Is this what self-defense looks like?

Is this what self-defense looks like?

    Wednesday, September 25, 2024   No comments

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?

Media Review: The Impossible Defeat.. Why Did 2,700 Israeli Assassinations Fail to Make Israel Secure?

Media Review: The Impossible Defeat.. Why Did 2,700 Israeli Assassinations Fail to Make Israel Secure?

    Thursday, August 01, 2024   No comments

Israel often claims that it carries out assassinations to ensure Israel's security. Since its founding in 1948, Israel has carried out more assassinations than any other nation-state during the same time period. What has this strategy achieve and why? 

Many observers and experts in global affairs think that assassinations are not a strategy and should not be adopted instead of a national strategy that is necessary for nation-building. A national project cannot be dependent on one or a handful of leaders. If a state-actor relies on assassinations to secure itself, then it cements its status as a renegade entity while fostering the image of the people whose leaders it assassinates as people with legitimate claims. Israel's increased rate of assassination after achieving a stalemate at best with the Palestinians in this recent war erodes its image as a normal nation-state, which defeats the purpose: national security. Aljazeera TV provided some insight into the history and outcomes of Israel's assassinations. 

With US refrained from using its veto this time, 14 UNSC members adopted a resolution calling for a cease fire in Gaza

With US refrained from using its veto this time, 14 UNSC members adopted a resolution calling for a cease fire in Gaza

    Monday, March 25, 2024   No comments

None of the UNSC P5 member States used their NO vote; that is all it took.

For the first time, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, more than 5 months after the Israeli war, as the United States - the main supporter of Tel Aviv - refrained from using its veto this time.

The resolution presented by non-permanent members of the Security Council calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, stressing the urgent need to increase aid and demanding the removal of all obstacles to its delivery.

Algeria's representative to the United Nations, Ammar Ben Jama, said that the adoption of the resolution is a message to the people of Gaza that the international community feels their pain and has not abandoned them.

He continued, saying, "We want Palestine to become a full and sovereign member of the United Nations."

The adoption of the resolution came after the Council failed to pass an amendment to the draft by adding the phrase “permanent ceasefire.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said a failure to implement the resolution would be “unforgivable.”

“The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable,” Guterres wrote on X.

Last Friday, Russia and China used their veto power to drop a US draft resolution calling for a ceasefire “in the framework of a deal to release the hostages,” a formulation that the Arab countries, Moscow, and Beijing described as “politicized and ambiguous.”

The United States has previously systematically opposed the term “ceasefire” in United Nations resolutions, and has obstructed 3 texts in this context, since the beginning of the war.

The United States, alone, again, blocking a UNSC resolution backed by more than 100 countries calling for a stop to the War on Gaza

The United States, alone, again, blocking a UNSC resolution backed by more than 100 countries calling for a stop to the War on Gaza

    Friday, December 08, 2023   No comments

Not a single country among the current members of the United Nations Security Council sided with the United States to vote against the resolution calling for the end of violence in Gaza on humanitarian grounds. 

The support for the resolution was unprecedented, with more than 100 countries out of 193 sponsoring the resolution.

The resolution was introduced when the UN Secretary General invoked the rarely used Chapter 99 of the UN Charter. Guterres invoked Article 99, which says the secretary-general may inform the council of matters he believes threaten international peace and security. Nonetheless, the US government vetoed the resolution. 

The UK, this time, too, found another reason to abstain from taking a stand. The UK government justified its abstention by the need to condemn Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack as an act of terrorism. During a similar UNSC vote that included language that condemned Hamas, the UK still refused to support the resolution. 

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Powerful countries who habitually abuse their power will always find excuses and justifications for the abuses.

The isolation of the United States in the world community is indicative of the loss of credibility, something that is very hard to recover from at a time when the US and its allies are struggling to find support to counter Russia and China.

Indonesian Foreign Minister: We will pursue "Israel" in the International Court of Justice

Indonesian Foreign Minister: We will pursue "Israel" in the International Court of Justice

    Tuesday, November 28, 2023   No comments

Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, asked today, Tuesday, whether what the Israeli occupation is committing in the Gaza Strip is acceptable from the standpoint of international law, stressing that the international community has “double standards.”

During the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Palestine, Marsudi said that Indonesia would pursue "Israel" legally in the International Court of Justice.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister stressed that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories must end, and also called on the international community for equal treatment to build peace and justice.

I stand before the #UNGA #ESS10 on Palestine (26/10), not only as the Foreign Minister of Indonesia 🇮🇩, but also as a woman, a mother, a grandmother… and to defend justice & humanity

I plead… stop the killing, protect the civilians, let in the humanitarian assistance to #Gaza pic.twitter.com/IBOm4whXoQ

— Menteri Luar Negeri Republik Indonesia (@Menlu_RI) October 26, 2023

She added: "We need a permanent ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian aid, standing for justice, and the resumption of the peace process and the political process."

Marsudi pointed out that Indonesia cannot stand idly by "to see thousands of innocent women and children killed, and to see homes, schools and hospitals razed to the ground and turned into rubble."

I spoke at the General Assembly meeting at UNHQ today (28/11) on Palestine.

Indonesia cannot stand still to see thousands of death of innocent women & children. Indonesia cannot stand still to see homes, schools & hospitals being flattened to rubbles. pic.twitter.com/8ftFp6BTLi

— Menteri Luar Negeri Republik Indonesia (@Menlu_RI) November 28, 2023

media review: Is India being pressured by the West using the human rights claims?

media review: Is India being pressured by the West using the human rights claims?

    Sunday, September 24, 2023   No comments

India and Canada are in a diplomatic crisis at this point, and now made more intense with the US government declaring its support for Canada and reportedly providing the Canadian government with intelligence about the assassination case. Indian media reacted to the US involvement. Like the Guadian newspaper three years ago, Indian media started to produce the list of assassinations undertaken by the US government in other sovereign nations and on official of sovereign nation states.  

The Tribune asked: Look who’s talking, US reveals its bias, double standards:

BACKING Canada’s efforts to vilify India over allegations of its involvement in the killing of pro-Khalistan terror accused Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the US — that inveterate global policeman — has stated that no country can get any ‘special exemption’ for such actions. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said: ‘We will defend our basic principles and consult closely with allies like Canada as they pursue their law enforcement and diplomatic process.’ But has India sought any exemption, special or otherwise? Obviously not. New Delhi has not only rejected Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s claims as ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’ but also asked Ottawa to share relevant evidence, if any. There’s a bigger question: Does the US have the moral authority to grant such an exemption, even if unsolicited, considering its own unenviable history of adventurism in foreign lands? The answer is again an emphatic no.