“Iran’s Attack on Israel Failed”

“Iran’s Attack on Israel Failed”

    Wednesday, October 02, 2024   No comments

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”.

Israeli leaders said Iran's strike "failed" but also siad that Israel reserves the right to retaliate. Some Western governments said Iran’s attack failed because their armies participated in intercepting the rockets. They also “strongly condemned” the attack by Iran. 

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.

  

Media Review: What will Hezbollah and Iran do and what might happen in the Middle East after Beirut Attacks?

Media Review: What will Hezbollah and Iran do and what might happen in the Middle East after Beirut Attacks?

    Sunday, September 29, 2024   No comments

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.

Media Review: The world mourns 6 dead and ignores 40,000 dead--Haaretz

Media Review: The world mourns 6 dead and ignores 40,000 dead--Haaretz

    Thursday, September 05, 2024   No comments

Israel and the world are mourning the six Israeli detainees who were killed, and their names, photos, life stories and families are making the news, even though they are only the tip of the iceberg of the war in Gaza, and only a small part of its victims. This is how Gideon Levy began his column in Haaretz, saying sarcastically that Hirsch Goldberg Polin and Eden Yerushalmi became celebrities despite their captivity and after their death, just as the world mourned the dead Israeli prisoners, “How could it not be when they were six beautiful young men who went through the hell of captivity before being brutally executed,” Levy added.

Levy was surprised by the astonishing contradiction between the wide coverage of their lives and deaths, and the ignoring of the similar fate of people of their age who are no less innocent, honest and beautiful, and who represent innocent victims on the Palestinian side.

Although the world is shocked by the fate of Gaza, it has never shown similar respect for the Palestinian victims. Neither US President Joe Biden has invited the relatives of the Palestinians who were martyred, even if they hold American citizenship, like the Goldberg and Pullins families, nor has the United States demanded the release of the thousands of kidnapped Palestinians who are being held by Israel without trial.

It is strange that a young Israeli woman killed at the Nova Festival arouses more sympathy and compassion in the world than a teenage refugee from Jabalia, as Levy says, commenting that Israelis are more like “the world.”

They also have names and hopes

If everything has been said about the neglect and concealment of the suffering of the Palestinians in the Israeli public discourse, what has been said is not enough - according to Levy - because the Palestinian killed in Gaza had a face, a name and a life story, and because the 17,000 children killed in the Strip since the beginning of the war also had hopes, dreams and families destroyed by their deaths.

However, the deaths of these people do not matter to the majority of Israelis, and some even rejoice in them, while the world outside Israel views them as horrible victims who have no names or faces, which is astonishing and indicates a loss of humanity, according to the writer.

It is not difficult - as Levy says - to imagine the feelings of the people of Gaza in the face of a world shaken by the deaths of 6 Israeli detainees without any interest in the 40,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, and without any talk about the non-Israeli detainees.

"What about the hundreds and thousands of Palestinian abductees from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank? What about the administrative detainees who are being held without trial? What about the 'illegal combatants' and innocent workers who were caught and are being held in hellish conditions?" the writer asked.

They too, says Gideon Levy, have anxious families who do not know what has happened to them for the past 10 months. They too are denied visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and some of their stories are no less telling than the video of Eden Yerushalmi, which Hamas released this week.

Source: Haaretz

The White House spread false optimism about a cease fire deal for a political reason

The White House spread false optimism about a cease fire deal for a political reason

    Thursday, August 22, 2024   No comments

Israeli military analyst Amos Harel said on Thursday that Washington may have deliberately spread false optimism about the possibility of achieving progress in the prisoner swap negotiations to persuade Iran to postpone its revenge against Israel, noting that Iran and Hezbollah may finally launch their attack after the chances of concluding a deal began to evaporate soon.

In an article published in Haaretz, Harel wrote that it is difficult to know the extent to which Washington is convinced of the possibility of achieving progress in recent weeks, but the end of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's visit to Israel heralded a new phase in which the chances of concluding a deal have declined, according to him.

He added that despite this, the visit achieved its goal of ensuring that there would be no attack by Iran and Hezbollah with the opening of the Democratic Party conference in Chicago, in his opinion.

He stated that the administration of US President Joe Biden deliberately published optimistic estimates of the possibility of achieving progress, in an attempt to persuade the Iranians not to launch their attack, but this may have backfired on them, as the basic problems have not been resolved and the negotiations are stalled after Washington introduced amendments to the draft deal that serve Israel.

*

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that the death toll from the Israeli strikes has risen to 40,265 deaths and 93,144 injuries since October 7, 2023.

The ministry monitored in its daily statistical report that the occupation committed 4 massacres against Palestinian families, of which 42 martyrs and 163 injuries arrived at hospitals during the past 24 hours.

The ministry indicated that a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

  

Iran retaliates: Israel's miscalculation allowed Iran to sideline US and attack Israel at the same time

Iran retaliates: Israel's miscalculation allowed Iran to sideline US and attack Israel at the same time

    Saturday, April 13, 2024   No comments

It may take time before the world learns that Biden's angry 30-minute call with Israel's pm, Netanyahu, two weeks ago, was not really triggered by Israel armed forces killing aid workers, for Israel had already killed more than 250 aids workers in Gaza before this event, but it was about the attack on the Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria. The next few days and months will reveal how costly Israel’s miscalculation was and that would explain Biden's anger.

Biden's anger was not motivated by his respect for Iran's or Syria's sovereignty, of course. It is motivated by the fact that no other State, ever, had deliberately attacked diplomatic facilities even when two states were at war. This global consensus is enshrined in several treaties and protocols. So, for the State of Israel to be the first to attack a diplomatic facility, violating two sovereignties in one strike, other states were put in a very difficult position, and that opened a window for Iran to re-assert its sovereignty and claim self-defense, the same international principle that has been used by Israel to destroy Gaza and kill more than 41,000 of its people after Hamas launched its own attack on October 7, 2023.

So, on Saturday evening, Iran launched its expected attack on Israel, in response to the bombing of its consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in early April, by launching dozens of drones and missiles into Israel.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that the army and air force are prepared for the expected Iranian threats, he said.

He added that the army will try to prevent the Iranian drones from reaching Israel, and will deal with them as soon as they arrive, "but we warn that the defense will not be 100%."

ABC quoted a senior American official as saying that he believes Iran will launch between 400 and 500 drones and missiles at Israel.

CNN also reported that an Israeli military official reported that he expected Iran to launch additional waves of drones over time.

This American news network also said that President Joe Biden has now met with his national security team in the White House Situations Room.

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will protect itself from any threat, and that it will do so calmly and with determination, he said.

Netanyahu added, "Israel is strong, its army is strong, its people are strong, and whoever harms us, we harm him," stressing that "Israel is prepared for any direct targeting from Iran."

He continued by saying, "Our defense systems are deployed, and we are prepared for any scenario, whether in defense or attack."

  

UN Security Council rejects US draft resolution on War in Gaza

UN Security Council rejects US draft resolution on War in Gaza

    Friday, March 22, 2024   No comments

 Algeria, the country that proposed an earlier UNSC resolution to stop the war on Gaza, rejected the US-drafted resolution. It was joined by both China and Russia, whose vetoes sunk the US resolution.

Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s ambassador to the UN, said the text was inadequate and failed to address the immense suffering endured by the Palestinians. “Those who believe that the Israeli occupying power will choose to uphold its international legal obligations are mistaken,” he told the council. “They must abandon this fiction.”

Last February, it objected to the use of the term “immediate” in the draft resolution submitted by Algeria.

Since blocking the Algerian draft resolution, which calls for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza at the end of last February, US officials have been negotiating an alternative text that focuses on supporting diplomatic efforts on the ground for a six-week truce in exchange for the release of the hostages.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said that children, women and men are “living an endless nightmare,” stressing that there is no effective way to distribute aid without a ceasefire.

US rejection of three previous UNSC resolutions made some members skeptical and worried that US intentions have been thus far about shielding Israel and not about stopping the bloodshed. They want to see a clean resolution that orders an immediate cease fire and the unhindered delivery of food, water, medicine, and shelter to end the starvation of civilians in Gaza. Other issues can be addressed in separate resolutions.

China insists on an immediate and unconditional ceasefire not linked to the release of the captives

China's Permanent Representative to the Security Council, Zhang Jun, said: "We voted against the American draft resolution because it does not request an immediate ceasefire, even though the Secretary-General used Article 99 of the Charter for that purpose," adding that "the Council wasted a long time and did not request a ceasefire." Fire after."

The Chinese delegate believed that “the American draft resolution is ambiguous and does not meet the aspirations of the international community,” and that it is “unbalanced because it does not explicitly oppose the attack on Rafah,” and “it does not warn of the dire consequences that could result from such an attack.”

He continued: "The Council now has before it a clear draft resolution requesting an immediate ceasefire, and China supports it," expressing his hope "that it will gain the support of member states," because it "requests an end to the conflict and the immediate release of the hostages."

The Chinese delegate also indicated that “China rejects the accusations of America and Britain” related to its positions, considering that “if the United States is serious about a ceasefire, it should support this draft resolution.”

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, offered further explanation about China's voting position and relevant considerations after the vote.

Zhang said that more than 160 days have passed since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict. In the face of this human tragedy in which more than 32,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives and has left millions suffering from famine, the most urgent action to be taken by the Council is to promote an immediate, unconditional, and sustained ceasefire, which is the universal call of the international community. But the Council has dragged its feet and wasted too much time in this regard, Zhang said.

The envoy added that the US has always evaded and dodged the most essential issue, which is a ceasefire. The final text remains ambiguous and does not call for an immediate ceasefire, nor does it even provide an answer to the question of realizing a ceasefire in the short term. This is a clear deviation from the consensus of the Council members and falls far short of the expectations of the international community. 

"An immediate ceasefire is a fundamental prerequisite for saving lives, expanding humanitarian access, and preventing further conflict. The US draft, on the contrary, sets up preconditions for a ceasefire, which is no different from giving a green light to continued killings, and thus unacceptable," Zhang noted.

Moscow said that the American draft resolution does not call for a ceasefire in Gaza.. Talk about that is a hoax

The Russian Deputy Representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, confirmed that the American draft resolution on the situation in the Gaza Strip does not include any call for a ceasefire.

Polyansky stated that the draft resolution "does not include any call for a ceasefire, as previous drafts did not include. Rather, only a philosophical statement appeared there about its importance, while linking it to the release of prisoners."

 The Russian diplomat believed that talk about the United States including a ceasefire in Gaza in the draft resolution for the first time is “just an American trick.”

In addition, “there is practically a green light for an Israeli military operation in Rafah, while attention should be focused mainly on praising the United States’ own efforts on the ground,” according to Polyansky.

He added, "This is not what humanitarian agencies need," stressing that "no philosophy will be useful in the absence of a direct demand for a ceasefire."

Polyansky pointed out, "We should not give in to Washington's attempts to present the hope as if it were a real thing, as the United States is still not interested in a real ceasefire, and is doing everything in its power not to prevent its closest ally in the Middle East from abusing the Palestinians."

History of the American veto to protect Israel

The United States’ position on UN Security Council resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is consistent with its historical use of the veto to prevent any resolutions criticizing Israel, or calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The United States, Israel's main backer, had previously used its veto power in the Security Council to prevent the international body from calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territories.

Since 1945, one of the five permanent members of the Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - has used its veto to stop 36 draft Security Council resolutions related to Israel and Palestine before. Of these decisions, the United States objected to 34 decisions, while Russia and China objected to two of them.

Security Council resolutions after October 7

The US veto blocked the resolution issued on October 18, 2023, which had demanded a “humanitarian truce” and Israel’s cancellation of its evacuation order in northern Gaza.

The US representative to the United Nations said, “Resolutions are important... but the actions we take must be based on facts on the ground and support direct diplomacy that can save lives,” according to what Reuters reported.

On February 20, the United States used its veto power again to stop another draft resolution in the Security Council, blocking a demand for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds.

13 members of the Council voted in favor of the text drafted by Algeria, while Britain abstained from voting.

This is the third American veto against a draft resolution since the start of the fighting in Gaza.

The draft resolution drafted by Algeria and objected to by the United States did not link the ceasefire to the release of the hostages, but rather demanded this separately.

Washington has opposed the use of the word ceasefire in any UN action on the war between Israel and Hamas, but the American text uses language that President Joe Biden said he used last week in a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is the second time since October 7 that Washington has proposed issuing a Security Council resolution on Gaza. Russia and China had used their veto power to stop its first attempt.

In December, more than three-quarters of the 193-member UN General Assembly voted to demand an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. General Assembly resolutions are not binding, but they reflect a global consensus on critical matters—More than 150 countries thinking that the war in Gaza should be stopped immediately to address the starvation and killing of civilians leave the US position quite exposed. Only 10 countries voted against this UNGA resolution. The global consensus, if it continues to be opposed by the US alone, will eventually degrade US standing in the world.

A First: More than 800 Officials from ally nations across the Atlantic have united to publicly criticize their governments over the war on Gaza

A First: More than 800 Officials from ally nations across the Atlantic have united to publicly criticize their governments over the war on Gaza

    Friday, February 02, 2024   No comments

More than 800 officials in the US, the UK and the EU released a public letter of dissent against their governments’ support of Israel in its war in Gaza, The New York Times reported on Friday.

According to current and former officials spearheading or supporting the initiative, the letter marks the first time that officials from ally nations across the Atlantic have united to publicly criticize their governments over the war.

The officials argue that they are speaking up because they, as civil servants, consider that it is their duty to help improve policy and to work in their nations’ interests, and that they are speaking up because they believe their governments need to change direction on the war.

“Our governments’ current policies weaken their moral standing and undermine their ability to stand up for freedom, justice and human rights globally,” The New York Times quoted the letter as saying.

There is a “plausible risk” that their governments’ policies are contributing to “grave violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing or genocide,” it added.

According to the newspaper, the document protected the identities of signers as they fear reprisal, said one organizer, an official who has worked in the State Department for more than 20 years.

But about 800 current officials have given approval to the letter as it has quietly circulated among employees at the national level in multiple countries, the official was quoted as saying.

The effort reveals the extent to which pro-Israel policies among American, British and European leaders have stirred dissent among civil servants, including many who engage in foreign policies of their governments.

Noting that some 80 of the signers are from American agencies, with the biggest group being from the State Department, one organizer said the governing authority most represented among the signers is the collective EU institutions, followed by the Netherlands and the US.

Al-Azhar Observatory: The Zionist entity and ISIS are two sides of the same coin

Al-Azhar Observatory: The Zionist entity and ISIS are two sides of the same coin

    Wednesday, November 22, 2023   No comments

The Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism released a note stating that the Zionist entity and the terrorist organization ISIS are “two sides of the same coin.” The Observatory reached this conclusion by comparing the Israeli occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip and the terrorist actions of ISIS, as a great similarity between them emerged.

The Sunni religious organization added that the occupation added "a mixture of fascism and Nazism, and produced something uglier than all the terrorist organizations combined, regardless of their names and ideologies."

Al-Azhar Observatory summarized the similarities between the Israeli occupation and the terrorist organization ISIS in the following points:

1- Using religion to achieve political gains: In this context, the Observatory noted that the head of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, cited biblical texts more than once in justifying the Israeli massacres against innocent men, women and children in the Gaza Strip.

2- Achieving the dream of empire and imperial expansion: Here, Al-Azhar Observatory explained that the ambition of the terrorist organization “ISIS” to build a theocratic state, under the name of reviving the caliphate, is the same dream of the extremist Zionists, regarding establishing the “Greater Kingdom of Israel” or the “Kingdom of David” on the land of occupied Palestine. Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, in addition to part of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

3- Racism, arrogance, and expanding the circle of racist conflict: In this regard, the Observatory pointed out that racism and the claim of superiority and the possession of rights are among the common features in the literature of ISIS and the occupation, in justifying acts of violence, killing, and assault on others, which distances itself from using methods Similar in resistance and self-defense. He added that the speeches of ISIS and the occupation perpetuate violence and terrorism in the name of religions.

4- Ethnic cleansing and genocide: Al-Azhar Observatory confirmed that there is a strong similarity between the genocidal operations carried out by ISIS members against the Yazidi nationality in Iraq, and the crimes of the occupation in the Gaza Strip, and Palestine in general. According to him, the international handling of the two cases revealed Western double standards.

5- Excessive violence and the use of brutality: With regard to this matter, the Observatory pointed out that the world has not forgotten that ISIS burned the Jordanian pilot Moaz Al-Kasasbeh alive, nor cut off the heads of members, nor blew up people’s heads with firearms and explosive devices.

According to what he continued, the starting point for these actions by ISIS is the book “Managing Savagery,” by “theorist” Abu Bakr Naji, and how to exploit brutality to “terrorize” the organization’s enemies.

The Al-Azhar Observatory stated that this is embodied in our reality with the Zionist entity, which is following the example of ISIS in “management of brutality,” in an even uglier way and with greater firepower, as we see the remains of children in Gaza every day, bodies without heads and organs without bodies, and the remains of entire families. It collects in a handful, or two handfuls, or a bag, or two bags, as well as destroying thousands of homes.

6- The scorched earth strategy: With regard to this point, the Observatory reported that the displacement policy that the Israeli occupation insists on is preceded by the scorched earth strategy.

ISIS used this same policy in Iraq and Syria, as the Al-Azhar Observatory added. He also pointed out that Jaafar Al-Ibrahimi, the Iraqi government’s advisor for infrastructure, told Reuters that “ISIS has caused losses estimated at about $30 billion in Iraqi infrastructure since 2014.”

Al-Ibrahimi continued: “ISIS used a policy of comprehensive destruction of facilities, factories, and buildings, with the intention of causing the greatest economic damage to Iraq.”

7- Disavowing international laws and conventions: According to the Observatory, ISIS continues to repeat that it does not respect international resolutions and does not respect international conventions.

Likewise, the Israeli occupation did not implement United Nations resolutions, did not respond to the calls of the world order, and did not abide by the texts of international laws and conventions. He does not see, hear, or implement all of them, to the point that many writers see him as above international law and UN resolutions, according to the Al-Azhar Observatory.

The subdivision of al-Azhar, the observatory outlines its mission as follow:

Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism seeks to consolidate the teachings of the true Islamic religion, and to maximize its message based on moderation, moderation, tolerance, and human brotherhood by providing moderate and purposeful content in various languages, emphasizing the universality of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, and enhancing Egypt’s global position in the field of combating extremism and building societal peace.

  

Former US official: Killing 4,000 Palestinian children is “not enough”

Former US official: Killing 4,000 Palestinian children is “not enough”

    Wednesday, November 22, 2023   No comments

To understand why US foreign policy in the Middle East was a complete failure, listen to this former US official, talk to a NYC food cart operator and tell him how he really feels about Muhammad, Quran, Muslims, Egypt, and the war in Gaza.

Stuart Seldowitz, a former US State Department official under President Barack Obama, said that the killing of 4,000 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip is “not enough,” in a scene that sparked great criticism and reactions.

Seldowitz served as the acting director for the National Security Council South Asia Directorate under the Obama administration. He also worked as a senior political officer in the State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs.

Seldowitz appeared in a video clip circulating on social media platforms, harassing a young Egyptian man who works as a street food vendor in New York by calling him a "terrorist."

The young man documented, via a video clip, that this former official came to him several times and provoked him in many ways. Among them was his inappropriate talk about Islam, and he also threatened to deport him from America.

The United States provides unlimited support to Israel during its war on the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for more than 6 weeks and has left, to date, more than 14,000 martyrs, including about 5,800 children, in addition to tens of thousands injured and displaced due to the violent Israeli bombing.

Some excerpts:

Scenes posted on the “X” platform show the street vendor repeatedly explaining to Seldowitz that he is currently working, asking him to stay away from him. However, the latter refused and insulted him, calling him ignorant because he did not master English.

Seldowitz, after continuing to harass the street vendor, accusing him of supporting the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and "terrorism," told him, "Do you know? If we kill 4,000 Palestinian children. That's not enough, it's not enough."

In other scenes, Seldowitz also appears harassing the seller by uttering provocative and insulting words toward the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the Holy Quran.

"What do you speak? You speak Arabic, the language of the Quran, the holy Quran that some people use as a toilet. What do you think of that, people who used the Quran as a toilet? Does it bother you?" Seldowitz asks mockingly.

"That’s why you're selling food in a food cart, because you’re ignorant. But you should learn English. It’ll help you when they deport you back to Egypt and then the Mukhabarat wants to interview you.”

In another video, he harasses the same vendor but is interrupted by a bystander who tells him to leave, saying "It's not right; you are harassing."

 

In an Open Letter, 100s of American journalists criticize coverage of the war on Gaza and the killing of journalists

In an Open Letter, 100s of American journalists criticize coverage of the war on Gaza and the killing of journalists

    Friday, November 10, 2023   No comments

More than 750 journalists signed an open letter condemning Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza, and criticizing Western media's coverage of the war, according to the Washington Post on Friday.

The American newspaper said that more than 750 journalists from dozens of news organizations signed an open letter condemning Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza, and criticizing Western media coverage of the war.

The letter stated that newsrooms (Western media) are responsible for the inhumane rhetoric that served the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

The letter includes “signatories from Reuters and the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post” and reflects “the divisions and frustrations within newsrooms.”

The newspaper noted that signing the letter to some journalists was a bold and even dangerous step, adding that journalists in media organizations had been expelled because they adopted public political positions that might expose them to accusations of bias, according to the newspaper, without specifying these means.

The Washington Post pointed out that many writers, artists, researchers and academics criticized the media coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza.

The letter's authors said it was a call to recommit to justice and not abandon it.

In turn, Abdullah Fayyad, a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2022 and a former member of the Boston Globe editorial board, who signed the letter, said, “I hope that after this letter, the culture of fear around this issue will be reversed, and that decision-makers, reporters, and editors will be made to think twice about language.” that they use."

“This is about demanding that journalists do their job: hold power accountable,” said Sohana Hussain, a labor reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

The letter stresses that journalists should use words such as “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “genocide” to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, terms that the petition’s signatories explain are used by international human rights organizations.

It also focuses on journalists who were killed by Israeli forces, and their number reached 39 media workers.

A journalist is killed daily

The Washington Post confirmed yesterday that one journalist is killed in Gaza every day, and described this as a terrifying rate.

The newspaper said that the latest petition comes after a series of petitions signed by media professionals, academics and artists calling for an end to the war and not to obscure what is happening in Gaza.

She also mentioned that another petition signed by hundreds of Jewish writers called for stopping the war and saving civilian lives, and added, "We are horrified when we see the battle against anti-Semitism used as an excuse to commit war crimes with declared genocidal intent."

A Million people march in Indonesia in support of Gaza

A Million people march in Indonesia in support of Gaza

    Sunday, November 05, 2023   No comments

The Indonesian capital, Jakarta, witnessed massive demonstrations denouncing the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and demanding a ceasefire.

Participants in the demonstration called by the Indonesian People's Alliance to Support Palestine raised slogans demanding the lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip, the entry of humanitarian aid and an end to the war.

Keypoints from the President of Turkey, Erdogan, before a crowd organized in support of Gaza

Keypoints from the President of Turkey, Erdogan, before a crowd organized in support of Gaza

    Saturday, October 28, 2023   No comments

Erdogan is the most successful opportunistic politician who will use every popular issue to plug in his relevance. After weeks of silence, he came to join a large crowd of people waving Turkish flags, invoking Gaza crisis but saying nothing of substance. He seemed more concerned with the optics than with the human cost accrued by people dying. Here are some of the ultimate showman’s statements.

* Unfortunately, in Turkey, there are politicians who claim that just as Netanyahu is a terrorist, so is HAMAS. They don't know what HAMAS is.

* Today, some in Turkey see Gaza as distant from us, and they don't care about what happens there. Gaza was an Ottoman city nearly 100 years ago. For us, it was one of our cities, like Adana and Mardin are today.

* Unfortunately, we were divided and separated by borders, and today they are trying to divide us with various temptations and games.

* Look closely at the statements of Israeli officials, and you will find plans of insult and betrayal, directed at our lands as well.

* I confirm that HAMAS is not a terrorist movement, and we will not be satisfied with the condemnation of what is happening in the Gaza Strip.

* Those who cried about injustice in Ukraine yesterday are today supporting Israel with blood on their hands.

* Israel won't last even three days without the support of Western countries.

* Turkey is preparing to declare Israel a war criminal to the entire world.

* Western officials have become deaf and cannot hear the cries of the casualties in Gaza or the appeals of the UN Secretary-General.

* Israel is committing a massacre in Gaza in the darkness, thinking that the world will not find out.

Media Review: The New York Times warns Biden: “Israel” is about to make a grave mistake

Media Review: The New York Times warns Biden: “Israel” is about to make a grave mistake

    Saturday, October 21, 2023   No comments

Empires don't listen to reason, because hubris attacks the mind.

After the American writer, Thomas Friedman, warned US President Joe Biden in two previous articles against allowing “Israel” to launch a ground attack on Gaza, Friedman renewed his demand for Biden to pressure “Israel” not to fall into the trap of a ground invasion.

China says Israel acting 'beyond scope of self-defense'

China says Israel acting 'beyond scope of self-defense'

    Sunday, October 15, 2023   No comments

 The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, confirmed in a phone call with the Saudi Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan, that the historical injustice against Palestine cannot continue.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Wang Yi as saying that China is "currently working closely with all parties to strengthen the ceasefire and end the war."

 According to him, the top priority is “ensuring the safety of civilians, opening humanitarian aid channels as quickly as possible, and protecting the basic needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip.”

 The Chinese minister stressed that his country "believes that the historical injustice that has been occurring against Palestine for more than half a century cannot continue," noting that the Israeli government must stop "collective punishment" of the residents of Gaza.

Wang Yi pointed out that "the parties should not take any action that would lead to an escalation of the situation," calling for the start of "negotiations."

In turn, Ibn Farhan indicated that Saudi Arabia opposes Israel’s forced resettlement of Gaza residents outside the region.

 The Saudi Minister urged the People's Republic of China, by virtue of its role as a permanent member of the Security Council, to work to ensure that the Council fulfills its responsibility to maintain international peace and security by pushing for "an immediate cessation of military operations and lifting the siege on Gaza."

Earlier today, state-run CCTV announced that Chinese envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, will visit the region next week in an attempt to reach a ceasefire and launch peace talks.

It is noteworthy that last Friday, Israeli media reported that an Israeli employee at the embassy in the Chinese capital, Beijing, was stabbed outside the embassy area.

It is worth noting that, in the wake of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” epic, China called for “a ceasefire, the protection of civilians, and an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, through a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” as it said.

The United States of America considered this position “disappointing,” as the Majority Leader of the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, demanded, during his visit to Beijing, “the necessity of issuing a statement explicitly condemning the Hamas movement, due to the attack it launched a few days ago.”

In turn, the American newspaper Politico commented on the Chinese position, saying that Beijing “apparently has decided that the path to a greater global presence passes through Palestine,” regardless of the “blows” it will receive from the West, because of what the newspaper described as "Leniency" with Hamas.

Israeli leaders threaten civilians trapped in Gaza: "leave now" because Gaza will be turned "into rubble"

Israeli leaders threaten civilians trapped in Gaza: "leave now" because Gaza will be turned "into rubble"

    Sunday, October 08, 2023   No comments

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Palestinians to leave Gaza Strip on Saturday and said the army will turn Hamas sites “into rubble.”

“We will turn all the places in which Hamas is based … all the places Hamas is hiding in, acting from into rubble,” Netanyahu said in a televised address.

He called on Palestinians in the area to “leave now.”

Implementing the threats, and signaling their intent to commit war crimes, other Israeli leaders provided more details. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant: 

"I ordered a complete siege of the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We fight against human animals and act accordingly."

Responding to the threat, Gaza factions' leaders said that Tel Aviv will be attacked and asked people there to leave. This is why Netanyahu's use of the words "Leave now" will come back to haunt the Israelis. Because those who can leave will leave, and that will be mostly Israelis, not Palestinians.

Given that Gazans have been under siege and with no place to go, asking them to leave or face death under the rubble is not an option between two things, it is a single option: die under the ruble.

The dramatic events that started on Saturday morning are not completely a surprise. For weeks, Hamas and other factions have been conducting live ammunition drills practicing the very same actions they took on Saturday. The Israeli leaders claimed, then, that the war games were designed to attract outside support and funding and doubted the groups’ ability to carry out attacks outside Gaza. On Saturday, those drills were put in action with deadly precision.

All this marks a new cycle of violence that could have been avoided any time over the past 50 years at least. For nearly 30 years since the Oslo agreement that promoted the two state solutions did not go anywhere. It merely created a Palestinian security apparatus in the West Bank that freed Israeli troops from patrolling Palestinian towns. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued the funding of illegal settlements making it impossible for the two state solution to remain viable. In the last decade, Israel has been ruled by increasingly right-wing factions hostile to any deal with the Palestinians. The lack of hope brings despair and desperate people do unimaginable things.

The chinese government seems to see the occupation to be the problem and ending it as the path to a solution. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry called for the creation of the state of Palestine. The ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning voiced "concerns about the escalation of the conflict" and condemned the "damage to civilians" but said that "the fundamental path out of the conflict lies through the implementation of a two-state solution and the creation of an independent State of Palestine."

  

    

Media reports: Ukraine's allies proposed striking “Iranian drone production factories in Iran, Syria and Russia”

Media reports: Ukraine's allies proposed striking “Iranian drone production factories in Iran, Syria and Russia”

    Friday, October 06, 2023   No comments

Days after the British newspaper published in a report, details obtained from a secret document submitted by Ukraine to its Western allies in the Group of Seven, which included a proposal to target "Iranian drone production factories in Iran, Syria and Russia", a drone attack hit Syria killed more than 80 people and injured hundreds more.

The British newspaper "The Guardian" revealed a secret document that indicated that Ukraine's Western allies had proposed launching missile strikes on drone production factories in Iran, Syria, and Russia.

In the context of a newspaper report on “European components in Iranian drones,” The Guardian revealed a 47-page document that the Ukrainian government submitted to the G7 governments last August.

As part of the discussion to take measures against Iranian drones, the newspaper revealed, citing the document, that among the proposals presented by Ukraine’s Western allies “launch missile strikes on the production factories of these drones in Iran and Syria, as well as on a potential production site located on the territory of the Russian Federation.” ".

The newspaper indicated in its report that such a measure “is likely to be refrained from by Western powers,” quoting from the document that “the Ukrainian Defense Forces can implement what was mentioned above, if the partners provide the necessary means of destruction.”

According to the secret document that Kiev sent to its Western allies, it called for “the use of long-range missiles to attack production sites in Iran, Syria, and Russia.”

It is noteworthy that, in mid-February, “The Guardian” had quoted American officials as saying that Iran had become a “global superpower in the field of drones.”

Analysts at the US Intelligence Agency also said that Iran “has emerged as a global leader in producing effective drones at an affordable price.”

Dozens dead in a drone attack on a military college in Homs

The Syrian Minister of Health, Hassan Al-Ghobash, announced Thursday that the initial toll was not final, amounting to 80 martyrs, including 6 women and 6 children, and about 240 injuries as a result of the terrorist attack on the Military College in Homs.

On Friday morning, Syrian official media counted the deaths of 89 people and the wounding of 277 others.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-government organization, reported on Friday that the death toll had risen to 123, including 54 civilians, including 39 children and a woman related to officers. It was also estimated that 150 others were injured.

After the incident, the Syrian Foreign Ministry announced its condemnation of the "heinous crime" committed by "terrorist organizations." It stressed that it expresses the perpetrators’ persistence in their “brutal terrorist approach,” due to which the Syrian people have suffered over the past years.

It added, in her statement, that this attack “will not deter” Syria from moving forward in its effort to “eradicate the scourge of terrorism and its sponsors.”

The Syrian government declared three days of official mourning for the souls of the martyrs of the terrorist attack.

Media reports: the technology used in the attack originated in France; and Syria's army responds

The Syrian army launched artillery and missile bombardment, mainly targeting the headquarters of the Turkestan Party and the Migrant Brigade, in Jericho, Jisr al-Shughur, Idlib, Binnish, and Sarmin, in response to the terrorist attack that targeted the Military College in Homs.

According to media reports, the Turkestan Party and the Muhajireen Brigade "are the two factions that possess drone technology."

The information also indicated that parts of advanced drones “were transferred to the two factions three months ago, and France was the one that provided them with this technology.”

According to media sources, the information confirmed that a drone had been launched from areas under the control of the Turkestan Party, prior to targeting the Military College in Homs.

Early Warning

It hsould be noted that on October 4, Deputy Head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, Admiral Vadim Collet, reported that “terrorist groups are preparing to launch attacks on military sites belonging to both Moscow and Damascus.”

According to Collet, these groups are active in the provinces of Idlib, Aleppo, and Latakia.

Collet explained that the data the center received from Syrian intelligence agencies showed that the groups “Turkistan Islamic Party” and “Ansar al-Tawhid” were preparing to carry out “attacks on Russian and Syrian military bases using locally made drones.”

The two groups will use "long-range multiple missile launch systems," according to Collett.

The Deputy Head of the Russian Reconciliation Center added that the leadership of the Russian group and the Syrian Armed Forces "will take the necessary proactive measures in order to prevent armed provocations by terrorists."

The center's announcement comes after statements made by the head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin, to the effect that the United States of America is "preparing to assist militants to carry out terrorist attacks in Syria."

According to Naryshkin, these attacks affect "crowded public places and Syrian government institutions."

Over time, the conenctions among many of the otherwise seemingly isolated armed conflicts or coups, in Ukraine, Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Niger, Mali, and other places,  become more evident.

For instance, it has been reported that Ukrainian special forces have been conducting operations outside Ukraine, including in Africa.

Since the start of the armed conflict in that country, Ukraine used drones very well, first to stop Russian troops advances toward Kyiv, using Turkish made drone, and there after using drone for attacks beyond the frontline, including attacks on Moscow. Ukrainian drone in Sudan last month reveals that Ukraine is now operating beyond its borders.

  

A Dead Russian General Walking: A Ukrainian government run by amateurs and through PR

A Dead Russian General Walking: A Ukrainian government run by amateurs and through PR

    Wednesday, September 27, 2023   No comments

For a country at war with a superpower, its leaders should be realistic and steady. So far, the leaders of Ukraine, both political leaders and military officers show no sign that they are up to the challenges they are facing. In the span of one week, the Ukrainian leadership committed two serious unforced errors that must be deeply embarrassing and, importantly, costly.

First, Ukrainian president visited Canada after his trip to the UN. In Canada, he ended up standing to honor a Nazi who fought Russia (these words should have made a middle school child realize that there is a problem in this narrative--since Russia was on the side of the allies against Germany then). 

Given that Russia’s main justification of its military operation in Ukraine was to stop Nazis from killing ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine, the optics of honoring a Nazis who “fought the Russians” should be the last thing you want to do.

Second, after launching their first missile attack on a military installation in Crimea, Ukrainian leaders released the results of the strike: destruction of the building and the killing of 33 Russian officers, including the commanding general.

“After the hit of the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers were killed, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Viktor Sokolov.” the Ukrainians said Monday, adding that more than 100 other Russian servicemen were wounded.

You don’t have to be an experienced leader to know that you must be certain that the person you are naming is actually dead. Because if the person is not dead, the entire narrative collapses and so goes the credibility of the entire government.

Sure enough, Russia treated that mistake as a gift, and casually released footage of the General alive, without even commenting on Ukrainian claim, as if to say: Russia gives no attention to Ukrainian leaders.

The real problem for the world now is this: If Ukrainian leaders make such untrue claims about things that are easily proven wrong, how serious should the world take their claim of taking back all of the territory they lost, including Crimea?

The answer to this question could help put that crisis on the right path to a resolution and stop the killing.