Israel Has Killed More Kids in 3 Weeks Than Were Killed in All Global Conflicts Annually Since 2019

Israel Has Killed More Kids in 3 Weeks Than Were Killed in All Global Conflicts Annually Since 2019

    Monday, October 30, 2023   No comments

More children killed in Gaza than in global conflicts annually over past 4 years, Save the Children says

GAZA: 3,195 Children Killed in Three Weeks Surpasses Annual Number of Children Killed in Conflict Zones since 2019

The number of children reported killed in Gaza in just three weeks has surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world's conflict zones since 2019, Save the Children said.

Since October 7, more than 3,257 children have been reported killed, including at least 3,195 in Gaza, 33 in the West Bank, and 29 in Israel, according to the Ministries of Health in Gaza and Israel respectively. The number of children reported killed in just three weeks in Gaza is more than the number killed in armed conflict globally—across more than 20 countries—over the course of a whole year, for the last three years.

Children make up more than 40% of the 7,703 people killed in Gaza, and more than a third of all fatalities across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. With a further 1,000 children reported missing in Gaza assumed buried under the rubble, the death toll is likely much higher.

On Friday, Israeli forces announced “expanded ground operations” in the Gaza Strip, with Save the Children warning it will bring more deaths, injuries, and distress while calling for an immediate ceasefire.

  

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.

Queen Rania: Israel commits atrocities under the guise of self-defense

Queen Rania: Israel commits atrocities under the guise of self-defense

    Wednesday, October 25, 2023   No comments

Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan expressed the Arab world's shock and disappointment at the world's "blatant double standards" and "deafening silence" in the face of the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

She confirmed, in a live interview with journalist Christiane Amanpour on CNN yesterday evening, Tuesday, that despite the prevailing narrative in Western media, “this conflict did not begin on the seventh of October.”

Most networks cover the story under the headline “Israel is at war,” she said, but for the Palestinians on the other side of the separation wall and the other side of the barbed wire, the war has never left. This is a 75-year-old story, a story of death and displacement of the Palestinian people.

She added - during the interview - that the novel neglected to highlight that nuclear-armed regional superpower that occupies, persecutes and commits documented daily crimes against the Palestinians.

She pointed out that Palestinian mothers were forced to write their children's names on their hands because of the high probability of them being bombed to death and their bodies turning into corpses and body parts.

She stressed that the rules of engagement must apply to everyone, noting that Israel commits brutal acts under the guise of self-defense.

She said, "6 thousand civilians have been martyred so far, 2,400 children. How can this be considered self-defense? We see massacres on a large scale using high-precision weapons. So over the past two weeks, we have seen indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. Entire families have been exterminated, and residential neighborhoods have been leveled." On the ground, targeting hospitals, schools, churches, mosques, medical workers, journalists, and United Nations aid workers. How is this considered self-defense?!”

Complicit West

Queen Rania pointed out that for many in the region, the Western world is complicit in this war through the support and cover it gives to Israel.

She said, "This is the first time in modern history that we are witnessing such human suffering, and the world is not calling for a ceasefire."

Speaking about what the Palestinian people are suffering from, she said, “There are more than 500 checkpoints spread throughout the West Bank,” stressing that Israel is violating at least 30 UN resolutions demanding that it alone work to withdraw from the territories occupied in 1967, and stop settlement and the separation wall. and human rights violations.

She noted that Israel has been classified as an “apartheid regime” by Israeli and international human rights organizations.

She considered that Israel's allies were doing it no favors by providing blind support to it. “Accelerating and expanding the scope of providing lethal weapons to Israel will only lead to the expansion of this conflict. It will only prolong and deepen the suffering.”

Duality of standards

In criticizing the role of the media in covering the current conflict, Queen Rania pointed to the double standards of interlocutors in the West who ask those representing the Palestinian side to issue immediate condemnations.

She also spoke about the suppression of expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians in Western democracies, noting that, "When people gather in support of Israel, they are exercising their right to assemble. But when they gather for the sake of Palestine, they are considered sympathizers with terrorists or anti-Semites."

"Freedom of expression is a universal value, except when Palestine is mentioned," she said.

New York Times Invesigation: Israeliclaim of 'Palestinian rocket' hitting Gaza's Baptist Hospital

New York Times Invesigation: Israeliclaim of 'Palestinian rocket' hitting Gaza's Baptist Hospital

    Tuesday, October 24, 2023   No comments

 The New York Times has quietly acknowledged that Israel’s key claim regarding the bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on 17 October is false. 

In an investigation published on 24 October, the New York Times found that Israel’s claim that a failed rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad fell on the hospital was not correct.

In the hours following the bombing, which Hamas claims killed 471 people sheltering in the courtyard of the hospital, the Israeli military claimed footage from an Al-Jazeera live stream showed the Palestinian rocket falling on the hospital.

“The footage has become a widely cited piece of evidence as Israeli and American officials have made the case that an errant Palestinian rocket malfunctioned in the sky, fell to the ground and caused a deadly explosion at Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City,” the New York Times wrote.

But the investigation by The New York Times concluded that the video clip “shows something else.”

The missile seen in the video detonated in the sky roughly two miles away from the hospital, The New York Times found, and was launched from Israel, not Gaza.

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.

State Department official resigns over Biden administration’s handling of Israel-Hamas conflict

State Department official resigns over Biden administration’s handling of Israel-Hamas conflict

    Friday, October 20, 2023   No comments

A State Department official in the bureau that oversees arms transfers resigned this week in protest of the Biden administration’s decision to continue sending weapons and ammunition to Israel as it lays siege to Gaza in its war with Hamas.

In his resignation letter, Josh Paul, who has been the director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for over 11 years, said the Biden administration’s “blind support for one side” was leading to policy decisions that were “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the very values we publicly espouse.”

“The response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people,” he wrote, adding, “I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it for longer.”

Josh Paul bio and credentials:

(Former) Director at U.S. Department of State

Previously - and for the last decade - Director of Congressional & Public Affairs, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State, with responsibility for shaping and implementing an holistic communications strategy in support of U.S. security assistance, arms transfers, and global defense partnerships. Previously - consultant for the US & UK governments in Iraq & Palestine on institutional development and security sector governance; Hill alum (Steve Israel, D-NY); stints in Army Staff (G8) & OSD Policy (ME).

Timeline and connections between the fake news story of “40 babies beheaded” and the stabbing to death of Muslim-American child

Timeline and connections between the fake news story of “40 babies beheaded” and the stabbing to death of Muslim-American child

    Monday, October 16, 2023   No comments

Media review: 

The leader of “the most powerful nation in history”, Biden, and a cable channel that propagandize for itself under the slogan, “The Most Trusted Name in News”, peddled a fake news stories originating in Israel and claiming that “40 babies beheaded” by Palestinians. Four days later, in an area near Chicago, a man stabbed a 6 year old -Muslim-American child, while shouting, “You Muslims must die”.

As we have learned from the last 4 years, words of persons in positions of power have consequences. A Congressional committee condemned former president Trump for saying to his supporters to “fight like hell”. It was argued that his words incited the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The words of the president of the United States and the media do shape the national discourse, and evidently, the discourse created an atmosphere in which the cruel stabbing of a six-year-old American was made real, and possibly more Muslim-Americans will face more violence because of this irresponsible behavior.

Words matter, and those in power must pay attention to their words. This is just an example of how media outlets and political leaders fail to undertake due diligence check for a story before amplifying it, and the deadly consequences of such negligence.

  

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.

Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation's statement on the orders to displace Gazan civilians

Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation's statement on the orders to displace Gazan civilians

    Friday, October 13, 2023   No comments

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, commented on the Gaza population transfer order issued by Israeli leaders and backed by the US and some European governments: 

More than a million Gazans must urgently evacuate to the south of the strip at the request of the Israeli army. All “Western partners” are bashfully silent.

I wonder what their reaction would be to a similar demand addressed to the Kyiv regime to evacuate one of the major cities?

   

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."