Tag Archives: Benjamin Netanyahu

Cracks in the Middle East’s stability grow wider as US influence wanes

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With the region experiencing social unrest, greater influence of Russia and China, and Israel’s increasing independence, the future is uncertain

By Paul Rogers  Published 5-29-2021 by openDemocracy

A Palestinian making art out of an unexploded Israeli missile. Photo: Wajd/Twitter

The reopening of the US Consulate in East Jerusalem, which reverses one of Trump’s key moves against the Palestinian Authority, was the most significant outcome of the US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s four-state visit to the Middle East this week.

President Joe Biden’s top diplomat also announced immediate support for reconstruction in Gaza, while maintaining strong support for Israel. Yet Blinken has not proposed new peace talks, nor has he engaged with Hamas, which the US and Israel still deem to be a terrorist organisation. Instead, his quick tour through Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman was mainly focused on consolidating the ceasefire. If it helps, good, but it still does nothing to address the underlying issues. Continue reading →

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At the end of the Israel-Gaza clash, the arms industry is the only victor

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Global military analysts will take the lessons from this bout to accelerate the move towards unaccountable (and highly profitable) remote warfare

By Paul Rogers  Published 5-22-2021 by openDemocracy

Photo: suhair zakkout/Twitter

As the 11 days of clashes between Gaza and Israel ends in a ceasefire, the military analysis truly begins. The Israeli army will painstakingly review all of its operations, especially the new weapons and tactics, to judge how successful they were and what improvements are needed.

Hezbollah in Lebanon has far more rockets than Hamas in Gaza, so one of the Israeli army worries will be how Hamas and other factions were able to carry on firing from such a small area right to the end, night after night. Continue reading →

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‘A Heinous Crime’: Israeli Airstrikes Damage Gaza’s Only Coronavirus Testing Lab

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“It was bad enough when Palestinians in Gaza weren’t able to get vaccinated, but now to reportedly lose their only coronavirus testing lab is…  beyond words.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-18-2021

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced they were stopping the only central laboratory for examining coronavirus in Gaza, after it was bombed by israeli warplanes. Photo: Umer Chaudhury/Twitter

Israeli airstrikes in the center of the occupied Gaza Strip on Monday caused severe damage to the territory’s lone coronavirus testing lab and the offices of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, an attack that was immediately condemned as a war crime.

Citing eyewitnesses to the bombing, Middle East Eye reported that Israeli war planes hit the six-story Ghazi al-Shwwa building with “at least three missiles, completely destroying the upper floors.” Continue reading →

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‘Criminal Complicity’: Outrage as Biden Pushes $735 Million Weapons Sale to Israel Amid Gaza Slaughter

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“Approving more weapons to Israel would add fuel to the fire and would only embolden Israel to continue its bombardments on Gaza.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-17-2021

Then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel in 2016. Photo: US Embassy Jerusalem/flickr/CC

Human rights advocates warned Monday that the Biden administration is deepening U.S. complicity in the Netanyahu regime’s ongoing massacre of civilians in Gaza by attempting to push through a $735 million sale of so-called “precision-guided weapons” to Israel.

The Washington Post reported Monday that the Biden administration officially notified Congress of the sale on May 5, just days before Israeli forces began their latest bombardment of Gaza last week—an assault that has killed nearly 200 Palestinians, wounded more than 1,200, and displaced tens of thousands. Continue reading →

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UNICEF Warns of Looming ‘Full-Scale War’ as Israel Continues Bombing of Gaza

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The U.N. agency is urging Palestinian groups and the Israeli military to “protect all civilians, especially children, to spare essential civilian infrastructure from attacks, and to end violations against children.”

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-12-2021

Photo: Zoha Taqdees/Twitter

The United Nations children’s agency said a “dangerous tipping point” was reached Wednesday as Israel continued to pound Gaza with airstrikes amid escalating hostilities during which Israeli forces have killed at least 14 Palestinian children since Monday.

“Another 95 children in Gaza and the West Bank—including East Jerusalem—and three children in Israel have reportedly been injured in the past five days,” UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said in a statement. Continue reading →

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US, Allies Drop 46 Bombs Per Day for 20 Years, New CODEPINK Research Reveals

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The United States has been at war for nearly every year of its existence as an independent nation, fighting in 227 years of its 244-year history.

By Alan Macleod  Published 3-5-2021 by MintPress News

Saddam Hussein’s former castle in Mosul, 2019. Photo: Levi Clancy/Wikimedia Commons/CC

The United States and its allies have dropped at least 326,000 bombs and missiles on countries in the greater Middle East/ North Africa region since 2001. That is the conclusion of new research by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies of anti-war group CODEPINK.

Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen are the countries that have felt the worst of the violence, but Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Palestine and Somalia have also been targeted. The total amounts to an average of 46 bombs dropped per day over the last 20 years. Continue reading →

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‘No One Is Above the Law’: Rashida Tlaib Rips Biden Admin’s Opposition to ICC War Crimes Probe of Israel

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The Michigan congresswoman said the ICC “has the authority and duty to independently and impartially investigate and deliver justice to victims of human rights violations and war crimes in Palestine.”

By Brett Wilkins, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 3-4-2021

Gaza after Israeli attack. Photo: Physicians for Human Rights – Israel/flickr/CC

Responding to the Biden administration’s opposition to the International Criminal Court’s investigation of alleged Israeli war crimes in Palestine, Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Wednesday defended the probe while reminding the administration that “no one is above the law.”

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. “firmly opposes” the ICC investigation while vowing to “continue to uphold our strong commitment to Israel and its security, including by opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly.” In addition to alleged Israeli crimes, the probe will also examine war crimes allegedly committed by the militant Palestinian resistance group Hamas. Continue reading →

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‘Better Late Than Never’: Palestinians Welcome ICC Decision Enabling War Crimes Probe of Israel

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An investigation “would not, for sure, bring my kids back to life,” said a survivor of an Israeli airstrike. “However, I am certain that I need to continue to try to find some sort of justice.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 2-6-2021

Israeli white phosphorus attack on the main compound of the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) in central Gaza City on 15 January 2009, during Operation Cast Lead.. Photo: HRW/CC

Palestinian families and human rights groups are welcoming a Friday decision that clears the way for the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations against Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of apartheid in occupied Palestinian territories as a long-overdue step toward justice.

Given that the state of Palestine—as recognized by the United Nations and scores of countries, though not the United States nor Israel—is party to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s pre-trial chamber I decided by majority that the court’s jurisdiction “extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.” Continue reading →

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Media Praise of Israel’s COVID Vaccination Drive a Form of “Medical Apartheid”

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Completely missing from media accounts of the Israeli vaccine drive was mention of the millions of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, none of whom have received the vaccine.

By Alan Macleod  Published 1-4-2021 by MintPress News

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu receive Pfizer C. POVID-19 vaccine, kickstarts vaccination drive. Screenshot: YouTube

As vaccinations for the deadly COVID-19 virus begin to be delivered in large numbers, Israel has been receiving a great deal of praise in global media for its handling of the fight against the pandemic — one that has cost the lives of over 1.8 million people worldwide in the last 12 months.

Israel has gone into vaccine “overdrive,” announced the Financial Times, noting that the country of 9 million people has become the “world leader” and an example to follow. Detailing its achievements, it told readers that, “At one vaccination site, people waited no longer than 10 minutes each to be assigned to receive a jab, with one of 10 booths being kept empty to handle overflows,” also noting that the high tech system texts citizens an exact time of arrival, to further help with crowd control. The Wall Street Journal celebrated that Israel had vaccinated more than 10% of its population in just two weeks. Other outlets like the BBC noted that the government was prioritizing the elderly, with over 40% of over 60s having already received the first dose of a two injection procedure. “Israel could become [the] 1st nation to vaccinate all its citizens,” ran an Economic Times’ headline. Continue reading →

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Palestinians, Advocates Blast New U.S. Rule Requiring ‘Made in Israel’ Label on Settlement Goods

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“Such a decision attempts to legitimize settlement-manufactured goods as well as the theft of Palestinian land and products,” said Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

By Brett Wilkins, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-26-2020

Mike Pompeo at the Psagot Winery—located on stolen Palestinian land in the illegal Israeli settler colony of Psagot. Photo: Secretary Pompeo/Twitter

Palestinian officials and international peace activists condemned a Trump administration order that went into effect earlier this week requiring goods produced in a large portion of the illegally occupied West Bank of Palestine to be labeled “Made in Israel.”

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Wednesday announced that “for country of origin marking purposes, imported goods produced in the West Bank, specifically in Area C under the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement… must be marked to indicate their origin as ‘Israel,’ ‘Product of Israel,’ or ‘Made in Israel.'” Continue reading →

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