On a Unified Call for a Ceasefire in Gaza

Eric Cheyfitz

January 31, 2024

A response to Representative Mike Sigler’s comments at the Tompkins County Legislature’s meetings on Jan 2, and 16, 2024, concerning  A Unified Call for a Ceasefire in Gaza; Urgent Humanitarian and Local Imperatives of the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission:

USA Keeps Fighting for Iran

Scott Horton

January 31, 2024

According to neoconservative theoreticians David Wurmser and Richard Perle, George W. Bush’s Iraq War II (supported by Senator Biden) was supposed to weaken Iran and Syria and therefore Hezbollah’s threat to Israel. Instead, the war empowered Iran as the U.S. put their best friends from the Hakim family’s Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and their Badr Brigade in power. Gen. David Petraeus turned their death and torture squads into the Iraqi army.

Freezing Aid to Gaza: Israel’s International War against the UNRWA

BinoyKampmark

January 30, 2024

Imperilled, tormented Palestinians in Gaza had little time to celebrate the January 26 order of the International Court of Justice.  In a case brought by South Africa intended to facilitate a ceasefire and ease the suffering of the Gaza populace, Israel received the unwanted news that it had to, among other obligations, ensure compliance with the UN Genocide Convention, including by its military; prevent and punish “the direct and public incitement to genocide” against the Palestinian populace in Gaza and permit basic services and humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.

Turning Zeitoun into Shivat Zion: Israeli summit envisions Gaza resettlement

Oren Ziv

January 30, 2024

The strangest sight at the “Conference for Israel’s Victory,” which took place on Sunday evening at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, wasn’t the map depicting dozens of new settlements that Israeli settlers hope to establish throughout the Gaza Strip after the war is over. It was the moment when thousands of people danced around the hall singing celebratory songs — a rare spectacle in post-October 7 Israel, with most of the nation still mourning the victims of the Hamas-led attacks and fearing for the safety of the hostages in Gaza.

Israelis look at a giant map of the Gaza Strip depicting future Israeli settlements at the "Conference for Israel's Victory" in Jerusalem, January 28, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

Netanyahu and the IDF Provided All the Evidence the ICJ Needed

Melvin Goodman

January 29, 2024

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled last week that Israel must prevent genocide in Gaza and provide greater assistance to the Palestinians.  Sadly, the ICJ did not call for a cease-fire, which is desperately needed, but it demonstrated genuine understanding of the Israeli war crimes that point to genocidal intentions as stipulated by the Geneva International Genocide Convention in 1948.

From the Siege of Leningrad to the Siege of Gaza: Colonialist Mentality

YakovM. Rabkin

January 28, 2024

Montréal (Special to Informed Comment) – Eighty years ago, on January 27, 1944, people in the street were hugging each other and weeping with joy. They were celebrating the end of a nearly 900 days brutal siege. Soviet forces lifted the siege of Leningrad after ferocious battles. Exactly a year later they liberated Auschwitz. Even today, walking in Saint-Petersburg’s main avenue, the Nevsky Prospect, one notices a blue sign painted on a wall during the siege: “Citizens! This side of the street is the most dangerous during artillery shelling”.

How Dare You Shrug at the Doomsday Clock?

RobertC. Koehler

January 28, 2024

I inhale the big, do-nothing shrug that always follows the annual posting, by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, of its global metaphor for Armageddon.

The Doomsday Clock was reset at 90 seconds to midnight on January 23, 2024.

(Photo: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

ICJ Ruling on Genocide Presents 'Political Dilemma' for Biden

Phyllis Bennis

January 27, 2024

It’s a tool in the campaigns for cease-fire now underway around the world. But will the President of the United States pick it up?

ICJ Finds It’s “Plausible” That Israel Is Committing Genocide in Initial Ruling

SharonZhang

January 26, 2024

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that it is “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide in a highly anticipated initial ruling on Friday, ordering Israel to take steps to avoid going even further in its violence in Gaza but stopping short of calling for a ceasefire.

 

دیوان بین‌المللی دادگستری چگونه به شکایت آفریقای جنوبی علیه اسرائیل پاسخ خواهد داد؟ دولت اسرائیل: این ادعاها «تهمت» است

نویسنده: جان مرشایمر

شکی نیست که بسیاری از حقایق توصیف‌شده در سند آفریقای جنوبی قبلاً در رسانه‌ها گزارش شده است. با این حال، آنچه این گزارش را بسیار مهم می‌کند این است که همهٔ این حقایق را در یک مکان گرد هم می‌آورد و توصیفی جامع و کاملاً مبتنی بر واقعیت از نسل‌کشی اسرائیل ارائه می‌دهد. به‌عبارت دیگر، تصویر بزرگ را بدون غفلت از جزئیات ارائه میدهد.ا

No one is listening to Gaza’s pleas — including our leaders

By +972 Magazine

The following was written by a Gaza-based Palestinian journalist, known to +972 Magazine, who requested anonymity for themselves and their interviewees out of concern for their safety.

Three Articles about Israil's and United States' Genocide on Information Clearing House- January 25, 2024

Biden Must Choose Between a Ceasefire in Gaza and a Regional War

MedeaBenjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies

In the topsy-turvy world of corporate media reporting on U.S. foreign policy, we have been led to believe that U.S. air strikes on Yemen, Iraq and Syria are legitimate and responsible efforts to contain the expanding war over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, while the actions of the Houthi government in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran and its allies in Iraq and Syria are all dangerous escalations.

In Gaza We Are Witnessing the 21st Century Version of How the West Was Won

Joseph Gerson

January 24, 2024

In a terrible historical irony, Israel has been caught and is paying the price for holding the European colonial bag.

An End to War in Gaza and an Independent Palestinian State

John Ripton

January 23, 2024

No lasting progress is made when guns and tanks, missiles, and bombs undermine and displace diplomacy. All of humanity suffers. And no peace will be possible without the promise of a safe and secure home for all the people of Palestine.

Western Media Bias, Israeli Apologetics, and Ongoing Genocide

Richard Falk

January 22, 2024

I found it shocking that the New York Times published on January 17th no less than three opinion pieces by Jewish authors, unbalanced by a single Palestinian or principled critical voice. Daniel Levy, a former Israeli former peace negotiator, yet for many years a critic of what I would call the maximalist Zionist approach to ending the Israel/Palestine struggle over territory and statehood. In this latest piece Levy fails to use the word ‘genocide,’ yet helpfully pronounces as dead the two-state solution long rejected by Israeli leadership but to this day embraced by US policymakers as a PR tactic to suggest that Washington is not a blind follower of Israel. I have no quibble with the Levy opinion piece. It deserved to be published, but was very much overshadowed by its two companion contribution by NY Times regulars.

100 years since the death of Vladimir Lenin

Joseph Kishore

January 22, 2024

Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Lenin. Lenin ranks among the most remarkable figures in world history. He was the theoretical and political genius who founded the Bolshevik Party and led a revolution that not only transformed Russia and created the Soviet Union, but gave an immense impulse to all the revolutionary political struggles of the 20th century.

Paradigm Shift: A Time of Universal Lunacy and Deceit

Paul Edwards

January 21, 2024

An astonishing thing has happened in America that has never occurred in the lifetime of anyone now living.  No, it’s not the crushing win of Trump in Iowa, nor the absurd determination of Democrats to run the senile ninny who has made a joke of our Presidency for another term.  These, in their way astonishing, are mere trivialities in this time of universal lunacy and deceit.

 

‘Refuse to fight’: Jewish, Arab activists call for peace in Israel’s Haifa

Aljazeera

January 20, 2024

Israeli Jews and Palestinian Israelis come together to demand an end to the war on Gaza.

 

People hold placards and shout slogans as they take part in a protest calling for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza, in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa on Saturday [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]

Why Joe Biden Is a Foreign Policy Failure

JeffreyD. Sachs

January 17, 2024

Only an exceptional president could resist the endless war-profiteering of this mammoth war machine; alas, Biden doesn’t even try.

 

An anniversary West would rather forget

M.K. BHADRAKUMAR
January 16, 2024

On the 75th anniversary of the battle that lifted the Siege of Leningrad in World War 2, people walk in snowfall to the Motherland monument to place flowers at the Piskaryovskoye Cemetery where the victims were buried, St. Petersburg, Russia, January 26, 2019

Half a Million Gazans Are Suffering From Acute Hunger. Let That Sink In

Nir Gontarz

January 19, 2024

The scope of the crisis in Gaza is becoming clearer; according to the UN, Israel is creating conditions that are making life in Gaza impossible; but Israeli leaders are unbothered

 

Gaza’s Oldest Mosque, Destroyed in Israeli Airstrike, was once a Pagan Temple, a Church and had Jewish Engravings

Stephennie Mulder

January 18, 2024

The Omari Mosque in Gaza was largely destroyed by Israeli bombardment on Dec. 8, 2023. It was one of the most ancient mosques in the region and a beloved Gazan landmark.

 

Einstein’s 7 rules for a better life

Ethan Siegel

The most celebrated genius in human history didn't just revolutionize physics, but taught many valuable lessons about living a better life.

 

Israel’s right to tyranny

AmjadIraqi

January 17, 2024

In justifying the violent unraveling of Gaza as ‘self-defense,’ Western capitals have once again signed off on Israelis’ license to act like despots.

 

The Zionist Plan for the Middle East

Translatedand and edited by Israel Shahak

The Association of Arab-American University Graduates finds it compelling to inaugurate its new publication series, Special Documents, with Oded Yinon's article which appeared in Kivunim (Directions), the journal of the Department of Information of the World Zionist Organization. Oded Yinon is an Israeli journalist and was formerly attached to the Foreign Ministry of Israel. To our knowledge, this document is the most explicit, detailed and unambiguous statement to date of the Zionist strategy in the Middle East. Furthermore, it stands as an accurate representation of the "vision" for the entire Middle East of the presently ruling Zionist regime of Begin, Sharon and Eitan. Its importance, hence, lies not in its historical value but in the nightmare which it presents.

The plan operates on two essential premises. To survive, Israel must 1) become an imperial regional power, and 2) must effect the division of the whole area into small states by the dissolution of all existing Arab states. Small here will depend on the ethnic or sectarian composition of each state. Consequently, the Zionist hope is that sectarian-based states become Israel's satellites and, ironically, its source of moral legitimation.

 

رژیم حاکم بر ایران

دیشب به یک میهمانی منزل یکی‌ از دوستان ایرانی‌ رفته بودم، که البته اکثریت به اتفاق میهمانان دیگر نیز ایرانی‌ بودند. پس از خوش و بش‌های جاری، و طبق معمول صحبت از مردم در ایران شد. بر اساس  اخباری که از داخل ایران می‌رسد، سطح درآمد مردم بسیار پایین آمده، بیکاری بیداد می‌کند، و در زیر نعلین این ملاها مردم مجبور هستند که با مشقت و زجر، و تحت بدترین شرایط زندگی‌ کنند. علاوه بر فشار مالی و پایین آمدن سطح زندگی‌ افراد، به دلیل فشار دولت در مورد حجاب و سایر دستورات ضد انسانیِ دین پلید اسلام، به زجر و آزار مردم افزوده شده است. این البته وضعیت مشقت بار داخلی‌ است. از طرف دیگر، تحقیر و اعلام خطرِ هر روزهٔ اسرائیل و آمریکا در مورد حمله به ایران، به دلیل حمایت رژیم از ملل تحت ستم جهان، از جمله ملت‌های آفریقائی و مردم فلسطین و سایر اقشار تحت فشار و مظلوم، مردم ایران را با ناباوری و عدم اطمینان به آینده‌ای روشن قرار میدهد.ا

Bombing Gaza Isn’t Fighting Sexual Violence

Heidi Matthews –Tanya Serisier

January 16, 2024

As the human catastrophe in Gaza deepens, Israel and its allies are mobilizing evidence of sexual violence committed by members of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups on October 7 to justify continued military action. When the Security Council failed to pass a resolution demanding a ceasefire on December 8, Israel government spokesperson Eylon Levy tweeted: “Thank you to the United States of America for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution designed to keep Hamas’ rapist regime in power.” In the wake of its case at the International Criminal Court accusing Israel of genocide Levy accused South Africa of complicity with a “rapist regime.”

What Would Martin Luther King Jr. Have To Say on Gaza?

MichaelMcBride

January 15, 2024

He insisted in 1967 that it was morally imperative for the US to stop its role in the Vietnam war. He would be calling for Biden to demand a ceasefire now.

Israel’s war on Gaza live: Israeli assault continues on 100th day of war

JosephStepansky

January 14, 2024

·        Israel’s relentless attack on Gaza continues with 125 Palestinians killed and 265 wounded over the past 24 hours.

·        Pro-Palestinian protests around the world over the weekend – from Johannesburg to Washington, DC – call for an end to the war on Gaza.

·        Dozens of arrests as Israeli bulldozers enter Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

·        At least 23,968 people have been killed and more than 60,582 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.

 

US Foreign Policy Is a Scam Built on Corruption

JeffreyD. Sachs

December 26, 2023

The $1.5 trillion in military outlays each year is the scam that keeps on giving—to the military-industrial complex and the Washington insiders—even as it impoverishes and endangers America and the world.

  

US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield abstains during a vote to approve a resolution that "demands" all sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict allow the "safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale" at UN headquarters in New York on December 22, 2023.

(Photo by Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)

Gaza Cease-Fire Now! No Wider War

Joseph Gerson

January 13, 2024

we must join the majority of the world’s nations in building pressure on Biden and Netanyahu to declare a ceasefire, to deluge Gaza with the food, water, medicines, and fuel essential for life. We must do this with everything we've got and we must do it now.

  

Little Amal, a 3.5 metre-tall giant puppet representing a ten-year-old Syrian refugee child, joins tens of thousands of protesters marching through central London in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to demand an immediate ceasefire to end the war on Gaza in London, United Kingdom on January 13, 2024.

(Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Labor organizers explain why they’re marching on DC for Palestine

Maximillian Alvarez

January 12, 2024

For these rank-and-file union members, solidarity with Palestine is a necessity for the labor movement.

 

Men lock arms and shout slogans during a demonstration of solidarity with Palestinians. Demonstrators gathered in Freedom Plaza for a rally supporting Palestinians in Washington, DC, on November 4, 2023. Photo by ALI KHALIGH/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Iran’s “Women, Life, Freedom Movement” is still Resilient

Roodabeh Dehghani

January 12, 2024

Ottawa (Special to Informed Comment) – The term “social movements” typically evoke the idea of political activities in a sphere separate from culture, but social movements are closely related to values, ways of living, ethics, and more broadly culture. Among new social movement scholars, there is a growing recognition that social movements have more cultural impact than is reflected in the field.  Moreover, since the symbolic dimension of culture is part of policies and practices in all spheres, social movements are increasingly acknowledged to exert cultural influence not only in political and economic realms but also in non-political domains such as the spheres of art, music, education, fashion, and more. This paper seeks to discuss the Women, Life, Freedom movement in a broader context of culture and everyday practices, to explore what sense we can make of it one year after its emergence, and to see what it tells us about the prospect of Women’s freedom movements in Iran. The discussion begins with an overview of the contextual background.

 

How to Create an Unlivable Hellscape in Gaza

JoshuaFrank

January 11, 2024

Israel is now keeping its promise that it would act like it was "fighting human animals."

 

A man carries a propane gas cylinder on his back while walking through debris and destruction littering a street in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City on October 11, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)

SA’s Impassioned Plea to Stop Israel’s Genocide

JoeLauria

January 11, 2024

Lawyers for South Africa argued before the World Court in The Hague on Thursday why Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and why the court must stop them now, reports Joe Lauria.

 

 Adila Hassim, attorney for South Africa, addressing the World Court, with the Israel delegation looking on. (UN TV screenshot)

A Crack in the 75-Year-Old Wall of Impunity: South Africa’s Court Challenge of Israeli Genocide

CraigMokhiber – Phyllis Bennis

January 10, 2024

1948 was a year of tragic irony.