Hasty Peace Summit in Egypt

Hasty Peace Summit in Egypt

    Monday, October 13, 2025   No comments

Diplomatic Showmanship, War Crimes, and the Unresolved Reckoning

In a hastily convened summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, world leaders gathered under the banner of peace, hoping to forge a ceasefire agreement that might end the devastating war in Gaza. But beneath the polished veneer of diplomacy, the gathering exposed deep fractures within the international order, and the growing demand for accountability—both legal and political—for the war crimes committed over the past year.

This unexpected summit, held amid growing international outrage over the Gaza conflict, saw major power players—including Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, and the United States—jockey for position, not just to broker a truce, but to shape the post-war reality in the region. Yet, one of the most dramatic developments occurred before the summit even began: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was barred from attending, following coordinated diplomatic pressure from Turkey and Iraq.

Netanyahu Blocked Amid Diplomatic Pushback

According to multiple diplomatic sources cited by Agence France-Presse, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan led efforts to block Netanyahu’s attendance, supported by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani. Erdoğan's plane reportedly circled over the Red Sea awaiting confirmation that Netanyahu would not be present, underscoring the intensity of regional resistance to legitimizing the Israeli leader’s role in any peace process.

The Iraqi delegation went as far as threatening to boycott the summit entirely if Netanyahu were allowed to attend. Cairo, under pressure, ultimately rescinded the invitation. Netanyahu later claimed that his absence was due to Jewish holidays—a statement seen widely as a face-saving maneuver.

This moment marks a significant political humiliation for Netanyahu, who had previously been confirmed by the Egyptian presidency to attend alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. It also signals a shift in the diplomatic atmosphere: leaders once willing to engage Netanyahu now fear the political consequences of being seen as complicit in normalizing his actions during the Gaza campaign.

A Peace Built on Diplomatic Expediency

The Sharm El-Sheikh summit, rushed and reactive, symbolizes a broader crisis in international diplomacy. While it aims to cement a ceasefire, the terms remain vague, the enforcement mechanisms uncertain, and the actors around the table deeply divided on what post-war Gaza should look like.

Earlier this year, reports emerged that the U.S. had floated a controversial plan to install former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as head of an interim administration in Gaza. The plan, which included a multinational force to secure borders and facilitate reconstruction, was met with skepticism. Most recently, President Donald Trump expressed doubts about Blair’s appointment, questioning whether the former prime minister is “acceptable to everyone”—a subtle acknowledgment of Blair's legacy in the region and the broader crisis of legitimacy facing Western interventions.

The Shadow of War Crimes and Political Reckoning

Beneath the surface of diplomatic maneuvering lies the unresolved question of war crimes. The Gaza war, which has resulted in staggering civilian casualties and widespread destruction, has pushed far beyond the bounds of international law. Human rights organizations, UN experts, and even some Western legislators have begun calling for independent investigations into potential war crimes committed by all parties, but particularly by the Israeli military under Netanyahu’s leadership.

While legal accountability through institutions like the International Criminal Court remains politically fraught and unlikely in the short term, political accountability may arrive sooner. Netanyahu’s increasing isolation—evident in his exclusion from this summit—suggests that even long-standing allies are recalibrating their alliances. The symbolism of excluding a wartime leader from a peace summit is powerful: it sends a message that diplomatic immunity is not a given for those accused of gross violations of humanitarian norms.

Looking Ahead: Fragile Peace, Uncertain Justice

The summit in Egypt may temporarily halt the violence, but it does little to address the root causes of the conflict or to lay the groundwork for sustainable peace. With Netanyahu sidelined, the question becomes: who will shape Gaza’s future, and how will justice be served?

If anything, these developments show that multiple centers of power—regional and global—are now moving to reassert control over a crisis that spiraled far beyond its original boundaries. The speed and secrecy with which this summit was arranged are telling: peace is being pursued not through transparent negotiation, but through diplomatic backchannels shaped by geopolitical interests rather than legal principles or the voices of those most affected. 

Still, for those calling for justice and accountability, this moment may be a turning point. Netanyahu’s diplomatic snub could be the beginning of a broader reckoning—not just for him, but for all leaders who believe that military force can be deployed without consequence. The world may be witnessing the birth of a fragile peace—but it is a peace haunted by the specter of unresolved war crimes and the lingering demand for justice.

Quarter of a million flood Amsterdam streets in solidarity with Gaza

Quarter of a million flood Amsterdam streets in solidarity with Gaza

    Monday, October 06, 2025   No comments

 Nearly 30 percent of Amsterdam’s population—around 250,000 people—marched through the Dutch capital yesterday, demanding stronger action from their government against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Organizers described the rally as one of the largest in the city’s history. Participants, dressed in red to mark a symbolic ‘red line’ against Israel’s siege, filled Amsterdam’s streets for a six-kilometer march. Police confirmed the crowd size.

"We are here to condemn everything that is happening in Gaza," said 27-year-old Emilia Rivero, who traveled from Utrecht to join the march.

PAX Netherlands, which organized the demonstration, said the protest aimed to pressure the government to act decisively against Israeli crimes. 

Director Rolien Sasse told Reuters that demonstrators want an immediate ceasefire and accountability for Israel’s actions. "We hope there will be a real ceasefire very, very soon … but we are also worried about the long-term commitment of Israel to stop the genocide," she said.

The protest came just weeks before national elections, with activists accusing the Dutch government of failing to confront Israel’s war policy.

Media Review: The Unseen Legs, The Unheard Cries--Gaza's Children and the Machinery of Denial

Media Review: The Unseen Legs, The Unheard Cries--Gaza's Children and the Machinery of Denial

    Saturday, August 30, 2025   No comments

In the stark calculus of war, the most devastating number is the smallest: the number of meals a child has missed. In Gaza, that number has long since run out. A famine, human-made and entirely preventable, is now stalking the streets and rubble-strewn landscapes. Its primary victims are children. And as they wither away, the state responsible is not just continuing its assault but perfecting a second, insidious attack: a campaign of outright denial so brazen it seeks to gaslight the world.

This reality became impossible to ignore from an unlikely podium. When a figure as staunchly pro-Israel as Donald Trump recently stated that “starvation is happening in Gaza,” it should have been a watershed. Instead, it revealed the intransigence of the Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration did not pivot. It did not concede. It doubled down on a fantasy, amplifying debunked claims that emaciated children suffering from acute malnutrition were actually battling pre-existing “medical conditions”—as if a population of infants suddenly developed a collective syndrome that just happens to mimic starvation under a total siege.

This is not a simple disagreement over facts. It is a deliberate strategy. Israeli leaders, grasping for straws to justify the unjustifiable, have outsourced their propaganda to a network of online influencers. Their task is not to report truth, but to manufacture enough doubt to cloud the overwhelming evidence. They scurry through social media, not to witness the horror, but to find snippets they can misrepresent, creating a parallel universe where a famine verified by the entire international community—the UN, the WHO, UNICEF, and every major human rights organization—simply does not exist.

The most chilling example of this moral bankruptcy emerged recently. A heart-shattering image circulated of children on a Gaza beach, their lower bodies horrifically absent. The message was clear: these are the victims of a war machine that, by its own admission, sees “human animals” and does not distinguish between combatant and child.

The Israeli response was not remorse. It was not investigation. It was a sneering, cynical denial. Official channels and their digital foot soldiers claimed the image was fake. They insisted, with a breathtaking lack of humanity, that these children were simply playing, their legs buried happily in the sand—not blown off by a Israeli bomb, drone, or shell.

Let that sink in. Faced with the undeniable visual evidence of a child maimed, the response is to claim they are actually whole, just playing in the surf. It is a metaphor for the entire Israeli approach: if we cannot see their legs, then they were never lost. If we cannot hear their cries, they were never made. If we can cast doubt on their empty stomachs, then they are not hungry.

This level of denial is not just callous—it is dehumanizing. To dismiss starved children as “sick children” and to erase maimed children by claiming their amputations are an illusion demonstrates a chilling absence of humanity. It reveals the desperation of Israeli leaders and their supporters to maintain the fiction that Gaza’s suffering is somehow exaggerated, staged, or self-inflicted.

But the children of Gaza are not invisible. Their skeletal frames are documented by doctors. Their silent cries are recorded by aid workers struggling without supplies. Their deaths from starvation and dehydration are meticulously logged by health officials, even as the infrastructure to do so collapses around them.

This denial is not a passive act. It is a active weapon. By creating a fog of misinformation, Israel seeks to numb the world’s conscience and slow the pressure for a ceasefire and the urgent flood of aid needed. It is a policy of starvation by design, followed by a cover-up by dissemination.

To deny a child food is a profound act of cruelty. To then deny that the starving child exists is a profound act of evil. It shows a total detachment from humanity, a moral vacuum where political survival and ideological rigidity matter more than infant lives.

What is most horrifying is that children—those least responsible for any political conflict—are the first to pay the price. Malnutrition strips them of their strength, their childhood, and too often their lives. Bombings rob them of their limbs, their parents, and their futures. And yet, while human rights organizations sound the alarm, Israel insists on seeing only conspiracies and fabrications.

This denial is not harmless rhetoric. It enables the continuation of policies that inflict unimaginable suffering. It grants cover to those who choose silence or complicity. It numbs the conscience of those who would rather not look too closely at the emaciated faces of Gaza’s children.

The world must not look away. We must not be confused by the digital smokescreen. The facts are clear, and they are spoken in the fragile breaths of starving children and the silent grief of parents burying them. The famine is real. It is killing people. And it is being executed and then denied by a state that has chosen, repeatedly, to sacrifice its humanity on the altar of its own denial. The legs of Gaza's children are not buried in the sand. They are buried under the rubble of their homes, and the even heavier rubble of Israel’s lies.

Media Review: "As Israel Starves and Kills Thousands in Gaza, It Destroys Itself", Haaretz

Media Review: "As Israel Starves and Kills Thousands in Gaza, It Destroys Itself", Haaretz

    Monday, August 04, 2025   No comments

In a powerful and scathing op-ed published by Haaretz, Israeli writer Iris Leal delivers a searing critique of her country’s actions in the Gaza Strip, warning that the atrocities being committed there are not only devastating to Palestinians but are also dragging Israel into a profound moral, political, and diplomatic abyss. Leal’s article, titled "As Israel Kills and Starves Thousands in Gaza, It Destroys Itself in the Process", lays bare the human cost of the war and the devastating implications for Israel’s future.

A Nation’s Self-Destruction

Leal argues that Israel is systematically isolating itself from the global community. The bridges that once connected it to the democratic world are being “torn down one by one.” She emphasizes that anyone associated with the decision-making apparatus of the war—be it political leaders, military commanders, or intelligence heads—is now becoming increasingly aware that international travel may pose legal and personal risks due to accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

At the center of her warning is the staggering humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. According to credible international reports cited by Leal, including data from UNICEF and The Washington Post, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, among them at least 18,500 children. Many of these children were killed in their sleep, while playing, or even before they learned to walk. The death toll reflects not incidental wartime casualties but a consistent pattern of destruction that Leal unequivocally describes as a "war of extermination."

Starvation as a Weapon

One of the most damning parts of Leal’s argument is Israel’s alleged use of starvation as a weapon of war. She writes that the Netanyahu government knowingly allowed infants to face starvation by failing to ensure the delivery of infant formula and basic humanitarian aid. Hospitals—already bombed or rendered dysfunctional—are unable to operate, and medical personnel themselves are suffering from hunger and exhaustion.

Even worse, Leal suggests that these outcomes were not unintended side effects, but foreseen and tolerated, under the assumption that the international community would remain silent or impotent in the face of such horrors. The Israeli leadership, in her view, has wagered that the deliberate starvation and killing of children would not result in meaningful diplomatic consequences—a gamble that, she implies, is both immoral and catastrophically shortsighted.

A Crisis of Legitimacy

Leal’s article ends by posing a deeply uncomfortable question to the Israeli public and the global community: Are the people leading Israel today—its ministers, generals, intelligence chiefs—morally and legally fit to make decisions on behalf of the nation? Given the scale of the violence and its apparent intentionality, she contends that these individuals are likely complicit in war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and potentially genocide.

The underlying message is clear: Israel is not just committing atrocities—it is losing its moral compass and destroying the very foundations of its legitimacy in the eyes of the world and its own citizens.

A Global Atrocity in Real Time

Leal’s voice is a rare and courageous one within a landscape that often suppresses internal dissent. Her article should serve as a wake-up call, not only to Israelis but to anyone who believes in the principles of human rights and international law. The reality in Gaza today—of mass death, child starvation, and humanitarian collapse—is not abstract. It is a documented and unfolding catastrophe that demands accountability.

What makes this atrocity even more chilling is the premeditation behind it. When a state with one of the most advanced militaries in the world deliberately withholds aid, targets civilian infrastructure, and tolerates the mass death of children, it cannot be brushed off as a tragic byproduct of war. This is systematic, intentional policy—and it represents the moral failure of a nation’s leadership. 

Meanwhile, the international community’s response remains fragmented, weak, and in some cases complicit. Leal rightly questions whether Israel’s leaders will face consequences, but the more urgent question is: Will the world act before even more lives are lost?

Silence, in this context, is not neutrality—it is complicity. As Leal poignantly concludes, Israel may believe it is winning a war, but in reality, it is tearing itself apart, sacrificing not just the lives of its enemies, but its own soul and standing in the world.

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Sources: Haaretz, UNICEF, The Washington Post.
Link to original article: Haaretz Opinion - Aug 4, 2025

Media Review: The Starvation of Gaza and the Decline of Western Moral Authority

Media Review: The Starvation of Gaza and the Decline of Western Moral Authority

    Monday, August 04, 2025   No comments

The deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza is not just a humanitarian catastrophe—it is, as Professor Robin Andersen argues, a direct assault on our shared humanity and a defining moral failure of our time. As images of emaciated children and starving families flood global media, this slow and intentional genocide has begun to crack even the long-standing pro-Israel consensus in Western political and media circles. Yet, the shift comes late—far too late for many—and exposes the deep complicity of Western powers that continue to enable this crime through silence, arms sales, and diplomatic cover.

For over 21 months, major Western media outlets and governments defended or downplayed Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. According to Andersen, who teaches at Fordham University and writes extensively on media ethics and political violence, even mainstream outlets like CNN and MSNBC are only now beginning to report more critically—prompted not by sudden ethical clarity, but by the undeniable horror of starvation. Hunger, she points out, is a weapon that lingers: unlike bombs, which kill in an instant, starvation is prolonged, visible, and unbearable to witness—especially when its victims are children.

In Gaza, Andersen reports through the voice of Palestinian journalist Hiba Al-Makadmeh, “hunger has become Israel’s most brutal weapon, more devastating than bombs.” This is not incidental. It is policy—explicitly declared by Israeli officials such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said: “We will not allow a single gram of aid into Gaza until the people kneel.” Statements like these, far from being fringe rhetoric, reflect the open intent behind the siege, which Andersen identifies as forced starvation: a war crime and a form of genocide.

Andersen emphasizes how deeply starvation strikes the human psyche. Drawing from cultural reflections by actor and writer Stanley Tucci, she reminds

 readers that food is central to human connection—something we all instinctively relate to. Watching someone eat makes them more human to us; seeing someone denied that basic right strips both them and us of our shared humanity. The imagery of skeletal children and desperate families, still alive but wasting away, is a wound to the conscience of the world.

Yet while ordinary people are beginning to rise in protest—raising Palestinian flags on statues, blocking Israeli cruise ships, and marching in cities from New York to London—Western governments remain largely inert. Their recent expressions of “deep concern” ring hollow. Andersen rightly questions why leaders like U.S. President Biden or UK Labour leader Keir Starmer are only now finding the courage to speak, after months of providing political and material support to Israel. This belated outrage, she suggests, is not moral reckoning but reputation management—what journalist Max Blumenthal calls “reputation laundering.”

Moreover, Andersen draws attention to the growing condemnation by human rights organizations. While some, like Amnesty International, spoke out early, even formerly cautious groups such as B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel have now labeled the starvation and mass killing in Gaza as genocide. These are not symbolic declarations; they represent a shift in the global consensus and an indictment of those who still refuse to act.

Throughout her analysis, Andersen returns to one core truth: this is not just a crime against Palestinians. It is an attack on the very idea of humanity. And those who watch it unfold without intervening—those who could stop the famine and choose not to—are morally accountable. “We don’t need pity,” says Hiba Al-Makadmeh, as quoted by Andersen. “We need pressure on those who are preventing food from reaching us.”

This starvation campaign, Andersen concludes, is not only an act of genocide—it is a mirror held up to the West. And what we see reflected is not strength or leadership, but cowardice and complicity. Unless Western nations take real action—cutting off arms, demanding ceasefire, and ensuring humanitarian access—they will be remembered not as defenders of rights, but as enablers of atrocity. History will not forget who watched and did nothing.

media review: Israeli General Sparks Political Firestorm with Condemnation of Gaza War Tactics

media review: Israeli General Sparks Political Firestorm with Condemnation of Gaza War Tactics

    Tuesday, May 20, 2025   No comments

In a rare and explosive critique from within Israel’s military and political establishment, retired general and former deputy chief of staff Yair Golan has ignited controversy by denouncing the government’s conduct in its war on Gaza. In a radio interview Tuesday, Golan declared, “A sane state does not wage war on civilians, does not kill children as a hobby, and does not aim to displace populations.” His remarks, which questioned the strategic rationale and morality of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, provoked a fierce backlash across the Israeli political spectrum.

Golan, now head of the left-wing Democratic Party, is no stranger to criticism. But this time, even his military credentials were not enough to shield him from a torrent of attacks by leaders of right-wing, religious, and centrist parties alike. Critics portrayed him as a traitor, accusing him of undermining the army and aiding Israel’s enemies. Political rivals, including those opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared eager to exploit the controversy for political gain, leaving Golan largely isolated.

Despite the outcry, Golan stood firm. He reiterated that the war, now in its eighth month, has shifted from a military campaign to a political tool used to preserve the current government’s grip on power. Referring to the latest phase of the conflict as “Operation Chariots of Gideon,” Golan argued that the main military objectives had already been achieved by mid-2024 with the degradation of Hamas’s military capabilities. He accused the government of prolonging the conflict for political reasons rather than national security.

“Israel hasn’t eliminated Hamas, hasn’t militarily or politically defeated them, and hasn’t recovered the hostages,” Golan noted. “The war’s objectives have been confused and contradictory from the beginning. Our priority must be returning all hostages home. That’s the essence of our solidarity as a people.”

His comments gained further resonance as the international community, including the UK, France, and Canada, issued stern warnings about Israel’s conduct in Gaza. The U.S. has also signaled growing unease. Golan warned that Israel risks becoming a “pariah state” akin to apartheid-era South Africa if it continues down its current path. He invoked the Jewish historical experience, saying it is unacceptable for a people with a legacy of persecution and genocide to adopt “morally indefensible policies.”

Golan’s stand, while earning him few allies in the Knesset, has been lauded by some as an act of moral courage. Known for his principled stances, he refused to walk back his statements despite the political storm. “We already tried Gantz’s way—flattering Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, and Smotrich. It failed,” he said. He added, “This war is the embodiment of Ben Gvir and Smotrich’s delusions. If we allow them to realize their vision, Israel will be a fractured state.”

Calling for an end to the war, the return of hostages, and a restoration of democratic values, Golan concluded with a stark contrast between Israel’s military and its leadership: “The Israeli soldiers are heroes. The ministers are corrupt. The army is moral, the people are righteous, and the government is rotten.”

As the war grinds on and internal dissent grows louder, Golan’s words have injected a jolt of urgency into Israel’s political debate. Whether his challenge will influence policy or public opinion remains to be seen, but it has undeniably shattered taboos about criticizing the war from within the ranks of Israel’s own elite.