Tag: israel

Farage and Musk don’t care about free speech. And Israel really is a terrorist state

In the space of just one week there has been a massive, almost Orwellian crackdown on free speech, with a number of arrests made. Not in North Korea or China but in the USA and UK. Barely days after former UN weapons inspector and social media tsar Scott Ritter had his house raided by FBI officers looking for evidence that he was actually working for America’s enemies we witnessed the arrest and detention of a young British journalist called Richard Medhurst who, when arriving at Heathrow airport from overseas, was escorted off a plane and held on terrorism charges. And then remarkably, Elon Musk, a billionaire who owns X and claims to be a champion of free speech shuts down the account of Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef – which is followed by rumours on social media that the next polemic commentator to get the chop will be the YouTube talk show hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano.

What’s going on? What do these individuals all have in common? Clearly their uncompromised stance against Israel is the issue here and we have to assume that either the Zionist State has cracked the whip and wants this baptism of criticism and scorn to stop or the initiative comes exclusively from the deep state itself in the U.S., with London ever grateful to play the role of diminutive pooch in the handbag. But the crackdown is unprecedented and really bears witness to a fear many in the west have had for some time, which is that most of these countries are parodies of democracy. Some even go further and claim, like Youssef, that western countries’ governments are controlled by Israel. Far-fetched? Less so, given the arrests and cancels in recent days.

Yet if it is all about making the accusations against Israel more round-edged, one has to ask the questions whether the decision was wise or foolhardy and taken at what level?

The genocide Israel carries out can’t be covered up or extinguished by the history books, even if those tomes are written by the victors, as Churchill once said.

Britain and the U.S. are complicit in it and will have to face the consequences for it one day. Both the ICJ and the ICC tribunals in the Netherlands are collecting evidence on a daily basis leaving many stunned by the rank desperation and stupidity of this Kristallnacht stunt both by the deep state and by Elon Musk.

The three guilty were commentators and journalists who are hell-bent on saying or reporting the truth, no matter how unpalatable it may be. We can assume in the case of the young journalist Medhurst that instructions to scare him with the Heathrow stunt were probably instructions from Langley which UK cops happily obliged to execute.

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Does Any Other Country Besides Israel Have the Right to Defend Itself?

Despite the countless atrocities, assassinations and violations of humanitarian and international law, American politicians and the corporate media recite ad infinitum the accepted talking point that Israel has a “right to defend itself.” From their distorted perspective, only the aggressor deserves that prerogative.

Israel’s claim to self-defense is never questioned.  Although it has one of the strongest modern militaries (581 aircraft, including F-15, F-16 and advanced stealth F-35 fighter jets), possesses the latest air defense systems, stockpiles 400 nuclear weapons with delivery systems, and has the United States, the world’s largest military power, standing ready to protect it, we are to believe that Israel is in physical danger.

On the other hand, the Palestinians, most in need of defense, are denied that right.  They are told to accept colonized lives in the Gaza concentration camp, to accept marginalization, injustice and humiliation forever; that they have no right to resist the Israeli apartheid regime.  And the United States and its Western proxies threaten the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and others in the Palestinian Resistance for daring to challenge Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Even though the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Palestinian Islamic Jihad and smaller groups have no organized modern military, no air force, navy, air defense systems, nuclear weapons and no Western allies to defend them from Israeli terrorism, we are to believe that they are a threat.

In addition, the U.S.-Israeli narrative concerning Palestinians and their regional allies is rife with contradictions.  The United States and Israel can choose their allies, while Iranians and Palestinians cannot without controversy.

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US Calls for Ceasefire But Keeps Supporting War

On August 12, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, issued a press statement commemorating the anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions.

He said: “The 75th anniversary of the adoption of the 1949 Geneva Conventions is a fitting occasion to reaffirm our commitment to respecting international humanitarian law… We call on others to do the same.”

Except Israel.

Blinken added: “Faced with the horrible reality of war, parties to armed conflict must comply with international humanitarian law to mitigate many of war’s worst humanitarian consequences, support pathways to peace, and advance the protection of civilians and other victims.”

Except Israel.

Of course, Blinken did not add the words “except Israel” but he should have, considering what had happened just two days earlier.

On August 10, Israel dropped bombs on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing over 100 and injuring hundreds more.

The New York Times reported that one witness “said he found a scene of carnage unlike any he had seen in the past 10 months of war: A prayer hall strewed with bodies and body parts over two floors.” Another witness said “the dead were all in pieces.”

CNN said there was “no advance warning of the attack” and reported that the director for ambulance and emergency services said, “All of these people who were targeted were civilians, unarmed children, the elderly, men and women.”

NBC News described the event as “one of the deadliest attacks in the 10-month war” and said the strikes hit the school “during dawn prayers.” The network reported, “The White House said it was deeply concerned.” Two days earlier, Secretary Blinken announced that the US was sending billions more to Israel in a new weapons package.

The Financial Times quoted a surgeon as saying, “This was a very bloody day,” and that he had performed several amputations including on at least four children.

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Biden’s Convention Speech Made Absurd Claims About His Gaza Policy

An observation from George Orwell – “those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future” – is acutely relevant to how President Biden talked about Gaza during his speech at the Democratic convention Monday night. His words fit into a messaging template now in its eleventh month, depicting the U.S. government as tirelessly seeking peace, while supplying the weapons and bombs that have enabled Israel’s continual slaughter of civilians.

“We’ll keep working, to bring hostages home, and end the war in Gaza, and bring peace and security to the Middle East,” Biden told the cheering delegates. “As you know, I wrote a peace treaty for Gaza. A few days ago I put forward a proposal that brought us closer to doing that than we’ve done since October 7th.”

It was a journey into an alternative universe of political guile from a president who just six days earlier had approved sending $20 billion worth of more weapons to Israel. Yet the Biden delegates in the convention hall responded with a crescendo of roaring admiration.

Applause swelled as Biden continued: “We’re working around-the-clock, my secretary of state, to prevent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families, and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now, to end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally, finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war.”

In Chicago’s United Center, the president basked in adulation while claiming to be a peacemaker despite a record of literally making possible the methodical massacres of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

Orwell would have understood. A political reflex has been in motion from top U.S. leaders, claiming to be peace seekers while aiding and abetting the slaughter. Normalizing deception about the past sets a pattern for perpetrating such deception in the future.

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Yemen: Hodeidah port attack by Israel was a ‘potential war crime’

Last month’s Israeli air strikes on Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah could constitute a war crime, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

The rights group described the attacks as potentially “unlawful, indiscriminate or disproportionate”, and said they were likely to impact civilians in the country.

Israel carried out air strikes on the Yemeni city after a drone launched by the country’s Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah, hit central Tel Aviv, killing one person.

The Houthis, who control Sanaa and most of northern and western Yemen, have been launching drone attacks towards Israel in response to its ongoing military campaign against Palestinians in Gaza.

“Serious violations of the laws of war committed wilfully, that is deliberately or recklessly, are war crimes,” HRW said.

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First Case of Polio Detected in Gaza, UN Urges Ceasefire to Vaccinate Children

Health officials diagnosed the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years after 10 months of U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in the enclave, which was predicted because of the humanitarian blockade and collapse of the healthcare infrastructure.

A 10-month-old from the central part of the enclave was diagnosed with the disease, prompting António Guterres, the UN head, to call for a pause in the fighting so there can be a widespread vaccination campaign.

“Preventing and containing the spread of polio will take a massive, coordinated and urgent effort,” Guterres said in New York, according to The Guardian. “I am appealing to all parties to provide concrete assurances right away guaranteeing humanitarian pauses for the campaign.”

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“The Party of Joy” Marches in Chicago with Giant “Killer Kamala” Banner – Chant “How Many Kids Did You Kill Today?”

“Killer Kamala what do you say? – How many kids did you kill today.”

The ‘Party of Joy’ took to the streets of Chicago on Sunday night prior to the official launch of the DNC Convention this week in the Windy City.

Protesters carried banners reading, “Killer Kamala!” in Navy Pier.

George Behizy posted this photo from Sunday night’s protest at Navy Pier.

And the radical mob was chanting, “Killer Kamala what do you say – How many kids did you kill today?”
Independent journalist Bo from DittleTV posted video of the angry leftists marching Sunday in Chicao.

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Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill 10-Year-Old Quintuplets

Israeli strikes on Gaza on Sunday killed a total of 29 people, including 10-year-old quintuplets, The Associated Press has reported.

The quintuplets were killed alongside their mother and 18-month-old sibling in a strike that targeted a home in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. An AP reporter counted the bodies at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Mohammed Awad Khatab, the children’s grandfather, told reporters: “The six children have become body parts. They were placed in a single bag. What did they do? Did they kill any of the Jews? … Will this provide security to Israel?”

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‘Pure terrorism’: World reacts to Israeli settler attack in West Bank

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are reeling after Israeli settlers ravaged a village overnight, killing a 23-year-old man and injuring several others in the latest incident of deadly violence against Palestinians in the area.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Friday that Mahmoud Abdel Qader Sadda was fatally shot in the attack on Jit, in the northern West Bank about 10km (six miles) west of Nablus.

Dozens of masked Israeli settlers descended on the village, opening fire on residents, setting cars ablaze and destroying homes and other property, according to witnesses and video footage from the assault.

The attack came amid a surge in Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, which has unfolded in the shadow of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank between the start of the Gaza war on October 7 and August 12, according to the latest figures from the United Nations humanitarian affairs office (OCHA).

Rights groups also have criticised Israel for allowing its forces as well as settlers to operate with “endemic impunity” in their attacks against Palestinians.

The assault on Jit drew widespread condemnation from Palestinians as well as foreign leaders, including those from countries that continue to provide military and diplomatic support for Israel amid the Gaza war.

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Israel Stuns By Saying US, UK, France Will Assist In Offensive Strikes On Iran

Israel just upped the ante in its showdown with Iran amid ongoing concerns that an attack from the Islamic Republic could still be imminent in retaliation for the July 31st assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Friday that he expects not only the US but also its allies Britain and France to assist in offensive operations against Iran if it attacks. Katz conveyed the comments while meeting British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, in a bit of a risky diplomatic preemptive move given neither of these countries have openly proclaimed they are ready to launch direct attacks on Iran.

The Israeli FM was invoking the example of the United States, and said “that Israel expects France and Britain to publicly clarify to Iran that it is unacceptable for it to attack Israel and that if Iran attacks, the US-led coalition will join Israel not only in defense but also in an attack against significant targets in Iran.”

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