Tag: perpetual war

Palestinian Activist Recorded His Own Murder, Israel Still Released His Killer

A Palestinian activist featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” recorded his murder by an Israeli settler. The killer was freed by an Israeli court, arguing there was a lack of evidence. 

On Sunday, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem released a video record by Awda Hadalin of the moment he was shot and killed by Yinon Levi. There are two additional videos that show Levi point his gun and shoot Hadalin before he falls to the ground. 

Director of “No Other Land,” Yuval Abraham, said the three videos leave no doubt that Levi murdered Hadalin. “There is no room for doubt. Yinon Levi killed Uda Hadalin in front of the cameras, and an entire system of Jewish superiority turned him from a perpetrator into a victim and punished the village residents instead of punishing him,” he wrote on X. 

The day after the killing, an Israeli court accepted Levi’s assertion he was acting in “self-defense” and granted him house arrest. There is no evidence in the video that Levi was in danger. 

He was then released from house arrest after a judge ruled the evidence backed his self-defense claim. 

Israel refused to give Hadalin’s body to his family to allow for a funeral for over a week. Tel Aviv attempted to force the family to agree to limit his funeral to 15 people before giving his body to relatives. After ten days, the Israeli High Court ordered the release of Hadalin’s body. 

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Israeli Strike on Tent in Gaza Kills Five Al Jazeera Journalists

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday night targeted a tent outside the gates of the al-Shia Hospital in Gaza City and killed five Al Jazeera journalists, including 28-year-old Anas al-Sharif, a well-known reporter who had a large following on X.

Al Jazeera said that the other four journalists killed in the bombing were correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and three cameramen: Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. Two other people were also killed in the bombing.

Just minutes before he was killed, al-Sharif said in a post on X that Israel was escalating its bombing of Gaza City. “Relentless bombardment,” he wrote. “For two hours, the Israeli aggression has intensified on Gaza City.”

The Israeli military acknowledged that it deliberately targeted al-Sharif, claiming that he was a “Hamas terrorist” who “posed as an Al Jazeera journalist.” Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a warning about the Israeli military’s smears against Sharif, saying it was likely a precursor to his assassination.

“We are deeply alarmed by the repeated threats made by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee against Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Anas al-Sharif and call on the international community to protect him,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah.

“This is not the first time Al-Sharif has been targeted by the Israeli military, but the danger to his life is now acute. Israel has killed at least six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza during this war. These latest unfounded accusations represent an effort to manufacture consent to kill al-Sharif,” Qudah added.

In a post on X at the time, al-Sharif responded to the Israeli smears against him. “I reaffirm: I, Anas al-Sharif, am a journalist with no political affiliations. My only mission is to report the truth from the ground — as it is, without bias,” he said. “At a time when a deadly famine is ravaging Gaza, speaking the truth has become, in the eyes of the occupation, a threat.”

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Zelensky Rejects Idea of Ceding Territory to Russia as Trump and Putin Prepare for Alaska Summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the idea of ceding territory to Russia to end the war in Ukraine, as President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are preparing for a summit that will be held this Friday, August 15, in the US state of Alaska.

“Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier,” Zelensky said in a video address on Saturday. “We will not reward Russia for what it has perpetrated.

Zelensky’s comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin told US envoy Steve Witkoff that he would agree to a full ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew its forces from Donetsk, one of the two oblasts in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Russia controls most of Donetsk and virtually all of Luhansk, the other half of the Donbas region.

Based on another Journal report, Russia is seeking to freeze the lines in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — a potential climbdown from Moscow’s earlier demand for a full Ukrainian withdrawal from both oblasts.

A European counter-proposal that was presented to US officials on Saturday called for any territorial exchanges to happen in a reciprocal manner, meaning Russia would have to withdraw from some land if Ukraine ceded the territory it still controls in Donetsk. Some European officials said Moscow would have to cede control of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

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Israel Is Not an Ally—It’s a Liability

My people are starting to hate Israel.”

That’s what President Donald Trump reportedly told a prominent Jewish donor recently. His remark wasn’t just a political aside; it was a warning. As images of starvation and devastation from Gaza flood American screens, even Trump has privately acknowledged the reality of “real starvation.” A shift is underway, and it is reshaping the foundations of American politics and foreign policy.

Once-unquestioning support for Israel on the American right is beginning to erode. MAGA-aligned voices—from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who labeled Israel’s war in Gaza a “genocide,” to populist influencers like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson—are now publicly challenging the U.S.–Israel relationship. Bannon has observed that Israel has “very little support” among the under-30 MAGA base. Carlson, in an interview with progressive host Ana Kasparian, went further: “They [Israel] are not allowed to use my tax dollars to bomb churches,” he declared, accusing Tel Aviv of war crimes and questioning continued U.S. military aid.

This growing skepticism reflects a deeper structural problem in the U.S.–Israel relationship: a classic case of moral hazard. Israel operates with the expectation that Washington will foot the bill—politically, financially, and militarily—regardless of how destabilizing or damaging its actions may be. Israeli leaders have repeatedly defied American warnings, expanded illegal settlements, and abandoned even the pretense of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, all while receiving billions in unconditional aid and carte blanche diplomatic cover.

As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said back in 2011, Israel is an “ungrateful ally” that gives “nothing in return” for American guarantees, military support, and intelligence sharing. Generals David Petraeus and James Mattis, both former commanders of U.S. Central Command, have likewise warned that Israel’s policies directly undermine U.S. interests in the region, inflame anti-American sentiment, and fuel recruitment for extremist groups.

Yet, Israel’s leaders continue to act with impunity, confident that the United States will absorb the political and strategic fallout. That is not the mark of a healthy alliance. It is exploitation.

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AI Can Be Used To Develop Biological And Chemical Weapons

The greatest threat to America may be something we cannot see.

Biological and chemical weapons can spread debilitating fear and wreak havoc on populations. Unfortunately, the threat of these kinds of attacks on American soil is only rising, empowered by the unique capabilities of artificial intelligence. To prevent catastrophe, we must use AI to counter the danger that this advanced technology can unleash.

We are only one misstep away from catastrophe. The most recent close call came last month when two Chinese nationals, who received funding from their communist government to work on a noxious fungus, were caught smuggling the pathogen into the United States. The FBI arrested them just in time, as this was no ordinary fungus—instead, it was what scientists call an “agroterrorism weapon” that would have decimated America’s grain farms, sickened the U.S. population, and disrupted our nation’s food supply.

Those who lived through the fraught days immediately after 9/11 likewise remember the anthrax scare, as toxic letters were sent through the postal service, killing five people and making everyday Americans terrified to open their mailboxes. 

Every few years, some new suspect threatens our military bases, political leaders, or someone else with ricin, a deadly poison derived from the castor plant.

And just a few short years ago, millions died and the entire world was thrown into a tailspin when COVID-19—which many experts now believe originated from questionable handling and a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology—crossed borders with abandon.

The rapid rise of AI is only making this problem more prevalent. In 2022—months before ChatGPT was released, bringing large language models to the masses—an AI designed to develop drugs invented 40,000 new chemical weapons in a mere six hours. In 2023, AI was used to provide a recipe for poisonous chloramine gas, which it called “Aromatic Water Mix.” AI experts and government officials have been warning for years that AI could spark the next pandemic and be an unparalleled tool in the hands of terrorists.

These facts are encouraging some to ask that AI developers give pause to the negative consequences of this powerful technology. We have enough problems with biological espionage, terrorism-by-mail, and lethal lab leaks. Why would we put potential biological and chemical weapons generators in the hands of anyone with a computer?

But responding to this threat is not so simple as pulling the plug. First, while AI has the potential to be used for evil, it also has immense power for good. The same tools that could be used to make biological weapons are also being applied to cure currently untreatable diseases. Additionally, America can’t stop others from developing AI for whatever uses they desire. COVID-19 and the recent agroterrorism fungus both came from China, and you can bet China will have no problem unleashing AI for even more destructive ends if it serves their interests, as will every other bad actor in the world.

So what else can we do?

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James Cameron Warns of ‘Terminator’-Style Apocalypse if You ‘Put AI Together with Weapons Systems’

Hollywood director and filmmaker James Cameron is warning “there’s danger” of a Terminator-style apocalypse if you “put AI together with weapons systems.”

While Cameron has previously expressed that how artificial intelligence may be able to help with directing movies, he is nonetheless still worried that his The Terminator franchise potentially becoming a reality if AI gets out of control.

“I do think there’s still a danger of a Terminator-style apocalypse where you put AI together with weapons systems, even up to the level of nuclear weapon systems, nuclear defense counterstrike, all that stuff,” Cameron said in an interview with Rolling Stone.

Notably, Cameron’s The Terminator is set in a world where an AI defense network becomes self-aware and begins conquering humans.

The Oscar-winning Titanic and Avatar director went on to say, “Because the theater of operations is so rapid, the decision windows are so fast, it would take a super-intelligence to be able to process it, and maybe we’ll be smart and keep a human in the loop.”

“But humans are fallible, and there have been a lot of mistakes made that have put us right on the brink of international incidents that could have led to nuclear war. So I don’t know,” Cameron added.

“I feel like we’re at this cusp in human development where you’ve got the three existential threats: climate and our overall degradation of the natural world, nuclear weapons, and super-intelligence,” he continued. “They’re all sort of manifesting and peaking at the same time.”

Cameron also surmised “Maybe the super-intelligence is the answer,” adding, “I don’t know. I’m not predicting that, but it might be.”

In 2023, the director said that he doubted AI — which he referred to as “a disembodied mind that’s just regurgitating what other embodied minds have said” — would ever come up with a story “good” enough to the point where the technology replaces human screenwriters.

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Palestinian prisoners ‘electrocuted, starved, and beaten’ in Israeli jails: Detainees commission

A Palestinian rights group on Friday accused Israeli prison authorities of systematically torturing detainees with electric shocks and other forms of abuse, warning of a growing pattern of physical and psychological cruelty, Anadolu reports.

The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said conditions in northern Israel’s Gilboa Prison have deteriorated significantly, with special units storming prisoner sections under the pretext of inspections.

During these raids, detainees are handcuffed, forcibly removed from their cells, and reportedly subjected to intense beatings and electric shocks, the commission said, citing testimony from a lawyer who recently visited the prison.

Prisoners are allegedly dragged across the wet floors of shower areas, where their soaked clothes and bodies are then targeted with stun guns to amplify the pain.

“The shocks are not only painful but calculated to break the prisoners,” the commission said. “Some have lost consciousness. Others bled from head wounds after being struck with the metal parts of the stun devices.”

The report also described scenes of humiliation, with Israeli guards allegedly laughing as bloodied detainees lay on the ground.

In addition to physical torture, the commission reported severe food deprivation, noting that prisoners are receiving minimal portions, leading to rapid weight loss.

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Israel Also Sponsored a Genocide in Guatemala

Known as the “Silent Holocaust,” the genocide in Guatemala is seldom mentioned in modern history.

The United States, with support from Israel, backed yet another violent crusade against an indigenous population as well as against communism.

The Guatemalan genocide — preceded by a C.I.A.-instigated coup d’état of the Guatemalan government in 1954 and the ensuing civil war — saw hundreds of thousands of the Mayan Indigenous peoples and alleged communists massacred or disappeared.

Jennifer Harbury, an attorney, author and human rights activist, witnessed the horrors of the genocidal campaign waged by the U.S.-backed Guatemalan military. Included in these horrors was the torture and disappearance of her husband, Mayan rebel leader Efraín Bámaca Velásquez (known as Everardo) by C.I.A.-backed Guatemalan military officials.

Harbury joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to dissect the brutal history of the genocide as well as recount her own experiences, including several hunger strikes in Guatemala and Washington, D.C., that ultimately led to the exposure of the C.I.A.’s complicity in the atrocities.

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British medic, 26, who was found dead on Christmas Eve in Ukraine after serving in the war against Russia ‘may have been murdered’

Katherine Mielniczuk, 26, tragically died from opioid intoxication on Christmas Eve in 2023.

Cops initially said they did not believe the former chemistry student’s death was suspicious, but have now raised questions over whether there was ‘foul play’ involved.

Police in the city of Sloviansk have launched an ‘ongoing’  murder investigation – with fears Ms Mielniczuk could have been pumped with a fatal dose of drugs, the Mirror reports. 

It comes as a coroner demanded to know if someone ‘administered something without her consent’ before colleagues discovered her lifeless body in her bed.

Ms Mielniczuk went to Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, compelled to use her medical skills to help those in need.

The University of Bristol graduate had been in the country for 18 months, primarily with the humanitarian group Stay Safe UA, and was attached to the 151st unit of the Special Operations Forces.

She also served as an instructor and combat medic with a group calling itself Menace Medics. 

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Leaked documents reveal Microsoft provided Israel’s Unit 8200 with tools to spy on Palestinians

  • Microsoft provided its Azure cloud platform to Israel’s Unit 8200, enabling mass surveillance of Palestinian communications.
  • Unit 8200 used Azure data to identify bombing targets in Gaza, leading to civilian casualties.
  • Microsoft claims ignorance but refuses to terminate its contract with Israeli military intelligence.
  • Investigations reveal Microsoft profits from war crimes while publicly promoting ethical AI principles.
  • Critics warn unchecked surveillance turns corporations into silent partners in oppression and human rights violations.

Microsoft isn’t exactly known for being ethical, but a shocking new exposé has exposed just how deep their complicity in war crimes runs. The Big Tech firm has been secretly providing Israel’s elite military intelligence Unit 8200 with its Azure cloud platform since 2021, enabling the storage and analysis of massive troves of Palestinian communications data.

According to a damning investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian, Microsoft’s technology has been weaponized to surveil millions of daily phone calls from Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, with Unit 8200 sources confirming the data was used to identify bombing targets in densely populated civilian areas. While Microsoft feigns ignorance, claiming its CEO was unaware of the data’s lethal purpose, the tech giant’s actions reveal a disturbing pattern of prioritizing profits over human lives… even as Palestinian civilians pay the ultimate price.

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