2023

For starters, why should we believe anything that comes out of the mouth of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most flagrant liars of our times. I find much more credible the cautious and measured commentary of Efrat Fenigson, a veteran of the Intelligence Division of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

Biden’s Request for Another $100 Billion for Ukraine, Doubts from US the US Congress in the Eake of the Hamas Attacks

By Ahmed Adel, October 10, 2023

Considering that Israel declared war on Palestine following Hamas’ attack on the same day as the Telegraph’s report, there are questions on how much aid can be sent to Ukraine since demand for the US to step up support for Israel will grow.

Shot Across the Bows of WW3: Contextualizing the Israel-Hamas War

By Dustin Broadbery, October 10, 2023

If the lessons of the past few decades are anything to go by, painting Palestinians as the bad guys and Israel as the victims, is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. 

Video: Israel-Hamas War: Netanyahu’s “Planned Operation on All Fronts”

By Efrat Fenigson, October 10, 2023

A year ago there was a military operation in Gaza to prepare for such events, and ongoingly there are trainings for these kinds of scenarios. This raises serious questions about Israeli intelligence. What happened?

Captain Rock: The Symbol of a Risen People. Paintings and the History of Irish Resistance

By Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin, October 10, 2023

The raised or clenched fist is a symbol of unity and solidarity that became associated with trade unionism and the labour movement going back to the 1910s in Europe and the USA. Soon after, it was taken up as a symbol of political unity by socialist, communist and various other revolutionary social movements.

Blue Light, Green Blood: Edifice Politics for Israel

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, October 10, 2023

Very clear statements have been made in taking such a position: to the dead we owe the truth, but only a certain truth, and only to certain dead.  There are some truths to be told slant and circuitous, and others to be avoided altogether.

Thanksgiving Was About “Taking”, “Colonialists Took the Land”

By Kim Petersen, October 10, 2023

So, if land is to be “owned,” it seems only right that the people who first settled it would become the owners. However, the Europeans who chanced upon Turtle Island claimed it in the name of their God and their rulers.

Play Musical Chairs at the US Senate. Senators Bob Menendez and Ben Cardin

By Philip Giraldi, October 10, 2023

Many Americans have come to accept that corruption and lying is the name of the game in Washington and, increasingly, at both state and local levels of government, in part because lying and stealing by those who run the country has become virtually consequence free.

Palestinians Demand an End to Occupation in a Massive Attack on Israel

By Steven Sahiounie, October 10, 2023

This morning, the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah entered the war to support the Palestinians quest for freedom. Israel has been occupying the Shebaa Farms area in southern Lebanon for decades, and the Lebanese want to retake their land, as well as fight for the end of occupation in Palestine.

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*** 

No way can we interpret at face value the violent events inside and outside the breached “GAZA envelope.”

For starters, why should we believe anything that comes out of the mouth of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most flagrant liars of our times. I find much more credible the cautious and measured commentary of Efrat Fenigson, a veteran of the Intelligence Division of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

To understand Ms. Fenigson’s account, it is important to grasp that the 2 million Palestinian inmates of Gaza are essentially locked up in an open air jail that is periodically bombed by the Israeli Air Force.

The protagonists that engage in these air attacks sometimes flippantly refer to their death missions as “mowing the grass.” Ms. Fenigson finds it inexplicable that the Gaza inmates under the direction of a political organization known as Hamas, were able to approach “unimpeded” the Gaza fence. The Palestinian inmates then broke through the fence at several locations.

Once the fence was repeatedly severed, there was “zero response” from the authorities. Another anomaly was that some border points were left open which basically never happens in Israel.

The commentator concludes that “this surprise attack seems like a planned operation on all fronts.” There was

“a failure to protect the people of Israel for sure, perhaps the biggest failure since the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The people of Israel and the people of Palestine have been sold to the higher power once again… There’s no way in my view that [the government of] Israel did not know what’s coming. Something is very wrong here. Something is very strange.”

The mainstream stream media (MSM) burst into gruesome commentaries chronicling litanies of reported rapes, pillage, hostage-taking, bombings, shootings and such committed mostly by young Palestinian men, some of them travelling for the first time freely cross-country in the land of their ancestors. They seized all manner of motor vehicles, sometimes stopping to express their pent up anger towards the Israeli population.

The Jewish state of Israel employs the jailers who have kept the incarcerated population of Gaza in a foul and overcrowded environment ever since they were born. Following their prison break some of the liberated inmates certainly committed crimes. They also have endured the imposition on their persons of lifelong unpunished crimes inflicted on them for no other reason than being born to their Palestinian parents.

Ms. Fenigson points to fights between the IDF and those engaged in the Gaza prison break. She notes to the contentions between the antagonists at many “outposts,” that is to say, on the most contested lands in the West Bank. Land and water stealing continues to take place and some of the Gaza escapees went to check out the status of the kleptocracy on the ancestral plots of their families.

Ms. Fenigson also points to the military nature of the censorship over news media in Israel, where officers of the IDF are exercising control over what can be seen and heard, both inside and outside Israel. The former IDF intelligence official obviously speaks from a place of deep understanding and the legitimate authority vested in genuine truth seekers.

The bombastic Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce that the Israeli government would unleash an unrestrained war of retaliation. He promised to “win,” whatever that means in this lose/lose scenario. Was this war being forced on Netanyahu or was he involved in a plan to give his government an opening into a strategy of extended extremism?

Such extremes might involve a realization of the Israeli Prime Minister’s longterm goal of orchestrating a US war aimed at destroying Iran? Are we presently seeing a major global realignment of military strategies that will cause a new sequence of major conflicts in Western Asia— in the “Middle East”— as well as a downgrading of emphasis on the Ukraine/NATO/Russia conflict?

All kinds of new geopolitical scenarios are being imagined and played out both in the region and globally. Concurrently many new factors are entering the weird dynamics of the sick and decrepit system of presidential politics that continues to be governed in large measure by the New York-Tel Aviv axis.

One of the terrible possibilities I see coming into focus, is that we are witnessing the pieces being put into place for a Middle East version of the “Final Solution.” Will this “Final Solution” be directed at eliminating Arab inhabitants from Israel and the accompanying lands under Israel’s direct control?

Extending the Radical Extremes of Israeli Politics 

To understand the possibility of such a drastic response to the Gaza Prison Break, it is important to realize Israel has never been governed by such a radical anti-Arab coalition in its entire history. By allying himself with the likes of Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotich, Netanyahu has entered the realm of the extreme Jewish Supremacist policies proposed by Rabbi Meir Kahane in the 1980s.

Kahane founded the Jewish Defence League subsequently categorized as a terrorist organization in both the USA and Canada. He sought the removal or elimination of Arabs from Israel and extreme apartheid until the goal of ethnic cleansing was achieved.

Kahane was elected to the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, in 1984 as the sole sitting member of the Kach Party. He was then expelled from the Knesset whose governing body determined he was too radical to participate in the proceedings of that agency.

Now, however, Netanyahu leads a government that has pretty much embraced the extremes of Kahane’s policies. The huge demonstrations directed for many months by liberal Israelis against the Kahane-style extremists currently in power, suggest the radical nature of Israel’s current government.

On Oct. 7, the very day of the prison break, there was Benjamin Netanyahu, poised and fully prepared to declare full-fledged war on Hamas in order to eliminate the Gaza escapees altogether or get them back into their permanent pens in the Gaza open air jail.

Is it reasonable to draw from Efrat Fenigson’s testimony the inference that the Gaza Prison Break was allowed as a means of preparing public opinion in Israel and beyond for some sort of drastic attempt to implement a Final Solution to the Palestinian Question?

Ever since the Netanyahu family sponsored in 1979 the Jerusalem Conference on International Terrorism, Netanyahu has become something of a master at playing the card of invented or real Arab extremism. In the extravagant theatrics of the Charlie Hebdo event in 2015, the Israeli Prime Minister was strutting around Paris pretty much playing the role of the Napoleon of the Global War on Terror.

Netanyahu makes no bones about it. Israel benefitted significantly from 9/11. Those who imagine that this outcome was nothing more than a fortuitous coincidence for Netanyahu, can be accused of naiveté in the extreme.

On 9/11 a mythology was created of determined Islamic jihadists attacking America because they were said to “hate our freedoms.” This mass deception proved to be a part of the formula for harnessing the power of the US military apparatus as a very effective weapon for waging of wars for Israel’s benefit.

Now Netanyahu is at it again. This time Hamas along with the anti-Arab, anti-Semitic bigotry of the Zionist media is delivering Netanyahu the goods that he will try to parlay into getting the US government to invade and destroy Iran.

As the IDF cracks down on Hamas, the Israeli Armed Forces will also have to deal with Hezbollah whose fighters have already defeated those of Israel in Lebanon in 2006. As the conflict develops, many will want to point out that Mossad and related agencies had a big role in creating both Hamas and Hezbollah.

Around 2004, the Zio-American Empire was seeking ways of undermining the growing resistance swirling around Yasser Arafat, the Fatah Movement and the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

The more secular, nationalist, and and materialist basis of this whirlwind of pro-Palestinian activism was perceived to be vulnerable to the religious incursions of Islam. So the old imperial application of divide-and-conquer was recycled yet again by the inheritors of the Orientalist machinations of the Anglo-American Empire.

In 1947-48 this Empire was the source of much of the energy that coalesced in the creation of the Jewish State of Israel on the land of Palestine. Of course the Palestinian people were excluded from the negotiations and they were mercilessly attacked by those intent on making Palestine into Israel through violence.

Presidential Politics in the United States and Christian Zionism

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy made an impassioned plea announcing his opinion that Israel should receive US backing for Netanyahu’s war on Hamas. Kennedy tweeted,

“This ignominious, unprovoked, and barbaric attack on Israel must be met with world condemnation and unequivocal support for the Jewish state’s right to self-defense. We must provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself — now. As President, I’ll make sure that our policy is unambiguous so that the enemies of Israel will think long and hard before attempting aggression of any kind.

“I applaud the strong statements of support from the Biden White House for Israel in her hour of need. However, the scale of these attacks means it is likely that Israel will need to wage a sustained military campaign to protect its citizens. Statements of support are fine, but we must follow through with unwavering, resolute, and practical action. America must stand by our ally throughout this operation and beyond as it exercises its sovereign right to self-defense.”

Scott Ritter quickly responded to Kennedy’s assertion tweeting,

“I like RFK Jr. I think he’s the best choice for POTUS. He’s positioned himself as the peace candidate. And this is the tweet I fear may have sunk his chances. Israel’s policies regarding Palestine are indefensible. Bobby should be promoting an equitable peace settlement. Not war.”

I’m inclined to agree with Ritter that Kennedy’s response is not consistent with his message that humanity is doomed unless we can create some basis for reconciling human animosities that stop short of war. This same embrace of war is rippling through the realm of Christian Zionism organized by preachers like Rev. John Hagee. One of Hagee’s early presents from Israel was a shiny new jet.

The large and lucrative business of preaching Christian Zionism has gone far in transforming the imagery of Jesus into that of a proponent of wars for Israel. There is less and less room in evangelical Christianity for depictions of Christ as a champion of peace and reconciliation.

The present crisis is certainly serious enough to prompt some reflections on how to find an exit from the religion of war fuelled by the diabolical economic system that has made a tiny minority stupendously rich at the expense of everyone else. Bankers in close partnerships with war profiteers are prominent among the greatest scourges of our times.

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

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

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

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*** 

US President Joe Biden is reportedly planning a possible “one-and-done” request for aid to Ukraine that would be so large that he would not need to seek further funding approvals from Congress until the 2024 election, The Telegraph reported on October 7. However, considering that Israel declared war on Palestine following Hamas’ attack on the same day as the Telegraph’s report, there are questions on how much aid can be sent to Ukraine since demand for the US to step up support for Israel will grow.

Reportedly, the new aid request could reach $100 billion to avoid continued legislative controversies that could impede Biden’s re-election bid next year, according to the British newspaper, which cited sources familiar with discussions at the White House. 

Biden’s proposal would dwarf the $24 billion funding request that US House lawmakers withdrew from the stopgap spending bill they passed last week to avoid a government shutdown.

“The ‘big package’ idea is firmly supported by many throughout the administration,” said a source familiar with discussions. “Supporters of Ukraine want this to be a one-and-done big bill, and then not have to deal with it until after the next election.”

The Biden administration is scrambling to find temporary ways to keep money and weapons flowing to Kiev, supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russian forces, until Congress approves a major aid bill. For example, a US State Department grant program could reportedly be leveraged to provide around $650 million in funding.

The media quoted White House officials as saying that a possible halt in Ukraine funding is just weeks away, which they warned could have devastating consequences on the battlefield. Republican lawmakers have become increasingly critical of Biden’s Ukraine policy, with some arguing that massive aid to Kiev only prolongs the bloody conflict at the expense of larger priorities. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed from his leadership role in early October, the first congressional impeachment in US history, reportedly after some of his Republican colleagues heard that he had promised Biden a draft separate Ukraine aid bill that would be submitted after approval of interim financing.

The Biden administration is not expected to decide whether to propose a full aid package for Ukraine until a new speaker of the House is elected, possibly next week, according to The Telegraph’s findings. A $100 billion bill could require the president to make concessions to conservative Republicans on issues such as illegal immigration.

US Representative Lauren Boebert, one of the Republicans who has been critical of Biden’s Ukraine policy, suggested in an interview on October 6 that the new Speaker of the House may have to commit to opposing more funding to Kiev. She noted that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives reached a majority and voted against a $300 million aid bill for Ukraine last week.

“For the first time, we saw that Ukraine funding alone does not have a majority of the majority’s support,” Boebert told American podcast host Steve Bannon. “Any speaker has to recognise that and not allow more funding for Ukraine to come to the floor. We are absolutely tired of spending it.”

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Thursday showed 41% of all American voters support the US sending weapons to Kyiv, down from 46% in May. The next survey will likely see an even more significant reduction as the Ukraine war is a lost cause for the West and Kiev, and more importantly, the world’s attention is now shifting back to the Middle East. Inevitably, the powerful Jewish lobby in the US will be demanding major material and financial support for Israel, something Washington will likely accommodate but will have to come at the expense of elsewhere – likely Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a Jew himself, has attempted to link the war in the Middle East to that in Eastern Europe, writing on Telegram:

“Israel’s right to defence is indisputable. Terror is always a crime, not just against one country or specific victims, but against humanity as a whole. The world must stand united… so that terror does not attempt to take or destroy life anywhere and at any moment.”

This will garner little sympathy in Israel as the country becomes even further self-absorbed in serving its interests and eliminating Hamas. The situation remains volatile, especially as Hezbollah has sworn to attack Israel if a ground assault against Gaza is launched, and US lawmakers, even those who are generally isolationists, will demand strong US support for Israel.

In short, this will ensure that Israel will be provided with all the assistance it needs from the US, even if this comes at the expense of Ukraine, as Washington must carefully allocate funds that it is struggling to attain in the context of the growing economic crisis in the country.

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

Featured image is from InfoBrics

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*** 

A major conflict is beginning in Palestine. On October 7, Hamas launched a military operation against the Israeli occupation forces. Using missiles, drones and paragliders, Palestinian soldiers managed to surprisingly attack Israeli troops and advance through occupied territory, liberating many areas. Tel Aviv responded with a declaration of war and several brutal attacks on civilian areas in Gaza, however, the Jewish State’s forces still appear unable to expel Palestinian soldiers from their occupied territory, with Hamas advancing rapidly.

In addition to territorial disputes, the attack seems to have direct religious reasons. Palestinians call the assault “Al-Aqsa Storm Operation“, referring to the famous Al-Aqsa Mosque, an important Islamic holy site. Jewish militants have frequently attacked the site and extremist religious groups have pressured the state to demolish the Mosque and build a Jewish temple in the region. The constant desecration of Al-Aqsa appears to have been a red line for Palestinian Muslims.

The surprise effect of the Hamas attack shocked Israeli authorities and Tel Aviv’s supporters around the world. Hamas’ ability to destroy the illegal siege imposed by Zionist forces was seen as a historic defeat for Israel. Furthermore, many experts are criticizing the intelligence capabilities of the Jewish State after the start of the battle, as the country’s spy forces were inefficient in predicting Palestinian moves and taking preventive measures against Hamas, which is a militia, not a regular national army, therefore having much more limited resources than Israeli Defense Forces.

Immediately after the start of hostilities, many videos and images began to be shared on social media showing the violence of the clashes.

Many of these images are spread out of context, mainly by the Western pro-Zionist propaganda machine. Anti-Palestine activists accuse Hamas of murdering civilians, while anti-Zionists claim [erronously] that all those killed are military targets – even though some of them are unarmed. It is important to remember that in Israel military service is mandatory for almost all citizens (including women), with most of the Gaza borders’ settlers being actually military, even if they were eventually killed or captured while off duty.

Israel’s reactions were harsh. Netanyahu declared a state of war and ordered a series of bombings against the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of Palestinian civilians died, non-military facilities were destroyed, and a severe blockade is being imposed on any type of food, energy or water supply. The retaliation, did not prevent Hamas’ advance into the occupation zone. There is still a strong presence of Palestinian troops and an absolute Israeli inability to expel them. Furthermore, thousands of Israeli citizens are leaving the country, creating an unprecedented crisis.

Around the world, reactions to the escalation were as expected. Most Arab and Islamic countries have expressed support for the Palestinian resistance, but without committing to direct military cooperation. The Collective West has voiced support for Israel, with the US, EU, UK and their allies harshly criticizing Hamas, which they consider a “terrorist group”. On the other hand, Russia and China called for an immediate ceasefire and emphasized the importance of recognizing a Palestinian State as an existential condition for peace in the Middle East.

Washington is moving significant extra military aid to Tel Aviv. The Jewish State already receives 3 billion dollars in military assistance annually from the US, but with the escalation of hostilities, the tendency is for this assistance to increase substantially. Obviously, this will have a severe impact on the proxy war against Russia, as it will be impossible for the US to continue backing two high-intensity conflicts at the same time. The pro-Israel agenda is unanimous among American politicians, bringing together Republicans and Democrats much more cohesively than Ukraine, which many conservative politicians dislike. So, it is most likely that Kiev will be progressively “abandoned” by Washington as the crisis in Palestine worsens.

However, it is unlikely that American aid will automatically be a “game-changer” for Israel. There will be many local reprisals as Iran will certainly exponentially boost its participation in the conflict and send weapons and irregular troops to help the Palestinians. Furthermore, Hezbollah from Lebanon and some Syrian military units are also on combat readiness and could openly enter the conflict if it escalates. Iran also controls Houthi dissidents in Yemen, who could also take part in hostilities. So, instead of an “easy” military effort, with systematic killing of civilians and territorial expansionism (as seen on other occasions), this time, Israel may be facing a serious security crisis, putting its very existence at risk.

To avoid this disastrous scenario, the right thing to do for Tel Aviv is to stop territorial expansionism and the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. The Jewish State needs to respect international law and start thinking seriously about returning its borders to the limits of the 1948 UN plan – with possible changes, as long as they are negotiated with the Arabs under mutually beneficial circumstances. Aggressive policies of apartheid and territorial annexation, as well as desecration of Islamic religious sites, will only result in more conflicts.

However, Tel Aviv seems not only committed to the most extreme wings of Zionism but also shows a willingness to act as an American proxy against Iran in the Middle East, which brings very negative expectations. If Israel chooses the path of war, it could become a “new Ukraine”.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

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

Featured image is from InfoBrics

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*** 

The US said Monday it does not have any information to suggest that Iran helped Hamas plan an unprecedented attack on Israel in which Hamas operatives infiltrated the country from land, sea and air amid barrages of missiles. 

Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, a senior Defense Department official said that while Iran is definitely “in the picture” after having provided Hamas with years of support “we have no information corroborating the specifics of” Iran’s reported aid for and sign-off on the attack.

The official maintained, however, that Iran has been supporting Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah and other groups across the region for years, and has been increasing the sophistication of weaponry it provides.

“We’re always continuously and continually assessing our understanding of the Iran-backed terror network across the region. And we’ve been very clear for years that Iranian support to a variety of militia groups, the sophistication of weapons its providing has been increasing,” the official said.

“This is not something new. It’s been going on for years,” the official added.

The comments come one day after the Wall Street Journal newspaper reported Sunday that Iranian agents helped plan Saturday morning’s attack, and green lit it during a meeting in Beirut on Monday.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had worked with Hamas since August to plan out the attack, including during a series of meetings that included other Iran-backed groups, including Hezbollah, the Journal reported citing senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with CNN Sunday that Washington has “not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship.”

Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel early Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets and infiltrating Israel by land, air and sea. It said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, and increased settler violence against Palestinians.

At least 900 Israelis have been killed since Saturday, and over 2,616 have been wounded, including 380 who are in critical condition, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.

In a related development, the Israeli army revealed the names of 12 military personnel who were recently killed in the conflict with Palestinian gunmen, pushing the death toll of Israeli forces to 85, according to the Israeli daily Maariv.

In retaliation, the Israeli military launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 560 Palestinians and wounding at least 2,900 others. Israel has also said it will completely halt all supplies of electricity, food and fuel to Gaza, which is home to over 2 million people, about half of whom are children.

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Featured image is from Struggle-La Lucha

Gaza e Israel: las cuatro causas de la guerra

October 10th, 2023 by Prof. Jorge Elbaum

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*** 

Anyone else notice a colossal decoupling of old left and new right? Former adversaries allied against COVID have fallen foul to the oldest trick in the book – divide and rule.  

On one side, erstwhile defenders of freedom joined forces with establishment mouthpieces in their condemnation of Palestine and endorsement of Netanyahu’s promise to raze Gaza to the ground.

The last time we saw an ideological rift of this magnitude was at the onset of COVID-19. What fresh hell awaits the people of Gaza is anyone’s guess. For the rest of the world, It feels like a shot across the bows of world war.

What remains conspicuously absent from most talking points is background, history, context, and nuance. It’s as if the weekend’s events existe entirely in a vacuum, mRNA immunised against decades of occupation, apartheid, besiegement, and displacement. 

I am not for one minute defending the horrific scenes coming out of Israel yesterday. Civilians being brutalised and murdered is indefensible. I would question, however, the veracity of some of these images, and why in one day, we have seen more from Isreal than 20 months of war in Ukraine. As one astute commenter observed:

In the spirit of a well-deserved reality check, it’s important to remember that social media was flooded with a deluge of propaganda eliciting similar powerful emotions on the precipice of the first lockdowns.  

As I remarked in this article last year: “COVID largely happened on social media where our social networks were weaponised as echo chambers of the fear-narrative. It wasn’t so much a pandemic, but the social contagion experiment playing out in real time.”

In similar terms, the weekend’s events represent a new watershed in the power of social media to evoke powerful emotions with graphic imagery that in some cases have transformed people’s perceptions and driven a wedge between former allied communities – all in the space of 24 hours. As a rule of thumb, it’s important to remember the information war of the past few years and the weapons of propaganda and PSYOPs used to divide and indoctrinate. 

Let’s also remember that social media played a crucial role in the Arab Spring. Many consider this an example of U.S. backed Black Op’s, with many activist groups sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation funded by the Department of State and USAID.

If the lessons of the past few decades are anything to go by, painting Palestinians as the bad guys and Israel as the victims, is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. 

What’s for certain is that retaliation from Israel will result in genocide and human rights atrocities in orders of magnitude greater than the hundreds of Israeli fatalities.

Even Jordan Peterson of ‘just get the damned vaccine’ fame, encouraged Netanyahu to “give ‘em hell”, like many others, in spectacular ignorance of the context, nuance and background to these events. 

Namely, that the Gaza Strip is the world’s largest open-air prison at 25 miles long and 5 miles wide. With 2 million inhabitants, half of whom are children, it’s one of the most densely populated places on earth. What Israel euphemistically calls a border is a heavily fortified and patrolled barbed wire fence, akin to the prison wall separating Guantanamo Bay from Southwest Cuba. 

Even the most cursory look at the reporting of fatalities and injuries from the region since 2008 paints a very different picture to the idea these events were unprovoked.

According to the United Nations, for every Israeli murdered, twenty one Palestinians are slain; for every Israeli injured, there’s twenty four Palestinians casualties. It’s not so much an uneven playing field as it is a story of David and Goliath. At one end of the battlefield, you have one of the most militarised states on earth, on the other a bunch of goat-herders-come terrorists (or freedom fighters), depending on which side of the fence you’re on. 

For those rallying around the self-defence card, even Wikipedia places the number of civilian to combatant deaths during, for example, the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict at almost 3:1. 

Others with inimitable experience reporting on these events for decades suggest that the number of Palestinians killed and maimed, day after day, goes largely unreported.

War is an abomination, granted. The killing of civilians, indefensible. The brutal scenes out of Israel this weekend, reprehensible. But that doesn’t change the fact that there’s context and nuance as to why these events happen. The same folks emphatically defending Ukraine’s right to defend itself against Russia, will not grant Palestinians similar concessions against their occupiers. 

What many talking heads fail to acknowledge is that Israeli settlements are built on stolen land very often confiscated violently by an apartheid state leaving a trail of dead, maimed and displaced Palestinians in its wake. It could be argued by Palestinians personally affiliated by this conflict that Israeli civilian settlers are in fact colonisers with as much blood on their hands as the IDF and Mossad.

Until you have boots on the ground breathing in the gunpowder drenched putrid air from both sides of Israel’s contested and militarised boundary line, then you don’t really have a point of view, you have content curated by the very interests benefitting from your ignorance.  

And irrespective of the degrading scenes we witnessed on Saturday, the degradation goes both ways: see this.

An important point of reference to how the Israeli army controls every vector of Palestinian life in the occupied territories is this interview with former Israeli soldier Ori Givati.

Givati is involved with an organisation called Breaking the Silence that raises awareness of the dire consequences of prolonged military occupation.

The Israeli government may have just declared war, with the western establishment supporting its permissibility, but others closer to the occupation, including The Jewish Voice for Peace believe that the war on Palestine has been in full swing for 75-years:

“Israeli apartheid and occupation – and United States complicity in that oppression – are the source of all this violence. Reality is shaped by when you start the clock.

For the past year, the most racist, fundamentalist, far-right government in Israeli history has ruthlessly escalated its military occupation over Palestinians in the name of Jewish supremacy with violent expulsions and home demolitions, mass killings, military raids on refugee camps, unrelenting siege, and daily humiliation. In recent weeks, Israeli forces repeatedly stormed the holiest Muslim sites in Jerusalem.”

With a unified media campaign attempting to promote these events as Israel’s 9/11, it’s important for right thinking folks who would ordinarily be mistrustful of corporate media consensus to validate their sources and ensure as much impartiality as possible.

A good starting point for context is former IDF soldier turned journalist and peace activist Efrat Fenigson, commenting on events live from Israel on Saturday: 

“Israel has one of the most advanced and high-tech armies. How come there was zero response to the border breaches?…Something is very wrong … There’s no way that Israel did not know of what’s coming. This surprise attack seems like a planned operation on all fronts….If I was a conspiracy theorist, I would say this feels like the work of the deep state”

These sentiments were echoed by other former IDF and special forces soldiers:

Putting this into context, Israel has one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world with a multi-tiered missile defence system, including: David’s Sling, Arrow 2, Arrow 3, Iron Dome, and Iron Beam.

Stretching along the entire boundary between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Israel’s $1.1bn Iron Wall fence, considered “only one of its kind in the world,” is equipped with some of the most advanced technologies and sensors, so effective that a mouse can’t get across the border without the military knowing about it. Then there’s Mossad the world’s second or third most powerful intelligence agencies with literally eyes and ears everywhere. 

How Hamas managed to achieve all of this without some assistance from on-high beggars belief. 

Amongst other important question being asked on Twitter concerns the number of historic buildings from New York to Miami and Prague to Baku lit up this weekend in solidarity with Israel:

In times of world changing geopolitical events it’s important to recall the extremities which governments and other bad actors will go to in order to elicit public opinion using propaganda and disinformation.

And there’s many examples the past 48 hours, including this widely shared video of female Israeli soldiers held hostage by Hamas apparently still in possession of their cellphones. 

What is particularly striking is that since Israel began to retaliate on Sunday 8th October, there appears to be a fraction of social media content showing Israeli strikes versus content shared only a day before portraying terrorist attacks by Hamas. We can therefore speculate as to which side big tech platforms such as Twitter are on, irrespective of Elon Musk’s apparent neutrality. 

Much of the sentiment driving support for Israel’s unimpeded right to level Palestine comes from two particularly brutal and shameful videos. The first is the graphic footage of a bloodied and distressed female hostage unverified at this stage as civilian or soldier. The second is that of the mangled and desecrated body of a young female Instagram influencer, Shani Llouk – a German citizen and the poster child for innocence.

Harrowing and tragic as these graphic images are, we must ask ourselves – what are the chances of all the thousands of possible hostages and victims paraded graphically as trophies of the atrocities committed by Hamas, that it would be an innocent, young German woman? Not only making this an international event, but feeding much of the hatred of Hamas which in turn fuels support for unrestrained Israeli retribution, not just against Hamas but anyone deemed to be in collusion, not least of all Iran?

With respect, this single event is not dissimilar to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by forces looking to bring about World War 1. 

According to Donald Trump, Hamas operations were funded by $6 billion in unfrozen assets provided to Iran by the Biden administration. Although in denial of this assertion, the Whitehouse has announced there was “no doubt that Tehran provided support for Hamas in the form of funding and arms.” 

Meanwhile an unverified video has emerged online purported to be the military wing of Hamas, Izzuddin Al-Qassam Brigades, alleging that the Islamic Republic of Iran provided the weapons, money and other equipment, used to destroy Zionist fortresses. A quick glance over Izzuddin Al-Qassam Brigades official website and at the time of writing this, there’s no references to this video, making it highly suspicious. 

If indeed things escalates beyond the occupied territories and Israel strikes Iran as Netanyahu has threatened on numerous occasions, there could be global repercussions, particularly amongst BRICs countries such as Russia and China who might rally in defence of Iran.

Irrespective, war is a racket and none more lucrative than the forever war that is the Israel-Palestine conflict. Western politicians’ forever pledges to broker a peace deal aside, Gaza is a soft target, with every conflict in the Middle East incredibly profitable for US arms giants, Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon.

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Dustin is a writer and researcher based in London who has been writing about the New Normal these past two years, particularly the ethical and legal issues around lockdowns and mandates, the history and roadmap to today’s biosecurity state, and the key players and institutions involved in the globalised takeover of our commons.

Aside from COVID-19, Dustin writes about the intelligence state, big tech surveillance, big philanthropy, the co-option of activism and human rights.

You can find his work at https://www.thecogent.org where this article was originally published. Or follow him on twitter @TheCogent1

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*** 

President Abraham A. J. Redelheim, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, Mayor Wagner, Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored by your generous invitation to speak here tonight. I had the opportunity 14 years ago as a newly elected Member of Congress to hear one of the greatest speeches I have ever heard in all of my life given on the cause which interests you so much tonight, in the city of Boston by your great guest here tonight, Rabbi Silver.

Prophecy is a Jewish tradition – and the world Zionist movement in which you have played such a great role has continued this long tradition. It has turned the dreams of its leaders into acts of statesmanship. It has converted the hopes of the Jewish people into the concrete facts of life.

When the first Zionist convention met in 1897, Palestine was a wasted, neglected land. A few scattered Jewish colonies had settled there. But they had come there to die, not to live. Most of the governments of the world were indifferent.

But all this now has changed. Israel has become a triumphant reality, exactly 50 years after Theodore Herzl, the prophet of Zionism proclaimed its inevitability. It was the classic case of an ancient dream finding a young leader, for Herzl was only 37 years of age.

Youth No Barrier

Perhaps I may be allowed that observation because the Jewish people ever since David slew Goliath have never considered youth as a barrier to leadership or measured maturity and experience by length of days.

I spent two weeks in Palestine in 1939. There the neglect and ruin left by centuries of the Ottoman Empire were slowly being transformed under conditions of the utmost difficulty by labor and sacrifice. But Palestine was still a land of promise in 1939 rather than a land of fulfillment.

I went back in 1951. In three years, this new state had opened up its doors to 600,000 people. The United States, composed of 175 million people, has an immigration of all we can take, we say, of 250,000 a year. Even while fighting for its own survival Israel has given hope to the persecuted all over the world and it has given a new dignity to those who believe in religious freedom in every part of this globe.

I left with a conviction that though the United Nations had given international status to Israel, nevertheless, Israel had been made a nation by its own exertions.

And it has claims to immortality. Some do not agree.

Attacked by Cairo Radio

Three weeks ago, I said in a public statement Israel is here to stay. The next day I was attacked by the Cairo radio rebuking me for my faith in Israel and quoting this criticism from Arabic newspaper Al-Gomhouria:

“As for the question of the existence and nonexistence of Israel,” the paper says, “Mr. Kennedy says that Israel has been created in order to exist. And we say that Israel will not continue to exist. Time will judge between us, Mr. Kennedy.”

I agree. Time will judge between us whether Israel will continue to exist or not. 

But I wish I could be as sure of my prophecy about this November as I am about my prophecy on this occasion.

It is worth remembering at this meeting that the cause of Israel stands beyond Jewish life. In our pluralistic society, as Bob Wagner pointed out, it has not been merely a Jewish cause, any more than Irish independence was the cause merely of those of Irish descent, because wherever freedom exists, there we are all committed. And wherever it is endangered, there we are all endangered.

The ideals of Zionism have, in the last half century, been endorsed by both parties, and by Americans of all ranks in all sections. Friendship for Israel is not a partisan matter. It is a national commitment.

Yet within this national obligation of friendship, there is a special obligation on the party of which I am a member. It was President Woodrow Wilson who prophesied with great wisdom a Jewish homeland. It was President Franklin Roosevelt who kept alive the hope of Jewish redemption in the days of the Nazi terror. It was President Harry Truman who first – my friend Harry Truman – who first recognized (I have only been able to say that since last Saturday, but I’m saying it), who first recognized the status of Israel in world affairs.

And may I add that it would be my hope and pledge to continue this great Democratic tradition, to be worthy of it, to be associated with it, for what is needed now is leadership – impartial but firm, deliberate but bold, leadership instead of rhetoric.

There has been enough rhetoric in recent years about free transit through the Suez Canal to float every boat through it, but there has been no leadership. Our policy in Washington and in the United Nations has permitted defiance of our 1956 pledge with impunity – indeed, with economic reward.

If America’s word to the world is to have any meaning, if the decisions and resolutions of the United Nations are to be binding on all parties, if the Mutual Security Amendment, which I co-sponsored with Senator Paul H. Douglas, is to have meaning, if the clear, thoughtful language of the Democratic platform is to have meaning – the influence of this Nation and other maritime powers must be brought to bear on a just solution that removes all discrimination from the Suez Canal.

A Moral Obligation

The Israelis surrendered their 1956 victory only because the United States and the United Nations committed themselves to the fulfillment of a pledge of free transit in the Suez Canal. So this is a United Nations resolution, in which we have a particular moral obligation.

We have also had much rhetoric in recent years about the arms race in the Middle East. This rhetoric has not only been empty and negative; even more fundamental is the premise that if the United States and the United Nations are to reject a solution based on force then they must accept the task of finding a solution based on reason and justice.

When I talked with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on his recent visit in the United States, he told me of dangerous signs of unrest, which existed then under the seeming quiet of the Middle East. For there is no peace in that region today, only an embittered truce between renewed alarms.

American intervention, on the other hand, will not now be easy, for the record is not one to which we can point with pride. The series of incredible American blunders which led to the 1956 Suez crisis, events in which the role of our Government has never been fully explained; the so-called Eisenhower doctrine which had been repudiated by the very nations which accepted our aid, and, in general, a deterioration in our relations with all Middle Eastern countries primarily because neither Arab nor Israeli know exactly where we stand or exactly what we mean.

Punishment for Virtues

At times it must have appeared that champions of democracy were being punished for their very virtues by being taken for granted, by a neglectful administration which showed concern only when it was displeased by their conduct.

Peace in the Middle East is not one step nearer reality than it was eight years ago, and the Russian influence has increased immeasurably.

What can a new President do? Moral weakness and timidity will not do. More stubborn errors, redeemed at the last minute, will not do. Now we must take the risk of leadership and use our influence to compose this ugly situation before it breaks out in a new threat to peace.

And I know we will not be alone in searching for a peaceful solution if our aims are high, and if they are centered solely on the genuine needs of the people of the Middle East, and on an honorable end to an ancient quarrel.

First, I propose that the new President reaffirm our sincere friendship for all people in the Middle East, whatever their religion or their race or their politics.

Secondly, I propose that we make it crystal clear that the United States meant what it said in the tripartite declaration of 1950 that we will act promptly and decisively against any nation in the Middle East which attacks its neighbor.

Make Intentions Clear

I propose that we make clear to both the Israelis and the Arabs our guarantee that we will act with whatever force and speed is necessary to halt any aggression by any nation.

I propose that an international effort be made to limit an arms race in the Middle East with a realization-with a realization that if this is not accomplished we shall not permit an imbalance to exist which threatens the right of any country to self-defense.

Once the nations of the Middle East have a firm and precise guarantee, then the need for continuing an arms race can disappear, the easing of tension can follow, and both sides will be able to devote their energy to peaceful pursuits.

Third, I propose that all the authority of the White House be used to call into conference the leaders of Israel and the Arab States to consider privately their common problems, assuring that we support in full their aspirations for peace, unity, Independence, and a better life; and that we are prepared to back up this moral commitment with economic and technical assistance.

The offer should be made with equal frankness to both sides and all the world would be watching the response of each side.

I sincerely believe that an American Presidential Initiative, honestly intended and resolutely pursued, would not be lightly rejected by either side, unless that side was prepared to bear the burden of breaking the peace.

And I promise to waste no time in taking that initiative. The Middle East needs water, not war. They need tractors, not tanks, and they need bread, not bombs.

There is already little enough in that sandy soil to be wasted on a dizzy arms race on both sides, an arms race which could be prevented if guarantees of security were provided. For the original Zionist philosophy always maintained that the people of Israel would use their national genius not for selfish purposes, but for the enrichment of the Middle East.

The earliest Zionist leaders spoke of a Jewish state which would have no military power and which would be content with victories of the spirit. The compulsions of a harsh and inescapable necessity have compelled Israel to abandon this hope. But I cannot believe that anyone in Israel tonight wants to live their lives out in a garrison state. And I cannot believe that the Arab world would not find a better basis for unity in a united attack against all of their accumulated social problems – an attack in which they could benefit immensely from a closer association with the people of Israel.

The people of Israel have brought their blessings to people all over the world, to Burma and Ghana and Ethiopia. Why should the countries of the Middle East, which need technical assistance, why should they be denied this opportunity to participate in a great source of future wealth for them and their people?

It is a long and painful step, may I say, from the era of the boycott to the era of peaceful partnership. And that step needs the direct encouragement and help of the people of the United States and the President of the United States. The next President of the United States, whoever he may be, should always be available first to stimulate every experiment in cooperation, from the joint development of a river to a reconsideration of the Arab refugee problem, suggested I think best by the Democratic platform, to the crowning mercy of a final reconciliation that can be brought about by a true peace settlement.

Peace is our objective in the Middle East and peace is the objective of Israel, and peace is our responsibility in part. “Seek peace and pursue it,” says the Psalmist. And that we must do – open up our minds and our hearts and we shall seek peace for ourselves and all who share our aspirations. And when history writes its verdict, let it say that we pursued peace with all of our courage, that we did everything that we could do with our hands to make sure that the blessing was brought to our children and all those who think as we do.

We are in this country the youngest of people. But we are the oldest of republics. Now is our chance in this country to extend the hand of friendship to the oldest of People and the youngest of republics.

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Source: Papers of John F. Kennedy. Pre-Presidential Papers. Senate Files, Box 910, “‘American Leadership for Peace in the Middle East,’ Zionists of America convention, New York City, 26 August 1960.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.

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*** 

 

Click here to view the video

Transcript:

Oct. 7th, 2023, This is Efrat Fenigson, and I’m here to share an update from Israel-Hamas War which started this morning.

I’m going to share some key details and concerns, mostly based on Israeli citizens’ voices from the ground, and on official statements. 

This is a very tough day for me and for us in Israel. It is tough for people of Palestine too, especially now that Israel is starting to attack back. War is a horrible thing for everyone involved, except for those who get rich from it. 

This morning, around 6am, sunrise, Hundreds of Hamas terrorists, at least 300, breached the border fence in multiple places, completely unimpeded, leading to terror attacks and kidnappings in Israeli towns or villages.

The terrorists infiltrated a significant number of dryland outposts as well as a naval infiltration point in Zikim. As we speak, Israel is actively engaged in combat in 22 outposts. This is from the IDF statement. 

The attacks have already resulted in over 100 casualties and more than 100 kidnappings of Israeli citizens. [October 10, several hundred]

In one village, 50 Israelis have been taken hostage, leaving people locked in shelters for long periods of 8-9 hours without rescue.

In some places the terrorists were burning the village and people didn’t know if to leave the shelter and surrender or stay and pray the fire doesn’t catch them.

Many young people who were in a big outdoor party near the Gaza envelope villages, were attacked there, some ran away, some were injured and some are still missing.

Apparently Israeli Defense forces that were supposed to be around Gaza were placed around the West Bank because of security concerns so the Gaza envelope was left unoccupied with military. 

Soldiers are being recruited for reserves, but because of stupid reasons such as no public transport they’re waiting hours to get to bases. 

Mainstream media apparently admits that IDF spokesperson is forbidding to tell the complete truth, highlighting a lack of transparency. Only now, 6pm Israel time, 12 hours after the event started, we received the first formal announcement from IDF spokesperson: see this.

A year ago there was a military operation in Gaza to prepare for such events, and ongoingly there are trainings for these kinds of scenarios. This raises serious questions about Israeli intelligence. What happened?

Two years ago there was a successful deployment of underground barriers in with sensors – to alert terrorists breaches. Israel has one of the most advanced and high tech armies, how come there was zero response to the border and fence breaching??

I served in the IDF 25 years ago, in the intelligence forces. There’s no way Israel did not know of what’s coming. A cat moving alongside the fence is triggering all forces. So this??

What happened to the “strongest army in the world”? How come border crossings were wide open?? Something is VERY WRONG HERE, something is very strange, this chain of events is very unusual and not typical for the Israeli defense system.

With the recent normalization efforts of Israel and Palestine led by Saudi Arabia, I wonder whether a prisoners exchange deal is something that could only be seriously considered by Israel if a shocking event like that happened?  

Is it a possibility that only with Israeli hostages it can be justified to release dangerous  prisoners from Israeli prisons?

MSM reported that “Deputy Hamas leader Saleh Al-Aruri suggests using Israeli prisoners for leverage in negotiations.” 

A point about the situation in Israel in the past few years – those who follow me know, that there’s a general sense of insecurity in Israel, there’s political and social instability, public funds are being misused on agendas such as Covid, climate, judicial reform, abolishing cash and more. The current and government is highly corrupt in my view, while the previous one was no better. 

I don’t care about having a popular opinion, I care about exposing evil forces – wherever they are: 

To me this suprise attack seems like a planned operation. On all fronts.

This is a failure to protect the people of Israel, for sure, perhaps the biggest failure since the Yom Kippur war exactly 50 years ago, if not bigger; by the way – is it a coincidence it’s exactly 50 years ago, almost on the day? The Yom Kippur War was on Oct. 6th 1973. 

If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say that this feels like the work of the Deep State. It feels like the people of Israel and the people of Palestine have been sold, once again, to the higher powers that be.

At the same time, this is still very difficult to fathom.

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Featured image is a screenshot from the video

Um grande conflito está começando na Palestina. Em 7 de Outubro, o Hamas lançou uma operação militar contra as forças de ocupação israelenses. Utilizando mísseis, drones e parapentes, os soldados palestinos conseguiram atacar de forma surpresa as tropas israelitas e avançar através do território ocupado, libertando muitas áreas. Tel Aviv respondeu com uma declaração de guerra e vários ataques brutais contra áreas civis em Gaza, no entanto, as forças do estado israelense ainda parecem incapazes de expulsar os soldados palestinos do seu território ocupado, com o Hamas a avançar rapidamente.

Além das disputas territoriais, o ataque parece ter motivos religiosos diretos. Os palestinos chamam o ataque de “Tempestade Al-Aqsa”, referindo-se à famosa Mesquita Al-Aqsa, um importante local sagrado islâmico. Militantes judeus atacaram frequentemente o local e grupos religiosos extremistas pressionaram o estado para demolir a mesquita e construir um templo judaico na região. A constante profanação de Al-Aqsa parece ter sido uma linha vermelha para os muçulmanos palestinos.

O efeito surpresa do ataque do Hamas chocou as autoridades israelitas e os apoiantes de Tel Aviv em todo o mundo. A capacidade do Hamas de destruir o cerco ilegal imposto pelas forças sionistas foi vista como uma derrota histórica para Israel. Além disso, muitos especialistas criticam as capacidades de inteligência do estado israelense após o início dos confrontos, visto que as forças de espionagem do país foram ineficientes na previsão dos movimentos palestinos e na tomada de medidas preventivas contra o Hamas, que é uma milícia, e não um exército nacional regular, portanto tendo recursos muito mais limitados do que as forças armadas de Israel.

Imediatamente após o início das hostilidades, muitos vídeos e imagens começaram a ser partilhados nas redes sociais mostrando a violência dos confrontos. Muitas destas imagens são espalhadas fora do contexto, principalmente pela máquina de propaganda pró-sionista ocidental. Os ativistas anti-Palestina acusam o Hamas de assassinar civis, enquanto os anti-sionistas afirmam que todos os mortos são alvos militares – embora alguns deles estejam desarmados. É importante lembrar que em Israel o serviço militar é obrigatório para quase todos os cidadãos (incluindo as mulheres), sendo a maioria dos colonos das fronteiras de Gaza efetivamente militares, mesmo que tenham sido eventualmente mortos ou capturados enquanto estavam fora de serviço.

As reações de Israel foram duras. Netanyahu declarou estado de guerra e ordenou uma série de bombardeios contra a Faixa de Gaza. Centenas de civis palestinos morreram, instalações não militares foram destruídas e está a ser imposto um bloqueio severo a qualquer tipo de abastecimento alimentar, energético ou de água. A retaliação, apesar de forte, não impediu o avanço do Hamas para a zona de ocupação. Continua a existir uma forte presença de tropas palestinas e uma incapacidade absoluta de Israel para as expulsar. Além disso, milhares de cidadãos israelenses estão a abandonar o país, criando uma crise sem precedentes.

Em todo o mundo, as reações à escalada foram as esperadas. A maioria dos países árabes e islâmicos manifestaram apoio à resistência palestina, mas sem se comprometerem com a cooperação militar direta. O Ocidente manifestou apoio a Israel, com os EUA, a UE, o Reino Unido e os seus aliados a criticarem duramente o Hamas, que consideram um “grupo terrorista”. Por outro lado, a Rússia e a China apelaram a um cessar-fogo imediato e sublinharam a importância de reconhecer um estado palestino como uma condição existencial para a paz no Médio Oriente.

Washington está a transferir ajuda militar adicional significativa para Tel Aviv. O estado israelense já recebe anualmente 3 bilhões de dólares em assistência militar dos EUA, mas com a escalada das hostilidades, a tendência é que essa assistência aumente substancialmente. Obviamente, isso terá um impacto grave na guerra por procuração contra a Rússia, uma vez que será impossível para os EUA continuarem a apoiar dois conflitos de alta intensidade ao mesmo tempo. A agenda pró-Israel é unânime entre os políticos americanos, reunindo republicanos e democratas de forma muito mais coesa do que a Ucrânia, que não agrada a muitos políticos conservadores. Assim, é mais provável que Kiev seja progressivamente “abandonada” por Washington à medida que a crise na Palestina piora.

No entanto, é improvável que a ajuda americana seja automaticamente um “game change” para Israel. Haverá muitas represálias locais, pois o Irã certamente aumentará exponencialmente a sua participação no conflito e enviará armas e tropas irregulares para ajudar os palestinos. Além disso, o Hezbollah do Líbano e algumas unidades militares sírias também estão em prontidão para o combate e poderão entrar abertamente no conflito se este se agravar. O Irã também controla os dissidentes Houthi no Iêmen, que também podem participar nas hostilidades. Assim, em vez de um esforço militar “fácil”, com matança sistemática de civis e expansionismo territorial (como visto em outras ocasiões), desta vez, Israel pode estar enfrentando uma grave crise de segurança, colocando em risco a sua própria existência.

Para evitar este cenário desastroso, a coisa certa a fazer para Tel Aviv é parar o expansionismo territorial e a ocupação ilegal dos territórios palestinos. O estado israelense precisa respeitar o direito internacional e começar a pensar seriamente em devolver as suas fronteiras aos limites do plano da ONU de 1948 – com possíveis alterações, desde que sejam negociadas com os árabes em circunstâncias mutuamente benéficas. As políticas agressivas de apartheid e de anexação territorial, bem como a profanação de locais religiosos islâmicos, apenas resultarão em mais conflitos.

No entanto, Tel Aviv parece não só comprometida com as alas mais extremas do sionismo, mas também mostra vontade de agir como um proxy americano contra o Irã no Médio Oriente, o que traz expectativas muito negativas. Se Israel escolher o caminho da guerra, poderá tornar-se uma “nova Ucrânia”.

Lucas Leiroz De Almeida

 

 

 

 

Artigo em inglês :  ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ Operation: Far-reaching Geopolitical Implications

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

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*** 

“My unlucky countrymen have always had a taste for justice, a taste as inconvenient to them, situated as they always have been, as a fancy for horse-racing would be to a Venetian.” —Thomas Moore (1779–1852) – Memoirs of Captain Rock: The Celebrated Irish Chieftain, with Some Account of His Ancestors (1824)

The raised or clenched fist is a symbol of unity and solidarity that became associated with trade unionism and the labour movement going back to the 1910s in Europe and the USA. Soon after, it was taken up as a symbol of political unity by socialist, communist and various other revolutionary social movements. The clenched fist is ever more powerful than the individual fingers and in art it has been used as a metaphor for strength in unity of the peoples’ movements.

The painting, Le Soulèvement (The Uprising) by Honoré Daumier (1808–1879) of the French Revolution of 1848 includes a possible early example of a “political clenched fist,” according to curator Francesca Seravalle. She writes:

“A raised fist appeared for the first time as a political sign in a painting in 1848 by Daumier representing a woman during the Third French Revolution, until that time fists were just expressions of human nature.”

Le Soulèvement (The Uprising) by Honoré Daumier

However, another painting, The Installation of Captain Rock (1834), by the Irish artist Daniel Maclise (1806–1870) in the National Gallery of Ireland, depicts the protagonist with a raised, clenched fist as a political sign fourteen years earlier than Daumier’s revolutionary painting, surely demonstrating that the depth of oppression of colonialism in Ireland had already produced self-conscious radical political groups.

Captain Rock was a fictitious figure that was associated with the militant agrarian organisations in Ireland known as “the ‘Whiteboys’, the ‘Ribbonmen’, and the followers of ‘Captain Steel’ or ‘Captain Right'”.

The Installation of Captain Rock (1834) by Daniel Maclise (1806–1870)

These agrarian groups “issued warnings of violent reprisals against landlords and their agents who tried to arbitrarily put up rents, collectors of tithes for the Anglican Church of Ireland, government magistrates who tried to evict tenants, and informers who fingered out Rockites to the authorities,”  and involved many incidents of murder, arson, beatings and mutilation of cattle.

The source of the unrest was the hunger and death suffered by Irish families while their landlords shipped harvests and cattle to the English markets. Peter Berresford Ellis writes:

“This was the cause of the agrarian unrest among the rural population. Indeed, in 1822 a major artificial famine was about to occur. We have William Cobbett’s horrendous picture of people starving in the midst of plenty in that year. In June, 1822, in Cork alone, 122,000 were on the verge of starvation and existing on charity. How many people died is hard to say. A minimum figure of 100,000 has been proposed. Most likely around 250,000. At the same time, landowners were able to ship 7 million pounds (weight) of grain and countless herds of cattle, sheep and swine to the markets in England.”

Captain Rock’s Banditti – Swearing in a new member.

Insurrections occurred in 1822 that involved many thousands of ‘Rockites’ that had armed themselves with pikes and confronted British garrisons. According to Berresford Ellis:

“Colonel James Barry, commanding the garrison at Millstreet, reported that upwards of 5,000 ‘rebels’ had surrounded the town and many houses of loyalists between Inchigeelagh and Macroom were destroyed. The local Millstreet magistrate, E McCarty, added: ‘The people are all risen with what arms they possess and crown all the heights close to the town …’ Cork City and Tralee were cut off for two days before troops fought their way through.” 

‘Captain Rock’ had already made it into Irish literary history in the fictitious book, Memoirs of Captain Rock: The Celebrated Irish Chieftain, with Some Account of His Ancestors (1824) written by the Irish writer, poet, and lyricist Thomas Moore (1779–1852). In these ‘memoirs’ Captain Rock is depicted in a folkloric way, a character who brushes off lightly the dangers of his profession, as he states:

“Discord is, indeed, our natural element ; like that storm-loving animal, the seal, we are comfortable only in a tempest; and the object of the following historical and biographical sketch is to show how kindly the English government has at all times consulted our taste in this particular ministering to our love of riot through every successive reign, from the invasion of Henry II. down to the present day, so as to leave scarcely an interval during the whole six hundred years in which the Captain Rock for the time might not exclaim

“Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?”
or, as it has been translated by one of my family : —
Through Leinster, Ulster, Connaught, Munster, Rock ‘s the boy to make the fun stir!”

Similar comparisons can be made with the contemporary Kenyan author, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who combines social realism of contemporary society with mythical elements as a way of illustrating his radical themes, for example in Devil on the Cross (1980), Jacinta Wariinga, is invited to a Devil’s Feast by a mysterious  figure called Munti that turns out to be a business meeting for the Organization for Modern Theft and Robbery.

Image: Devil on the Cross (1980) by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

The high educational level of ‘Captain Rock’ is attributed to his associations with the teachers of the Irish ‘hedge schools’, which were small informal secret and illegal schools set up in the eighteenth and nineteenth century to provide primary education to children of ‘non-conforming’ Catholic and Presbyterian faiths.

According to Maeve Casserly, “the hedge schoolmaster played a pivotal role, as both an educator and prominent member in agrarian society, in encouraging the militant political and social sentiments” and that “in an age which promoted the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham and emphasised ‘useful learning’ that subjects like Greek, Latin and Hebrew, which formed an intrinsic part of the hedge school curriculum, were wastefully taught instead of necessary vocation skills.” To direct attention away from their militant leadership roles, the hedge schoolmasters used poor grammar and mis-spelled words. She notes that “William Carleton was of a similar opinion that many of the letters, oaths and catechisms of the Rockite insurrectionists, were the work of village schoolmasters.”

Thus, the very public ‘Installation of Captain Rock’ in Maclise’s painting points to the symbolism of the patriotic movement rather than its reality. The clenched fist represents not only the unity of the gathered crowd but also the passing of responsibility for radical social and political change from the deceased elder leader to the vigorous, radical youth.

A depiction of a 19th century hedge school.

In the painting Maclise depicts the scene as a joyous occasion within a hall where many groups of ordinary people are busy getting on with life, yet plotting revolution. To the left a group is making a pact signified by their collective hand grasp, while behind them in a dark alcove appears to be a hedge school master surrounded by listeners and readers. To the right of the hall there is much merriment as a man and a woman dance wildly. Our eyes are drawn around a distracting group of young lovers as we suddenly realise that a gun is being pointed right at us by a young man in front who is just about to shoot (signified by a girl putting her hands to her ears), demonstrating that youthful ‘fun’ should never be underestimated and can suddenly turn deadly serious.

The background to Maclise’s painting looks more like a group of people digging their way down to the hall where the secret ceremony is taking place. This signifies the working class aspect of the dangers of mining work (often carried out by children in the nineteenth century), as well as the necessity for literal and metaphorical underground bunkers to hide from the often overwhelming force of the oppressor.

Overall, the people in the painting are portrayed as active, animated, excited, and fearless.

Image: 1857 lithograph of Daniel Maclise by Charles Baugniet

Maclise excelled in paintings of large groups of people engaged in various activities grouped around a theme. Maclise had an ongoing interest in the ideology, history, and traditions of ordinary people as can be seen in the subject matter of some of his paintings, for example, Snap-Apple Night (1833) [Hallowe’en traditions], Merry Christmas in the Baron’s Hall (1838) [containing many figures of various ranks and degrees and depicts aspects of the declining traditional Christmas festivities of his time, see my article A Poem for Christmas: Christmas Revels (1838)], The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (1854) [depiction of the Norman conquest of Ireland and the death of Gaelic Ireland].

Maclise’s positive portrayal of people is in contrast with the often melancholy depictions of oppressed people around the world, an unfortunate side effect of Social Realism which tried to show the treatment of the poor in all its brutality. However, depictions of the moment of uprising also sows the seeds of hope for a better future, while at the same time providing a fair warning to all elites to beware of the retaliation of a community which has nothing left to lose.

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Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin is an Irish artist, lecturer and writer. His artwork consists of paintings based on contemporary geopolitical themes as well as Irish history and cityscapes of Dublin. His blog of critical writing based on cinema, art and politics along with research on a database of Realist and Social Realist art from around the world can be viewed country by country here. Caoimhghin has just published his new book – Against Romanticism: From Enlightenment to Enfrightenment and the Culture of Slavery, which looks at philosophy, politics and the history of 10 different art forms arguing that Romanticism is dominating modern culture to the detriment of Enlightenment ideals. It is available on Amazon (amazon.co.uk) and the info page is here.He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Featured image: Ralph Chaplin – Cartoon published in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) journal Solidarity on June 30, 1917.

Blue Light, Green Blood: Edifice Politics for Israel

October 10th, 2023 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

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*** 

It has been a few days of slaughter-filled accounts.  Starting on October 7 on the Jewish day of Simchat Torah, the State of Israel has faced assaults from hundreds of Hamas militants.  Directed from southwards in the country, the mayhem has rattled the security and intelligence establishment smugly convinced in their reading of Palestinian motivations and capabilities.  But outside the conflict, the commemorations for the dead are to be held according to a specific blueprint.

Across a slew of Western capitals and cities – self-described their presses as The World, blue and white lights have splashed buildings, offering a plaster of virtue over the policies of a state.  It would be futile, and tiresome, to document each example of such selective privileging.  But for those countries aligned or sympathetic to Israel, some particularly reluctant to decry policies that have violated, with breezy disdain, the dictates of international law, you will not see buildings illuminated by the flag colours of Palestine.

The Berlin Wall received such treatment.  Ditto the Berlaymont, the headquarters of the European Commission’s building in Brussels.  But surely no country, in terms of number, came close to the United States, Israel’s unqualified political and military backer.  In New York alone, under direction by Governor Kathy Hochul, such landmarks as the One World Trade Centre, the Moynihan Train Hall and the Empire State Building received the nocturnal blue-white bathing of light.  “New York stands with Israel – today and every day,” Hochul reiterated.

Very clear statements have been made in taking such a position: to the dead we owe the truth, but only a certain truth, and only to certain dead.  There are some truths to be told slant and circuitous, and others to be avoided altogether.

A noisy, agitated example of this unfolded in response to the decision made by the New South Wales government to illuminate Australia’s most famous architectural construction in the colours of the Israeli flag.  Reporters went about sniffing to see whether the protests organised by Palestinian activists outside the Sydney Opera House emitted a certain antisemitic tang.  If not antisemitic, anything that could be seen as pro-Hamas or laudatory of attacks on the Israeli state would also be picked up.

Political figures did not wait long before the red mist descended.  Had the protesters been pro-Israel, Jewish and celebrating Israel, that would have been a different matter.  But here, we saw protests by Palestinians against the decision to bathe the Opera House’s famous sails in such selective illumination.  A prudent measure might have been to avoid doing so altogether: once sides are taken, other sides are excluded.

The focus, however, was not on the building’s preferential lighting scheme but the insensitive audacity of the Palestinian protesters who turned up like desecraters at a holy event.  Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed the view that “people need to really take a step back,” and that the march be abandoned.

Allegra Spender, the independent federal MP for the Sydney seat of Wentworth, made it clear where her side of the vote counted.  She called protests outside the Opera Hall “abhorrent.  At a time when there should be solidarity with our Jewish community, they have been subject to appalling abuse.”  She demanded to know how such an unsympathetic rabble had been permitted to protest in the first place.  No mention that the protest was directly challenging the illumination of the edifice in the colours of a flag associated with the military and economic incarceration of Gaza, the occupation of the West Bank, the brake on recognising Palestine as a sovereign state.

Attacks by Hamas, Spender raged in a separate statement, were not seen as “acts of resistance” but those of a crazed terrorist outfit.  “People should not let sympathy for the Palestinian’s legitimate aspirations for statehood blind them to the fact that Hamas remains dedicated to a Palestinian state where Israel does not exist.”  Spender could also have noted that the stillborn nature of Palestinian statehood has become the default policy of the Netanyahu government.

Former diplomat Dave Sharma, who had also previously served as a Liberal MP for Wentworth, expressed his “outrage” on ABC News Breakfast because the protesters should have “picked another evening” to march.  This should have been Israel’s day, the day for Jews.  The Palestinian marchers should have protested appropriately, always the mealymouthed recipe for the ducking brigade who favour power over principle.  NSW Premier, Chris Minns, fumed Sharma, should never have given the state police permission for the protests to take place.

For his part, Minns managed to aggravate a goodly number by permitting the illumination of the Opera House to take place, not disallowing the rally in response to that decision while warning the Jewish community to stay away for reasons of safety.  Regarding the protests themselves, they were, according to the Premier’s office, “horrible” and did “not represent the people of NSW.”  As horrible as they were, not a single arrest took place.

While Australian politicians complained and sniffed, Israel has imposed another blockade of Gaza, with news reporters limply avoiding the point that the enclave of two million inhabitants was already blockaded.  Such a political entity was barely breathing to begin with, but the promise now is to cut off water (97% of the water in Gaza is already contaminated), food, fuel and access to electricity (this was already subject to regular outages) is seen as a logical, natural barbarism.  Searching for the appropriate word, the Israeli forces had dubbed this latest measure a “siege”.

During a visit to the Israeli Air Force’s underground command centre, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant summed up the attitude to this approach of even deeper deprivation against an already exhausted civilian population.  “We are fighting animals and are acting accordingly.”

Hardly the voice of a restraint-filled, law abiding official.  But back in Australia, Sharma was full of greasy apologetics: “You have to understand, this is a war.”  And whenever it waged war, Israel would only do “in accordance with international law”.  Hardly – but at least we can light up a few buildings in blue and white.

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Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a regular contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research. Email: [email protected] 

Featured image is from @spenderallegra/X

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*** 

 

 

 

No one will dispute that the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island from Umingmak Nuna (Ellesmere Island) to Tierra del Fuego were here long, long before the White Man arrived.

So, if land is to be “owned,” it seems only right that the people who first settled it would become the owners. However, the Europeans who chanced upon Turtle Island claimed it in the name of their God and their rulers. Now, if Martians were to land here and claim the land, would any of the inhabitants of the western hemisphere accept that? No, because the Martians were latecomers, and they have their own planet. So by what morality do European Johnny-come-latelies lay claim to Turtle Island? And by Johnny-come-latelies, that is many millennia after the First Peoples arrived.

The First People were originally believed to have crossed the Bering Ice Bridge some 12,000 YA. That time frame has now been superseded, as even in Canada, the evidence is that Indigenous peoples were in the Bluefish Caves in Yukon 24,000 YA. And now some researchers are positing that the first humans might have been here as long as 130,000 YA. At any rate, that is many millennia longer than the first White Men, the Norsemen, who stayed for a while in Ktaqmkuk (Mi’kmaw designation for Newfoundland) back in 1000 CE.

Nonetheless, the Europeans arrived, claimed and took (stole would be an accurate verb) the continents north and south.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Thanksgiving traces back to 1621 in the United States. In Canada, it originates with the English explorer Martin Frobisher’s third voyage in 1578. Frobisher arrived in Ktaqmkuk/Newfoundland while seeking the Northwest Passage. It was in Ktaqmkuk/Newfoundland that Frobisher had a meal of salt beef, biscuits and mushy peas to celebrate and give thanks for their safe landing.

But the arrival of the White Man was not about giving; it was about taking that has continued to this day.

What has been taken (Canadian context, but applicable in the US)?

  1. First of all, colonialists took the land. It has been divvied up into provinces and territories, black-topped, and renamed (quite often to the names of colonialist).
  2. Their children. The state had the RCMP remove children from their families and be placed in Indian Residential Schools.
  3. Their spirituality. Indigenous peoples were forcibly proselytized in the church-run schools.
  4. The rich culture. Canada outlawed the Potlatch, an important ceremony of the Pacific Northwest First Nations. [1]
  5. The vibrant languages. Children were forbidden to speak their language in the residential schools. Linguicide was the result.
  6. Law and governance. Indigenous peoples were now subject to White Man’s laws. Even their ways of governing themselves were rejected by the White Man.
  7. The resources. White Man practiced capitalism, an economic system antithetical to Indigenous peoples. “Those Indians who go over to the white man can be nothing but beggars, for he respects only riches, and how can an Indian be a rich man? He cannot without ceasing to be an Indian,” said the revered leader of the Oglala Lakota, Red Cloud (Maȟpíya Lúta) [2] Professor John Lutz wrote of the historical “dialogue” and the subordination of Indigenous economies in the Pacific Northwest. Prior to the establishment of white settlement, the Indigenous peoples of present day British Columbia were among the richest and best-fed societies in the world. [3] Thus, the trees were felled, the land was mined, the oil and gas were drilled, the earth and water was polluted.
  8. The fish and game were exploited and became scarce or extinct. The bison no longer roamed the prairies in huge herds. The salmon no longer return to the rivers in previous abundance. The great auk and the passenger pigeon are extinct, as is the Atlantic walrus and blue walleye of the Great Lakes.
  9. Sovereignty. The Indigenous peoples find themselves deprived of nationhood and hindered in their freedom of movement by colonially created borders. Even within the unceded territory of their ancestors, the colonial government acts as the owner and ruler. Thus, the Wet’suwet’en find themselves in a battle against the forces of the Canadian state. The hereditary chiefs are ignored and subject to arrest. And Canada is held to account by Amnesty International.

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Kim Petersen is an independent writer. He can be emailed at: kimohp at gmail.com. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Notes

  1. See Potlach by George Clutesi.
  2. Quoted in Charles Eastman, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains: 9.
  3. John Lutz, Makúk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations. See review.

Featured image: Sky Woman (1936), by Seneca artist Ernest Smith, depicts the story of Turtle Island. (Licensed under the Public Domain)

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*** 

Many Americans have come to accept that corruption and lying is the name of the game in Washington and, increasingly, at both state and local levels of government, in part because lying and stealing by those who run the country has become virtually consequence free.

To cite only one example, the current ruinously expensive war against Russia began when the US and other NATO powers lied to Mikhael Gorbachev about their intentions regarding expansion of the “defensive” alliance into Eastern Europe. They then lied again in 2014 with the Minsk Accords, which were supposed to give some measure of autonomy to the Russian ethnic regions of Ukraine in the Donbas, an apparent concession that served as cover for arming and training the Ukrainian Army. Finally, the US and its friends arranged for regime change in Ukraine in 2014 to replace the friendly-to-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych with a pro-western candidate selected by the fanatical State Department neocon Victoria Nuland, who boasted how Washington had spent $5 billion to bring about the flip in government. That move warned Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding what was going on so he quickly annexed Russian ethnic majority Crimea, where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based.

Driving all the US-led aggression against Russia is the neocon foreign policy embraced by most of the two major political parties which demands that the United States have military superiority over all competitors everywhere around the world where it has interests or allies. That has meant by one count something like 1,000 foreign military bases. By way of comparison, Russia has only one overseas base, in Syria. And the maintenance of all those bases as well as the network of installations inside the US costs lots of money which fattens defense contractors and also winds up in the pockets of aspiring politicians while increasing the national debt to unsustainable levels. And it is no surprise to learn that when generals and admirals retire from active service, 80% of them wind up employed by contractors to lobby their former colleagues on the latest weapons systems that are so urgently required to maintain supremacy.

The recent exposure of Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey’s apparent tendency to accept bribes in exchange for various kinds of favorable treatment and protection was a particularly lurid tale in part because much of the loot consisted of $480,000 in cash stuffed into jacket pockets, closets and in a safe, along with 13 gold bars, two of them marked as 1 Kilogram in weight to the value of more than $100,000. In the garage was an upscale $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible that was a gift to Menendez’s then girlfriend, who had wrecked her own vehicle in an accident in which she had struck and killed a pedestrian. The car came from one of the New Jersey businessmen currently involved in the corruption and bribery investigation and no one can quite explain how an accident in which someone had died was never properly investigated by police. Menendez had allegedly helped the businessman by arranging to block a criminal investigation into his company’s activities.

Menendez is indeed a powerful senator even though there is more than a whiff of suspicion surrounding him and his activities. A Cuban American who is prominent in the Hispanic caucus, he was regarded as a political hardliner from his bully pulpit as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In 2015, Menendez was indicted on federal corruption charges but the jury was unable to reach a verdict, and the case was dropped in 2018. In April 2018, the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics “severely admonished” Menendez for accepting gifts from donor Salomon Melgen without obtaining committee approval, for failing to disclose certain gifts, and for using his position as a senator to advance Melgen’s interests. This time around, however, the evidence for wrongdoing is much more compelling and it even involves a foreign country, Egypt, so he has resigned his chairmanship but has refused to leave the Senate. He claims he is innocent, of course and continues to promote Biden’s view of the world, to include identifying the “core American foreign policy values” as “democracy, human rights, and the rule of law” even though it does not apply to him. And, of course, as a Cuban that worldview includes perpetual hostility to Havana and all its works, including its links to Russia.

Bob Menendez is up for reelection in 2024, but opinion polls taken just after the reports of his corruption surfaced indicate that he has no chance of winning against several Democrats who will challenge him. He will certainly receive some favorable press and significant campaign donations as he long been linked to Jewish lobbying groups like AIPAC and is closely aligned with Israel on foreign policy issues to include opposing in 2015 the President Barack Obama nuclear deal with Iran, asserting falsely that Iran is already working on a nuclear weapon. In March 2017, Menendez co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.270), which sought to make it “a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.” More important perhaps, Menendez has twice advanced legislation through his committee supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, so the White House will presumably do everything it can to protect him, but only up to a certain point.

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Menendez has been replaced by Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, who will not be running for re-election in 2024. Cardin, who is Jewish, is a strong and consistent supporter of Israel, like Menendez, and an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin of Russia. He was a co-sponsor of a Senate resolution expressing objection to the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law. Cardin warned that “Congress will take action against efforts at the UN, or beyond, that use Resolution 2334 to target Israel.” Cardin also voted with Republicans to support President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He declared that the time that “Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel and the location of the US Embassy should reflect this fact.” Cardin and Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, like Menendez, were strong supporters of the proposed Israel Anti-Boycott Act in late 2018, described above, and they also called for a sanctions mechanism to punish international organizations that seek to boycott Israel or its illegal settlements.

Oddly, Cardin has sometimes been credited with being a “human rights advocate,” a label which the Palestinians and others might object to. The claim is based on his authorship of US legislation referred to as the Magnitsky Act. According to Cardin and his allies in Washington, Sergei Magnitsky was a Russian lawyer hired by Bill Browder head of Hermitage Capital Management Fund, an Anglo-American investment fund operating in Moscow, to investigate the apparent diversion of as much as $230 million in taxes due to the Russian government. Hermitage was a hedge fund that was focused on “investing” in Russia, taking advantage initially of the extremely corrupt loans-for-shares scheme under Boris Yeltsin, and then continuing to profit greatly during the early years of Vladimir Putin’s ascendancy. The loans-for-shares scheme that made Browder his initial fortune has been correctly characterized as the epitome of corruption, an arrangement whereby foreign investors worked with local oligarchs to strip the former Soviet economy of its assets paying pennies on each dollar of value. Along the way, Browder was reportedly involved in making false representations on official documents and bribery. Nevertheless, by 2005 Hermitage was the largest foreign investor in Russia.

Magnitsky allegedly became a whistleblower after discovering that the missing money had been stolen by the police, organized crime figures and other government officials. After he went to the authorities to complain he was unjustly imprisoned for eleven months. When he refused to recant he was both beaten and denied medical treatment to coerce him into cooperating, resulting in his death in jail at age 37 in November 2009. He has become something of a hero for those who have decried official corruption in Russia.

The Magnitsky case is of particular importance because both the European Union and the United States have initiated sanctions against the Russian officials and entities that were allegedly involved. In the Magnitsky Act, sponsored by a Russia-phobic Cardin and signed by President Barack Obama in 2012, the US asserted its willingness to punish foreign governments for violations of human rights. Russia reacted angrily, noting that the actions taken by its government internally, notably the operation of its domestic judiciary, were being subjected to outside interference. It reciprocated with sanctions against US officials as well as by increasing pressure on foreign non-governmental pro-democracy groups operating in Russia. Tension between Moscow and Washington increased considerably as a result and Congress subsequently passed the so-called Global Magnitsky Act as part of the defense appropriation bill in 2016. It was signed into law by President Barack Obama in December. It expanded the use of sanctions and other punitive measures against regimes guilty of egregious human rights abuses though it has never been applied to US friends like Saudi Arabia and Israel. It has been used to punish China and Cuba. It was also sponsored by Senator Cardin and was clearly primarily intended to intimidate Russia.

The tit-for-tat that has severely damaged relations with Russia is based on the standard narrative embraced by many regarding who Magnitsky was and what he did, but is it true? Many now believe that there was indeed a huge fraud related to Russian taxes but that it was not carried out by corrupt officials. Instead, it was deliberately ordered and engineered by Browder with Magnitsky, who was an accountant not a lawyer, personally developing and implementing the scheme used to carry out the deception.

To be sure, Browder and his international legal team have presented what they regard as evidence in the case. But while it might be that Browder and Magnitsky have been the victims of a corrupt and venal state, it just might be the other way around. To cite only once example, much of the case against the Russian authorities is derived from English language translations of relevant documents provided by Browder himself. The actual documents in Russian sometimes say something quite different.

So there we go again. As the wheel turns in Washington nothing really changes. Benjamin Cardin as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs will promote the same policies of unrelenting hostility towards countries like Russia and China as did his recently resigned predecessor Bob Menendez. And as fighting between Israel and Gaza has just broken out, you can count on how the United States will line up even as hundreds of Palestinian children die as a powerful Israel pummels and pounds and largely civilian population in Gaza. Those are the sorts of things that American citizens can count on these days, unfortunately.

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This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [email protected].

Featured image is from TUR

Gardasil and Cervical Cancer: A Hoax in the Making?

October 10th, 2023 by Dr. Gary G. Kohls

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[This article was originally published by Transcend Media Service on June 29, 2016.]

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According to a recent Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) report, cancer of the cervix was the 14th most common malignancy among Minnesota women. Cervical cancer was also listed as the 17th most common cause of cancer death in Minnesota.

In Minnesota, according to the statistical information provided by the MDH (published here), the incidence of cancer of the cervix among Minnesotan females of all races is a miniscule 6.8/100,000 population (ie, 6.8 newly diagnosed cases per 100,000 women per year). (Incidence is the term for the number of new cases of a disease diagnosed during a specified period of time, usually a year.)

The age-related peak incidence for a diagnosis of cancer of the cervix is 44 years of age. In the 40 – 44 year age group, the MDH says that in any given year there are only 14 newly diagnosed cervical cancers per 100,000 population, which means that 99,986 out of every 100,000 44 year-old Minnesotan women will not be diagnosed with cervical cancer.

By the age of 50, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that more than 80% of American women will have been infected at one time or another with human papillomavirus (HPV). And yet, amazingly, well over 99,000 out of every 100,000 women will never be diagnosed with cervical cancer. (It is useful to point out that deaths from cervical cancer are an even more miniscule 1.5 cases per 100,000 females per year.) Those statistics should make obvious that girls who don’t go along with the crowd – by refusing the CDC’s recommendations – have a close to zero chance that they will ever get cervical cancer.

The question that should come to everybody’s mind is this: “Why vaccinate millions of young girls when the entirely theoretical chance of any of them ever getting cervical cancer approaches zero?” (See supporting data below.)

Not only that, but skeptical parents will save a ton of  money (an outrageous $140 per shot, plus office call charge) as well avoiding the distinct possibility of seeing their children become chronically ill with one or more serious autoimmune disorders that are becoming increasingly common among fully vaccinated children.

Some Statistics That Merck and Glaxo Don’t Want Doctors – or Their Patients – to Understand

The American Cancer Society estimates that 12,000 out of the 170,000,000 females in the US are diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer annually in the United States. That represents only 0.0061% of the female population (12,000 divided by 170,000,000 X 100% = 0.0061%) – an infinitesimally small percentage. But that means that 99.9939% of Minnesotan females will not get cervical cancer next year whether they were vaccinated with Gardasil or not or whether they were among the 80 % that had contracted an HPV infection during their lifetimes. That is a chance many will logically choose to take, especially because the costs (both financial and health-related) can be so high.

Those statistics represent pretty good odds that Gardasil has been way over-hyped, especially considering the fact that 60,000,000 American females are under the age of 30 (an age group within which cancer of the cervix is essentially non-existent) For the over 30 group the number of women who will never get cervical cancer still amounts to 99.989% (12,000 divided by 110,000,000 X 100% = 0.011 % and 100% – 0.011% = 99.989 %), even though 80% of them had already been infected – and then spontaneously cured – with one of the 100+ strains of HPV almost all of them not feared as being cancer-causing.

The Number Needed to Treat (NNT)

To make those stastics more meaningful, it is necessary to understand the concept of Number Needed to Treat (NNT) and Number Needed to Vaccinate (NNV), which is a quick figure that tells physicians how many patients have to be treated (or vaccinated) before one patient can be said to have benefitted from the treatment. Here is an excerpt from a Duluth News-Tribune Commentary article that I recently submitted. It was titled “Gardasil Has Not Been Proven to Prevent Cancer of the Cervix!”.  It is scheduled to be published soon.

“So how bogus is the vaccine industry’s claims that Gardasil can prevent cancer? The irrefutable fact is that there have been zero cases of cancer prevention proven. Patients will have to wait another generation or two to find out about cancer prevention, the major reason that parents are pushing their daughters to get the shots. 20 – 50 years is the amount of time for cancer of the cervix to develop.

“One useful statistical measure that some medical investigators use is the Number Needed to Treat (NNT), which is one way to quickly state the effectiveness of a treatment…For instance, the NNT for a course of penicillin for a penicillin-sensitive streptococcal pharyngitis is 1 (meaning that one cure [or effective treatment or vaccination] occurs for every one course of treatment. If a treatment results in only half of patients benefitting, the NNT is 2 (the inverse of the fraction1/2). The smaller the NNT or NNV, the more beneficial the treatment or vaccination is.

“An article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (co-authored by four investigators, three of whom were either employees of one of Merck’s Canadian subsidiaries or had received money, honoraria or grants from vaccine companies) that stated that for Gardasil, the NNV to prevent 4 or 5 cases of cervical cancer for a typical 12 year old girl would be 9,080, meaning that 9075 girls would be unnecessarily risking the financial costs and/or serious adverse health consequences of Gardasil.

“Physicians are never informed of NNT or NNV statistics but patients deserve to know about it before embarking on any recommended treatment program. What Merck has done to promote Gardasil in the deceptive “Not One More” campaign (that makes parents – and obviously physicians – truly believe the bogus claim that Gardasil will prevent cancer, when in actuality the risks and costs come nowhere near outweighing the miniscule, alleged benefit.”

Many of the serious health risks related to aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines like Gardasil are only now coming to light, including the autoimmune diseases mentioned in the recently described new syndrome, ASIA (Autoimmune/inflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants). See Dr Yehuda Shoenfeld’s ground-breaking article in the Journal of Autoimmunity that describes the syndrome here and insist that your daughter’s pediatrician study it as well.

And then, read the following information from www.mercola.com before trusting the vaccine industry’s claim that Gardasil prevents all so-called pre-cancerous lesions of the cervix (which admittedly it can in a small minority of cases [but usually in cigarette smokers]).

“Cervical cancer usually starts to develop in the late 20s to mid-30s. The peak incidence is 45 years of age. The protection period of Gardasil is estimated to be 5 years. That means, if you receive your first set of shots when you’re 10 years old, you’d need at least 2 to 4 additional booster shots to make it through to your 30s. And THAT means you’ll have to expose yourself to the potential side effects of Gardasil over and over and over again, with aluminum adjuvants accumulating in your body and brain with each injection.

“U.S. statistics show there are 30 to 40 cervical cancer cases per year per one million women between the ages of 9 and 26, which is the age bracket that Gardasil was tested on.

“According to Merck, Gardasil was shown to (very modestly!) reduce (not eliminate) pre-cancers by 12.2% to 16.5% in the general population. So, instead of ending up with 30 to 40 cases of cancer per million, per year in that age bracket, Gardasil can potentially bring it down to 26 to 35 cases of cervical cancer per million women.

“What that means is that you would have to vaccinate one million girls to prevent cervical cancer in 4 to 5 girls. (Ed note: Therefore the NNV for that age grouop would be an astronomical 1,000,000!)

“Further, about 37 percent of women who develop cervical cancer actually die from the disease, so vaccinating ONE MILLION girls would prevent 1 to 2 DEATHS per year, at the ‘bargain-basement’ price of $360 million per year, plus potentially lifelong suffering for an untold number of women, which has no price tag.”

Correlation Does Not Mean Causation

The CDC, which is usually careful to use the term “associated with” rather than the term “causative” when it comes to HPV-associated cervical cancers, says: “Not all cancers termed ‘HPV-associated’ reflect actual HPV infections, and the numbers judged to be HPV-attributable are only estimates.”

Astonishingly, but not surprisingly, ever since America’s over-vaccination program began in the 1990s (soon after President Ronald Reagan signed the 1986 federal law outlawing lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers when children died or were disabled or otherwise sickened because of vaccine injuries), up to 30% of fully vaccinated American children are now seriously and chronically ill, whereas in 1983 only 1.5% of American children were considered seriously chronically ill. See this.

Cause and effect? The answer is probably yes, because the basic neuroscience research that is done by un-conflicted researchers is quietly debunking the claims about the safety and efficacy of aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines. But such research almost never gets published in the popular medical journals that take pharmaceutical industry money (grants or advertising) or whose board members have (often undisclosed) professional or monetary pro-vaccine conflicts of interest.

Most physicians will never read the important research findings from such researchers. Sadly, if any published research that counters the “conventional wisdom from Big Pharma or the CDC” the article is likely to be withdrawn from publication or redacted from past publications. Witness the experiences of Doctors Andrew Wakefield and Chris Shaw and Lucija Tomljenovic when their well-done, peer-reviewed research articles questioning the alleged safety or efficacy of vaccines were unceremoniously withdrawn from publication after the articles had passed the peer review process – and had already been published.

More Disturbing Information About the HPV Bandwagon

Merck’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix both contain genetically-engineered subunit protein antigens (not actual viral particles) that are capable of generating immune complexes with the essential help of the neurotoxic aluminum adjuvant that attaches to the protein antigen. The aluminum is added to the vaccine so that the antigen persists in the muscle tissue and in the macrophages for a long time. (Macrophagic ingestion of aluminum-coated antigens is how the aluminum passes through the blood-brain barrier and into the vaccinee’s brain.)

The synthesized HPV protein antigens (virus-like particles [aka VLPs] that are in both HPV vaccines) are produced in cultured yeast cells.

Q: What could possibly go wrong (with this extremely complex, nearly incomprehensible manufacturing process)?

A: Only the super-secret pharmaceutical industry factories and their “mad” (or just mercenary) scientists know the answers, but un-conflicted, altruistic and very skeptical basic neuroscience researchers have their suspicions, and they are trying to warn vulnerable people.

Health Journalists Tend to Use as Their Primary Source Material Propaganda From Big Pharma and the Medical Establishment

There is another aspect about the wide-spread disinformation surrounding the promotion of prescription drugs and vaccines, which always starts with cunningly well-designed multi-billion dollar propaganda campaigns from Big Pharma. Medical journalists rely a lot on biased information easily gleaned from popular medical journal articles (that are sometimes ghost-written by someone other than the listed authors) or from corporate press releases. In either case the information always benefits the for-profit pharmaceutical corporations and the private ”research” companies who perform the studies for large sums of money.

The majority of the medical establishment, including some in the nursing profession, relies on the same corporate-generated information, and they have succumbed to the multi-billion dollar ad campaigns that urge parents and guardians to force their dependent pre-teen and young teenage girls to submit – often against their better instincts – to the series of three intramuscular injections, each of which, as mentioned above, contains an aluminum adjuvant that is known to be neurotoxic and fully capable of producing hyper-immunity and chronic autoimmune disorders.

Contrary to Merck’s Multibillion Ad Campaign, No Proof Exists That Gardasil Prevents Cancer

But the most serious criticism that I have concerning the intense push for adolescent girls to receive the shot is that there is no proof (only theory) that the shots will actually prevent cervical cancer among any of the females that are presumed to be at risk. Proof of Merck’s unfounded claim will have to wait for a generation or two, and by that time nobody will care if the vaccines worked or not. What parents are told is not enough to make an informed decision. All they are given is 1) a plausible theory couched as fact, 2) unrelenting pressure from a previously honorable medical profession, 3) weak lab evidence that temporary immune complexes do form after three shots and 4) a cunning billion-dollar Gardasil ad campaign.

Alarmingly, the Big Pharma-influenced FDA approved both Gardasil and Cervarix without requiring either Merck or Glaxo to prove their claims of cervical cancer prevention! Both corporations say that vaccine recipients must continue getting regular Pap smears for the rest of their lives, a certain sign of no confidence in their immensely profitable products.

That reality should make everybody, especially us physicians, re-think our belief systems.

And perhaps the Department of Justice needs to investigate Merck for fraudulent advertising in this, the most recent in a long string of cases of deceptive corporate pseudoscience.

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Dr Kohls is a retired family physician from Duluth, MN, USA. Since his retirement from his holistic mental health practice he has been writing his weekly Duty to Warn column for the Duluth Reader, northeast Minnesota’s alternative newsweekly magazine. His columns, which are re-published around the world, deal with the dangers of American fascism, corporatism, conscienceless industrialization, militarization, racism, xenophobia, malnutrition, sea level rise, global warming, geo-engineering, solar radiation management, electromagnetic radiation, Big Copper Mining’s conscienceless exploitation of northeast Minnesota’s water-rich environment, Big Medicine’s over-screening, over-diagnosing, over-treating, Big Pharma’s over-drugging and Big Vaccine’s over-vaccination agendas (particularly of tiny infants), as well as other movements that threaten human health, the environment, democracy, civility and the sustainability of life on earth.  Many of his columns have been archived at a number of websites, including these four:

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

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

http://freepress.org/geographic-scope/national; and

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

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The former chief of Mossad, told CNN today that Israel had “no warning of any kind”. A massive attack on Israel by Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group in Gaza, was carried out yesterday on Jewish communities in southern Israel, near the Gaza border. Hamas fired between 2-5 thousand rockets at Israel and hundreds of Israeli are dead, while dozens of Israelis were captured as prisoners of war. In the ensuing air response by Israel, hundreds of Palestinians were killed in Gaza. Experts warn that Israel appears to be planning a ground invasion into Gaza.

This morning, the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah entered the war to support the Palestinians quest for freedom. Israel has been occupying the Shebaa Farms area in southern Lebanon for decades, and the Lebanese want to retake their land, as well as fight for the end of occupation in Palestine.

Hamas collectively operated under ‘radio silence’. No mobile phones were used, because the Mossad and army intelligence would be listening. Only face to face meetings were used to organize the huge mission. Underground meeting places can’t be filmed by surveillance cameras by the Israelis. Using old fashioned techniques of a pre-technology era, the Hamas operation was a huge success in shocking Israel, and the world.

Gaza is the largest open-air concentration camp on earth. It has been under an Israeli-imposed blockade since June 2007, under which there is no travel in or out of Gaza, water supplies are minimal and sometimes cut off, electricity is minimal and sometimes cut off, as is the case now. University students are prevented from traveling abroad to receive a higher degree, medicines are unavailable and the emergency rooms have only basic supplies which quickly run out in a war. Food supplies are severely curtailed and building supplies take years to arrive piecemeal.

Human rights organizations, and the UN have described Israel as an Apartheid state. The Palestinian people of Gaza and the Occupied West Bank have no human rights, and they are demanding their freedom.

The Geneva Convention guarantees all peoples the right to resist occupation, and justifies the use of force to end occupation.

During WW2, the French Resistance became famous for their armed resistance to the Nazi occupation of France. Through movies and books the French Resistance became romantic heroes in the hearts and minds of the western and democratic world. However, the Palestinian resistance is labeled as ‘terrorists’ by democratic governments.

The American hero of the revolution, Patrick Henry, said “Give me liberty, or give me death”. This is the same sentiment expressed by Palestinians today. Their fight is for human rights, dignity, and freedom. Those are the very values that every American, Canadian, European and Australian claim as their own. How can these westerners claim that freedom is deserved by themselves, but not others?

Fatah, the main political party in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and President Mahmoud Abbas, have long adopted a pacifist stance, and do not advocate an armed struggle with Israel. That position has made the PA a good partner under the brutal Israeli military force in the West Bank, but the people there have seen no benefits to accepting the dictates of Tel Aviv. Their lives have gotten progressively worse over the recent years, and the summer was spent with Israeli security forces attacking the West Bank communities repeatedly without provocation.

The current government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu is the most Jewish extremist in history, with some members stating that “Palestinians are not humans” and “Palestinians must be all deported”. Palestinians have suffered from genocidal ethnic cleansing for 70 years, and the current Israeli regime are openly advocating for increasing the war crimes and atrocities perpetrated on the Palestinian people. Netanyahu in the past ridiculed those Jewish extremists and their parties, but now he is forced to acquiesce to their orders or his government will fall, and he would go to prison on corruption charges from a past criminal case.

These Jewish extremists have repeatedly stormed the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, while Israeli police and security forces protect them, and allow them to humiliate Palestinians praying there. Yesterday, those extremists had planned another belligerent visit to Al Aqsa, and the Hamas attack was the response to them, and has been dubbed the “Al Aqsa Flood” operation.

Recently, Jewish extremists in Jerusalem were videoed spitting on Christian pilgrims from Europe as they walked along the path Jesus had tread while carrying a wooden cross.  In response to the video, five Jews were arrested, but tour directors who make a living taking American and European Christians to religious sites, say that the viral video is what prompted the arrests, otherwise the Israeli police routinely protect the Jews when they spit or curse Christians, or Muslims alike.

When Netanyahu came back to office, he promised two things: he would make more illegal settlements of Jews on Palestinian lands, and he would sign a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, the most powerful Arab country in the region. Israel’s response to this current war in Palestine will determine the fate of the Saudi deal, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has continued to call for a peace deal between Israel and Palestine.

In past decades, the Palestinians had only rocks to throw at Israeli soldiers, and we heard successive US Presidents and politicians call on the Palestinians to “stop the violence”. But, those same voices representing the “land of the free” have never asked Israel to “stop the violence”. How can you equate teenagers with stones, with the 6th largest army on earth firing live bullets at protesters? Times have changed, and today Hamas and other resistance groups have sophisticated weapons and technology to use to fight back for their freedom and human rights.

The US is not a viable partner for any Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. The US, and its allies are an enabler. Just like the worried parent who will go out in the night to buy drugs for their addicted child to protect the child from harm or arrest, the US enables Israel to ‘get away with murder’ in Palestine.

Instead of the parent cutting off support for the child until they accept rehab treatment, the US continues to feed the Israeli addiction of torturing the Palestinians. Israel is never held accountable to anyone, or any group, for their crimes against humanity. The UN has dozens of resolutions adopted by the members targeting Israel, and their behavior; but, not one of them has been complied with. Yet, there are never any sanctions placed on Israel in order to pressure them into better behavior. Israel sits secure in the knowledge that the US, Europe, Canada, Australia and some others will always support Israel regardless of their crimes against humanity.

With the media coverage of the current conflict in Israel, journalists are missing our colleague Shireen Abi Akleh, who was murdered by the Israeli Army just for reporting the news in the West Bank. Independent investigators concluded that the Israeli soldier who killed her, was targeting her, and there were no other armed men in the vicinity at the time. The journalists who are covering the events now in Occupied Palestine and Gaza are holding the torch of truth which was ripped from the hands of Shireen, known also as “The Voice of Palestine”.

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This article was originally published on Mideast Discourse.

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

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Why is no one asking what would make thousands of young men commit suicide, in effect, and bring what they know will be horrific death and destruction to hundreds of thousands of their families? Commentators appear mystified: surely everyone knows that Hamas fighters have no chance, ultimately, against the country with the fifth largest military in the world.  Why would they risk every Palestinian’s future by such an act?

The reality — censored by our media and ignored by our governments — is that Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip have no future to look forward to.  

No one is pointing out the slow genocide that Israel is imposing on the millions of Palestinians literally caged in Gaza and the total lack of hope for any future that differs from Israel’s periodic slaughtering of their families and devastation of their homes, schools, mosques, hospitals, and civic buildings.  Along with constant attacks on fishermen, farmers and anyone thought to be in the resistance, Israel ensures that Gazans have limited electricity and little fuel. When I visited Gaza in 2006, (before the Israeli attack), it already looked apocalyptic, with people reduced to traveling on donkeys amid ruined buildings and traffic lights that no longer worked.

No one is pointing out that millions of Gazans have been facing a humanitarian siegeclearly patterned after the notorious two-year Nazi siege of the Warsaw Ghetto — that is now in its eighteenth year. This siege limits food to barely above starvation calories, blocks necessities of life including medicine and medical supplies, building materials, textbooks, and at one point even soap and detergents: a clearly genocidal act in the world’s most densely-populated enclave.

No one is pointing out that the occupied Gaza Strip is virtually uninhabitable, with its land declared by the United Nations to be too contaminated to sustain life, and with virtually no potable water in Gaza (thanks to Israel’s use of the aquifer so that sea water is pulled into Gaza’s taps).  Israel ensures that there is little fishing by limiting the agreed-upon territorial limit of 20 nautical miles to 3 and shooting on fishing boats anyway. Israel has declared a “buffer zone” taking in a third of Gaza’s agricultural land, but shoots at those farming, as well. 

Israel is not only stealing Palestinian water and land, it is stealing Palestinian gas off the coast of Gaza: gas that Israel’s Supreme Court once ruled belonged to Palestinians.  A 2021 UN General Assembly resolution called on Israel to end its theft of Palestinian resources: apparently in vain.   

Palestinians throughout the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza voted for Hamas leadership in their 2006 election because of its reputation for honesty and its call for international law as a basis for a just peace.  Israel promptly labeled Hamas a “terrorist” entity because of its legitimate positions, despite the fact that Hamas has tried to follow international law far more closely than Israel ever has.

Gazans have been dying as a result of Israel’s treatment with their deaths unremarked and ignored.  They held peaceful weekly protests in their “Great March of Return”, during which time Israeli snipers shot thousands of the civilians — including medics and journalists — crimes that western media largely censored and governments ignored. Although Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank already this year, few in the west have been made aware of the outrageous killings.

As responsible leaders that face an openly genocidal Occupying Power, Hamas has been left with little choice but to bring their situation to world attention by inviting a horrific slaughter that will (hopefully) force the world community to take notice and honor their obligations under international law. The blood on Israel’s hands is shared by all countries that have ignored their contractual legal obligation under the Fourth Geneva Convention to hold Israel’s leaders to account for their flagrant war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The initial public response has not been promising, with even Palestinians’ supporters fearful of speaking out to defend the desperate Hamas gamble.  This must change: those who understand this reality must confront their governments and media to demand an end to Israel’s apartheid, ethnic cleansing and slow genocide. There must be a just peace and security for Palestinians as well as for Israelis.

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Karin Brothers is a freelance writer. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Mideast Discourse

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***

Israel‘s defence minister described Palestinians as “human animals” and vowed to “act accordingly,” as fighter jets unleashed a massive bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip. 

Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, an area of about 365 square km, and home to 2.3 million Palestinians, which has been under an Israeli-led blockade since 2007. 

“I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” Gallant said.

“We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly,” he added. 

The Israeli air force has dropped 2,000 munitions and more than 1,000 tonnes of bombs on Gaza in the last 20 hours, the army said on Monday morning, having shelled 20 high-rise residential buildings, mosques, hospitals, banks and other civilian infrastructure. 

At least 500 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing raids, including 91 children. Another 2,700 people have been wounded. 

The bombardment comes as Palestinian armed groups continue to fight Israeli troops inside Israeli territory. 

The surprise Palestinian attack, which started on Saturday, has left at least 700 Israelis killed and more than 2,000 wounded. 

What Is the Gaza Strip?

Gaza was part of historic Palestine prior to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. 

Some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from historic Palestine in what is known as Al-Nakba, or “The Catastrophe”.

More than 60 percent of Palestinians in Gaza are refugees, following the expulsion of families from other parts of Palestine in 1948.

Bordered by Israel and Egypt on the Mediterranean coast, the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

Gaza was captured by Egypt during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and was under Egyptian control until the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, when the territory was seized and occupied along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In 2005, Israel purportedly pulled out of Gaza and relocated around 8,000 Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers living in 21 settlements around Gaza to the occupied West Bank.

But in 2007, following the Hamas movement’s election victory in Gaza, Israel responded by imposing an air, land and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.

According to international law, the blockade amounts to an occupation of the strip.

Since 2008, Israel has launched four invasions of Gaza, in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021, which resulted in the deaths of thouands of Palestinians, mostly civilians and many children.

The campaigns resulted in the destruction of homes and offices, damage to pipelines and sewage treatment infrastructure, impacting drinking water and spiking waterborne diseases. 

In the last major operation in 2021, at least 260 Palestinians were killed in Gaza while 13 people were killed in Israel.  

Open-air Prison

Israel’s blockade systematically denies Palestinians access to services, hospitals, banks and other vital infrastructure, leaving the population to exist in fraught living conditions.

The blockade has also resulted in a perennial shortage of clean water, electricity, and medical supplies in what is often dubbed the world’s largest open-air prison. 

Roughly 97 percent of Gaza’s drinking water is contaminated, and residents are forced to live with constant power outages due to a power grid that has been heavily damaged in repeated Israeli attacks.

Meanwhile, close to 60 percent of Palestinians live in poverty, and youth unemployment sits at 63 percent.

According to UNRWA, the UN agency that cares for Palestinian refugees, years of conflict and blockade have left 80 percent of Gaza’s population dependent on international assistance.

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Featured image: Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, the Gaza Strip, Palestine, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (Nick_ Raille_07 / Shutterstock.com).

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Asoka Bandarage has published a book entitled, “Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World, Colonial and Neoliberal Origins: Ecological and Collective Alternatives.” 

This book provides a broad picture of Sri Lanka’s on-going political and economic crisis as the culmination of several centuries of colonial and neo-colonial developments. The book presents the Sri Lankan crisis as an exemplification of a broader global existential crisis facing more and more debt trapped countries, especially in the post-colonial Global South. The book’s in-depth case study raises important questions pertaining to sovereignty and political and economic democracy in Sri Lanka and the world at large.

The book also explores the emergence of the crisis in the context of the accelerating geopolitical conflict between China and the USA in the Indian Ocean. It ponders if the debt crisis, economic collapse and political destabilization in Sri Lanka were intentionally precipitated to the advantage of the Quadrilateral Alliance (USA, India, Australia and Japan).

Moving beyond geopolitical rivalry, the book juxtaposes Sri Lanka’s political-economic crisis with the broader ecological crisis of climate change and sea-level rise.

The book concludes with a consideration of the ethical dilemmas behind the debt and survival crisis in Sri Lanka and across the world. It points out a range of social movements and initiatives in Sri Lanka and the Global South which subscribe to collective and ecological alternatives and a Middle Path of sustainability and social justice.

Reviews

“In this well-written, well-researched scholarly text, Asoka Bandarage brilliantly combines a detailed historical analysis of the political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka and a global ethical perspective pertaining to similar crises elsewhere in the world.”
— T. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

“A very useful analysis providing depth and background to understanding the current Sri Lankan economic crisis. Bandarage goes well beyond the standard tropes of ‘policy errors’ or culture/identity-based explanations, to locate the Sri Lankan experience in the wider context of profit-, technology- and finance-driven globalization.” —Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

“Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World is a most timely book – and urgently needed for the world that is at a critical crossroads of extreme and accelerating possibilities. For alternatives that are just and sustainable, the crisis needs to be understood both historically as well as in the contemporary context. I cannot think of very many who can do that – both with scholarship and passion – with a fusion of global as well as local and holistic perspectives as Asoka Bandarage has been able to do here.”
— Sajed Kamal has taught at Boston University, Northeastern University, Antioch New England Graduate School, and Brandeis University


Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World

Colonial and Neoliberal Origins: Ecological and Collective Alternatives

By Asoka Bandarage

Language: English

Publisher: De Gruyter

Copyright year: 2023

Planned Publication: October 23, 2023

ISBN: 9783111356037

Click here to purchase.

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