Another US governmental official and a Biden Appointee, who is also Jewish, resign protesting Biden's handling of the war in Gaza calling it a Genocide

Another US governmental official and a Biden Appointee, who is also Jewish, resign protesting Biden's handling of the war in Gaza calling it a Genocide

    Friday, May 17, 2024   No comments

In a move that some observers described as a resounding rejection of Biden's handling of the war in Gaza, a high-ranking Jewish employee in the administration of US President Joe Biden announced her resignation from her position on Wednesday, due to what she described as his disastrous and ongoing support for the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

In an article published by the Washington Post, Lily Greenberg Call, Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff at the Interior Ministry, cited her Jewish upbringing and relationship with Israel and recounted how her family fled from Europe to America to escape anti-Semitic persecution there.

In her resignation letter (see below), Greenberg Call - who made the first public resignation by a Jew over Biden's support for Israel - wrote, "I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration amid President Biden's disastrous and continuing support for the genocide in Gaza."

In an interview she conducted with writer Yasmine Abu Talib Yasmine Abu Talib, Greenberg Call said that resigning was a difficult decision because of the society in which she grew up, but the Jewish values ​​in which she was raised led her to make this decision.

“Judaism is the most important part of my identity, and all the values ​​I was raised with and all my Jewish education are what led me to this decision,” Greenberg Call said. She added, "What Israel is doing in Gaza and to the Palestinians throughout the land does not represent the Jews and is a shame to our ancestors."

Commenting on her position in the Biden administration, she said, “Everyone here is thinking about achieving the American dream and rising to the top, but I asked myself several times during the past eight months: What is the benefit of power if it is not used to stop crimes against humanity?”

Earlier this week, a US Army major working for the Defense Intelligence Agency resignedUS Army major working for the Defense Intelligence Agency resigned, writing in an open letter that he felt “incredibly ashamed and guilty” when he realized that his work contributed to the suffering and killing of Palestinians.

A political official also resigned from the Ministry of Education last January, and an employee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who worked on transporting weapons to foreign countries last October.

In february of this year, U.S. airman Aaron Bushnell U.S. airman Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., after he described his action while walking to the location as an extreme act of protest against the war in Gaza—a desperate plea to “free Palestine,” as he screamed while flames engulfed his body.

As early as October of last year, some US officials, including State Department officials, have resigned rejecting Biden's blind support of a genocidal war in Gaza.

Whi is Lily Greenberg Call

 An American Jewish politician and human rights activist at the local and international levels. She served as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff at the US Department of the Interior, and participated in the election campaigns of US President Joe Biden and his Vice President, Kamala Harris.

She worked for many years within Zionist groups supporting Israel, then took an anti-occupation stance, opposed violence in the occupied Palestinian territories, and called for peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Jews.

Lily Greenberg Cole was born and raised in San Diego, California. Her origins go back to a Jewish family that immigrated to the United States of America to escape the persecution practiced against Jews in Europe.

Her family lived on Ellis Island, New York, and spent decades suffering under the weight of racial discrimination, which affected Lily's upbringing and her vision of issues of justice and discrimination.

Greenberg grew up in a Jewish community in which unconditional support for Israel prevails, to the point where it is considered part of the Jewish identity, so she was a prominent youth in pro-Israel activism in her high school years, and has been involved in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) since her freshman year of high school. She was elected president of the Israel Defense Club at her school.

When she was 16 years old, she went on a trip to the occupied territories and stayed there for a full year, as part of a program for the “Jewish Youth” movement, which included making trips in the occupying state and joining educational courses. Among the activities were meetings with Palestinian teenagers, the goal of which was Developing the spirit of coexistence between the two parties.

When she joined the University of California, she joined pro-Israel groups, and became the leader of a student movement supporting Israel and known within the university.

In 2017, she led a trip to Israel, organized by the Hillel Berkeley Jewish Student Center. Students from a wide range of ethnic and religious backgrounds joined the trip, visited Palestinian cities such as Bethlehem and Ramallah, and met Palestinians and settlers.

Greenberg worked for many years as an activist to defend Israel, but experiences began to change her convictions. During a relief mission in Greece, she forged friendly relations with refugees of Palestinian origins, developed deep relationships with Palestinians through academic programs, and established close relationships with Palestinian Americans during periods of study and campaigns. Electoral relations, and those relations had a significant impact on changing the ideas on which they grew up.

In her article about severing its relationship with AIPAC, Lilly stated that she realized that the organization, through its unconditional support for the Israeli government, was supporting violence, which was contrary to its values, and so she joined to work with other groups.

Greenberg also worked with non-Zionist organizations, such as the "If Not Now" organization, which opposes the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

  

US elections: Gaza War is for Biden what Covid-19 was for Trump

US elections: Gaza War is for Biden what Covid-19 was for Trump

    Monday, May 13, 2024   No comments

If Trump lost the 2020 elections because of Covid-19, Biden may lose it because of his support for actions that are producing a genocide in Gaza.

In late May 2020, Trump was sliding down in the polls. His advisors told him it was covid-19 and his handling of it. Reportedly, Trump reacted with anger, how could something that he had nothing to do with, derail his chances of winning a second term.

Biden is in a similar situation, he is behind in key states, and he is behind because he is losing young American voters who are protesting what they see as a genocidal war in Gaza. Unlike the pandemic, which Trump claimed he had nothing to do with it, Biden chose to deal with the war they way he did, and he will face the consequences of that choice this November. Biden's handlers seem to recognize the need for him to change direction, however, Biden is personally unmoved by the plight of Gazan civilians being exterminated by bombs and famine, and soon as the weather heats up, disease.

According to the New York Times’s data, if November was last week, Biden would lose the election.

Media Review: “Anxiety and painful waiting.” What did the White House witness while anticipating the Iranian response?

Media Review: “Anxiety and painful waiting.” What did the White House witness while anticipating the Iranian response?

    Monday, April 22, 2024   No comments

The Wall Street Journal wrote, in a lengthy report, about what the White House witnessed in the United States on the night of the Iranian response to the Israeli attack on Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria, covering what preceded that night and what followed.

Under the title “Inside the White House’s frantic scramble to avoid a comprehensive war in the Middle East,” the newspaper confirmed that what it described as the “painful wait” during the Iranian response was one of the tense moments, in a crisis that lasted 19 days, experienced by the US President, Joe Biden, and his security team. The nationalist.

Biden and his administration officials found themselves “uninformed or unsure of what both Iran and Israel are planning at critical times,” during that waiting period, according to the newspaper.

The matter began with an aggression launched by the occupation against the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, without consulting the United States, and ended with an American-European alliance, with Arab participation, that mobilized to confront the Iranian response, and American calls to “Israel” to avoid launching another attack.

The Wall Street Journal returned in its report to April 1, the day the crisis erupted due to Israel’s targeting of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, and its assassination of the commander of the Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Reza Zahedi.

The newspaper indicated that an Israeli official alerted his American counterpart that the strike was underway, only a few minutes before the raid, while officials in Washington said that the warnings did not include any information about the targeted party, or the site that was struck.

Following the aggression on Damascus, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, the Israeli “defense attaché” in the White House, the US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and other senior White House officials held a video meeting with Israeli officials, according to what was reported. The newspaper.

Shortly after learning of the strike on the consulate, the White House also learned of another Israeli attack that targeted a relief team affiliated with the “Global Central Kitchen.”

Following this, and specifically on the 4th of this month, Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “in a tense phone call,” that “international support for Israel is declining,” after the relief team was targeted, according to officials.

Biden told Netanyahu that “Israel needs to allow more humanitarian aid to enter and reduce losses among Palestinian civilians,” adding that his country “will judge Israel based on its actions,” according to what the newspaper quoted officials as saying.

But, at the same time, he assured the Israeli Prime Minister that Washington supports Tel Aviv against Tehran. In this context, Biden ordered the US Department of Defense to “intensify its efforts to protect Israel,” and the US Army activated top-secret plans to assist it in crises.

On the 10th of next month, while Biden was hosting the Japanese Prime Minister at the White House, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pulled him aside in order to obtain a permit allowing the redirection of the destroyer USS Carney, which was heading at the time towards its main port. In Florida.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the USS Carney joined another American destroyer, the USS Arleigh Burke, in the eastern Mediterranean, near Israel, so that there was sufficient capacity to track missiles coming to the region and shoot them down. , using SM-3 interceptor missiles, which had not been used before to shoot down a ballistic missile in combat.

The USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier, located in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, was also moved near Israel in a way that would be able to launch combat aircraft.

In addition, a team of American military personnel secretly went to Tel Aviv, with the aim of working in the missile defense operations center, with their Israeli counterparts, according to what the newspaper reported.

With the expectation that Iran would use drones, a large force of F-15E fighter aircraft arrived in the region, where other F-16 aircraft stationed in the region also participated. In addition, plans have been made for Saudi and Jordanian aircraft, as reported by the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Biden's senior aides made phone calls, imploring other governments to ask Iran not to respond. CIA Director William Burns also asked his counterparts in European intelligence services, the capitals of the Middle East and Turkey to urge Iran to refrain from responding, according to the newspaper.

On the 11th of this month, the Supreme Commander of the US Central Command, Michael Corella, arrived in Israel. While Kurella wanted to remain in Israel during the Iranian response, the Defense Minister ordered him to leave, “for fear that Washington would appear complicit in any Israeli attack.”

Instead of participating from within the occupied territories, Kurella continued to participate in the deliberations from Jordan, according to what was reported by the Wall Street Journal.

By the time Biden arrived in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on the evening of April 12 for the weekend, the Iranian response was coming into focus, and “Biden suddenly returned to Washington, D.C., that evening,” according to the newspaper.

Anticipation prevailed among Biden and his national security team on the 13th of this month, as anxiety increased among observers in the White House Situations Room, coinciding with the appearance of 30 Iranian ballistic missiles heading towards “Israel”, then 60 missiles, then more than 100 missiles.

Iranian cruise missiles and a squadron of drones were also in the air, and their arrival at their targets was timed to coincide with the arrival of the ballistic missiles.

As the Iranian response began, on the night of Saturday and Sunday, American officials in the Situation Room and the Pentagon tracked the three waves of weapons that left Iranian airspace, crossed Iraq and Jordan, and headed towards “Israel.”

According to what the Wall Street Journal quoted officials in the US administration, the scale of the response was a shock to them, despite the advance warning they received, as a senior official expressed his belief that the level of response was “higher than expected.”

In the face of this massive barrage of Iranian missiles and drones, Biden and his aides feared that the reinforced defenses that they, along with the Israelis, had spent more than a week preparing would be overwhelmed, according to what the Wall Street Journal confirmed.

Later, American officials said that the scale of the Iranian response, which represented Tehran’s most direct attack on “Israel” ever, “matches the worst scenarios of American spy agencies,” according to the newspaper.

Following the Iranian response, the White House “is seeking to restrain its ally,” according to what the Wall Street Journal indicated.

In this context, the newspaper indicated that Biden and Netanyahu had an extensive phone call, in which Biden advised the Israeli Prime Minister, who was with the “war government,” to “think about his next step carefully, and win” (referring to American attempts to mitigate the impact of The Iranian response to “Israel” and preventing the latter from launching an attack that would expand the war).

Was Biden angry with Netanyahu for attacking Iran’s diplomatic building, a treaty violation, or for killing aid workers, a war crime, or both?

Was Biden angry with Netanyahu for attacking Iran’s diplomatic building, a treaty violation, or for killing aid workers, a war crime, or both?

    Monday, April 08, 2024   No comments

With news reports about US administration reaching out to Iran with an offer to stop its promise of retaliatory strikes against Israel for the latter's attack on Iran's diplomatic facility in Syria, and with Iran's foreign minister making an unscheduled trip to Oman yesterday, it appears that Biden used the killing of aid workers to mask his anger with Israel crossing a red line and carrying out what is essentially a direct attack on Iran.

There is no doubt that Iran can retaliate directly against Israel. It did so against the US when Trump assassinated Soleimani in January 2020. An Iranian retaliatory attack against Israel could set new course for the entire region, however. 

If Iran attacks Israel directly, the right-wing government in Israel will be forced to retaliate or it will collapse. If it were to retaliate to the retaliation, the armed confrontation enters a new phase, similar to the active front with Hezbollah. That will be catastrophic for Israel for many reasons.

Israel cannot invade Iran and if the US does not get involved directly, all Israel can do is to trade rockets and bombs from distance. That formular favors Iran for many reasons, too.  

First, Iran is a much larger country, and its weapons systems are dispersed all over the country. It will not be possible for Israel to take out all weapons systems. If that was possible, US could have done that in Yemen where a much smaller and less prepared group, the Houthis, have overcome a military Western coalition that has been bombing them for months.

Second, Iran has a formidable array of weapons, rockets and drones, that can be launched for months or even years. In addition to these long-distance weapons, Iran can rely on its allies in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq to provide support.

Iran will respond given that the highest authority in the country already stated that Iran will receive “a slap”. The question is whether US diplomacy will manage to limit Iran’s response to limits of Israel’s attack. That is, an attack on Israeli diplomatic missions and perhaps an attack on military installations in occupied territories to end the cycle. Iran has the option to attack Israel directly because it considers its diplomatic facilities sovereign territories of Iran. However, attacking Israel diplomatic facilities places Iran outside International norms, too, which it has been using to get the world community to condemn it. 

All these factors give credence to the reporting about the US offer to Iran, possibly through Oman. Because all these indicator show that Israel committed a grave mistake when it attacked a diplomatic facility. It may not just US acting to prevent the widening of a conflict, it is likely that Israel wants to limit the damage too. 

The following media reports provide more contect to what might be behind the scene negotiations.

Iranian diplomatic sources say the US is trying to convince Iran not to retaliate against Israel for its bombing of the Iranian embassy in Syria earlier this month, Al-Jarida newspaper reported on 8 April.

The Israeli strike targeted a building attached to the Iranian embassy in Damascus. It led to the killing of the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, his deputy, and five other IRGC officers.

A source in the Iranian foreign ministry told Al-Jarida that Washington offered Tehran direct negotiations with Tel Aviv to de-escalate the conflict.  

According to the source, Washington will guarantee to persuade Tel Aviv to stop its military operations in Syria and Lebanon on the condition that Iran commit not to retaliate against Israel for the Damascus attack.

At the same time, a diplomatic source in Beirut told Al-Jarida that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected an American proposal to pledge to stop attacks in Syria.

The source added that Iranian leader Ali Khamenei is reviewing the US offer but is not expected to accept it if it does not include guarantees for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza and to stop all Israeli and US attacks on Iranian targets or those belonging to Iran's allies in the Axis of Resistance.

The source revealed that the Iranians had also previously received a verbal Israeli proposal via a Gulf state. In the proposal, Tel Aviv claimed it was ready to stop operations against Iranian targets in Syria and Lebanon in exchange for Tehran abandoning retaliation for the killing of Zahedi, whose killing was considered the most significant blow to Iran since the assassination of Qassem Soleimani.

According to the source, the Iranian Foreign Ministry responded to the Israeli message by saying that the proposal must also include a ceasefire in Gaza.

However, some IRGC leaders were unhappy with the foreign ministry's response, viewing the Israeli proposal as a trap. The IRGC leaders argued that any negotiations with Israel must take place only after Iran has retaliated.

The source stated that IRGC commanders believe that Israel's targeting of the Iranian consulate is an opportunity that should not be missed to strike a strong blow at Israel, especially since the consular building in Damascus is considered sovereign Iranian territory and was targeted in a clear violation of international law.

The source said that the IRGC leadership believes Washington will not enter a war with Iran even if it retaliates against Israel. They also consider that an adequately harsh strike against Israel will compel it to accept a ceasefire in Gaza and abandon any plans to invade Lebanon or escalate its bombing in Syria.

Western government continue to lose credibility

Despite the fact that the attack on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Syria violated global treaties including the Vienna Conventions regulating diplomatic and consular relations and the immunities of diplomats and headquarters (1961, 1963, 1969) and the Rome Statute, US government and its Western allies did not explicitly condemn the attack. Instead, they called on Iran to exert “self-restraint.” 

On Thursday, the German Foreign Ministry called, through a statement, on all parties in the Middle East to calm down, exercise restraint, and act responsibly, following a call by Minister Annalena Baerbock who discussed the matter with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron warned of “expanding conflicts”. During a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry that was reported by local media outlets, including the private “Tasnim” agency.

According to the agency, the Iranian Foreign Ministry quoted Cameron as saying that he asked Iran to exercise restraint, and said that “lack of restraint on the part of the parties could lead to further expansion of conflicts in the region.”

Regional powers on the other hand voiced condemnation, directly accusing Israel of violating international norms.

Turkey denounced, in a Foreign Ministry statement, the bombing and considered it a violation of international law, warning that the attack may lead to an exacerbation of the conflict in the region.

Saudi Arabia also condemned the targeting in a Foreign Ministry statement, expressing its “categorical rejection of targeting diplomatic facilities for any justification, and under any pretext.”

In a brief Foreign Ministry statement, the UAE condemned “the targeting of the Iranian diplomatic mission in the Syrian capital, Damascus,” without any additional comment.

Qatar also condemned, in a Foreign Ministry statement, the attack, and considered it “a blatant violation of international agreements and conventions,” stressing “its complete rejection of targeting diplomatic and consular missions and the necessity of providing protection for their employees in accordance with the rules of international law.”

Egypt said, in a statement to the Foreign Ministry, “We categorically reject the attack on diplomatic facilities under any justification, and we stand in solidarity with Syria in respecting its sovereignty and the integrity of its lands and people.”

Kuwait also considered, in a Foreign Ministry statement, the attack a “flagrant assault,” renewing its call on “the international community and the Security Council to assume its responsibilities towards taking the necessary measures and exerting the necessary efforts to preserve the safety and stability of the countries of the region and reduce tension and escalation.”

In a statement condemning the attack, the Omani Foreign Ministry stressed “the need to stop the escalation in the region and reject aggression and other actions that threaten security and stability,” expressing condolences to the families of the victims and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

Iraq also confirmed in a Foreign Ministry statement that the attack “represents a clear and flagrant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty,” warning that “the expansion of the cycle of violence in the region will lead to more chaos and instability.”

China and Russia, on the other hand, took advantage of Western reluctance to denounce the flouting of international law

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that his country strongly condemns the Israeli attack and stresses that the security of diplomatic institutions cannot be violated. He stressed in a press conference in Beijing that “China opposes any actions that lead to escalation of tensions in the Middle East region.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday strongly condemned the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital Damascus earlier in the day, denouncing the action as "unacceptable."

"We consider any attacks on diplomatic and consular facilities, the inviolability of which is guaranteed by the relevant Vienna Conventions, to be categorically unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement.

Noting that the attack was carried out in a densely populated metropolitan area with a high risk of mass civilian casualties, the ministry said such "aggressive" actions by Israel are "absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped."

 

Biden extends the state of emergency against Iran

Biden extends the state of emergency against Iran

    Thursday, March 14, 2024   No comments

US President Joe Biden ordered the extension of the “national emergency” related to Iran for another year, stressing the maintenance of comprehensive sanctions against Tehran to respond to the threat it poses to American national security.

Biden sent a message to Congress regarding the continuation of the law signed by the administration of former President Bill Clinton on March 15, 1995.

He said in his letter that “the actions and policies of the Iranian government continue to pose an unusual and exceptional threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”

Biden stressed that “it is necessary to continue the (national emergency) declared in Executive Order No. (12957) with respect to Iran and to maintain comprehensive sanctions against Iran to respond to this threat.”

The “national emergency” was first declared by former President Bill Clinton in an executive order on March 15, 1995, based on “the extraordinary threats created by the actions and policies of the Iranian government against the national interests and U.S. foreign policy; Including missile development, support for terrorist groups, malign activities by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, regional destabilization, and possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Russia reacts to US plans for building a port in Gaza: Dancing on bones, fake projects, and making fun of people

Russia reacts to US plans for building a port in Gaza: Dancing on bones, fake projects, and making fun of people

    Wednesday, March 13, 2024   No comments

On Wednesday, Russia described US plans to build a temporary seaport on the Gaza coast to provide humanitarian aid to the Strip as “dancing on the bones and fictitious projects that need peace first.”

Regarding the seriousness of the United States’ initiative to build a temporary port in a war zone, Russian FM spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during press briefing in Moscow, that this amounts to “dancing on the bones and mocking people.”

She added: "When civilians die there every day, we need to talk about their fates, not about some imaginary future projects that first and foremost need peace to implement."

She referred to the United States’ reluctance to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying: “When a country, and I am talking now about the United States, does not want to formulate a call for a ceasefire, how can we deal with initiatives to build civilian infrastructure where they do not want a ceasefire?” fire".

US President Joe Biden announced that he had instructed the army to establish a temporary port near the coast of Gaza, indicating that more humanitarian aid would enter Gaza by sea through the port without American soldiers setting foot on the territory of the Strip.