Tag: israel

The Israel lobby is First Amendment’s “principal enemy,” former senior diplomat warns

Amid pro-Palestinian demonstrations condemning Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza, the Antisemitism Awareness Act was passed in Congress. For former Ambassador of the United States to Saudi Arabia Chas W. Freeman Jr., the Israel lobby that pushed for the legislation is the “principal enemy” of the First Amendment.

The act passed in Congress by a vote of 320 in favor and 91 against. The bill would mandate that the Department of Education adopt the broad definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental group, to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

This would also strengthen the crackdown efforts on nationwide university protests. The proposal first defines antisemitism and then gives the Education Department the ability to suspend funding if it determines a school does not act against students who violate that definition. Once passed and rolled out, it will give the department new tools to threaten or punish schools that don’t take the department’s definition of antisemitism seriously.

The bill is seen by Freeman as another attempt to suppress denouncement of Israel’s genocidal attacks in Gaza.

“The principal enemies of the First Amendment in recent years have been… the Israel lobby,” he said in a May 4 “Dialogue Works” interview. “Basically, they have tried to prohibit any speech opposed to the state of Israel.”

He also pointed out that the redefinition of “antisemitism” conflates opposition to the mass killing and starvation of civilians with an irrational hatred of Jews. “Anti-Semitism is not the same as anti-Zionism and people who object to genocide or the conduct of that by a foreign government cannot be called antisemitic,” he said.

Keep reading

US Army Major Quits Intel Agency Over ‘Unqualified’ US Support Of Israeli ‘Ethnic Cleansing’

A US Army officer has resigned from his post at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to protest Washington’s “nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel” — support that’s facilitated “the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.” Mann describes himself as a “descendent of European Jews” who was raised to be “particularly unforgiving” where “responsibility for ethnic cleansing” is concerned. 

When Major Harrison Mann left DIA in April, he sent a two-page letter to a group of his colleagues there, saying he felt they were owed an explanation for his “relatively abrupt departure.” On Monday, Mann shared the letter with the public, via a post to his LinkedIn page. 

His post targets others in government who are feeling morally conflicted by performing duties that support the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) rampage in Gaza. The apparent catalyst for going public now: the start of  IDF attacks on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge after being forced to evacuate other areas of the 25-mile-long strip.   

“I cannot justify staying silent any longer…It is clear that this week, some of you will still be asked to provide support — directly or indirectly — to the Israeli military as it conducts operations into Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza…I am sharing [my letter] now in the hope that you too will discover you are not alone, you are not voiceless, and you are not powerless.

In the April letter explaining his departure, Mann describes how his growing misgivings grew as the IDF’s retaliation for the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of southern Israel continued, with US government help: 

“Each of us signed up to serve knowing we might have to support policies that we weren’t fully convinced of. Our defense institutions couldn’t function otherwise. However, at some point it became difficult to justify the outcomes of this particular policy. At some point — whatever the justification — you’re either advancing a policy that enables the mass starvation of children, or you’re not.” 

Keep reading

Using a Fictional Antisemitism Crisis to Support a Real Genocide

One of the most frustrating things happening in the world right now is the way people of conscience are doing everything they can to bring a stop to Israel’s US-backed atrocities in Gaza, and Israel supporters are responding to this by pointing at an epidemic of “antisemitism” which has no existence outside their own imaginations — but we’re all expected to pretend it’s real and worthy of respect.

TV’s “Dr Phil” McGraw flew to Jerusalem to give war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu an hour-long platform on which to justify his genocidal violence in Gaza to an American audience, shamelessly assisting the Israeli prime minister’s apologia with common hasbara talking points of his own.

The duo spent lot of time smearing anti-genocide protesters at US universities as evil Jew haters. At one point Netanyahu went so far as to advance the ridiculous suggestion that this sudden wave of support for Palestinians has nothing to do with Israel’s actions in Gaza at all, but is solely due to a massive “explosion” in antisemitism which just so happens to coincide with those actions.

“It’s not directed at what we do, it’s directed at who we are,” Netanyahu said of the protests, adding, “It’s an antisemitic explosion that threatens all of civilization.”

Keep reading

UCLA attackers exposed: meet the violent Zionist agitators LA police haven’t arrested

The Grayzone has obtained a dossier detailing the identities of the Zionist hooligans who assaulted UCLA anti-genocide student protesters. It was sent to LA police, but no arrests have been made. And the cops still can’t explain why they disappeared for hours during the mob attack.

On April 30, thirty people were injured when a mob of Zionist hooligans savagely assaulted the pro-Palestine UCLA encampment shortly before midnight. For over three hours, local and campus police stood down as the masked thugs assaulted students, journalists, and even officers of the law with fireworks volleys, pepper spray, and metal pipes. Though multiple attackers have been identified by community members on social media, to date there have been no arrests of pro-Israel goons.

The Grayzone has obtained a dossier composed by anonymous sleuths claiming involvement with the UCLA student protests which apparently identifies some of the attack’s perpetrators. The students emailed the document to the UCLA administration and police (UCPD), as well as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. It contains detailed information about the identities of those who were filmed carrying out wanton violence.

Los Angeles-area police have arrested droves of students protesting Israel’s US-backed genocide in Gaza, accusing over 40 students and journalists of “conspiracy to commit burglary” for attempting a sit-in on school grounds. Yet local authorities have made a grand total of zero arrests in the coordinated Zionist mob assault against UCLA anti-genocide protesters on April 30. 

The LA Times has reported that local law enforcement is relying on sophisticated facial recognition technology to hunt down the attackers. But as the UCLA sleuths’ dossier makes clear, many assailants have already been identified by matching their identities with social media profiles.

The UCPD and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department did not respond to questions from The Grayzone about whether the persons identified in the dossier were under investigation, or had been taken into custody.

Keep reading

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: Infamous Terrorist And US Intelligence Asset

Ranked second only to Osama bin Laden, the US’s most notorious declared enemy during the so-called War on Terror was Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

But a closer examination of Zarqawi’s life and his impact on events in Iraq shows that he was likely a product and tool of US intelligence.

Neoconservative strategists within the administration of George W. Bush utilized Zarqawi as a pawn to justify the illegal US invasion of Iraq in 2003 to the American public.

Moreover, he was instrumental in fomenting internal discord within Iraqi resistance groups opposing the US occupation, ultimately instigating a sectarian civil war between Iraq’s Sunni and Shia communities.

Israel’s plan unfolds in Iraq

This deliberate strategy of tension in Iraq advanced Tel Aviv’s goal of perpetuating the country’s vulnerabilities, dividing populations along sectarian lines, and weakening its army’s ability to challenge Israel in the region.

It has long been known that the CIA created Al-Qaeda as part of its covert war on the Soviet Red Army in Afghanistan in the 1980s and supported Al-Qaeda elements in various wars, including in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Chechnya in the 1990s.

Additionally, evidence points to CIA support for Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups during the clandestine war in Syria launched in 2011 amid the so-called Arab Spring.

Despite this history, western journalists, analysts, and historians still take at face value that Zarqawi and AQI were sworn enemies of the US.

Without understanding Zarqawi’s role as a US intelligence asset, it is impossible to understand the destructive role the US (and Israel) played in the bloodshed inflicted on Iraq, not only during the initial 2003 invasion but in launching the subsequent sectarian strife as well.

It is also essential to understand the importance of current Iraqi efforts to expel US forces and rid the country of US influence moving forward.

Keep reading

Lindsey Graham Suggests Nuking Iran And Hamas

Warmonger in chief Lindsey Graham suggested Sunday that Israel, with the help of the US, should use nuclear weapons on Iran and Hamas fighters in Palestinian territories.

Appearing on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” the Republican Senator asked “Why did we drop two bombs, nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?”

“To end a war that we couldn’t afford to lose,” Graham continued, adding “You don’t understand, apparently, what Israel is facing. They’re facing three groups: Iran, who has received $80 billion in aid… They’re taking that money to kill all the Jews.”

Graham claimed that Israel is facing a significant threat to its existence, and therefore should do whatever it takes, just as the US did in World War Two.

Keep reading

U.N. Reduces Estimated Number of Women, Children Killed in Gaza by Half, Blames Error on ‘Fog of War’

The United Nations has seemingly revised the estimated number of women and children it believes have been killed in Gaza during Israel’s war on Hamas, blaming the “fog of war” for the mistake.

In a graphic featured within OCHA’s recent daily briefing on May 6th, it was claimed that approximately 9,500 women had lost their lives in the ongoing conflict. The organization also cited data sourced from the Hamas-administered Ministry of Health in Gaza asserting that since hostilities began last October, roughly 14,500 children had been killed.

Yet just two days later, the U.N. agency appeared to revise these figures significantly downward in its subsequent report. The updated data indicated that approximately 4,959 women and 7,797 children had lost their lives.

The conflict erupted following a brutal attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel from Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 1,200 individuals, predominantly civilians, and the taking of approximately 240 individuals as hostages.

A reporter from the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) asked the U.N. about the revision, with the spokesperson blaming the “fog of war” for the errors.

“The revisions are taken … you know, of course, in the fog of war, it’s difficult to come up with numbers,”  Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said at a press conference last Friday.

“We get numbers from different sources on the ground, and then we try to cross check them. As we cross check them, we update the numbers, and we’ll continue to do that as that progresses.”

Keep reading

Strapped down, blindfolded, held in diapers: Israeli whistleblowers detail abuse of Palestinians in shadowy detention center

At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel’s Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photographs of a scene that he says continues to haunt him.

Rows of men in gray tracksuits are seen sitting on paper-thin mattresses, ringfenced by barbed wire. All appear blindfolded, their heads hanging heavy under the glare of floodlights.

A putrid stench filled the air and the room hummed with the men’s murmurs, the Israeli who was at the facility told CNN. Forbidden from speaking to each other, the detainees mumbled to themselves.

“We were told they were not allowed to move. They should sit upright. They’re not allowed to talk. Not allowed to peek under their blindfold.”

Guards were instructed “to scream uskot” – shut up in Arabic – and told to “pick people out that were problematic and punish them,” the source added.

Keep reading

UN Relief and Works Agency Staff Stealing, Reselling Humanitarian Aid Meant for Gazans

On Wednesday, a UNWatch report revealed that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency staff have been stealing humanitarian aid materials meant for Gazan civilians, and reselling the materials at a profit. 

UNRWA staff are stealing aid and selling it for profit, while those who report it face reprisals, according to numerous reports published by Palestinians in an UNRWA-related chatroom.

The posts expose a deep frustration by employees that senior UNRWA employees are engaged in the abuses, and that the agency is doing nothing about it. This comes amid a recent call by UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini for countries to increase direct cash assistance to Gazans because, although “there is more food available… it still does not mean that the food is accessible.”

The chatroom is run by a former UNRWA employee, Haitham al-Sayyed, who was removed from UNRWA in 2016 after he publicly called out the agency for hiding an UNRWA school map that denied the existence of Israel, covered up with a white cloth to hide it from the cameras while UN chief Ban Ki-moon was holding a press conference in June 2016.

Keep reading

Former General Mark Milley in Bizarre Defense of Israel

Retired US General Mark Milley offered a bizarre defense of Israel’s actions in Gaza when he opined that “we” in America also “slaughtered people in massive numbers.”

Milley made the comments during a panel discussion at the Ash Carter Exchange on Innovation and National Security in Washington, DC.

“Before we all get self-righteous about what Israel’s doing, and I feel horrible for the innocent people in Gaza that are dying, we shouldn’t forget that we in the United States killed a lot of innocent people,” said Milley, going on to talk about Iraq and French soldiers dying in Normandy.

“We destroyed 69 Japanese cities, not including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we slaughtered people in massive numbers – innocent people who had nothing to do with their government,” he added.

“War is a terrible thing, but if it’s gonna have meaning, if it’s gonna have any sense of morality, there has to be a political purpose and it must be achieved rapidly and with the least cost,” said Milley.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp then asserted that “the peace activists are the war activists,” referring to college campus pro-Palestine protesters, who he called “an infection inside our society” and a reason why Hamas will continue to fight.

“They’re out there supporting a terrorist organization whose very written charter calls for death of all Jews, not just in Israel but worldwide, I mean come on now, if you’re gonna support that, you’re on the wrong side,” responded Milley.

The former general’s comments about pro-Palestine protesters are somewhat odd given that he previously defended BLM protesters during the Trump era, despite the fact that they are essentially the same people.

Keep reading