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Friday, October 04, 2024
Wednesday, October 02, 2024
“Iran’s Attack on Israel Failed”
Western media and Western government reactions to Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel raises serious concerns. Before sharing some of these reactions, some context, then some questions that would drive world community perception of governments' reactions to these developments.
On October 1, Iran struck several military and security
sites in Israel in response to Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh, Nasrollah,
and Iranian officials. Iran described the attack as “legal, rational and
legitimate”.
These positions might be convenient at the
moment. However, long term, the West might come to regret their reactions and
non-reactions to the events of the last weeks and months because their positions expose
their disdain to the life and dignity of other peoples, compared to how they avenge the deaths of their own. These are critical moments
that require principled response. Few
facts will illustrate the problem the West faces.
1. If Iran’s attack failed, why are Western governments condemning
it in the strongest terms possible? And did it fail because it did not kill
Israeli civilians? Because many of the rockets landed, and they seem to have
landed in specific locations, which means if they were aimed at civilian centers they would have landed in civilian centers. Is the West's measure of failure and success determined by the number of civilians killed?
2. Whenever Israel attacks another country and such attacks result in countless deaths of civilians including children and women, the West does not condemn such attacks; instead reaffirms Israel’s right for self-defense. If they believe in a principle of self-defense, Western governments need to answer the questions: Do other peoples and other countries have the right to such self-defense, too?
3. When Israel attacks in self-defense, civilians, including
children and women, as acknowledged by France’s president are killed. In fact,
in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack, Israel killed 13 Palestinian children for
1 Israeli death for a total of 16,000 Palestinian chidlren and counting; or 33 Palestinians for 1 Israeli, for a total of 41,000 Gazans and counting. Is this an acceptable
formular for self-defense killings?
Answers to these questions are not an exercise in morality speak; answers to these questions can form a practical, sound foundation for ending the cycles of violence.
Tuesday, October 01, 2024
Islamic Societies Review MONTHLY -- September 2024
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Media review: World reacts to the unprecedented terrorist attack using pagers that took place today in Lebanon
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Sunday, September 29, 2024
Media Review: What will Hezbollah and Iran do and what might happen in the Middle East after Beirut Attacks?
In about a week, Israel turned electronic devices into weapons,
assassinated military and political leaders, and launched arial bombings in
Lebanon injuring thousands and killing hundreds, including the leader of the
Lebanese group Hezbollah. Media reports about these unprecedented events
vary. Governments’ reactions also vary. A review of how the global media and
governments reacted will provide some context. The media review is prefaced by some thoughts about what might happen next, given the current events and given the expressed reactions as reported by media outlets.
Israeli leaders claim that what they did will usher in a new Middle East. Israel has crossed so many red lines to achieve these stated goals: Destroy Hamas, Hezbollah, and all other affiliated groups. But they don't seem to have an answer for what their plan, long term, is for Palestinians. Instead they seem to focus on Iran. That is where it becomes clear that the current military success is just tactical success and it is not hard to achieve given the superior firepower and military technology the state of Israel enjoys, not to mention the unlimited supply of weapons the US government has provided thus far. However, strategically, this could be seen in the very near future as the moment when Israel forced the Iranian leaders to make a serious strategic shift. Here is why.
Iranian leaders have recently described Israeli leaders' actions as a form of "insanity", for crossing all legal, diplomatic, and ethical boundaries. Given that Israel is believed to have a stockpile of nuclear weapons, in the view of Iranian leaders, such "insane" leaders will not hesitate in using nuclear weapons against Iran. After all, some members of the Israeli government have publicly threatened to use nuclear weapons in Gaza. If Iran did not take that threat seriously in the past, the recent actions must have changed their nuclear posture.
Recalling that US assessed in June of this year that Iran was a week to a week and a half from breakout point in developing nuclear weapons capability, if Iran does not respond in the way it responded in the past, attacking with rockets and drones, the US and Israel should worry. Their non-response could mean a muted strategic response, whereby the religious authorities rescind earlier directives not to develop nuclear weapons and issue a new one that would speedup the development of nuclear weapons capabilities, at least for deterrence purposes. Such development would place the world on a path towards catastrophe, not just because of the potential for nuclear incident in the Middle East, but globally given that Russia's president just warned that Russia will change its nuclear posture if Western governments-supplied weapons to Ukraine are used to strike deep inside Russia.
Based on some Iranian media coverage, turning
communication devices into discriminate weapons and killing religious figures
is a form of nuclear strike without using a nuclear weapon. Some Iranians are
now convinced that Israel will use nuclear weapons against their country. This
is what will create a strategic shift in the region, not wining a war against
non-state actors In Gaza and Lebanon without a plan for a political settlement with the Palestinians.
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Chinese Foreign Minister: The Palestinian issue is the greatest wound to the conscience of humanity and historical injustice should not be ignored
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed on Saturday that the Palestinian issue is the greatest wound to the conscience of humanity at this moment. In his speech at the general debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Chinese official spoke about the ongoing war in Gaza and the recent developments in Lebanon, stressing that force cannot replace justice and that the long-held aspiration of Palestine to establish an independent state should not be ignored.
“The historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people should no longer be ignored, and there should be no delay in reaching a comprehensive ceasefire,” he continued, stressing that the fundamental solution lies in the two-state solution.He stressed that China has always been a strong supporter of the Palestinian people’s just cause to restore their legitimate national rights and a strong supporter of Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations.
Wang Yi stated that Beijing has recently helped achieve breakthroughs in Palestinian internal reconciliation and will continue to work in coordination with like-minded countries to achieve a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian issue and lasting peace and stability in the Middle East.
Friday, September 27, 2024
New Zealand journalist Shaneel Lal on Western Media and Genocide
New Zealand journalist Shaneel Lal delivers a powerful speech in support of Gaza and Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli occupation during his acceptance speech for the Journalist of the Year Award at the One Young World Summit in Montréal, Canada.
“It’s our moral obligation to give voice to those who have been oppressed and silenced by those in power”
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Is this what self-defense looks like?
If these are the images and characterization of what Israeli "self-defense" looks like, then what basis is there to condemn other "self-defenses"?
If Israel can kill babies and women, starve two million people, throw injured persons off rooftops, kills medical doctors and aid workers, sexually abuse Palestinian prisoners, and torture detained Palestinians, then what basis is there to condemn others if they do it?
Friday, September 20, 2024
Former French Prime Minister: Gaza is the biggest historical scandal
Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister of France, on Gaza:
"No longer has a voice on the international scene", because (among other things) of its "double-standards" and lack of action with regards to Gaza.
He calls France's internal silencing of what's happening in Gaza a "real scandal in terms of democracy", making France live in "absurdity" and resulting in it "fading away". He says that we (France and the West in general) would have many levers to stop the war - in terms of armament or economic sanctions - "but we refuse to use these levers with arguments which are absolutely unreal culturally or intellectually speaking. Saying 'we need to let Israel fight its war to the end': but what end? What is the end?".
As a consequence, he says, France and the West will "foot the bill" for what's happening in terms of loss of credibility and legitimacy.
On Gaza specifically he calls it "undoubtedly the biggest historical scandal since... I don't even dare to find a reference", calling it a war "not like the others since it is civilian populations that die".
He also rebukes the journalist for using the usual term "according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health" with regards to the number of death: "There's not only the Ministry of Health from Hamas which says that there are 40,000 dead. And there are probably many more, MANY more! So from this basis let's not give the feeling that it would be a number like that, unreliable. No!"
Dominique de Villepin: "In Gaza bodies are torn into pieces, Hearts are in pieces! Souls are in pieces! Heads are in pieces!" ("À Gaza les corps sont en morceaux! Les coeurs sont en morceaux! Les âmes sont en morceaux! Les têtes sont en morceaux!")
He says that ""Israel has no political objective and when you have no political objective the only thing you can do is war... There is a security objective, there is an identity objective, there is a messianic madness and that explains the catastrophe that we're witnessing."
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
UN approves proposal for arms embargo on Israel
Ignoring the US plea for UN to reject the resolution, the UN overwhelmingly adopted resolution to impose sanctions, arms embargo on Israel. The US does not have the veto power it enjoys and always uses to shield Israel from UNSC resolutions.
The U.S. urged the General Assembly to reject the resolution demanding Israel end its 'unlawful presence' in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months, arguing it undermines the two-state solution, but lacked veto power. Only a handful of small nation-states joined the US to vote against it. Even other Western nations, including some European US allies voted for the resolution, or abstained. Although UNGA resolution are not binding, they represent a moral and ethical judgement by the world community, exposing US's double standard, and lack of principles in relations to human rights and respect to International Humanitarian Law, which has been violated by Israel many times.
Israeli media took notice of this development.
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Media review: World reacts to the unprecedented terrorist attack using pagers that took place today in Lebanon
If a state actor is behind this attack, it represents an unprecedented indiscriminate attack that killed people as they shopped, played with their children, sat in classrooms, or interact with any other person while carrying a pager. The Lebanese government and other governments from around the world are now reacting to this terrorist attack. Here is an update based on news reports from around the world.
Lebanese Health Minister on Pager Blow-up: What Happened Was a "Real Massacre" (Press Conference)Lebanese Parliament Speaker: What Israel did (blowing up pager communication devices) is a "war crime and its continuation of this crime will drag the region towards widespread evil" (statement)
Jordanian Foreign Minister confirms in phone call with Mikati the Kingdom’s support for Lebanon’s security, sovereignty and stability, and expresses its condemnation and rejection of any action that threatens the safety of the Lebanese (statement)
After a cyber attack that left 9 dead and thousands injured, the King of Jordan directs to provide any assistance needed by the Lebanese medical sector (statement by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry)
The sabotage of communication systems in Lebanon points to Israel's intent to escalate military operations in the Middle East, according to a statement from the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller: The U.S. is not involved in the pager explosions in Lebanon and was not aware of the incident beforehand.
"I can tell you that the U.S. was not involved in it, the U.S. was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, we're gathering information," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday.
Miller did however go on to say the U.S. supported the action to carry out Tuesday's attacks.
"Going back to Lebanon, you said that you consider targeting terrorists as a legitimate act. Then Hezbollah is a terrorist organization by the U.S. Does that mean that you support such operation that happened today and that targeted Hezbollah?" he was asked at a news briefing on Tuesday."So again, when I gave that answer, I said I want to be very clear that I'm not answering with specific, with any specificity regarding this incident, because we're continuing to gather facts on it," Miller replied. "But in general, yes, of course we support operations to target Hezbollah militants, who continue to launch terrorist attacks against civilians. Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorism and a right to carry out legitimate attacks against terrorists, not civilians, but terrorists. So as a general proposition, yes, of course," the U.S. State Department spokesman said.
Miller added: "We would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident, any instability, to further increase tensions in the region."
Others in the US seem to support the attack. Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman tweeted on Twitter celebrating the bombings, saying, “I fully support efforts to target and neutralize any existential threat like Hezbollah.” AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobby in the United States, retweeted the tweet, thanking the senator for his support for Israel.
The organization reminded its audience that Hezbollah is “a terrorist organization and proxy of Iran,” and noted its role in supporting the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) after October 7 of last year, arguing that “Israel is fully entitled under international law, including but not limited to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, to exercise its right to self-defense.”
The Wall Street Journal editorial also celebrated the Israeli operation, saying that “the explosion of pagers carried by Hezbollah members across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday was a ‘daring display of modern technological warfare. ’ It also considered it a ‘warning to Iran’s proxy Shiite militia of the human price it will pay if it continues to bombard northern Israel. ’” The conservative newspaper, known for its closeness to Israeli positions, added that “at best, this pager operation will convince Hezbollah leaders that their lives are at grave risk if a wider war breaks out, and they cannot say they did not receive a message to that effect.”
...
In his interview on CBS News Sunday Morning (9/22), Former CIA director Leon Panetta said that Israel’s actions are “a form of terrorism”. He also warned that these actions could lead to more deadly operations as the conflict continues.
“The ability to be able to place an explosive in technology that is very prevalent these days. And turn it into a war of terror. Really, a war of terror. This is something new,” said Panetta.
“I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism…This is going right into the supply chain, right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question, what the hell is next?” added Panetta.
...
The widespread, and seemingly indiscriminate attack was triggered simultaneously when hundreds or thousands of pagers, mostly across Lebanon, but also in Syria, exploded. If the instigator was not believed to have been Israel, it would have been uniformly described as a mass series of terrorist attacks.
Other world governments condemned the attack, and some called it an act of terrorism.
Belgium has designated the mass explosion of pagers across Lebanon and Syria as a terror attack.
"I strongly condemn the massive terror attack in Lebanon and Syria, which injured thousands of people. A brutal escalation of violence," Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter posted on X on Wednesday."Silence is not an option. An international investigation is called for. The bloodshed must end," she added.
"We consider this incident to be another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon, which has affected thousands of innocent people," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn the unprecedented attack on friendly Lebanon and its citizens, which is a gross violation of its sovereignty and a serious challenge to international law using unconventional weapons," she added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expresses sorrow over pager explosions in Lebanon, saying Israel's attempts to spread conflicts in the region are extremely dangerous
EU's Borell: pager detonations had 'heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians'
The EU’s top diplomat has described the pager detonations in Lebanon as “extremely worrying”, and said they had caused “heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians.”
In a statement, Josep Borrell said:
Following yesterday’s series of explosions in Lebanon, I called the Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib. He briefed me on the explosion of a high number of electronic devices in many areas across the country. Thousands of people were injured – hundreds in critical condition – hospitals are collapsing.
Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians: several children are among the victims
I consider this situation extremely worrying. I can only condemn these attacks that endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region.
The European Union calls on all stakeholders to avert an all-out war, which would have heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond.
UN high commissioner for human rights demands accountability for Lebanon pager blasts
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on Wednesday that those responsible for the bombing of Hezbollah’s communications devices “must be held accountable.”
“The simultaneous targeting of thousands of people, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowing who was in possession of the targeted devices, where they were located, and the environment in which they were located at the time of the attack, constitutes a violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” he said in a statement.
Türk called for an “independent, serious and transparent investigation” into these events to find those who ordered and carried out the attacks.
He said that the bombings of the communications devices, “which killed 12 people, including two children, and injured thousands, are shocking and their effects on civilians are unacceptable, and the fear and horror they cause are profound.”
“In this volatile period, I call on all influential states in the region and beyond to take immediate action to avoid further escalation of the current conflicts,” he added, stressing that “it is time for leaders to act to save the right of everyone to live in peace and security.”
Those responsible for a deadly wave of explosions across Lebanon targeting paging devices used by members of the Hezbollah militant group “must be held to account”, the UN high commissioner for human rights said on Wednesday.
...
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