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Tag: crimes against humanity

  • Prolonging the genocide is a smokescreen for Israel’s other war in the West Bank

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    Original article republished from MEMO under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

    Israeli troops enter Nablus, West Bank on August 19, 2024. [Nedal Eshtayah – Anadolu Agency]

    Promises of “absolute victory” in Gaza are nothing but “gibberish”, according to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant’s comments were not meant to be public, but somehow were leaked and published by Israeli media on 12 August.

    The explanation of why Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing a losing war in Gaza has been largely confined to the prime minister’s personal interests, not least the avoidance of corruption trials, preserving his extremist government coalition and avoiding an early general election. Still, none of these rationales explain the absurdity of continuing with a war which, in the words of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, is “The worst failure in Israel’s history.”

    What else could explain Netanyahu’s motive for the war? And why are his most crucial government allies, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, determined to prolong it? The answer may not lie in Gaza, but in the occupied West Bank.

    While Israel is extending its failed military campaign in the Strip with no clear strategic objectives, its war on the West Bank is driven by very clear motives indeed: the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory and the ethnic cleansing of large sectors of the Palestinian population. This is not only obvious through Israel’s daily actions in the West Bank, but also because of the clear statements made by Israel’s extreme far right government officials, including a commitment by Netanyahu’s own Likud party to “advance and develop settlement in all parts of the land of Israel – in the Galilee, Negev, Golan Heights and Judea and Samaria.” The latter, of course, is what Zionists call the West Bank.

    READ: West Bank Bedouin communities affected by Israel’s policy of forced displacement

    An audio recording obtained by the Israeli group Peace Now conveyed the following remarks by Smotrich at a June 9 conference: “My goal is to settle the land, to build it, and to prevent, for God’s sake, its division… and the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

    To do so, the far-right politician has assigned himself the job of “change(ing) the DNA of the system.” This “system” was put in place decades ago, following Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank in 1967. It began a slow but determined process of illegal annexation of Palestinian territories. The process included the establishment, in 1981, of the so-called Civil Administration.

    This was and remains essentially a branch of the Israeli military.

    However, it was described as “civil” as part of a government effort to convert a temporary military occupation into the permanent colonisation of Palestine. This entailed the practical annexation and continued expansion of the illegal Israeli Jewish settlements built on Palestinian land after the June 1967 Six-Day War.

    The Oslo Accords in 1993-94 gave Palestinians nominal administrative control over small areas in the West Bank, designated as areas A and B. This necessitated the transfer of some of the Civil Administration’s responsibility to the newly-formed Palestinian Authority, based on the understanding that the PA will always prioritise Israel’s security. The arrangement allowed Israel to expand, unhindered, its illegal settlements in most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, tripling both the size and population of the settlements between 1993 and 2023.

    As Israel’s colonial plan in the West Bank reached its zenith, Netanyahu sought in 2020 to reinforce Israeli gains with the annexation of more than 30 per cent of the West Bank. Due to international pressure and growing Palestinian resistance, however, Netanyahu postponed his plan, albeit with the understanding that “annexation remains on the table”.

    OPINION: It’s true, Netanyahu has never been a partner for peace

    Without much fanfare, though, Israel swapped its hope for a sweeping de jure annexation of the West Bank with de facto control, through rapid seizures of Palestinian land and the expansion of its settlements, all of which are illegal under international law.

    Although the Israeli military is faltering in Gaza, the genocide is being used as a smokescreen to finalise Israel’s settler-colonial plans in the West Bank.

    This process was dubbed by Smotrich in 2017 as a “victory by settlement”. Now in a position of power and with access to a massive budget, he is making his life’s goal a reality.

    For Smotrich’s dream to be realised, he needed to revitalise the once central role of the Civil Administration. In May, he invented a new position called “deputy head” of the administration, granting the position to his close associate Hillel Roth.

    Now both men have unparalleled and sweeping rights to expand the settlements. Since coming to power in December 2022, Netanyahu’s latest government has approved 12,000 new housing units for illegal settlements, while ordering the demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes and other civilian infrastructure.

    In the first three months of 2024, Israel declared nearly 6,000 acres of the West Bank to be “state-owned land”, and therefore made it eligible for settlement construction. The decision was described by the Israeli watchdog Peace Now as the “largest West Bank land grab in 30 years.”

    The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is already under way. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, in the first half of 2024 alone, at least 1,000 Palestinians were forcefully displaced while nearly 160,000 were affected by home demolitions.

    The Israeli war on the West Bank has come at a high price in Palestinian blood. As of 12 August, at least 632 Palestinians had been killed with 5,400 wounded in the West Bank alone, according to the Ministry of Health. When the war on Gaza is over, the war on the West Bank will grow more intense and bloodier, but with the clear strategic goal of annexing the whole territory, even though the International Court of Justice resolved on 19 July that Israel’s “annexation and… assertion of permanent control” in the West Bank is illegal.

    To avoid an even greater war and genocide than that which is taking place before our eyes in Gaza, the international community must use all available means to enforce international law and bring to an end Israel’s brutal, genocidal occupation of Palestine.

    OPINION: Partners in genocide: Israel is slaughtering Palestinians with western arms

    The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

    Original article republished from MEMO under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

  • Scottish government suspends all meetings with Israel

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    Original article republished from MEMO under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

    Flag of Scotland [Getty]

    The Scottish government announced Monday that it had suspended all meetings with Israeli ambassadors until “real progress” is made towards peace in the Gaza Strip and unimpeded access is granted to humanitarian assistance to the enclave, Anadolu Agency reports.

    In a statement, External Affairs Secretary, Angus Robertson, said the Scottish government would not accept any invitation for a further meeting with Israel until there was real progress on the Gaza conflict.

    “This will remain our position until such time as real progress has been made towards peace, unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance is provided and Israel cooperates fully with its international obligations on the investigation of genocide and war crimes,” said Robertson.

    This came after a recent meeting between Robertson and Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky, about two weeks ago, sparking criticism within the Scottish National Party (SNP).

    The External Affairs Secretary said his view was that, given Grudsky had requested the meeting this was “an opportunity to express the Scottish Government’s clear and unwavering position” on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. And I did exactly that, “he added.

    OPINION: The gloves come off as two-faced Israel and its lackeys search desperately for friends

    “No one intended that this meeting be presented as legitimising the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza,” he noted, expressing that the Scottish Government has been consistent in its “unequivocal condemnation of the atrocities” in the Palestinian enclave.

    Noting that many had seen the meeting as a sign of normalisation between the Israeli and Scottish governments, Robertson stressed that it was clear that it would have been better to ensure that its agenda was strictly limited to the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza .

    “I apologise for the fact that this did not happen,” he said.

    Robertson added that, “going forward, it is clear that, having now spoken directly to the Israeli Government and making them aware of our position on an immediate ceasefire, it would not be appropriate to accept any invitation for a further meeting.”

    Highlighting that this would remain the Scottish government’s position until real progress on a ceasefire is made, he said: “The Scottish Government does not support any normaliation of its relations with the Israeli Government during this period.”

    “The Scottish Government will never hold back in expressing support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, an end to UK arms being sent to Israel and the recognition of a sovereign Palestinian State within a two-state solution.”

    Former Scottish First Minister, Humza Yousaf, welcomed the statement, saying Robertson has “clearly listened and reflected on the anger and upset” in relation to his meeting with the deputy Israeli ambassador.

    “Crucially, he has made it clear there cannot be normal relations with the Govt of Israel,” Yousaf said on X.

    READ: British Foreign Office official resigns over Israel arms sales, war crimes in Gaza

    Original article republished from MEMO under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

  • Number of aid workers killed more than doubled in 2023, and over half were in Gaza, says UN

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/number-aid-workers-killed-more-doubled-2023-and-over-half-were-gaza-says-un

    Indiscriminate killing: Mourners pray at the funeral for more than 15 people, including several children and women, killed in an Israeli strike, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah at the weekend

    THE number of aid workers killed in conflict zones more than doubled last year, the UN reported today.

    Its Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries in 2023, compared to 118 in 2022.

    Over half the killings took place in Gaza following Israel’s invasion, which began in October following a Hamas cross-border attack, with the majority of these down to Israeli air strikes, the office said.

    Israel’s military has been accused of deliberately murdering aid workers, with the killing of seven working for World Central Kitchen on April 1 causing headlines around the world because they included US, Canadian, British and Australian citizens.

    It has also been accused of attempting to starve Gaza by blocking or delaying aid convoys. Its National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, caused uproar in June when he told police not to interfere with mobs attacking aid convoys headed for Gaza.

    THE number of aid workers killed in conflict zones more than doubled last year, the UN reported today.

    Its Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries in 2023, compared to 118 in 2022.

    Over half the killings took place in Gaza following Israel’s invasion, which began in October following a Hamas cross-border attack, with the majority of these down to Israeli air strikes, the office said.

    Israel’s military has been accused of deliberately murdering aid workers, with the killing of seven working for World Central Kitchen on April 1 causing headlines around the world because they included US, Canadian, British and Australian citizens.

    It has also been accused of attempting to starve Gaza by blocking or delaying aid convoys. Its National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, caused uproar in June when he told police not to interfere with mobs attacking aid convoys headed for Gaza.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/number-aid-workers-killed-more-doubled-2023-and-over-half-were-gaza-says-un

  • ‘Not Another Bomb’ to Israel Demand Grows Ahead of Democratic Convention

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    Original article by JESSICA CORBETT republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

    Pro-Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans before marching with placards and flags to commemorate Nakba Day at Lake Eola Park on May 11, 2024 in Orlando, Florida.  (Photo: Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    “We must double down on our demands ahead of the DNC, where we’ll be marching in the streets for the liberation of all,” said one campaigner.

    Leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, calls for the U.S. government to stop arming Israel’s devastating assault on the Gaza Strip—widely denounced around the world as genocide—continued to mount on Friday.

    “We join the millions of people who’ve taken action the last 10 months, taxpayers who don’t want to pay for genocide and are demanding an immediate arms embargo on Israel,” U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) executive director Ahmad Abuznaid said in a statement Friday.

    “We know that politicians won’t change their unjust policies until it’s in their own self-interest to do so,” he continued. “We must double down on our demands ahead of the DNC, where we’ll be marching in the streets for the liberation of all.”

    Pro-Palestine protests in Chicago are set to start Sunday, a day before the DNC officially begins. They will continue throughout the week, according to a schedule shared Friday by the Chicago Sun-Times. The March on the DNC is planned for Monday afternoon.

    As Common Dreams reported earlier Friday, a coalition of progressive and legal groups and individuals expressed “grave concerns” about recent moves by the Chicago Police Department and the city to stop protests and vowed to take legal action as needed.

    The Uncommitted National Movement’s Not Another Bomb campaign is also planning a nationwide day of action for Sunday.

    The movement formed when Democratic President Joe Biden was still at the top of the ticket throughout the presidential primary process; hundreds of thousands of voters across the country selected “uncommitted” or took similar action, depending on the options for each state’s ballot, to send the administration a message that they don’t support giving Israel any more military aid.

    After a disastrous debate performance against the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, Biden dropped out of the race and passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has already secured the party’s nomination via an online process and announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Biden, Harris, and Walz are all set to speak at the convention.

    “USCPR calls on the Biden-Harris administration, the Harris-Walz campaign, members of Congress, and the DNC to stop arming Israel now, as the Democratic Party currently has the power to end the genocide by cutting off the endless weapons supply to Israel,” the group said Friday.

    Since last week, Not Another Bomb has been gathering online signatures for a petition urging Harris “to shift away from President Biden’s disastrous policy on Gaza, and pledge to enact an immediate arms embargo on Israel’s assault and occupation against Palestinians as a material step towards a permanent cease-fire.”

    “Consider the overwhelming sentiment among your constituents: 86% of Democrats support the proposed cease-fire deal in Gaza,” the petition notes. “This is the mainstream view of our party’s base, as evidenced by a recent poll that reveals that 52% of Americans and 62% of Biden/Harris voters agree with halting arms sales to Israel. In addition, 70% of Democratic voters support withdrawing U.S. military funding to Israel if Israel rejects the proposed cease-fire deal, as Israel has continuously done.”

    Polling released this week shows that Democratic and Independent voters in three key swing states—Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania—would be more willing to vote for Harris in November if she supported cutting off weapons to Israeli forces. However, one of her advisers recently made clear that “she does not support an arms embargo on Israel.”

    March on the DNC spokesperson Hatem Abudayyeh told Reuters on Friday that coalition group leaders met after Biden bowed out of the contest to discuss whether they should revise their strategy if Harris became the Democratic nominee.

    “There was absolute consensus,” Abudayyeh said. “She represents the policies of the administration and it’s full steam ahead.”

    The Biden-Harris administration and current Congress have provided Israel with billions of dollars in military assistance as well as diplomatic support on the world stage, including multiple vetoes of United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolutions.

    Fresh calls have come this week not only in anticipation of the convention but also since the Biden administration on Tuesday approved roughly $20 billion in additional U.S.-made weapons for Israel’s military as the official death toll in Gaza neared 40,000. Local officials said Friday that at least 40,005 Palestinians have been killed and another 92,401 have been wounded.

    Thousands more remain missing amid the rubble in Gaza and the vast majority of the Palestinian enclave’s 2.3 million residents have been forced to relocate, many of them multiple times. Israeli forces on Friday issued yet another evacuation order for areas in central and southern Gaza—including “safe zones”—leaving Palestinians with “nowhere to go.”

    Original article by JESSICA CORBETT republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

    dizzy: I’m experiencing disruption presumably by or sanctioned by the UK government. Evading it ;)

  • As Gaza Death Toll Tops 40,000, Congress Urged to Block New Weapons to Israel

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    Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Activists demand an end to U.S. arms transfers to Israel during a May 2, 2024 protest outside the White House in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Amnesty International USA)

    “U.S. arms transfers to Israel have fueled unimaginable suffering in Gaza, including staggering levels of civilian harm,” said one embargo advocate.

    As the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s 314-day assault on Gaza passed 40,000—a figure experts say is likely a vast undercount—human rights groups this week decried the Biden administration’s approval of $20 billion worth of new weapons for Israel and renewed pleas for Congress to block further arms transfers to the nation on trial for genocide at the World Court.

    On Tuesday—just days after Israeli forces used at least one U.S.-supplied bomb in an airstrike on a Gaza City school that killed scores of forcibly displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering there—the Biden administration notified Congress of the pending sale of a new weapons package that includes dozens of F-15 fighter jets, tens of thousands of 120mm mortar shells, over 32,700 tank shells, and 30 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles.

    Since October, Congress and the Biden administration have approved more than $14 billion in unconditional military aid to Israel. President Joe Biden has signed off on more than 100 arms transfers to Israel during that period. This, atop the $3.8 billion in annual armed aid the U.S. already gives to the key Middle Eastern ally.

    “Israel used U.S.-made weapons in May when it slaughtered Palestinian families sheltering in tent camps in Rafah,” Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) said Wednesday. “Israel used U.S.-made weapons when it bombed the al-Mutanabbi school in Khan Younis in early July, killing over two dozen displaced Palestinians seeking refuge there. And it used U.S.-made weapons on Saturday to murder over 100 Palestinians while they prayed.”

    “Biden continues to send weapons to Israel, and both political parties—Republicans and Democrats—have cheered on the Israeli government’s slaughter and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” JVP continued. “This is a U.S.-perpetrated genocide as much as it is an Israeli one.”

    “But the Democratic voting base is calling for something different, and we have seen the progressive and increasingly mainstream wing of the party begin to echo this need,” the group said. “We are playing a critical role in driving the Democratic Party to finally catch up to the demands of its own base.”

    “Right now, we have an opportunity to re-center Gaza in the national conversation and continue building pressure on the Biden administration, on [Vice President] Kamala Harris, and on Democratic members of Congress to support an immediate arms embargo,” JVP added.

    While Harris has expressed sympathy for Palestinians suffering what she called a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza, the vice president and Democratic presidential nominee, like Biden, has proclaimed her “unwavering” support for Israel. One aide said last week that Harris does not support an arms embargo.

    “The decision to approve yet another massive sale of arms to Israel is appalling and a blatant violation of U.S. and international law and policy,” Annie Shiel, the U.S. advocacy director at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said on Thursday.

    “U.S. arms transfers to Israel have fueled unimaginable suffering in Gaza, including staggering levels of civilian harm, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and an ever-growing humanitarian catastrophe,” Shiel continued. “The U.S. is complicit in this devastation.”

    “Congress must block these sales, including through the introduction of joint resolutions of disapproval,” she added, “and the Biden-Harris administration must finally end U.S. arms transfers and use its leverage to bring about an immediate cease-fire.”

    The international anti-poverty NGO ActionAid said Thursday: “We are outraged and heartbroken by the staggering loss of 40,000 lives in Gaza. It is a number that is incomprehensible—every life lost is an individual tragedy.”

    “But this is not an inevitable one, it is an ongoing atrocity, and it could have been prevented,” the group continued. “Most governments across the world have refused to do the bare minimum to protect civilian life and it is to our collective shame. We are losing confidence each day in the concept of justice.”

    “We reiterate our calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and urge all governments to meet their obligations under international law and use all available means to take immediate and decisive action to ensure the safety and security of all civilians,” ActionAid said.

    “We call for the imposition of sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on Israeli officials linked to alleged violations of international humanitarian law,” the NGO added. “Every day that you choose to avoid this as a reality, this death toll will keep rising until there is nobody left in Gaza alive.”

    In addition to the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for warrants to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and for three Hamas leaders, at least one of whom has been assassinated by Israeli forces.

    The Biden administration and numerous members of Congress have condemned the courts’ pursuit of justice for Israel and its leaders. In June, 42 Democrats joined nearly every Republican in the House of Representatives in passing a bill that would sanction ICC officials over Khan’s application for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

    In addition to rights groups, a coalition of journalists, news outlets, and press freedom organizations on Thursday implored the Biden administration to immediately halt arms transfers to Israel.

    As the tight 2024 presidential race between Harris and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, heads toward the home stretch, a survey commissioned by the Institute for Middle Eastern Understanding Policy Project and conducted by YouGov revealed this week that Democratic and Independent voters in the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania would be more willing to vote for Harris if she backed an arms embargo on Israel.

    Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).