Tag Archives: Genocide

Calls to Boycott Netanyahu Speech Grow as Israeli PM Heads to DC

A new coalition of advocacy groups—some of them Jewish-led—are urging lawmakers to “amplify the voices of those in Israel, Palestine, and around the world who reject Netanyahu’s failed leadership.”

By Brett Wilkins. Published 7-22-2024 by Common Dreams

*Members of the peace group CodePink hold a demonstration calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, D.C. on July 22, 2024. (Photo: CodePink/X)*

Pressure is mounting on U.S. lawmakers to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled address to Congress later this week, as a newly formed coalition of civil society groups announced a protest against the far-right leader—whose policies and actions in Gaza are on trial for genocide at the World Court.

As Netanyahu “brings to Congress his message of extending and expanding the devastating war in Gaza, neglecting the safety of Israeli hostages, and ensuring impunity for the actions of his government, an alternative message must be heard,” the new coalition said in a statement Monday. “To amplify a message of safety, freedom, just peace, collective liberation, and human rights for ALL Palestinians and Israelis, nine diverse groups have come together to form the Peace and Justice Protest Bloc.”

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Failed US Military Pier Offered ‘Humanitarian Gloss’ as Israel Starved Gaza

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“The entire operation was a failed exercise in public relations by the Biden administration,” said one observer.

By Brett Wilkins Published 7-12-2024 by Common Dreams

*U.S. troops prepare components of the Gaza aid pier on March 15, 2024. (Photo: United States Naval Institute)*

After failing to re-anchor its “humanitarian pier” in Gaza, the Pentagon said Thursday that the much-ballyhooed project—which critics dismissed as a “public relations ploy” that did next to nothing to stop the deadly starvation spreading in the besieged Palestinian enclave—would shut down indefinitely.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said U.S. troops had failed to reconnect the floating Trident Pier to Gaza’s shore due to “technical and weather-related issues,” according to The Washington Post.

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Fresh Calls to ‘Reject AIPAC’ After Analysis of GOP Money in Dem Primaries

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“George Latimer in New York and Wesley Bell in Missouri are trying to become Democratic members of Congress off millions of dollars of money from rich right-wing Republicans,” said one group.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 6-9-2024 by Common Dreams

Politico reported Sunday that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is “the biggest source of Republican money flowing into competitive Democratic primaries this year,” sparking new calls for candidates and voters nationwide to #RejectAIPAC.

“If you don’t want Republican megadonors to choose your next Democratic congressperson for you, then there’s only one option: #RejectAIPAC,” Naftali Ehrenkranz, digital director at Get Free, said on social media, pointing to the reporting.

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Gaza Journalists Killed by Israel Honored on World Press Freedom Day

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“To claim these deaths are accidental is not only incredulous, it is insulting to the memory of professionals who lived their lives in service of truth and accuracy,” said one expert.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 5-3-2024 by Common Dreams

*World Press Freedom Day: Gaza journalists remember slain colleagues. Screenshot: YouTube*

As the international community marked World Press Freedom Day on Friday, journalists and advocates across the globe mourned and celebrated those killed in Israel’s ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip.

The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has publicly identified at least 97 media workers killed since Israel launched its retaliatory war on October 7: 92 Palestinian, three Lebanese, and two Israeli reporters.

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Jewish Groups Decry House Passage of Bill Defining Criticism of Israel as ‘Antisemitism’

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“Antisemitism is a serious problem, but codifying a legal definition could have dangerous implications for free speech,” said one campaigner.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 5-1-2024 by Common Dreams

*House vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act. Photo: Jacob N. Kornbluh/X*

House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve legislation directing the U.S. Department of Education to consider a dubious definition of antisemitism, despite warnings from Jewish-led groups that the measure speciously conflates legitimate criticism of the Israeli government with bigotry against Jewish people.

House members approved the Antisemitism Awareness Act—bipartisan legislation introduced last year by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Max Miller (R-Ohio), and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) in the lower chamber and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in the Senate—by a vote of 320-91.

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US Reportedly Working to Stop ICC From Issuing Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu

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“There is absolutely no reason for Biden to be involved in this,” said one analyst. “But once again, Biden steps in to protect Netanyahu from the consequences of the war crimes he commits.”

By Jake Johnson. Published 4-28-2024 by Common Dreams

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly growing increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for him and other top government officials for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The Times of Israel reported Sunday that the Israeli government, in partnership with the U.S., is “making a concerted effort to head off” possible arrest warrants from the ICC, which first launched its war crimes investigation in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2021.

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Violent Arrest of Emory Professor Spotlights Brutality of Police Crackdown on Campus Protests

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“To sustain this level of blind support for Israel, the U.S. must erode its own democracy,” said one foreign policy expert. “And that is what we see happening on U.S. campuses now.”

By Julia Conley. Published 4-26-2024 by Common Dreams

Emory University economics professor Caroline Fohlin was pushed to the ground and subdued by police officers on April 25, 2024 after asking an officer why a student was being arrested, in Atlanta. Screenshot: CNN

Emory University economics professor Caroline Fohlin approached several police officers who were holding a student down on the ground on Thursday and demanded an explanation—but by the end of the day videos of her own arrest became some of the most widely circulated images of the rapidly spreading anti-war movement on college campuses across the U.S.

As she knelt down to ask the university officers, “What are you doing?” another law enforcement agent grabbed her arm and pushed her away before repeatedly ordering her to “get on the ground.”

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‘The Opposite of Leadership’: US Vetoes Palestine’s UN Membership

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Palestine’s permanent observer at the United Nations said the resolution’s failure “will not break our will, and it will not defeat our determination.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 4-18-2024 by Common Dreams

Robert A. Wood, deputy permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, vetoes Palestine’s U.N. membership during the Security Council meeting on April 18, 2024. (Photo: Manuel Elías/United Nations)

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday used the country’s veto power at the United Nations Security Council to block Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the U.N.

While 12 nations voted in favor of Palestinian membership and two abstained, the United States is one of five countries—along with China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom—who have veto authority at the Security Council.

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Rwandan genocide, 30 years on: Omitting women’s memories encourages incomplete understanding of violence

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*A father is searching for his missing child using ICRC assistance during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Photo: British Red Cross/flickr/CC*

By Anneliese M. Schenk-Day, Ohio State University. Published 4-5-2024 by The Conversation

The eruption of violence that Rwanda experienced beginning on the evening of April 6, 1994, continues to haunt the central African nation 30 years on – it has also changed the country’s gender dynamics.

The genocide resulted in hundreds of thousands of men being killed, with many more fleeing the country or being incarcerated. It left a previously male-centered society with hundreds of thousands of female-headed households. Of course, women were also subjected to the violence itself, with many killed and between 250,000 and 500,000 raped in the three months of genocide.

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In GOP’s Latest ‘Clear Call to Genocide,’ Lawmaker Calls for Nuclear Bombing of Gaza

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“To so casually call for what would result in the killing of every human being in Gaza sends the chilling message that Palestinian lives have no value,” said one Palestinian rights advocate.

By Julia Conley. Published 3=30-2024 by Common Dreams

*Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). Photo: walberg.house.gov*

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg became the latest Republican lawmaker to openly call for the genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza, saying at a town hall that instead of sending humanitarian aid to starving civilians there, the U.S. should “get it over quick” by dropping a nuclear bomb on the besieged enclave.

The Michigan Republican was asked by a voter why taxpayer money was being spent to build a port off the coast of Gaza at an event in the town of Dundee, in a video that was apparently recorded on March 25 and posted to social media on Saturday.

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The Movement Continues – Globally

Tag Archives: Genocide