genocide

Varying degrees of silence over colonialism and annexation

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Israeli far-right groups supporting the expansion of control over Palestinian territories gather at a site housing an Israeli military monument about one kilometer from the Gaza Strip border, calling for an event in Gaza during the Jewish holiday of Passover and repeating demands for further land appropriation, in Israel on April 07, 2026. [Enes Canlı – Anadolu Agency]

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a settlement in Benjamin, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel will expand in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Syria, widening its non-existent borders. The comments are the latest in a series of threats made by Smotrich in which bombing on a scale similar to that in Gaza is being promoted as the step for land appropriation.

The international community cannot say it wasn’t warned after Smotrich’s detailed explanation of colonial expansion in the region. Expanding Israel’s borders is repeatedly asserted. Yet not one single leader has linked Israel’s military and political strategies to implementing the Zionist concept of Greater Israel.

One example of tacit silence was reported by Sydney Criminal Lawyers, who noted that Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s statement on 9 April 2026 spoke of humanitarian concerns and not of Israel’s colonial expansion.

From alleged safety from terror as in the case of Gaza, to buffer zones in Lebanon, Israel is repeating its security narrative in different scenarios to maintain a normalised perception of colonialism – a colonialism that is concealed by the international community’s silence.

Israel’s refusal to define its borders was never truly opposed by the international community. Since the 1948 Nakba, Israel colonial expansion was normalised. The only step the international community committed to was declaring settlements post-1967 illegal. The differentiation failed to stop Israel from expanding further into Palestinian territory and it had a precedent to fall on – the 1948 Nakba defying the 1947 UN Partition Plan.

READ: In Israel’s colonial ethnic cleansing, the world fails stand for decolonisation

In 1937, David Ben Gurion stated, “We shall accept a state in the boundaries fixed today, but the boundaries of Zionist aspirations are the concern of the Jewish people and no external factor will be able to limit them.” Even before Israel’s establishment, Zionism was declaring impunity for the future colonial enterprise. The UN, founded by former colonial powers, found no reason to oppose the Zionist ideology. In fact, the 1947 Partition Plan granted Jewish settlers 56 per cent of Palestinian land.

What Smotrich is declaring today reflects Ben Gurion’s vision of Greater Israel. The international community prefers to eliminate historical references to the earlier Zionist aspirations of annexing South Lebanon, for example, which is what Smotrich is partly inciting for.

The EU is back to considering sanctions – the key word being ‘considering’, not implementing. Spain, the most vocal in Europe in condemning Israel’s genocide in Gaza, has called for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Yet, EU silence over colonialism and annexation remains the norm. Choosing parts of Israel’s security narrative is another EU tactic – disarming Hezbollah is amplified, as is urging Israel to restrain its bombing to Hezbollah targets. However, warning against annexation, which is the mildest the EU can do with regard to Israel’s colonial expansion in the region, is a perfunctory performance.

History provides a clear picture of what Israel seeks to achieve. A referenced plan from decades ago is being ignored in favour of fragmented rhetoric on security concerns and humanitarian aid. There is no real fall out between Israel and the international community, but a repetitive silence regarding colonialism and annexation.

READ: Separating land from the people supports Israel’s colonial expansion

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

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.

Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ...
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …

Continue ReadingVarying degrees of silence over colonialism and annexation

Historian Among Those Warning Countries That Have Aided Trump’s Iran Assault ‘Will Come to Regret It’

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

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at an event on March 30, 2026 in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

“One of the biggest implications of this war is how badly Europe miscalculated,” said one analyst.

As President Donald Trump made his most explicitly genocidal threat yet against Iran on Tuesday, one historian based in Tehran suggested that countries which have aided and abetted the rapidly intensifying US-Israeli assault on the Middle Eastern country are coming face-to-face with the fact that appeasing Trump has been a grave error.

Trump’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”—referring to Iran’s population of 93 million people—was the “textbook definition of genocide,” said Narjes Rahmati. “Those who could have intervened but did not will come to regret it.”

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Trump has lashed out at numerous European countries for being insufficiently supportive of the US-Israeli war, which has killed more than 2,000 people in Iran, nearly 1,500 in Lebanon, and hundreds across the Middle East, but countries including the United Kingdom have provided various support to the US and Israel since they abruptly cut off diplomatic talks and began bombing the country in February.

While UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has attempted to distance his government from the conflict, saying, “This is not our war,” the UK has allowed US bombers to use British military bases for “defensive” missions. Late last month the UK also authorized the US to use military bases for strikes against Iranian missile sites that were targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The country has ramped up its military resources in the region in recent weeks.

Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats Party in the UK, said Tuesday that Starmer and his Labour government face “a choice” about continuing to back the US and Israel in light of Trump’s latest threat on what the president previously referred to as “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day.”

“The UK must immediately and unequivocally suspend support for the US military,” added Zack Polanski, the British Green Party leader. “The government have tried to appease him, then they tried to say they’re standing up to him. Words aren’t enough—it’s time for action.”

Philippe Dam, European Union director for Human Rights Watch, also condemned the European Commission for its tepid response to Trump’s threat against “a whole civilization.”

Anitta Hipper, foreign affairs spokesperson for the commission, said it rejects threats to attack critical civilian infrastructure, warning that “such attacks risk impacting millions of people across the Middle East and beyond, and also may lead to further dangerous escalation.”

Dam warned that “international law is eroded by those who flout it as much as by those who fail to speak up.”

“Despite renewed threats of attacks on civilian infrastructures in Iran—would be war crimes and possible crimes against humanity—EU leaders still fail to name USA and Israel in their statements,” said Dam.

The US has also received varying degrees of military support from Portugal, Italy, Germany, and France, though the French and Italian governments have angered Trump in recent weeks by blocking the US from using certain military bases and barring military flights from French airspace. Spanish President Pedro Sánchez has stood out among North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders, leading the way in refusing to allow the US to use its bases for Iran attacks.

Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, said European leaders over the last several weeks “had [a] real chance to help make diplomacy succeed. Instead, they aligned with and enabled Trump’s worst instincts.”

Adil Haque, a Rutgers University law professor and executive editor of Just Security, called on “all states” to “immediately condemn Trump’s threat; deny the use of their territory and airspace by US forces to attack Iran; demand an immediate, unconditional, and permanent end to the war.”

“Hormuz can be dealt with separately,” he said, referring to Iran’s closure of the strait, a key trade waterway. “Enough is enough.”

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

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it's easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel's genocidal expansion.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says disinhibition and swearing are typical and common symptoms
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says disinhibition and swearing are typical and common symptoms
Continue ReadingHistorian Among Those Warning Countries That Have Aided Trump’s Iran Assault ‘Will Come to Regret It’

Iran Says Trump Will Go Down as a ‘Supreme War Criminal’ If He Follows Through With Threat

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

A man takes pictures of Shahid Beheshti University following a US-Israeli strike in Tehran on April 4, 2026. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

“This is an express public incitement for war crimes and crimes against humanity—and, I would say, for genocide,” said a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

Iranian officials on Monday warned US President Donald Trump that his name will be “etched in history as a supreme war criminal” if he follows through with his threat to wage total war on Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power plants.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, wrote on social media following Trump’s Easter-morning outburst that “threats to attack power plants and bridges (civilian infrastructure) constitute war crimes under Article 8(2)(b) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 (Article 52).”

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“The president of the United States, in his capacity as the highest-ranking official of his country, has openly threatened to commit war crimes—an act that entails his individual criminal responsibility before the International Criminal Court and any competent national court,” Gharibabadi added, vowing that Iran “will deliver a decisive, immediate, and regret-inducing response” to any attack.

Esmail Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said Trump’s threats are “an indication of a criminal mindset.”

“This is an express public incitement for war crimes and crimes against humanity—and, I would say, for genocide,” Baghaei said in an interview on Sunday. “Threatening to attack a country’s critical infrastructure, energy sector, it would mean that you want to put at risk the whole population.”

The US and Israel have already done significant damage to Iran’s civilian infrastructure. The country’s deputy health minister said Monday that more than 360 healthcare, education, and research centers have been hit by US-Israeli strikes, and dozens of medics have been killed since the bombing began on February 28.

But Trump on Sunday threatened an indiscriminate assault, telling Fox News that if the Iranians “don’t make a deal and fast,” he is “considering blowing everything up and taking the oil.”

“You’re going to see bridges and power plants dropping all over their country,” the president said, setting a new deadline of 8 pm ET for the complete reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump’s remarks came after he published a deranged post on his Truth Social platform demanding that Iran “open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”

Analysts and lawmakers in the US echoed Iranian officials’ warnings that Trump’s threatened attacks would constitute war crimes.

“Trump’s advisers are telling him to hit civilian sites because it will cause unrest and potentially topple the regime. But just think about the insanity of this plan: kill tens of thousands of civilians in order to cause a national panic,” US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote. “Bombing to induce political panic IS A WAR CRIME.”

Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, said that “any lawmaker who votes for supplemental funding for the war on Iran or against war powers resolutions to end it will be fully complicit in the war crimes threatened here, as well as those already committed by this unhinged and unfit Commander in Chief.”

The US president’s renewed threats came amid reports of a diplomatic effort, mediated in part by Pakistan, to enact a 45-day ceasefire to provide space for a lasting resolution to the war.

Axios reported that the talks are seen as “the only chance to prevent a dramatic escalation in the war that will include massive strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure and a retaliation against energy and water facilities in the Gulf states.”

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

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it's easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel's genocidal expansion.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says disinhibition and swearing are typical and common symptoms
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says disinhibition and swearing are typical and common symptoms

dizzy: There are more signs, appearance and demeanour even. There is no shame to it, often just comes with advanced age. The issue is about competency to perform a certain role (and having the codes).

Other parties e.g. the UK Labour government under Keir Starmer and – separately – the UK military should decide whether they are going to be further supportive and complicit in war crimes i.e. faced with this current situation of Trump threatening and it being explicitly recognised and recorded.

Continue ReadingIran Says Trump Will Go Down as a ‘Supreme War Criminal’ If He Follows Through With Threat

Torture, genocide and erasure

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Israeli settlers seize 13 apartments belonging to Palestinians in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem on March 25, 2026. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency].

by Ramona Wadi walzerscent

“This is not incidental violence. It is the architecture of settler-colonialism, built on a foundation of dehumanisation and maintained by a policy of cruelty and collective terror.” The concluding sentence to the summary of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s report to the UN Human Rights Council on torture and genocide succinctly sums up how Israel has been using torture as part of its gradual annihilation of the Palestinian people. Since October 2023, torture has become a weapon in Israel’s genocide.

Albanese notes that while torture is a crime under international law, the Genocide Convention describes torture as an underlying act of genocide “when inflicted with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group “as such”. Genocide, Albanese explains from the legal framework of the Genocide Convention, “many be committed through sustained practices that break bodies, minds and collective resilience.”

READ: Israeli army demolishes Palestinian park, car showroom in occupied West Bank

The historical realities of torture since the British Mandate contextualises the current torture practices Israel inflicts on Palestinians today. British torture practices were incorporated by Israel after 1948. In 1987, the Landau Commission effectively ruled in favour of torture “on a person suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.” With impunity assigned a foundation, what happens when a settler-colonial entity which treats Palestinians as legitimate targets for annihilation, blatantly considers all Palestinians as terrorists?

Torture becomes normalised, and because the international community has already subscribed to Israel’s security narrative, there is no opposition to a practice that, as Albanese illustrated, also constitutes an underlying act of genocide. 

It is not Israel’s torture of Palestinian detainees since October 2023 that catches attention when reading the report, but the analysis of how Israel uses genocide as a means of torture. Albanese’s report illustrates how mass displacement, the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and cultural sites, the erasure of collective memory through such destruction, the destruction of the healthcare system, starvation, permanent disabilities, as well as Israeli weaponry used against Palestinians in Gaza all constitute forms of torture. The same applies to the occupied West Bank, where sophisticated surveillance and military incursions, the destruction of refugee camps and agricultural land, all constitute forms of torture and genocidal violence.

READ: Gaza death toll from Israeli war nears 72,300, Health Ministry says

Having prioritised Israel’s security narrative over rights, both the Knesset and Israel’s judiciary have normalised torture. Albanese writes, “Torture has thus become a collective enterprise,” showing how the entire fabric of Israeli society renders itself a participant in torture practices through the settler-colonial narrative. “by targeting the totality of the people, across the totality of the occupied land, through a totality of conduct, genocide has become the ultimate form of torture: continuous, generational and collective.”

Justice, Albanese stated, should “confront torture not as an isolated crime, but as a foundational pillar of the genocidal project aimed at the complete erasure – physical and psychological destruction, displacement and replacement – of the Palestinian people.” Torture as state policy has ensured that no aspect of Palestinian life is immune. The report illustrates what statistical data omits – the price Palestinians are paying in their daily lives for the international community’s complicity with colonialism and genocide. 

BLOG: The UN leaves UNRWA isolated, and Palestinians prone to genocide

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

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel's criminal war for Israel's genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said "I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is participating defensively in Trump and Israel’s criminal war for Israel’s genocidal expansion in Iran and states that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it's easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel's genocidal expansion.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Continue ReadingTorture, genocide and erasure