Tag: israel

Israel’s Untold Environmental Genocide

On September 23rd, the UN published a little-noticed report highlighting a barely-acknowledged facet of the 21st century Holocaust in Gaza. Namely, the Zionist entity’s genocide is wreaking a devastating environmental toll not merely on occupied Palestine, but West Asia more widely – including Israel. The damage is incalculable, with air, food sources, soil, and water widely polluted, to a fatal extent. Recovery may take decades, if at all. In the meantime, Gaza’s remaining population will suffer the cost – in many cases, with their lives.

In June 2024, the UN issued a preliminary assessment on the Gaza genocide’s “environmental impact”. It found the Zionist entity’s barbarous aggression had “exerted a profound impact” on “people in Gaza and the natural systems on which they depend.” Due to “security constraints” – namely, Israel’s continuing assault – the UN was unable “to assess the full extent of environment [sic] damage.” Nonetheless, the body was able to collate information indicating “the scale of degradation is immense,” and has “worsened significantly” since October 7th.

For example, Tel Aviv’s 21st century Holocaust has “significantly degraded water infrastructure leading to severely limited, low-quality water supply to the population.” The UN finds this “is contributing to numerous adverse health outcomes, including a continuous surge in infectious diseases.” Groundwater contamination is rampant, with catastrophic implications “for environmental and human health.” None of Gaza’s wastewater treatment facilities are operational, while “heavy destruction of piped systems, and increasing use of cesspits for sanitation, have increased contamination of the aquifer, marine and coastal areas.”

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A Warning from Lebanon

In not quite one year since the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, Israel has broken the ceasefire 4,600 times. It has killed hundreds of people, including infants, demolished tens of thousands of homes and annexed five areas of Lebanon. It was supposed to withdraw completely.

This situation is being replicated in detail in Gaza. In particular, the ceasefire in Lebanon is “guaranteed” by the USA and France and overseen by an international committee referred to as “the Mechanism”. The “Mechanism” is chaired by the USA. Accordingly the guarantors have refused to acknowledge a single breach of the ceasefire because the US-controlled “Mechanism” calls them counter-terrorist operations aimed at disarming Hezbollah.

The United Nations defers to “the Mechanism” and thus to the USA, and the presence of UN peacekeeping troops in Southern Lebanon is therefore useless. Lebanon is now under control of the US/Israeli puppet administration of General Aoun and effectively being run by US Special Envoy Tom Barrack.

Barrack stated that the borders of Israel and Syria are meaningless and that “Israel will go where they want, when they want, and do what they want to protect the Israelis and their border to make sure on October 7th it never happens again”. This is from the “guarantor” of the Lebanese ceasefire agreement.

There can be no doubt that Trump’s US-chaired “Board of Peace” for Gaza will take exactly the same line as “the Mechanism” in Lebanon. It is axiomatic that Israel will never honor any agreement. They never have.

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New wave of Israeli army, settler violence hits occupied West Bank

Israeli occupation forces caused large-scale destruction in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas overnight, as part of military operations which coincided with an escalation of settler violence against Palestinians across the territory.

Footage released after the Israeli army’s withdrawal on 19 October showed the aftermath of the hours-long assault, which came after resistance fighters targeted an Israeli force with an explosive over the weekend. 

Thirty military vehicles, two bulldozers, and infantry troops took part in the attack on Tubas, according to the governor.

The Israeli army was carrying out a raid in the city on Saturday evening when fighters from the Tubas Brigade of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement’s Quds Brigades targeted troops with an explosive device. 

The Tubas Brigade said it injured soldiers and witnessed rescue teams arriving at the site to evacuate casualties. 

In a statement, the Israeli army said two soldiers were injured and taken to hospital. 

Reinforcements invaded the city shortly after, carrying out an hours-long assault including the destruction of infrastructure and extensive search operations. 

As the army withdrew from Tubas on Sunday morning, Israeli occupation forces carried out other violent attacks and incursions in the West Bank. 

One Palestinian, Majed Muhammad Dawoud, was shot multiple times and killed by the Israeli army in Nablus’s Al-Ain camp. 

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers backed by troops burned vehicles and attacked Palestinian farmers picking olives in Ramallah and Nablus. 

Video footage showed an Israeli settler attacking and injuring an elderly Palestinian woman with a stick during the attack on the olive pickers.

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Israel Massacres 11 Members of Palestinian Family in Deadliest Gaza Ceasefire Violation

Israeli forces killed 11 members of a Palestinian family attempting to return to their home in the flattened Gaza Strip on Friday evening in what local officials said was the deadliest violation of the shaky weeklong ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops fired a tank shell at a bus transporting members of the Abu Shaaban family, who were trying to return to inspect their home in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Among the 11 victims were three women and seven children ages 5-13.

The IDF claimed the “suspicious vehicle” crossed the so-called “yellow line,” beyond which Israeli forces withdrew in accordance with the ceasefire agreement, and that warning shots were fired at the bus before troops acted to “remove the threat.”

However, according to the Palestine Chronicle, Basal asserted that “the family could have been warned or dealt with in a way that did not lead to murder.”

“What happened confirms that the occupation remains thirsty for blood and determined to commit crimes against innocent civilians,” he added.

In the United States, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement:

The Israeli government’s massacre of a family traveling to assess the remains of their home is the latest deliberate and blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement. The Trump administration must demand that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu stop using American taxpayer dollars and American weapons to sabotage the ceasefire agreement that America brokered so that he can restart the genocide in Gaza.

The State Department and the United Nations must also investigate horrific signs of torture and extrajudicial killing found on the bodies of returned Palestinian hostages. Torturing people to death after kidnapping them and holding them without charge is another example of [breaking] not only international law, but also US law related to foreign aid recipients.

Gaza’s Government Media Office said Saturday that Israeli forces have broken the truce 47 times, killing 38 people and wounding 143 others “in clear and blatant violation of the ceasefire decision and the principles of international humanitarian law.”

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Gaza officials formally accuse Israel of organ theft, demand international probe

Gaza’s Government Media Office formally accused Israel on 17 October of stealing organs from Palestinians after Israel returned 120 mutilated bodies following the recent ceasefire, including some who had been tortured to death.

“We formally accuse the Israeli army of stealing organs from the martyrs,” stated Dr. Ismail al-Thawabta, Director General of the Media Office, while demanding an international investigation into Israel’s “torture, mutilation, and organ theft.”

The 120 bodies “arrived in extremely poor and distressing condition,” including blindfolded, bound, crushed under tanks, and missing corneas, livers, and limbs, Thawabta stated.

“The Israeli occupation executed many of them in cold blood. A large number were found blindfolded, with their hands and feet bound, and others showed signs of hanging or close-range gunfire,” he added.

“We also found bodies showing clear evidence of severe torture until death.”

Thawabta explained that Israeli authorities refused to provide the names of the victims, making it extremely difficult for authorities in Gaza to identify them.

After the release of the bodies, families of missing Palestinians rushed to hospitals—especially Nasser Hospital—trying to see if their relatives were among them. But many remain unidentified and will have to be buried anonymously.

“The health system in Gaza is almost completely collapsed. We lack the equipment for DNA testing and forensic analysis. Some families could only identify their loved ones from personal belongings or clothing. If we cannot identify the rest, we will be forced, sadly, to document and bury them anonymously, to preserve human dignity,” Thawabta added.

According to the Media Office’s data, 9,500 Palestinians remain missing, most of them trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.

“Entire families—father, mother, children—remain buried for nearly two years,” the Media Office director stated.

The bodies are difficult to locate due to the sheer amount of destruction Israeli bombing has caused, and because Israel has destroyed almost all of Gaza’s heavy machinery, bulldozers, and excavators, preventing rescue operations.

“Even now, despite the ceasefire, all crossings remain closed, and Israel blocks the entry of rescue machinery. This is a humanitarian catastrophe unprecedented in modern history—over 3,000 families completely wiped out, another 6,000 families killed with only one survivor,” Thawabta added.

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Virginia Giuffre beaten, raped by ‘well-known prime minister’ in attack that broke Epstein spell, her memoir reveals

Prominent Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre was brutally bloodied, beaten and raped by a “well-known prime minister” in a series of savage encounters that finally helped the teenager break free from the sex trafficker’s spell.

In her posthumous memoir “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” Giuffre recalled begging Epstein to step in after the unnamed politician forced her to beg for her life — but the pedophile coldly told her it was simply part of her job.

“After the attack, I couldn’t stay a fool. Having been treated so brutally and then seeing Epstein’s callous reaction to how terrorized I felt, I had to accept that Epstein meted out praise merely as a manipulation to keep me subservient,” Giuffre wrote, according to an excerpt shared with The Post.

“Epstein cared only about Epstein.”

Giuffre simply referred to the deranged man as the “Prime Minister,” saying she was afraid the brute would “seek to hurt” her if she printed his name.

In the past, however, she pointed to Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Barak in court filings as one of the many elites who had raped her, a claim he has repeatedly denied.

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Senate Candidate Returns AIPAC Money As Pro-Israel Group Becomes Political Poison

In the latest indication that the war in Gaza is significantly threatening Israel’s dominance over American politics, a sitting US congressman and Senate hopeful has announced he’s returning donations received from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and refusing to accept any more.   

“In recent years, AIPAC has aligned itself too closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government,” said Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton on Thursday, one day after announcing he was launching a primary challenge against incumbent Dem Senator Edward Markey.

“I’m a friend of Israel, but not of its current government, and AIPAC’s mission today is to back that government…I don’t support that direction. That’s why I’ve decided to return the donations I’ve received and will not be accepting their support.” 

Moulton will refund $35,000 that he’s received from AIPAC. 

AIPAC quickly lashed out at its estranged beneficiary.

 “Moulton is abandoning his friends to grab a headline, capitulating to the extremes rather than standing on conviction,” the group wrote on X.

“His statement comes after years of him repeatedly asking for our endorsement and is a clear message to AIPAC members in Massachusetts, and millions of pro-Israel Democrats nationwide, that he rejects their support and will not stand with them.”

AIPAC has long been regarded as one of the most powerful lobbying groups in US politics. Historically, politicians from both parties have been eager to accept AIPAC money – and quick to accept AIPAC’s voting instructions.  Similarly, they’ve been fearful of incurring the group’s wrath, which could quickly turn into a potent primary challenge. In 2024, AIPAC and allied pro-Israel groups spent enormous sums in successful efforts to oust New York Dem. Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Missouri Dem. Rep. Cori Bush. AIPAC’s $15 million spent against Bowman helped make that race the most expensive House primary in US history.  

However, in a political earthquake emanating from Israel’s staggering destruction of Gaza with US-supplied weapons, AIPAC now finds its position in American politics wobbling like never before, as citizens across the political spectrum demonstrate growing unease with Israel’s influence over politicians and policy. Increasingly, both Republicans and Democrats find themselves under fire for accepting AIPAC money.

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More on the Delusional Thinking of Western Zionists

If you think that Donald Trump is the only one living in a fantasy land when it comes to the genocide in Palestine and the war in Ukraine, think again. The following quotes come from an ardent Zionist who has enjoyed financial success in his life and holds at least one post-graduate degree. After you read and absorb this man’s analysis you will understand that money and education does not guarantee one’s competence to comment on geopolitical events.

Let’s start with Trump’s bizarre signing of Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Plan for Gaza, which excluded the two combating sides. My Zionist acquaintance wrote:

Today changed everything. Arrayed behind Trump in Egypt were all of the key leaders in the world other than Putin and Xi. Trump has achieved something nobody thought possible. In the process he has isolated Iran, but just as important, he now made Putin look isolated when the rest of the world is trying to end wars and create peace and prosperity.

Think about that for a moment… He considers clowns like Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Frederich Mertz key leaders? Those three combined could not lead hungry Palestinians to a bread line. The fact that neither Xi, Putin nor Modi participated in this charade underscores that this was not a serious effort to peacefully end Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people. The presence of the Arab and Muslim sycophants at the ceremony, who are not wildly popular figures in their own countries, was a further reminder that US influence in the region is eroding, not expanding. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Bin Salman had the good sense to stay away.

After convincing himself that the Sharm El-Sheikh photo op had isolated Putin, my Zionist acquaintance waded into the war in Ukraine;

Putin will be under a lot more pressure to end the war now. At the same time, he is not winning the war, and is losing thousands more casualties just when there are severe labor shortages, and the economy is headed to further deterioration. The attacks on the energy facilities is having real impact and a continuation of these attacks and attacks on rail lines will serve to cause much additional economic decline over the winter.

Paying men to go die is beginning to not work. It is very expensive and more men are fleeing. Winter is about here and so the fighting season is ending soon and the trees will no longer provide cover from drones. Putin can try to go on for a long time but the longer he does the worse the economy and the energy situation. The more isolated Putin becomes from the Mideast and other parts of the world who are now working together to build the economic growth the world needs.

He is regurgitating the Ukrainian propaganda that continues to appear in the mainstream media in the West. The reality is the exact opposite… Ukraine is suffering dramatic and substantial economic and military damage. According to a recent Time Magazine report:

2024 has seen wave after wave of basic infrastructure hit with previously unknown accuracy and ferocity. The biggest target is now the country’s power sector, and specifically, its ability to generate electricity. . . . Some 60% of Ukraine’s power generation has been knocked out, as Russian precision bombs, drone strikes, and rocket attacks increasingly home in on power plants and energy infrastructure. The country is now suffering the worst rolling blackouts since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine’s ability to regenerate and rebuild has now been overwhelmed, at least for the immediate future. Over 9 gigawatts of power generation alone has been taken out just since March. More hydroelectric plants have been destroyed, including the Dnipro station, the largest that was still working. Solar power facilities, too. Every single one of the thermal—coal and natural gas burning—plants has been hit, and of the original 13 no more than two are still operational. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power company, has lost 90% of its generation capacity. The current national power deficit is approximately 35%.

What my Zionist acquaintance, as well as most in the Trump administration, fails to grasp is that Russia is not isolated… BRICS is not a novelty nor a flash-in-the-pan. The economic ties between India, China and Russia — which represent three of the top four economies in the world — are growing, and new financial systems of payments and trade are being created. In fact, of the 27 countries that attended the Sharm El-Sheikh ceremony, six of them are members or partners of BRICS and boast GDP growth rates in excess of 4%, while the US and its NATO allies face massive debt burdens and are growing at rates less than 2%.

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Israeli Forces Continue To Kill Palestinians in Gaza Despite Ceasefire

Israeli forces continued to kill Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday despite the ceasefire deal that was signed last week, as Israel has issued warnings against approaching the “yellow line,” referring to the line that Israeli troops withdrew to when the truce went into effect on Friday.

At least one person was killed by an Israeli attack in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported, citing sources at the Nasser Hospital.

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, at least two Palestinians were killed by an Israeli drone in Gaza City’s eastern Shujaiya neighborhood. A day earlier, at least five Palestinians were killed in the same neighborhood while inspecting their homes, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense. The IDF claimed they crossed the “yellow line” and posed a “threat,” but it did not allege they were armed.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a threat related to the “yellow line” in a post on X on Wednesday. “The IDF operates in accordance with directives and enforces a clear policy of preparedness along the yellow line – which includes over 50% of Gaza’s territory,” he wrote.

“The enforcement policy is unequivocal: for every violation, an immediate response. Yesterday, terrorists who attempted to approach and cross were thwarted – and so it will be in the future as well,” he added.

WAFA reported that at least 14 bodies were brought to Gaza hospitals on Wednesday, including eight that were recovered from the rubble, suggesting a total of six Palestinians could have been killed.

Hamas has also clashed with militias since the ceasefire went into effect, and has carried out summary executions of alleged criminals and collaborators. As part of its strategy against Hamas, Israel had been arming some militias and gangs in the Strip. President Trump expressed support for Hamas’s executions on Tuesday, saying they took out “a couple of gangs that were very bad.”

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Let Us Now Bury the Truth (Again)

Headline in the Sunday editions of The New York Times: “A New Test for Israel: Can It Repair Its Ties to Americans?”

What a question. Let us set aside our indignation and think about this.

The piece below this head is by David Halbfinger, whose trade over the years has been to appear balanced when covering the Zionist state while glossing its past, which is wall-to-wall condemnable, and faithfully apologizing for its present, which — need this be said — is also wall-to-wall condemnable.

David Halbfinger, who has just begun his second tour as the Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief, in action:

“The war in Gaza may finally be ending, after two years of bloodshed and destruction. But among the damage that has been done is a series of devastating blows to Israel’s relationship with the citizens of its most important and most stalwart ally, the United States.

Israel’s reputation in the United States is in tatters, and not only on college campuses or among progressives….

The question is whether those younger Americans will be lost to Israel long- term — and what Israel’s advocates will do to try to reverse that.”

Halbfinger proceeds to quote none of “those younger Americans,” or anyone else of any age who stands forthrightly against “the Jewish state” in response to the campaign of terror, murder and starvation it has conducted against the civilian population of Gaza these past two years.

No, his sources are professors, think-tank inhabitants and, of course, Israeli Zionists, American Zionists and in two cases Israeli–American Zionists — the good old divided-loyalties crowd.

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