Palestine

Pope Francis Urges Genocide Probe of Israel’s War on Gaza

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

Pope Francis speaks on December 25, 2023 in the Vatican City.(Photo: Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis via Getty Images)

The pontiff’s call comes as the International Court of Justice is reviewing evidence in a South Africa-led genocide case against Israel.

In a new book set to be released this week, Pope Francis I endorsed a genocide investigation into Israel’s war on Gaza—which has killed or maimed more than 150,000 Palestinians and forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened millions more over the past 13 months.

“In the Middle East, where the open doors of nations like Jordan or Lebanon continue to be a salvation for millions of people fleeing conflicts in the region: I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” the pontiff wrote in his latest book, which goes on sale in some countries on November 19.

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the Pope added. “It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

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The Pope’s words echo last week’s finding by a United Nations expert panel that Israel’s annihilation of Gaza is “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”

The International Court of Justice—a U.N. organ—is currently weighing a South Africa-led genocide case against Israel backed by more than 30 nations and regional blocs as well as hundreds of groups and experts around the world.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three former Hamas leaders assassinated by Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extermination.

Many jurists, scholars, and other experts—including some of Israel’s leading Holocaust historians—have called Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza genocide. Early in the war, Raz Segal—an Israeli historian and professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University in New Jersey—called Israel’s Gaza onslaught “a textbook case of genocide.”

Numerous world leaders and other international officials, artists, entertainers, and others—including half of Democratic voters in the United States surveyed in May—also agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Many Palestinian Christians have been killed, injured, or otherwise harmed by Israeli forces during the bombardment, invasion, and siege of Gaza. With just 800 to 1,000 people believed remaining in Gaza, members of the world’s oldest Christian community warned early in the war that they were “under threat of extinction.”

In their most infamous attack on Gaza Christians, Israeli forces bombed the 12th century Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church, Gaza’s oldest, in October 2023, killing 18 Palestinians including numerous children. Among the victims were two women and an infant related to former Republican U.S. Congressman Justin Amash of Michigan.

After an Israeli sniper fatally shot an elderly woman and her daughter on the grounds of a Catholic church in Gaza City last December, Pope Francis condemned what he called an act of “terrorism.”

Amid the death and destruction wrought by Israel’s assault on Gaza, last December’s Christmas celebrations were canceled in Bethlehem, the purported birthplace of Jesus Christ.

“How can we celebrate when we feel this war—this genocide—that is taking place could resume at any moment?” asked Palestinian Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac at the time.

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

Biden’s Faith and Support for Genocide in Gaza

Continue ReadingPope Francis Urges Genocide Probe of Israel’s War on Gaza

Spain to block Maersk ships bound to Israel after pressure from activists

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Original article by Ana Vračar republished form peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Mask off Maersk campaign exposes shipping giant’s use of Algeciras Port for transporting military cargo to Israel despite Spain’s stated arms embargo

The Spanish government has announced it will block two ships—Denver and Seletar—operated by shipping giant Maersk and carrying military cargo bound for Israel, from docking at the port of Algeciras. This decision comes just days after the Mask off Maersk campaign released a report exposing the company’s regular use of the Spanish port for transferring cargo that enables the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, despite Spain’s stated arms embargo.

Researchers from the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and Progressive International (PI), who contributed to the report, told Peoples Dispatch that it is unclear whether Pedro Sánchez’s administration was genuinely unaware of the shipments or deliberately chose to look the other way. What is clear, however, is that since Sánchez announced the embargo in May, Maersk has succeeded in delivering thousands of tons of military cargo to Israel. It appears that Maersk typically sends one ship per week from New Jersey to Spain, carrying around 1,000 tons of military cargo destined for the Israeli military, the report states.

These shipments end up being used in Gaza, facilitating the killing, torture, and kidnapping of Palestinians. In recent months, Maersk has transported aircraft parts, armored vehicles, and projectile bodies—much of which has been essentially subsidized by US tax dollars. The shipments also included nearly 300 tons of goods labeled as “diplomatic cargo,” a classification that, according to PYM and PI researchers, is undoubtedly being used to obscure the true nature of the containers. This is one of several strategies used to evade oversight over shipments bound for Israel; others include submitting blank designations and relying on freight forwarders to mask the trace of what is being transported.

These entities, including Interglobal Forwarding Services (IFS) used by Israel, can get very creative in how they describe cargo. The Mask off Maersk report documents such practices and makes it clear that shipments bound for Israel should undergo regular oversight and inspection in order to stop ammunition and other military cargo being transported there. Between 2011 and 2014, for example, IFS managed to transport over 16,000 tons of “diplomatic” cargo on Maersk ships, according to the report. This designation appears to establish a stable supply chain of goods whose true nature remains concealed from customs authorities and the public, PYM and PI warn.

Read more: Mask off Maersk targets the suppliers of Israel’s genocide in Gaza

Maersk is fully aware of these operations, as well as of the nature of the cargo its ships transport, and could halt them immediately if it chose to, the report’s authors told Peoples Dispatch. However, it continues to enable this flow of deadly cargo, fueling the genocide. As a result, responsibility to block these shipments now lies with the governments of the countries whose ports are used in the transfers. Researchers noted that Morocco, Egypt, Italy, and Turkey must all be held to the same scrutiny as Spanish authorities. For instance, after being denied access to Spanish ports, the Maersk Denver sought permission to dock in Tangier, Morocco, sparking a BDS call urging local activists to mobilize and prevent this. Reports that Mediterranean ports might allow these ships to dock are deeply troubling and, moreover, stand in violation of several UN resolutions and recommendations.

The researchers emphasize that pressure must continue on the Sánchez administration until it commits to inspect every Maersk vessel originating from the US and carrying cargo to Israel, given the practices highlighted in the report. “These vessels must be blocked from docking—nothing more and nothing less,” stated PYM and PI activists.

Without grassroots pressure, governments are likely to ignore public opposition and continue allowing military cargo to flow to Israel through their logistical hubs. What’s needed now, according to the researchers, is a stronger mobilization of trade unions and workers’ actions against these shipments. For example, in October, dockworkers at Athens’ Piraeus port successfully blocked a shipment of ammunition destined for Israel.

Though such direct action triggers government repression, PYM and PI researchers argue that it remains one of the few effective ways to disrupt and halt Israel’s arms supply chain. The two Maersk ships Spain decided to block are not the only ones expected to bring more weapons to Israel—but the full list can be stopped through strong workplace mobilizations. Advocacy alone will not be enough to get the governments to act against the genocide in Palestine; only a people-led strategy, with trade unions playing a central role, can accomplish this goal.

Original article by Ana Vračar republished form peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingSpain to block Maersk ships bound to Israel after pressure from activists

Progressive Delegation Back From Palestine Boosts Case for Embargo on Israel

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

Demonstrators call for a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon and an arms embargo on Israel during an October 20, 2024 rally in Brussels. (Photo: Laia Ros/Getty Images)

Progressive International’s Palestine Delegation—whose members were attacked earlier this week by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank—on Thursday issued “an urgent call to governments across the globe” to impose “a total energy, economic, and arms embargo against Israel” to punish its ongoing 13-month U.S.-backed assault on Gaza.

The Palestine Delegation—which was co-convened by Progressive International (PI), the National Lawyers Guild of the United States, and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers—released a report containing findings of members Ada Colau, the former mayor of Barcelona and lead delegate; Marc Botenga, a Belgian member of European Parliament (MEP) from the Marxist-socialist Workers’ Party; and Jaume Asens, a leftist MEP from Spain.

“The Israeli regime must urgently be subject to total isolation on all fronts.”

“The evidence is clear: The genocide in Gaza and the systematic nature of the abuse of Palestinian detainees recall the worst historical abuses committed by colonial powers against Indigenous populations… seeking their liberation, from the concentration camps used by Britain against the national liberation movement in Kenya to the internment of millions of Algerians by France,” the report states.

Israel’s 398-day assault on Gaza has killed or injured at least 155,000 Palestinians, including those who are missing and feared dead, while forcing nearly the entire population of the coastal enclave from their homes and causing widespread starvation and sickness. The International Court of Justice in The Hague is weighing evidence of genocide presented by South Africa in a case backed by more than 30 nations and regional blocs and thousands of experts, advocates, and rights groups around the world.

“Any government providing arms, energy, economic, or diplomatic support to Israel is complicit in these crimes against humanity—and threatens the basic integrity of the international order,” PI asserted. “The Israeli regime must urgently be subject to total isolation on all fronts—economic, military, cultural, political, and diplomatic—to lay the groundwork for the end of the genocide and the dismantling of the colonial occupation in Palestine.”

The U.S. boosts Israel with tens of billions of dollars worth of armed aid and unwavering diplomatic support. Other nations including Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and India also provide Israel with substantial backing.

The PI delegation said it “arrived in Palestine amid sustained efforts by Israeli authorities to prevent access to the occupied territories and obscure the conditions of deprivation, detention, apartheid, and annexation endured by the Palestinian people.”

Delegation members got a small taste of what Palestinians living in the occupied territories endure when they were reportedly attacked with tear gas and stun grenades by armed Israeli settlers and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops Monday while accompanying West Bank farmers in Qusra as they attempted to harvest from the olive trees that are the lifeblood of Palestine’s rural economy and a frequent target of land-grabbing settlers trying to drive Arabs away.

Last month, IDF soldiers fatally shot Hanan Abu Salameh, a 59-year-old Palestinian woman who was working with relatives in her family’s olive grove in the village of Faqqua, located east of Jenin in the northern West Bank.

“We are dealing with something as simple as harvesting olives,” said Colau. “And even this has now been turned into an act of war by the illegal settlers and the army.”

Earlier this week, around 50 countries joined in a call for an arms embargo on Israel. All but one of the nations—Norway—are in the Global South. They include: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, Sudan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

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

Continue ReadingProgressive Delegation Back From Palestine Boosts Case for Embargo on Israel

Palestine campaigners block Israeli-owned arms factory

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palestine-campaigners-block-israeli-owned-arms-factory

Palestine campaigners blockade an Israeli-owned Elbit factory at Shenstone in Staffordshire, October 29, 2024

PALESTINE campaigners blockaded and closed an Israeli-owned British arms factory today.

UAV Engines at Shenstone in Staffordshire is one of five British factories owned by Israel’s biggest arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.

The factory makes engines for military drones used by Israel in its slaughter in Gaza.

Weekly protests are mounted outside the factory by local Palestine campaigners supported by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine (GMFP) activists.

John Nicholson of GMFP told the Morning Star: “There are 200 people outside Elbit’s Shenstone factory accompanied, ridiculously, by dozens of police officers and police cars.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palestine-campaigners-block-israeli-owned-arms-factory

Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that his active support and that of UK's air force has been essential in Israel's mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that his active support and that of UK’s air force has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspeding 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government's support for Israel's Gaza genocide and the UK government and military's active participation in genocide.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspeding 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.

Continue ReadingPalestine campaigners block Israeli-owned arms factory

This May Day, workers mobilized for Palestine

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Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Student workers of Columbia organized in UAW 2710 participate in May Day rally. Photo: Wyatt Souers

On International Workers’ Day, workers around the world continued to join hands with the student movement to stand with Palestine

On May Day, workers around the world mobilized for the liberation of Palestine. “This May Day, workers of the world are called to declare their solidarity with Palestine, to denounce the Israeli Genocide, and to call for an end to all aggressions in the region and to all wars,” wrote the International People’s Assembly.

“Beyond the call for a ceasefire we must say no to the transportation of arms and arms caches to Israel. Workers in all industries – especially workers in the transport sector – that can withhold their labor in order to halt the continued slaughter of the people of Palestine are emphatically called to do so!”

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa released a statement calling on workers around the world to mobilize for Palestine. “The working class are the creators of wealth, and it is the united power of the working class that has the power to overthrow hateful, brutal regimes like Apartheid Israel,” wrote the union. “On this Workers Day, we call on workers of the world to unite in defense of Palestine so that its people can be free, from the river, to the sea!”

“The working class in South Africa must celebrate the defeat of Apartheid, because its destruction was due, largely to the unity of workers, who used their labor power to collapse the system through rolling mass action, strikes and protest,” the union added.

Several Palestinian union formations have called the people in the world to action against the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. This includes the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, which in March called on US unions in particular to “be our voice and advocate inside and outside America.”

“What our people are experiencing and what workers and unions in particular, are exposed to is the most horrific catastrophe known to humanity in recent decades,” the PGFTU wrote. “We ask that you convey our message and give voice to the suffering of hungry, starving workers and their families—not just to the American people, not just to your unions, but to the entire world.”

Palestinian trade unions have also responded in support of the student movement for Palestine that has taken the world by storm. “The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in Palestine extends our deepest solidarity to you, the revolutionary youth who are changing the world,” reads a statement of support from a prominent Palestine farmworkers’ union, addressed to the students movement around the world that is taking action in solidarity with Gaza. “We write to you from Palestine to tell you that your actions are resonating across oceans. In you, we see the echoes of our struggle, the echoes of our resistance, and the echoes of our hope.”

“Our people, along with all the workers and free people of the world, commemorate the first of May this year, at a time when they are subjected to the most brutal and fierce campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing, surpassing in savagery and bloodiness the fascists and the Nazis, at the hands of a group of murderers calling themselves an army for an invasive replacement entity, under the leadership, partnership, support, cover, and complicity of the American administration and the colonial Western imperial powers, the enemies of humanity,” wrote the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in a pre-May Day statement. “We send a salute of respect and pride to the university students all over the world, especially to the students at American universities, who are protesting against the crimes of the occupation and the support of the American administration for it, and who demand a halt to the aggression against the Palestinian people.”

Within the student movement in the US, university workers are mobilizing their unions to stand with their students in solidarity with Gaza. On April 29, within the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at the City College of New York in New York City, university workers organized under the Professional Staff Congress (PSC-CUNY) held a town hall meeting to deliberate on how to use their labor power to support the five demands of the student encampment. The members attending the town hall organized a wildcat sick-out, in which union members will call in sick en masse to disrupt business as usual at the larger City University of New York (CUNY) system. Workers in the United States face a variety of strike prohibitions, including a nationwide ban on striking for political reasons rather than economic issues such as wages and benefits under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.

Nevertheless, the PSC faculty at the town hall voted overwhelmingly to stage a sick-out. “At UT Austin, faculty did a one day job action in support of their students. Palestinian trade unions, National SJP, and National Faculty for Justice in Palestine have called for a mass job action on May 1st,” faculty wrote in a statement. “Our students are taking incredible risks to support the Palestinian people. They have asked for our help. We must stand ready to struggle alongside them, and to take these risks.”

Workers organized with the United Auto Workers, which also represents many graduate student workers across the country, staged a rally in Washington Square Park on April 26 in support of their students staging Gaza Solidarity Encampments at NYU, Columbia, and the New School.

Workers engaged in mass mobilizations around the world on May 1.

Thousands took to the streets in major US cities including Washington, DC and Los Angeles. In DC, demonstrators marched to the Gaza Solidarity Encampments at George Washington University.

‼️🇵🇸A massive May Day march in Los Angeles takes the streets for Palestine! pic.twitter.com/YfDrwNiBis

— Party for Socialism and Liberation (@pslnational) May 1, 2024

✊🏽🇵🇸RIGHT NOW: A massive May Day march is en route to the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at George Washington University pic.twitter.com/esXOVUrhqv

— Party for Socialism and Liberation (@pslnational) May 2, 2024

In New York City, unions such as the United Auto Workers and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance expressed explicit support for the Palestinian cause in a march of 20,000, which ended at the New York University Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Havana, like every year, was flooded with huge crowds on May Day as President Miguel Diaz-Canel sent an explicit message in support of Palestine and the pro-Palestine student movement. “All our solidarity with the students in the United States, who have taken the side of justice, have come out to support the cause of the Palestinian people, and are brutally repressed on their own university campuses. Today our [May Day] is also going through Palestine,” Diaz-Canel wrote.

In Bogota, President Gustavo Petro made a special announcement during the May Day celebration in front of thousands of Colombians: the nation would officially cut all diplomatic ties with Israel.

Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingThis May Day, workers mobilized for Palestine