radiofree.asia

Category: israel

  • The Gaza Tribunal: Jeremy Corbyn launches inquiry into UK complicity with Israel’s genocide

    Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project has announced the launch of The Gaza Tribunal – after the British government rejected his Bill for a full inquiry into UK complicity with Israel’s war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

    The Gaza Tribunal has emerged as a beacon of hope. This people’s inquiry—slated to convene in the UK on 4-5 September—aims to examine Britain’s complicity in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Far from being an exercise in blame, it stands as a testament to public demand for legal clarity, transparency and justice. It is precisely the kind of bold initiative needed to illuminate wrongdoing, support victims, and create pressure for tangible change.

    What is The Gaza Tribunal?

    The Gaza Tribunal will run over two days, featuring:

    expert witnesses including Palestinians on the ground in Gaza, journalists who have covered the conflict, health and aid workers who have worked in Palestine as well as legal experts and UN officials who have intimate knowledge of the situation.

    They will be examining Britain’s legal obligations and considering whether the government has met them.

    The itinerary is as follows:

    Part 1: What has happened in Gaza? 10:00 | Thursday 4 September
    Part 2: What are Britain’s legal responsibilities? 12:00 | Thursday 4 September
    Part 3: What has Britain’s role been in Gaza? 14:00 | Thursday 4 September
    Part 3: What has Britain’s role been in Gaza? (cont.) 10:00 | Friday 5 September
    Part 4: Has Britain fulfilled its legal obligations? 14:00 | Friday 5 September

    With sections dedicated to analysing the scale of violence in Gaza, the UK’s potential accountability under international law, and state involvement in factors such as arms sales and intelligence sharing, it provides a rare chance for civilian-led oversight. That members of the public, activists, and legal luminaries unite over an independent inquiry sends a powerful signal to policymakers: silence or delay is no longer acceptable.

    Jeremy Corbyn said of The Gaza Tribunal:

    Just like Iraq, the government is doing everything it can to protect itself from scrutiny. Just like Iraq, it will not succeed in its attempts to suffocate the truth. We will uncover the full scale of British complicity in genocide – and we will bring about justice for the people of Palestine.”

    Why it matters

    Accountability over war crimes and genocide is not optional.

    Without it, there is a risk of normalising civilian harm and undermining international norms. The Gaza Tribunal not only challenges UK authorities to respond, but also galvanises broader public debate. Public hearings and expert findings can influence parliamentary scrutiny, diplomatic engagement, and even judicial processes. This bottom-up model of participatory justice shows that citizen-led initiatives can reinforce the highest standards of human rights and shape foreign policy.

    Any meaningful inquiry must also confront the grim statistics. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry and corroborated by independent trackers, the death toll in Gaza by Israel stands at 58,026 Palestinians as of mid-July 2025, including a tragic toll of children and women.

    In recent days alone, at least 93 Palestinians were killed in a single 24‑hour period, while separate reports confirm 20 killed in crush incidents at food aid hubs, with Israel-led strikes claiming at least 54 more lives—including 14 children—with UNICEF estimating more than 18,000 child fatalities overall. Such staggering losses emphasise why civilian testimony and independent investigation are indispensable.

    Moreover, anguishing shortages of essentials—food, fuel, medical supplies—have transformed aid centres into zones of lethal danger. Since late May, hundreds have died at these distribution points, including documented massacres of aid‑seekers. These are not abstract statistics but the painful backdrop against which accountability initiatives such as The Gaza Tribunal must operate.

    A platform for those Israel, the West, and the corporate media have silenced

    What sets The Gaza Tribunal apart is its insistence on listening to voices from Gaza—survivors, healthcare workers, legal experts. It’s not sensationalism. It’s rigorous, rights‑based inquiry. It is in direct continuity with international justice efforts aimed at ensuring war crimes are investigated, victims supported, and state actors held answerable. For British society—supposedly steeped in legal tradition—this independent inquiry is not an affront; it’s an opportunity to reaffirm democratic accountability.

    As The Gaza Tribunal gears up for its September hearings, preparations are already shaping up.

    Lawyers are drafting submissions, survivors are preparing testimony, and civil society groups continue mobilising public support. The stage is set for a serious, informed reckoning—not just about distant events in Gaza, but about Britain’s role in them.

    Even if The Gaza Tribunal lacks formal sanction, its real power lies in public visibility. This includes media coverage, legal discourse, parliamentary debates. That is how change is ignited. As light shines on systemic shortcomings, governments find it harder to ignore or dismiss, and citizens are equipped to demand accountability.

    The Gaza Tribunal: courageous

    The Gaza Tribunal represents a courageous, necessary endeavour—both morally and strategically. It brings absent voices into conversation, confronts national responsibility, and underscores that human lives, especially those lost at an unimaginable scale, deserve justice.

    With over 58,000 people killed by Israel in Gaza, the Tribunal could not be more timely.

    It is not only a questioning of events, but a hopeful step towards a world where no government can evade scrutiny.

    Featured image supplied

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Europe disgraces itself over support for Israel as Hague Group meets to stop the genocide

    The Hague Group, a bloc of countries from around the world, are meeting for an emergency summit about Israel’s violations of international law. The meeting is co-hosted by Colombia and South Africa, and according to the group, seeks to:

    halt the genocide in Gaza.

    Meanwhile, in spite of this principled action from majority Global South states, the EU disgraced itself entirely. Twenty seven foreign ministers from the EU refused to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement in a move that Amnesty International have called a:

    cruel and unlawful betrayal.

    Hague Group assembles

    There are eight member states of the Hague Group: Colombia and South Africa as co-chairs, Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, and Senegal. Each of the member nations are located in the global south. Given how fond Western states are of bleating about how they’re the civilised heartbeat of the globe, how they possess freedom, democracy, and principles unseen except in majority white states, their lack of dominance at the summit is notable.

    Middle East Eye reported that:

    In addition to Colombia and South Africa, states attending the summit include Algeria, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Qatar, Turkey, Slovenia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and Venezuela.

    The member states will, alongside the other attendees:

    announce concrete actions to enforce international law through coordinated state action — to end the genocide and ensure justice and accountability.

    Speaking at the summit of the conference Francesca Albanese said:

    For too long, international law has been treated as optional – applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful.

    Indeed, the inaction of Western powers in sanctioning Israel has created a two tier international rule of law. Israel has been allowed to operate with impunity in committing genocide across Palestine. Albanese continued:

    This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end. The law must either be universal, or it will cease to mean anything at all. No one can afford this selective approach.

    Special Rapporteur Albanese was forceful in her condemnation of complicit states:

    Here in Bogota, a growing number of states have the opportunity to break the silence and revert to a path of legality by finally saying: enough. Enough impunity. Enough empty rhetoric. Enough exceptionalism. Enough complicity.

    The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace – grounded in rights and freedoms for all, and not mere privileges for some, at the expense of the annihilation of others.

    EU depravity

    The EU’s refusal to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement is the epitome of rights and freedom for some, and annihilation for others. The trade agreement makes Israel the EU’s third-biggest trading partner in the Mediterranean. In 2024, the trade in goods between the EU and Israel totalled $42.6 billion. The EU is undoubtedly in a position to use economic sanctions to deter Israel’s genocide against Palestine.

    Instead, these craven and complicit states:

    agreed to “keep a close watch” on Israel’s compliance with a recent agreement to improve humanitarian aid access into Gaza.

    At this stage of the conflict, when so many Palestinians themselves and organisations working in the area have documented the cruelty and depraved conduct of Israel, ‘keeping a close watch’ is all these morally bankrupt states have done. They sit back and watch, as Israel chases Palestinians across the country with bombs, demolishing homes, hospitals, schools. The EU has done nothing but watch as children have been blown to pieces.

    Now, they’ve bravely resolved to watch and do nothing as Israel’s siege starves Palestinians. People are being killed queuing for food and water – most notably children.

    Nevertheless, diplomat Kaja Kallas said after the decision:

    The aim is not to punish Israel, the aim is to improve the situation in Gaza.

    How exactly they aim to improve the situation in Gaza without stopping Israel slaughtering and starving Palestinians is unclear.

    Of course, were it Russia aggressing Ukraine, then the useless EU would trip over themselves in their rush to roll out economic and diplomatic sanctions, while their citizens collectively carried out a cultural boycott. When it’s not Arabs being killed, there’s no difference between punishment and aid. After all, so precious is (white) human life that we must all band together to show we cannot abide the killing of civilians.

    ‘Cruel and unlawful betrayal’

    The EU’s decision has, of course, gone largely unreported across Western media. Unfortunately for them, some of us are paying attention. Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:

    The EU’s refusal to suspend its agreement with Israel is a cruel and unlawful betrayal – of the European project and vision, predicated on upholding international law and fighting authoritarian practices, of the European Union’s own rules and of the human rights of Palestinians.

    Whilst EU member states clearly don’t care about the atrocities Israel is committing against Palestinians, they have claimed to care about the European project. We’ve repeatedly been told that project EU is a question of strict adherence of international law, in order to promote peace and security. However, as Callamard said:

    The EU’s own review has clearly found that Israel is violating its human rights obligations under the terms of the Association Agreement. Yet, instead of taking measures to stop it and prevent their own complicity, member states chose to maintain a preferential trade deal over respecting their international obligations and saving Palestinian lives.

    This is more than political cowardice. Every time the EU fails to act, the risk of complicity in Israel’s actions grows. This sends an extremely dangerous message to perpetrators of atrocity crimes that they will not only go unpunished but be rewarded.

    Collapse of international rule of law – but the Hague Group is pushing back

    The EU and other Western states may not realise it yet, but their inaction over Israel’s genocide in Palestine has irrevocably weakened their global standing and pretence at moral superiority. The Hague Group have shown them up for the useful idiots that they are. How are any states from the global south to take this group of charlatans remotely seriously when they bleat about justice and safety?

    Israel is unleashing hell on Palestine, and it is doing so with the explicit and tacit support of Western powers. Were it not for the Hague Group, Palestinians would be truly alone.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Maryam Jameela

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • European Union Refuses To Sanction Israel Over Genocide In Gaza

    The EU has decided against imposing sanctions on Israel over its war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, which have continued unabated on a daily basis. 

    “The EU Council failed yesterday to take a decision on Israel´s violation of the Association Agreement´s Human Rights clause. But this is in itself a decision: Europe decides not to punish Israel’s continued war crimes and allows the Gaza genocide to proceed unabated,” said former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on 16 July. 

    Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Affairs Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin described the lack of action as “shocking and disappointing.”

    The post European Union Refuses To Sanction Israel Over Genocide In Gaza appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • The New York Times Finally Stops Avoiding The G-Word

    The New York Times has published an op-ed by a genocide scholar who says that he resisted acknowledging the truth of what Israel is doing in Gaza for as long as he could, but can no longer deny the obvious.

    It’s an admission that may as well have come from The New York Times itself.

    In an article titled “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.”, a Brown University professor of Holocaust and genocide studies named Omer Bartov argues that “Israel is literally trying to wipe out Palestinian existence in Gaza,” and denounces his fellow Holocaust scholars for failing to acknowledge reality.

    “My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” Bartov writes. “Having grown up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of my life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer, and spent most of my career researching and writing on war crimes and the Holocaust, this was a painful conclusion to reach, and one that I resisted as long as I could. But I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one.”
    https://x.com/rcbregman/status/1945171514682114535

    And resist he did. In November 2023, Bartov wrote another op-ed for The New York Times saying, “As a historian of genocide, I believe that there is no proof that genocide is currently taking place in Gaza, although it is very likely that war crimes, and even crimes against humanity, are happening.”

    Apparently, he is seeing the proof now and has stopped resisting what has been clear from the very beginning. And it would seem the editors of the Gray Lady have ceased resisting as well.

    The New York Times, which has an extensively documented pro-Israel bias, has frenetically avoided the use of the g-word on its pages from the very beginning of the Gaza onslaught. Even in its opinion and analysis pieces the NYT Overton window has cut off at framing the issue as a complex matter of rigorous debate, with headlines like “Accused of Genocide, Israelis See Reversal of Reality. Palestinians See Justice.” and “The Bitter Fight Over the Meaning of ‘Genocide’” representing the closest thing to the pro-Palestinian side of the debate you’d see. During the same time, we’ve seen headlines like “From the Embers of an Old Genocide, a New One May Be Emerging” used in reference to Sudan.

    In an internal memo obtained by The Intercept last year, New York Times reporters were explicitly told to avoid the use of the word “genocide”, as well as terms like “ethnic cleansing” and “occupied territory”.

    “‘Genocide’ has a specific definition in international law,” the memo reads. “In our own voice, we should generally use it only in the context of those legal parameters. We should also set a high bar for allowing others to use it as an accusation, whether in quotations or not, unless they are making a substantive argument based on the legal definition.”
    https://x.com/AssalRad/status/1877181727447142846

    Earlier this year, the American Friends Service Committee cancelled its paid advertisement in The New York Times calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza, saying the outlet had wanted them to change the word “genocide” to “war” in order for their ad to be published.

    So there has been a significant change.

    To be clear, this analysis by Omer Bartov is not significant in and of itself. He is only joining the chorus of what has already been said by human rights organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, United Nations human rights experts, and the overwhelming majority of leading authorities on the subject of genocide.

    What is significant is that even experts who’ve been resisting acknowledging the reality of the genocide in Gaza because of their bias toward Israel have stopped doing so, and that even the imperial media outlets most fiendishly devoted to running propaganda cover for that genocide have run out of room to hide.

    The Israel apologists have lost the argument. They might not know it yet, but they have. Public sentiment has turned irreversibly against them as people’s eyes are opened to the truth of what’s happening in Gaza, and more and more propagandists are choosing to rescue what’s left of their tattered credibility instead of going down with the sinking ship.

    Truth is slowly beginning to get a word in edgewise.

    Keep pushing. Keep fighting. Keep resisting.

    It’s working.

    The post The New York Times Finally Stops Avoiding The G-Word first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Witnesses Say American Military Contractors Shot Tear Gas at Gaza Aid Seekers

    American private military contractors used dangerous crowd control tactics on a crowd of Palestinian aid seekers in Gaza on Wednesday, witnesses say, causing a deadly stampede and adding to the nearly 1,000 Palestinians who have been killed in relation to the U.S.- and Israeli-backed “humanitarian aid” scheme thus far. A crowd of thousands had gathered around a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Trump Admin Welcomes Israeli Minister in DC as He Plots Gaza Concentration Camp

    Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is set to fly out for a visit to the U.S. this week to meet with top-level Trump administration officials — a week after the official announced a plan to build a concentration camp in Gaza to confine Palestinians. Israeli outlets report, citing a statement from Katz’s office, that the minister is slated to set out for Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. In D.C.

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Huckabee Attends Netanyahu Corruption Trial in Tel Aviv, in Unprecedented Move

    Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee paid a visit to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, marking an unprecedented move to shield the man charged with crimes both domestically and internationally. Huckabee called for the trial to be called off on social media. “I stopped by the trial of @IsraeliPM in Tel Aviv today. My conclusion?

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • The name of every child Israel has killed in Gaza is being read out at the Welsh Senedd

    In an extraordinary act of remembrance and political opposition, more than 100 people from across Wales gathered at the Welsh Senedd on Wednesday 16 July to read – name by name – over 20,000 Palestinian children killed by Israel in Gaza since 7 October 2023.

    The Welsh Senedd: remembrance and political opposition

    From 7am until midnight, the steps of the Welsh Senedd will become a place of testimony and truth. Each name will be spoken aloud – each one a child, a life, a story cut short by violence. The event, titled “Know Their Names: Action Not Words”, transforms overwhelming statistics into a collective, human cry for justice and accountability:

    Organised by PSC Cymru and Parents and Teachers for Palestine, the action sends a clear message: public support for Palestine is growing in Wales, and people are no longer willing to accept silence, complicity or empty words from political leaders.

    “If the death of over 20,000 children is not enough for our First Minister and MSs to demand decisive action and end our complicity, I’m truly lost for words,” said Clive Haswell of PSC Cymru:

    UNRWA staff recently visited the Senedd and pleaded with our elected leaders to speak out and use their influence. Their continued silence and inaction kills.

    Despite rulings by the International Court of Justice and arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, both the UK and Welsh governments have failed to act. Legal obligations are being ignored. Without consequences, international law becomes meaningless.

    Frankie Finn of Parents and Teachers for Palestine said:

    On 16 July, we’ll stand outside our national parliament to honour these children – by saying their names.

    Each was precious. Each was innocent. Many died horrific, painful deaths. There were so many of them. They must not be forgotten.

    The Welsh government must act

    PSC Cymru is calling on the Welsh government and Members of the Senedd to:

    • Publicly acknowledge the scale and horror of what is happening in Gaza
    • Support a full and immediate arms embargo on Israel
    • Urge the UK Government to impose targeted sanctions
    • Take concrete steps at the devolved level to end Welsh complicity and uphold international law.

    Wales has declared itself a ‘globally responsible nation’, and says “when doing anything to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales, it takes account of whether doing such a thing may make a positive contribution to global wellbeing”.

    The groups say that now is the moment to show what that means.

    Featured image and additional images supplied

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Generation Genocide: Israel has killed an entire school class of children every day in Gaza

    The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned of the scale of the humanitarian disaster facing children in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s genocide that has been going on for more than nine months, noting that the average number of children killed every day is equivalent to “an entire school class”.

    Sam Rose, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, said in a statement issued on Tuesday that “every day since October 7, 2023, an average equivalent to an entire classroom of children has been killed.” The number of students in each class in UNRWA schools ranges between 35 and 45, reflecting the enormity of the human losses among children alone.

    This statement comes at a time when the latest data from the Gaza government media office indicates that more than 18,000 children have been killed since the start of the aggression, and about 16,854 children have been admitted to hospitals due to direct injuries. With the deterioration of the medical situation and the collapse of the health infrastructure in the sector, these numbers are likely to rise.

    Schools turned into shelters… then into targets for Israel

    Before Israel’s assault began, UNRWA schools were already overcrowded, with between 35 and 45 students per class. As the aggression intensified, hundreds of schools were turned into shelters for displaced persons, but many of them were not spared from Israeli shelling, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries inside them, including children and women.

    UNRWA says that “children make up about half of Gaza’s population of 2.4 million, and their lives today are marked by war, destruction and deprivation of the most basic rights of childhood”.

    The suffering of children is not limited to human losses, but extends to the grim daily reality they live in under the shadow of war. Israel’s repeated forced displacement has forced thousands of children to leave their homes and live in tents or crowded places that lack the basic necessities of life. One in 10 of them suffer from malnutrition, a lack of clean water, and the collapse of education and basic services, amid a suffocating siege and closure of crossings.

    Israeli policy has also caused the deliberate destruction of food and water sources and deprived the sector of adequate humanitarian aid, exacerbating hunger and thirst, especially among children.

    An ongoing war of extermination

    For more than 21 months, Gaza has been living under the fire of an Israel assault widely described as “genocide.” International and UN calls for an end to the war and the opening of humanitarian corridors have been met with Israel’s continued military operations under security pretexts, amid international paralysis and the absence of any real accountability.

    In light of this reality, warnings are growing about the long-term catastrophic psychological and health effects on an entire generation of Gaza’s children, who have grown up in an environment of fear, destruction, and deprivation, with no clear prospect of a secure future or a dignified life.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • EU accused of ‘cruel and unlawful betrayal’ of Palestinians over failure to confront Israel

    Stinging rebuke from Amnesty International follows EU ministers declining to endorse any sanctions over Gaza war

    The EU has been accused of a “cruel and unlawful betrayal” of Palestinians and European values after failing to take action to impose sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza.

    The stinging rebuke from Amnesty International, echoed by other human rights organisations, came after EU ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday declined to endorse any measures to sanction Israel over the brutal war in Gaza and endemic violence in the West Bank.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Statewide Campaign Aims To End Illinois’ Investment In Israel

    Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs has been investing in Israel for nearly a decade. Since becoming the sole fiduciary of the fifth-largest GDP in the country in January 2015, he has invested tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into the Development Corporation of Israel (“DCI”). DCI is the underwriter for “Israel Bonds,” uninsured debt securities issued by the Israeli government to raise capital for the country. The idea to pitch these kinds of bonds originated after the 1948 Nakba, when the new state was critically short on economic resources.

    According to the the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office, the state of Illinois currently has $100 million invested in Israel Bonds.

    The post Statewide Campaign Aims To End Illinois’ Investment In Israel appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Israeli Settlers Attack CNN Journalists Investigating Killing of Musallet

    Israeli settlers attacked and chased away CNN journalists in the occupied West Bank who were reporting on the Israeli killing of 20-year-old Palestinian American Sayfollah Musallet and speaking to his family, the journalists have reported. In a video report, the journalists said that they were driving to the site where settlers killed Musallet on Friday when masked Israeli settlers began…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Israel’s Decimation of Transportation Is Adding to Gaza’s Death Toll

    On a late March morning in 2024 in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, 24-year-old Yasmin Siam felt sharp pain grip her stomach. Labor had begun. Time was slipping away. But there was no way to get her to a hospital. Ambulances had become rare after months of Israeli attacks — too few to answer every cry for help. Airstrikes were ongoing, and Gaza had fallen into total immobility. Cars were gone.

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Famine in Gaza: 1.25 million people face hunger and death while the world remains silent

    The Gaza Strip is facing catastrophic humanitarian conditions with the threat of famine worsening, amid the continuing Israeli blockade, closure of crossings, and prevention of relief aid from entering, as the Israeli occupation continues its war of extermination on Gaza for the 20th consecutive month.

    Catastrophic levels of hunger

    The Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed that more than 1.25 million citizens are living in conditions classified as the highest levels of food insecurity, warning that 650,000 children are at risk of starvation/famine amid the near-total collapse of the humanitarian system.

    The office said in a press statement that 96% of the Strip’s population suffers from acute food insecurity as a result of a complete halt in food and medical aid and an almost total absence of basic resources, while Israeli aggression continues for the 20th consecutive day, targeting infrastructure, distribution centers, and relief warehouses.

    The report notes that families in Gaza, especially in areas of displacement, are now living on food scraps and unsafe drinking water, amid the absence of any effective international support. Local officials said that some families have not received food aid for more than a month, putting the lives of children, sick, and older people at immediate risk.

    For its part, the Ministry of Health in Gaza warned that:

    the continuation of the blockade and the prevention of food and medical supplies threatens to cause the humanitarian situation to explode into an uncontrollable stage, especially with the recording of deaths due to hunger and malnutrition in some areas.

    Alarming testimonies from Gaza over the famine

    A doctor working at a medical center in the center of the sector told the Canary:

    We receive children who are only a few months old and weigh no more than 2 kilograms, with no milk, no treatment, and their mothers crying in despair… This is not a shortage, but a death sentence that no one can stop.

    In the face of this disaster, appeals from relief organizations and local authorities continue to escalate, demanding immediate and urgent intervention to save as many lives as possible and provide safe and sustainable corridors for aid, before the famine turns into a slow mass grave.

    Gaza is currently experiencing one of the worst food crises in modern times, where famine is not knocking on doors but has entered homes and ravaged exhausted bodies, while international silence remains complicit in the crime.

    In Gaza, the war does not stop at bombs and raids, but extends to the stomachs of children and the dreams of mothers, where famine is a silent weapon that kills without warning. One and a quarter million people do not need pity, but justice and the right to life.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • EXCLUSIVE: student unions across the UK are threatening to disaffiliate from the NUS over Israel

    In an open letter addressed to the National Union of Students (NUS) Board of Directors, more than 180 elected sabbatical officers and student groups representing 52 campuses across the country have issued an ultimatum- take meaningful action on Gaza or face mass disaffiliation. They say:

    An organisation that refuses to stand with students in the struggle for justice cannot claim to represent us.

    The students’ letter, obtained by the Canary, describes Israel’s assault on Gaza as ‘the systematic destruction of a people’, and calls out the NUS’ refusal to acknowledge the crisis as a genocide, accusing it of ‘adopting a posture of neutrality’ that sanitizes mass atrocities and shields the oppressor.

    The letter also points to the NUS’ long history of opposing apartheid in South Africa and asks: where is that same moral clarity now? Despite claiming to uphold values of anti-racism, solidarity and freedom of expression, the students also say the NUS has become complicit in the repression of Palestine solidarity on campus.

    The NUS under fire over Gaza

    The following are a few of the signatories to the letter, who gave their comments to the Canary:

    Antonia Listrat, Guild President at the University of Birmingham Guild of Students:

    I want a national student movement that is anti-racist, and that represents historically excluded groups. NUS has completely lost touch with the liberation movement and the students they are supposed to represent. Silence is complicity, and the genocide in Palestine has exposed the Islamophobia and institutional anti-Palestinian racism within our national union. I am one of the UOB2 students, and have faced targeted abuse and harassment based on my anti-Zionist advocacy. I believe NUS have facilitated the environment where we are no longer safe as principled anti-racist advocates. It is beyond the point of holding NUS to account, but we must, or we will push for disaffiliation.

    Hasnain Jafer, Vice President Education at King’s College London Student Union (KCLSU):

    NUS have historically rejected the voices of Muslim students, and we have seen this reality is still true today. Since the NUS capitulated to the witch hunt of anti-Zionist Muslim President Shaima Dallali, the anti-Zionist student movement-particularly Muslim officers-have not been safe-not in the NUS, nor in the student unions more widely. NUS must be held to account, or we will take the necessary steps to leave.

    The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) says:

    FOSIS signed this letter and sent its own letter because the National Union of Students has, time and again, failed in its duty of care towards Muslim students. From the removal of Shaima Dallali to its deafening silence on the genocide in Gaza, the NUS has shown a devastating lack of moral clarity and institutional accountability. Its inaction has not only betrayed the trust of Muslim students — it has actively contributed to their marginalisation.

    The NUS claims to defend students’ rights, yet it has remained silent as Muslim and pro-Palestinian students face threats, censorship, and Islamophobic smears for standing up for justice. At a time when student voices are being silenced for speaking out against genocide, we expected leadership. Instead, we got complicity. FOSIS signed because we will not allow our communities to be gaslit, sidelined, or treated as disposable.

    We are demanding that the NUS return to its founding values — of justice, solidarity, and representation for all students — not just the convenient or palatable ones. This is not just about Palestine. This is about whether Muslim students are ever going to be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect within national student spaces again. We will not stop speaking until that answer is yes.

    Elliot Briffa, City and Community Officer at the University of Manchester Student’s Union:

    I support this letter because students deserve a union that defends our rights, amplifies the voices of the oppressed, and takes a clear stance against all forms of racism. The NUS has turned its back on its core principles, and its refusal to act on Palestine reveals the institutional bias and Islamophobia it harbours.

    Campus crackdown

    Across UK universities, pro-Palestinian students are facing mounting repression. Many report being subjected to disciplinary procedures, suspension, or expulsion simply for criticising Israel or protesting about its actions. Others have been smeared as terrorist sympathisers, often through the misuse of the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism, which conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism. In one of the most prominent cases, former NUS president Shaima Dallali was ousted in 2022 after facing a sustained campaign of pressure over her pro-Palestinian stance, a move the students now say has encouraged universities to punish Palestine activists more broadly.

    From King’s College London to SOAS, Essex to UCL, dozens of student activists have since faced sanctions, threats, and legal intimidation for calling out Israel’s crimes. The letter does not just highlight these attacks, but describes them as a coordinated campaign of censorship, racialised targeting, and silencing of student dissent.

    The IHRA problem

    The NUS’ endorsement of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, is at the centre of the student movement’s frustration. Adopted by the NUS in 2017, this definition has been widely criticised by academics, human rights bodies, and even one of its own original authors for equating legitimate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

    In the letter, the students argue that its continued use allows for the criminalisation of Palestine solidarity-particularly targeting Muslims, racialised students, and those with anti-Zionist beliefs, and violates basic principles of freedom of expression and academic freedom, pointing out that even the Office for Students has issued guidance warning universities against foreign-linked censorship agreements — an indirect reference to pressures exerted by pro-Israel lobbies.

    Eight demands of, and an ultimatum to, the NUS

    The open letter outlines a clear set of demands to the NUS:

    • Recognise the assault on Gaza as a “plausible genocide”
    • Call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire
    • Condemn Israeli apartheid and occupation in line with international law
    • Rescind the IHRA definition
    • Lead a national ethical divestment campaign
    • Defend students’ right to protest, including against Zionism
    • Investigate Islamophobia and anti-Black racism within NUS structures
    • Disclose any institutional ties to regimes complicit in apartheid and genocide

    The students also demand that NUS conduct a risk assessment and transparency review into whether any elected officials or student groups are financially or institutionally linked to settler-colonial regimes — aligning with new requirements under the UK’s Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

    If the NUS fails to urgently meet these demands in full, the students say they will begin the process of disaffiliating their unions from the national body.

    The Canary approached the NUS for comment but it did not respond to our requests.

    Despite the threats, Palestine solidarity is flourishing throughout our universities

    This shows that even student-led democratic institutions, such as the NUS, are not immune from the broader climate of pro-Palestine repression. But despite the threats and disciplinary actions, students are fighting back and Palestine solidarity continues to grow across UK campuses. At the end of the letter, the students invoke the words of Nelson Mandela, who was once the NUS’ Honorary Vice President:

    Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Burying Genocide: The BBC, Gaza and the Role of the UK

    One might naively think that a national public-service broadcaster would inform the public about matters of national interest. Surely no reasonable person would deny that the public has a right to know what the government is doing in our name. But, over and above this basic requirement, a responsible public-service broadcaster should also scrutinize the government’s actions and statements, and challenge them robustly.

    Instead, as Declassified UK has reported, Britain’s ‘obedient’ defence correspondents, including BBC journalists, are covering up British spy flights for Israel. The RAF has carried out more than 500 surveillance flights over Gaza since December 2023. The Ministry of Defence insists that the flights, undertaken by aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, are solely to assist in providing information about Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023. But the British ‘mainstream’ media, which largely serves state-corporate interests, not the public interest, have not carried out a single investigation into the extent, impact, or legal status of these flights.

    Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), a London-based charity that records, investigates, and disseminates evidence of armed violence against civilians worldwide, has analysed flight-tracking data over or close to Gaza. They found that between 3 December 2023 and 27 March 2025, the RAF carried out at least 518 Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) flights in or near Gaza’s airspace.

    AOAV found that the RAF conducted 24 flights in the two weeks leading up to and including the day of Israel’s deadly attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp on 8 June 2024, which reportedly killed 274 Palestinians and injured over 700. Four Israeli hostages were rescued in the operation.

    Iain Overton, the Executive Director of AOAV, noted that:

    ‘This is not the only instance where UK ISR flights have coincided with major Israeli military assaults. In the two weeks leading up to Israel’s attack on Rafah on 12 February 2024, which killed at least 67 Palestinians, the RAF flew 15 ISR missions over Gaza. Flights continued even during the so-called “limited ceasefire” in early 2025, with six flights recorded in February alone.’

    He added:

    ‘With no parliamentary oversight or public scrutiny, it remains unclear how much British intelligence gathered from these flights has been shared with Israel.’

    This is surely a significant question that responsible journalists should be raising, particularly the national broadcaster. But, as Declassified UK has observed, the BBC has essentially remained ‘silent’ on whether these flights are contributing to the UK’s complicity in Israel’s genocide and war crimes in Gaza.

    In an article jointly published by Declassified UK and The National newspaper in Scotland, Des Freedman, Professor of Media & Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London, wrote:

    ‘thanks to dogged work by campaigners, independent journalists and pro-Palestine MPs, we know both that the flights are continuing to operate (as they did even throughout the ceasefire) and that spikes in the number of flights have coincided with especially deadly Israeli attacks on Gaza.

    ‘The lack of curiosity on the part of mainstream media is perhaps not surprising but it is deeply troubling.’

    He added:

    ‘It’s hard to reconcile this silence with the energy with which mainstream media have investigated Russian spy planes flying over Ukraine and other military manoeuvres related to Putin’s invasion.’

    On 7 July, we challenged Jonathan Beale, the BBC’s defence correspondent, via X, linking to Freedman’s article:

    ‘Hello @bealejonathan,

    ‘As @BBCNews defence correspondent, why are you covering up British spy flights for Israel?’

    Beale was clearly irked and posted this reply:

    ‘Why are you claiming “cover-up” – without a shred of evidence of what’s supposed to have been covered up? I’m curious as to how a media lecturer at Goldsmiths seems to have knowledge of “intelligence” that no other journalist has seen?’

    A few minutes later, having now been alerted to the Declassified UK article, he confronted Freedman:

    ‘Please tell us Des as to how we can get the classified intelligence only you seem to know about. Why teach media studies when you can clearly scoop us all?’

    Freedman responded reasonably:

    ‘As you know Jonathan, I don’t have access to classified files but to open news databases. Is any of the story incorrect? Instead of a snippy response, surely it would be better to use your contacts to investigate a story that’s in the public interest?’

    As Declassified UK said in a follow-up post on X:

    ‘In a bizarre admission he [Beale] suggests that open source information on military flights is “classified”, raising the question – how do BBC journalists investigate the British military?’

    The answer, of course, is that BBC journalists, along with other state stenographers, have learned not to investigate too deeply if they are to retain their privileged position.

    When Declassified UK challenged Richard Burgess, the BBC’s director of news content, he gave this response befitting a senior news apparatchik:

    ‘I don’t think we should overplay the UK’s contribution to what’s happening in Israel.’

    Why did Burgess say, ‘in Israel’? Did he just erase Palestine? Is he actually unaware that Gaza is an occupied Palestinian territory?

    As if that was not already a bizarre and misleading form of words, consider this. Nobody is asking the BBC to ‘overplay’ what the UK is doing; but simply to report it, rather than bury it to the point of invisibility. Whitewashing genocide as ‘what’s happening in Israel’ is wretched BBC newspeak.

    Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour Party leader, has called for a public inquiry to determine what the UK government is hiding about its role in Israel’s genocide, including RAF flights from Cyprus. In an article for the Morning Star, he wrote:

    ‘We have also repeatedly asked for the truth regarding the role of British military bases in Cyprus, concerning the transfer of arms and the supply of military intelligence.

    ‘When the Prime Minister visited RAF Akrotiri in December 2024, he was filmed telling troops: “The whole world and everyone back at home is relying on you.” He added: “Quite a bit of what goes on here can’t necessarily be talked about all of the time. We can’t necessarily tell the world what you’re doing.” What does the government have to hide?’

    Corbyn continued:

    ‘Over the past 18 months, our questions have been met with evasion, obstruction and silence, leaving the public in the dark over the ways in which the responsibilities of government have been discharged. Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of democracy. The British public deserves to know the full scale of Britain’s complicity in crimes against humanity.’

    And the British public-service broadcaster, along with the UK’s other major news outlets, should have been reporting this since October 2023. As Mark Curtis, co-director of Declassified UK, commented:

    ‘Britain’s national media are doing a wonderful job covering up the extent of British support for Israel during a genocide. It’s their most impressive performance since destroying the prospects of a decent government under Jeremy Corbyn in 2015-19.’

    A Devastating Indictment Of BBC ‘Impartiality’

    The BBC’s Richard Burgess, quoted above, was speaking in parliament at the launch of a study by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) into the BBC’s coverage of Israel and Gaza. The report examined BBC content from 7 October 2023 to 7 October 2024. A total of 3,873 BBC articles and 32,092 segments broadcast on BBC television and radio were analysed.

    CfMM’s key findings were:

    • Palestinian deaths treated as less newsworthy: Despite Gaza suffering 34 times more casualties than Israel, BBC gave Israeli deaths 33 times more coverage per fatality and ran almost equal numbers of humanizing victim profiles (279 Palestinians vs 201 Israelis).
    • Systematic language bias favouring Israelis: BBC used emotive terms four times more for Israeli victims, applied ‘massacre’ 18 times more to Israeli casualties, and used ‘murder’ 220 times for Israelis versus once for Palestinians.
    • Suppression of genocide allegations: BBC presenters shut down genocide claims in over 100 documented instances whilst making zero mention of Israeli leaders’ genocidal statements, including Netanyahu’s biblical Amalek reference (see below).
    • Muffling Palestinian voices: The BBC interviewed significantly fewer Palestinians than Israelis (1,085 v 2,350) on television and radio, while BBC presenters shared the Israeli perspective 11 times more frequently than the Palestinian perspective (2,340 v 217).

    These findings show that the BBC values the lives of Israelis much more than the lives of Palestinians. This is part of a bigger picture of BBC News coverage conforming to the Israeli narrative, a key feature of BBC journalism going back decades. The CfMM report is a devastating indictment of the BBC’s endlessly repeated, robotic claim of ‘impartiality’.

    At the parliamentary launch of the CfMM report, Burgess was also challenged by Peter Oborne, the former chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph. The exchange was filmed by someone at the meeting. Oborne robustly confronted Burgess with as many as six ways in which BBC News has misled its audiences. Independent journalist Jonathan Cook helpfully detailed these six points, while providing crucial context, which can be summarised as follows:

    1. The BBC has never mentioned the Hannibal directive, implemented by Israel on 7 October 2023, that permitted the Israeli killing of Israeli civilians, often by Apache helicopter fire, to prevent them from being taken captive by Hamas. See our media alert about this from February 2025.

    2. The BBC has never mentioned Israel’s Dahiya doctrine, which underlies Israel’s murderous ‘mowing the lawn’ Gaza strategy over the past two decades: repeated devastating assaults on the Palestinians in Gaza to weaken their resistance to the brutal and illegal Israeli occupation, and to make it easier to ethnically cleanse them.

    3. The BBC has not reported the many dozens of genocidal statements from Israeli officials since 7 October. In particular, the BBC buried Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s biblically-inspired comparison of the Palestinians to ‘Amalek’ – a people the Jews were instructed by God to wipe from the face of the earth.

    4. By contrast, as reported in the CfMM study, on more than 100 occasions when guests have tried to refer to what is happening in Gaza as genocide, BBC staff have immediately shut them down on air.

    5. The BBC has largely ignored Israel’s campaign of murdering Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

    6. Finally, Oborne observed that the distinguished Israeli historian Avi Shlaim, who lives in the UK and teaches at Oxford University, has never been invited to appear on the BBC.

    Cook noted:

    ‘Unlike the Israeli spokespeople familiar to BBC audiences, who are paid to muddy the waters and deny Israel’s genocide, Shlaim is both knowledgeable about the history of Israeli colonisation of Palestine and truly independent. […] His research has led him to a series of highly critical conclusions about Israel’s historical and current treatment of the Palestinians. He calls what Israel is doing in Gaza a genocide.’

    Cook added:

    ‘He is one of the prominent Israelis we are never allowed to hear from, because they are likely to make more credible and mainstream a narrative the BBC wishes to present as fringe, loopy and antisemitic. Again, what the BBC is doing – paid for by British taxpayers – isn’t journalism. It is propaganda for a foreign state.’

    The BBC Is Being led by A ‘PR Person’

    When the BBC dropped the powerful documentary, ‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack’, it compounded its complicity in Israel’s genocide. The Corporation’s earlier withdrawal of ‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’, had already epitomised how much the UK’s national broadcaster is beholden to the Israel lobby (see our media alert here).

    ‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack’ details how Israel has systematically targeted hospitals, health care centres, medics themselves, and even their families. Doctors told the filmmakers of how they had been detained, beaten, and tortured by the Israelis, as confirmed by an anonymous Israeli whistleblower. The nonsensical reason given by the BBC for cancelling the film, which it had itself commissioned from Basement Films, was the risk that broadcasting it would create ‘a perception of partiality’. Reporting the truth about Israel’s crimes would be ‘partial’? Such inversion of reality has become standard for the national broadcaster.

    The film was instead shown by Channel 4 on 2 July. After watching it, Gary Lineker, who had essentially been pushed out of the BBC for his honesty on Gaza and other issues, said that, ‘The BBC should hang its head in shame.’

    Yanis Varoufakis, the economist and former Greek finance minister, said:

    ‘I can’t see how the BBC will ever recover from its headlong leap into this ethical void, all in the name of not upsetting the perpetrators of the most horrific genocide since the end of the 2nd World War.’

    Ben de Pear, the documentary’s executive producer for Basement Films and a former Channel 4 News editor, accused the BBC of trying to gag him and others over its decision not to show the documentary. In a statement that he posted to LinkedIn, de Pear said the film had passed through many ‘BBC compliance hoops’ and that the BBC were now attempting to stop him talking about the film’s ‘painful journey’ to the screen:

    ‘I rejected and refused to sign the double gagging clause the BBC bosses tried multiple times to get me to sign. Not only could we have been sued for saying the BBC refused to air the film (palpably and provably true) but also if any other company had said it, the BBC could sue us.

    ‘Not only could we not tell the truth that was already stated, but neither could others. Reader, I didn’t sign it.’

    At a conference in Sheffield, de Pear criticised Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, over the BBC’s decision to drop the film:

    ‘All the decisions about our film were not taken by journalists, they were taken by Tim Davie. He is just a PR person. Tim Davie is taking editorial decisions which, frankly, he is not capable of making.’

    De Pear added:

    ‘The BBC’s primary purpose is TV news and current affairs, and if it’s failing on that it doesn’t matter what drama it makes or sports it covers. It is failing as an institution. And if it’s failing on that then it needs new management.’

    Of course, as Media Lens has long argued and demonstrated with copious examples since our inception in 2001, the BBC isn’t ‘failing’. It is doing precisely what it was set up to do: namely, act as a mouthpiece for establishment power and as an enabler of state crimes.

    The post Burying Genocide: The BBC, Gaza and the Role of the UK first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Freedom Flotilla’s Handala Begins Its Journey To Gaza

    Siracusa, Italy, July 13, 2025 — Today, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) announces that Handala, our civilian aid boat, has officially set sail from Siracusa, Italy and begun its journey to Gaza. This marks a bold step in our ongoing effort to challenge Israel’s illegal, deadly blockade of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The boat carries life-saving humanitarian aid and a message of solidarity from people around the world refusing to stay silent as Gaza is starved, bombed, and buried under rubble.

    This mission comes just weeks after Israel’s illegal attack on the Madleen, another Freedom Flotilla boat, which was violently seized in international waters.

    The post Freedom Flotilla’s Handala Begins Its Journey To Gaza appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Concentration Camps Are Back; Why Does That Not Bother Anyone?

    Israel has soft-launched its concentration camp in Rafah, and Donald Trump has hard-launched Alligator Alcatraz, while other countries look the other way.
    Israel has made it clear that anyone who does not make their way to the new concentration camp, on what used to be Rafah city, will become a legitimate target for elimination.

    Just to be clear, though. At no point so far has Israel needed a legitimate justification for eliminating anyone. They have done what they want, to whom they want, from the start.

    Israel could not have made their intentions clearer – ethnic cleansing.

    And still, Western Government are supporting it – providing weapons and support and pretending they don’t see the long list of war crimes because little Netanyahu might throw a temper tantrum.

    The post Concentration Camps Are Back; Why Does That Not Bother Anyone? appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • US Leaders Gave Up on Diplomacy With Iran. We Must Make Them Return to It.

    The recent 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which started in the early hours of June 13 with an unprovoked attack by Israel on Iran’s soil, has left more than just casualties and destruction. It has also delivered a devastating blow to the already vulnerable belief that diplomacy could substantively guide the region toward peace and nuclear nonproliferation. But if we are willing to listen and…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Family Demands US Investigate Fatal Beating of US Citizen in the West Bank

    The family of 20-year-old U.S. citizen Sayfollah Musallet is being joined by a number of advocacy groups in demanding a full U.S.-led investigation into the young man’s fatal beating by Israeli settlers in the West Bank last week — and pushing back against the corporate media’s characterization of the brutal attack. “We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Ex-UN Special Rapporteur: Francesca Albanese Deserves Nobel Prize, Not Sanctions

    The day after Donald Trump welcomed indicted war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States for the third time in less than six months, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestine Francesca Albanese for her clear-eyed critiques of Israel’s genocide. In a July 9 press statement…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Gaza’s missing people: the thousands of walking dead that Israel has kidnapped – or worse

    Content warning: this article contains graphic images and descriptions of violence some people may find distressing

    One night last December, 38-year-old Mohammad Jamal Atiya Banat left his home in Northern Gaza and never returned, vanishing without a trace. For his devastated wife and six children, the suffering has been immeasurable. No information or answers as to his fate have surfaced in Jabalia, where Mohammad went missing, and every passing day brings more sadness for his family.

    His wife said:

    No one told us anything. We searched everywhere, asked everyone we know, but there’s no trace. We don’t know if he’s alive or dead, we don’t even know where to look.

    Gaza’s missing: the immeasurable pain of loved ones vanishing without a trace

    Since October 2023 when Israel began its genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza, there have been many thousands of people just like Mohammad, whose fates remain unclear.

    Sarah Davies, spokesperson for the Israel and Occupied Territories branch of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), says people who do not know the fate of a loved one experience one of the worst pains in war.

    She said:

    You’re living in horrific circumstances, where you don’t have access to enough food, safe water, shelter or medical care but, at the same time, you’re under a huge emotional burden.

    As a human, you think of all the horrible things that could have happened to your loved one, and it’s really about the lack of closure for people- they don’t know what has happened. They don’t know if their loved one is still alive, or if they are injured somewhere, or even if they’re perfectly fine and just haven’t been able to contact them. This feeling doesn’t really leave you.

    Around the world we’ve worked with people who have been separated from their family members for 20 years and, at some point, some people do get reunited and their whole life changes but, in Gaza right now, there are thousands of people who don’t have any closure.

    The ICRC has had over 15,000 registered cases of missing people from Gaza and the West Bank since October 2023, 10,000 of these from Gaza alone. More than 3200 of these cases have been closed, either because the families were able to reconnect themselves, or the ICRC was able to put them back in touch with their loved ones. So, currently, over 6500 cases are still open.

    Israel separating loved ones amidst airstrikes and attacks

    According to a statement from Gaza’s government media office in May, Israel has dropped 100,000 tonnes of explosives on the Strip since October 2023. During these airstrikes, entire buildings can get reduced to rubble, and people have been buried under the debris. Sometimes family members live in the same building but on different floors, so if that building is damaged or impacted by hostilities, people may not know what has happened to their loved ones.

    Buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, with a few trees standing amidst vast rubble.

    If there is a mass casualty event, members of the same family may unknowingly be taken to different hospitals. This can easily happen, especially if ambulances are unable to access the impacted area or deal with the vast numbers of individuals in urgent need of assistance. People then often jump in and help, taking injured individuals on donkey carts to the closest medical point available.

    Sometimes, individuals die of their wounds in hospital, or are declared dead upon arrival, and if they do not have any ID, or a family member or friend with them to identify their body, their loved ones are most likely missing them. ICRC has access to the patient lists in what is left of Gaza’s hospitals, and provides a hotline number, which people can call to request that a tracing case be opened.

    ICRC has a central tracing agency, and a database of people from all around the world who have been registered by their family members as missing and, in Gaza, the organisation works with the health facilities across the Strip to try and locate them. The tracing requests ask for a lot of information, such as what the missing person was last wearing, when and where they were last seen, and any identifying marks or features, in case of the worst case scenario for their loved ones.

    People moving among buildings reduced to empty shells and rubble by Israeli bombardments.

    Evacuation orders: at night, with no lights, and limited communications

    Evacuation orders can cause great hardship and difficulties for people, and the resulting chaos can result in unintended separation. Davies explained:

    If there are evacuation orders, a family has to move. People have to pack up everything they own and carry it in their hands or in whatever bags they have. Phones are really the only form of direct contact people have to their loved ones who might be in other areas, but oftentimes things like chargers can get left behind and phones can get dropped.

    In the chaos of evacuation orders, the elderly, the sick and the injured struggle to keep up but still need to move. It’s very chaotic, especially if it happens at nighttime. When it’s dark, there are no lights- there’s no street lights in Gaza, there’s only fires and people’s flashlights or phones.

    So it’s very easy for people to get separated, especially kids, who tend to get separated from their parents. While luckily, some people do find their way back to each other, others find it more difficult, particularly when there are communication interruptions in Gaza, which we have seen recently.

    Ghazi Al-Majdalawi is the founder and lead researcher at the Palestinian Centre for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared (PCMFD), which was launched in February this year, during the temporary ceasefire. This human rights organisation not only aims to be the main reference point in Palestine for documenting and uncovering the fate of missing and forcibly disappeared Palestinians, but also speaks up for their rights and those of their families, while highlighting Israel’s many crimes.

    Al-Majdalawi said:

    The disappearance of a dear person leaves complex feelings of loss, fear, and hope, and the pain and uncertainty causes long-term psychological and physical exhaustion for those who are waiting for news of life or death.

    Many family members of those who are missing suffer from sleep disorders, constant anxiety, and confusion in their daily lives, especially because of the absence of medical and psychological support in the Gaza Strip.

    PCMFD missing person poster. A young boy named Fadl Mustafa Abu Abdo reported with text stating: Missing in Gaza. Date of disappearance: 08/11/2024. Date of Birth: 22/06/2010. Text of where he was last seen is obscured by a thumb holding the posters.

    The unknown fate of missing and forcibly disappeared Palestinians

    Over the last 21 months, thousands of people in Gaza have become victims of Israel’s arbitrary, prolonged, and incommunicado detention. Occupation forces, along with the police and Prison Services, refuse to disclose the numbers detained, or their whereabouts, condition, or the legal grounds and reasons for their arrest. These forcibly disappeared people, who are often shackled and blindfolded, are held in secret, have no access to legal representation or effective judicial review, and are often victims of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

    No one is spared. Women, children, and older people have been forcibly disappeared, as have journalists – such as Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed, who were both detained on October 7 while reporting, and hundreds of medics – such as Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who was taken away by occupation forces last December, along with other hospital staff and patients following a deadly raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital.

    Enforced disappearances first emerged as a state practice with Hitler in 1941, and are a crime against humanity under international law. They are frequently used as a strategy to spread terror within communities and, according to Palestinian prisoner advocacy organisations, are a central and persistent aspect of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    People going missing near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites

    PCMFD, which recently published detailed information and pictures of hundreds of cases of missing people and enforced disappearances that have occurred since the start of the genocide in Gaza, has documented a sharp increase in reported cases of starving Palestinians going missing recently, without any trace, while looking for food at the US-backed military controlled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution points, which have been described by the UN as ‘death traps’. GHF’s operations are complicit in violations of international law and have been marred by violence and hundreds of fatalities.

    According to international humanitarian law and other legal frameworks, families have the right to receive information about the fate of missing persons, and access grave sites if the missing person has died, while the fourth Geneva Convention guarantees the right to recover and bury the dead and obligates all parties to respect human dignity, even in death. In addition, further protections are provided by the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), which emphasises the right of families to know the truth about their missing relatives, and to seek justice.

    But this has not happened in Gaza.

    Instead, the occupation deliberately withholds any information from the families of the missing, while mass graves, containing hundreds of bodies showing signs of torture and execution, have been uncovered. The Institute of Palestine Studies research paper titled Mass Graves in Gaza: Evidence of Genocidal Violence, explains that Israel has used mass graves to cover up their crimes, desecrate the dead, and erase Palestinian presence and history, not only during the Nakba in 1948, but through the past 77 years.

    Uncovered mass grave - deteriorated remains of Palestinians Israel has slaughtered in white bags laid out in a line.

    Thousands missing in Gaza: a major humanitarian tragedy

    Civilians continue to be forcibly displaced from large areas of the Strip by the occupation forces, who estimate that they will soon have taken control of 75% of the territory. At the same time, specialised equipment to recover bodies trapped under bombed out buildings are prevented from entering the enclave. This means the vast majority of the thousands of bodies which remain buried under the rubble, or strewn on the streets, will not have a dignified burial, and will not be recovered until they are decomposed, and unidentifiable. Yet the occupation also prevents the entry of DNA testing materials, making it extremely difficult to identify what remains of the corpses.

    Crowd of Palestinians that Israel has displaced stretching out into the distance, walking together.

    Al-Majdalawi and his team at PCMFD have documented dozens of airstrikes which not only target the very few bits of remaining equipment left in the Strip which can be used to retrieve bodies from under the rubble, but also the civil defence crews while they have been carrying out their essential work.

    They believe the issue of missing persons in Gaza is a major humanitarian tragedy, and are demanding urgent international intervention to pressure Israel to allow the immediate and unconditional entry of heavy equipment and specialised search and rescue teams into the Strip, as well as to disclose the fate of the remaining missing persons.

    They are also calling on UNICEF and the ICRC to lead an immediate large scale international operation to look for, recover and document the missing, and also provide essential psychological and social support for the families of Gaza’s missing, whose pain will not go away until their loved ones are found.

    Featured image and additional images supplied

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The silent death of a diabetic man in Gaza sums up Israel’s vicious seige

    In one of the most horrific examples of the siege and famine Israel is imposing on the Gaza Strip, a diabetic patient died in one of the displacement camps in central Gaza after his family was unable to find a single spoonful of sugar to save him from a sharp drop in his blood sugar level.

    The tragedy began when 62-year-old Abu Mahmoud suddenly felt weak and began shaking inside the tent where he was staying with his grandchildren. His family rushed to find any source of sugar, walking among the tents of the displaced, but to no avail. No candy, no juice, no medicine… Not even a spoonful of sugar.

    The rescue attempts turned into chaos of fear and helplessness. Rubbing his hands, tilting his head, and cries for help were of no use, as there was no hospital nearby and no ambulance able to enter. A few minutes were enough for him to lose consciousness and then his body to become still forever, amid the cries of his loved ones and their inability to do anything.

    A recurring tragedy in Gaza

    What happened to Abu Mahmoud is not an isolated case, but a tragic example that is repeated daily in the Gaza Strip, which is suffering from a comprehensive health and food collapse. Since the start of the genocide, some two million Palestinians have been besieged amid the systematic destruction of health infrastructure and a total ban on the entry of adequate food and medical supplies.

    The deliberate starvation policy pursued by the occupying forces has led to the closure of crossings and the prevention of the entry of medicines, including insulin and supplies for diabetes patients, exacerbating the suffering of thousands of patients.

    According to data from the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 350,000 patients with chronic diseases, including tens of thousands of diabetics, face certain death due to the shortage of medicines and the closure of health centres.

    In addition to the destruction, displaced people living in tents lack the basic necessities of life, as there is no electricity, clean water, adequate food, or refrigeration to store sensitive medicines such as insulin. The famine that has begun to hit the sector hard has led to widespread cases of severe malnutrition among children and older people, and simple illnesses have become death sentences in the absence of medicine.

    A silent death

    We learned about this story after it was recounted by someone close to the situation in order to raise awareness about what is happening in Gaza. However, this story may be one of thousands of stories that we know nothing about, whose victims die in silence without us knowing the details of their deaths in Gaza, which the world has abandoned.

    Despite local and international appeals, the occupation authorities continue to delay the effective opening of the crossings. International humanitarian organisations accuse the occupation of using food and medicine as weapons against civilians, in flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions, while the international community remains unable to take effective steps to save the catastrophic situation in Gaza.

    What happened to Abu Mahmoud sums up the experience of thousands of Gazans: death comes not only from bombing, but also from hunger, thirst, and a lack of sugar, insulin, antibiotics, and everything else that could save a person from a slow death. In Gaza, it is not enough to survive the bombing; you have to learn how to stay alive without medicine… or even a spoonful of sugar.

    Featured image supplied

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Cops in chaos over how to respond to Palestine Action protests

    The UK-wide protests on Saturday 12 July against the proscription of Palestine Action have exposed a stark divide in the policing response across different forces. Raids and repression to different degrees across the country are indicative of the chaos the government has unleashed with its order that permits police to treat protestors holding cardboard signs as if they were terrorists.

    The spectrum of responses on Saturday ranged from a hands-off approach in Kendal and Derry, to surreal repression in Cardiff, where cops locked protestors up, raided their homes, and tested their food cupboards with something appearing to be a Geiger counter.

    Palestine Action protests against proscription: police response divided

    On the one hand, police in Kendal and Derry used their discretion to allow protests to proceed without interference. On the other hand, South Wales Police treated the protestors as if they presented a serious danger to the public. They arrested them under the Terrorism Act Section 12, applying for an extension of pre-charge custody and conducted raids on their homes. Reportedly, the force even tested protesters’ food cupboards with a device resembling a Geiger counter.

    Protesters sit in a line holding placards while a huge line of police stand before them.

    In Manchester and London the approach was somewhere in between. Police arrested protestors under the Terrorism Act Section 13 (a much lesser charge than Section 12). They then quickly released protesters on police bail.

    Large group of protesters with Palestine flags and placards reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action".

    No arrests in Derry or Kendal, but draconian repression and overreach elsewhere

    In both Kendal and Derry, the police chose to allow the actions to proceed undisturbed. This was despite protesters alerting them to the demonstrations in advance. In Kendal, the first part of the wording of the sign was different: “Defend Your Right to Protest” as opposed to “I Oppose Genocide”. But this doesn’t explain the different approach, because it is only the second part of the message that allegedly violates the Terrorism Act.

    In Leeds, the police arrested and raided the home of one solo sitter. They have now released him on police bail.

    Police have so far charged one person over the weekend, and that was in Glasgow, where a man wore a shirt the police considered to be supportive of Palestine Action.

    Meanwhile, the South Wales Police deployed draconian terrorism powers.

    They responded to the sign-holding as if it were a serious terrorist incident. The force held the 13 sign-holders for an extended period in police custody. This was after a Superintendent authorised the extension of the normal time for being held prior to charge. This is usually a maximum of 24 hours. South Wales Police also raided the homes of the sign-holders, seizing posters, books, and tech, and leaving broken down front doors wide open. Two of the 13 were Quakers, aged 78 and 80, an it was reportedly their food cupboards that the police tested for radioactive material.

    A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said:

    The Chief Constable of South Wales police has got carried away with his new powers, treating peaceful protestors with cardboard signs like Al-Qaida operatives. Is this absurd diversion of police resources what Yvette Cooper really intended?

    The massive variation in the police response to people holding exactly the same sign brings the law into disrepute. Express your opinion in Kendall or Derry and the police will leave you be. Do the same thing in Cardiff, the police will react as if your cardboard sign is a grave danger to the public, keeping you locked up while they break down your doors and raid your homes.

    It shows the chaos the Home Secretary’s order is causing. Basic legal principles have been turned on their head. Dystopia beckons if we don’t take a stand.

    Featured image and additional images supplied

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Beauty Betrayed, from Global Militarism to Alligator Alcatraz

    “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

    2015 SHEPARD FAIREY Obey Giant ALL THE FREE SPEECH Print 405/450 | eBay

    Great effort (and amounts of money) are required to churn out arguments justifying actions that cannot be justified by standards of common sense and human decency. For example, billions upon billions spent to maintain pro-Zionist and pro-capitalist institutions. In a nation where the agendas of the state are underwritten by billionaires — if a singular truth happens to enter public discourse it would have had to have come about by accident. Extreme amounts of money have been invested to prevent such occurrences of democratic happenstance.

    Hence, the US Congress, by means of outright unconstitutional legislation, legislates: anti-Zionist speech is anti-Semitic hate speech. Hey, people against genocide – where are your billions to counter: condemnation of Israel’s genocidal rampage in Gaza and ethnic cleansing operations in the West Bank are in fact constitutionally protected speech? You say, you don’t have billions at your disposal. Then you have been shut up and shut out of the conversation.

    From global militarism to Alligator Alcatraz: Fascism is imperialism turned inward.

    May be an image of 6 people and text that says 'POLICE POLICE DLICE ROLICL Photo: Josh Denmark- DHS'

    ICE ahead…slippery slope to totalitarianism.

    The rise of ICE thuggery is the policy wing of the Right’s xenophobic “Replacement Theory.” ICE’s mission is, to aid in returning the US to be, in their fantasy-rancid words, the “White Christian nation” it was founded to be, and to achieve the goal by means of policies of ethnic cleansing.

    Have you noticed this about people driven by odious intentions: they have an intense bearing of certainty; they posit a ready answer for everything? Have you noticed this about people bearing insight: they approach life as a mystery? They have a tolerance for ambiguity. The best teachers teach students to ask good questions. The worst among us lead us to doom by becoming intoxicated by their hell-pitched certainty.

    Are you suffering emotional pain due to the trajectory of the times? Pain is a warning proffered to pull you back from the abyss. When there is sickness in the collective soul, you will experience the symptoms. If the culture is drunk on lies, you will experience the hangover. Sanity will entail you sobering up.

    Yes, you are powerless over the stupidity of the times: the bacchanal of bullshit, cupidity, and cruelty. Therein, there is a hint of a higher power than the degraded power structures of the present. Where there is bullshit — there can be a cleansing current of the heart to wash away, like Hercules’ labor of cleaning the Augean stables, the piles upon piles of excrement. Cupidity can be superseded by a generosity of spirit. And what about the homunculi of cruelty that has been unloosed upon the land as if a portal from Hell has been opened and hordes of lower order imps have emerged to become hirelings at ICE recruitment offices?

    Where they trod they leave a wasteland, yes. A landscape as barren as their own inner life.

    “The merciful man does good to his own soul, but the cruel troubles his own flesh.” — Proverbs 11:17

    They will attempt to dine on power; yet, they will continue to suffer a famine in their soul. They will hunger for more and yet still hunger for more and more control and power thus are driven further into their wasteland within. The totalitarian personality signs a murder/suicide pact with itself. History reports, while it is tragically true they will cause much suffering as they destroy the essential qualities that sustains life, in the end, they have laid the path of their own undoing. ICE thugs (MAGA, in general) to IDF predators (to the Zionist state, in general) you have numbered your days.

    “Righteousness leads to life, but those who pursue evil find their own death.” Proverbs 11:19

    In diametric opposition to the above line of Biblical verse:

    Regarding the ghosted Epstein files: MAGA cultists i.e., grifted, cretinous dupes, were moved to clamor to the polls to bring down the Deep State cabalists, by the enthronement of (Epstein’s best friend in predation) Donald Trump. Stupid, of course, is the calling card of the plebs but witnessing their cope and contortions is a sight to behold.

    The cultists were convinced the Democratic Party’s confederacy of perverts would be exposed in all its hideous iniquity. What happened: well, it turned out perversion crosses party affiliation. Republicans and Democrats fingerprints alike are all over the crime scene. Trump’s fat, stubby digits were the most prominent in view.

    The crime itself is this: the manner the wealth inequality inherent to capitalism enables the covering up of the iniquity of those who serve the system. In fact, what they will receive for their crimes will be massive tax cuts.

    As for the rest of us: We are not even allowed in sight of the VIP (Very Iniquitous Pervert) rope line. The entrance fee: the obscene amounts of bribe money it requires to own the political class.

    May be an image of 4 people

    Epstein et al. thrive in a landscape wherein everything within reach that can be commodified will be relentlessly subjected to exploitation. It is an ugly business. There is not anything that can exist for its own sake: truth; beauty; a sense of integrity.

    In the US, beauty has been banished by the zealots of expediency and profiteering. They erect temples of commercialized cacophony thus from every direction meaningless noise dominates the senses.

    What price is paid for beauty having been buried deep as Hades? Stop and listen closely. Hear the lament of exquisite things cast into the cultural abyss.

    May be an image of 1 person, car, street, road and text that says 'JANS $5000 TiRsMAX Hert UB'

    When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

    — John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn

    Perhaps the sum of selfhood, the centering of self required to connect and engage the world, both material and Anima Mundi, arrives by means of an openness to experience and the garnered truth concomitant to enduring suffering.

    The fear of engagement, over time, numbs out the heart; the wings of the spirit will atrophy. Beauty no longer moves a deadened heart. One’s soul exiles itself back into the collective, resulting in pathological detachment or psychosis.

    Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! — Isaiah 5:20

    Speaking on a personal basis, I need inexorable longing to engage life on life’s terms. This is serious work; the act of merging and mingling the burden of grief with a wingedness of mind. It is a feat of levitation. As in music, the dark chords caress the heart as they rise heavenward.

    The mind searches for reasons life unfolds as it does. But poetic depth reveals sleeping fragments of pure being dreaming within the heart of all things. Art must invite logic to dance through the night until it goes mad beneath the morning star.

    May be an image of satellite dish

    Why? What is the logic of this? Because the mind is an empire, its ideas and notions crumble and fade into indifferent air while the seasons of the heart are located in a cosmos of eternal renewal.

    It’s possible I am pushing through solid rock
    in flintlike layers, as the ore lies, alone;
    I am such a long way in I see no way through,
    and no space: everything is close to my face,
    and everything close to my face is stone.

    I don’t have much knowledge yet in grief
    so this massive darkness makes me small.
    You be the master: make yourself fierce, break in:
    then your great transforming will happen to me,
    and my great grief cry will happen to you.

    — Rainer Maria Rilke

    In a depth-bereft culture where people shun reading for meme consumption, the center cannot hold in the culture because culture is a product of psyche. Sans psyche, an inferno of fuckwit dominates. Imagination is shunned; people resist being carried away into the depths of themselves hence they lose the ability to proceed into and navigate the depths of passing moments. The outer-world withers to wasteland. Cliches are the architecture of the mind. Imagination is in exile. Thus all too many experience a loss of soul.

    Fascism arrives from the margins to fill in the void.

    The fascist mob’s mania is borne by its by-reflex fear of experiencing human suffering… to evince god-like invincibility while swathed in the anonymity of the mob.

    Yet the joys and suffering of human life make up the foundation of the self. Great books convey an affinity — a dawning recognition we connected, each to each, by suffering. Memes, being meant for the mob, are inherently fascist. Upon sight, memes should be driven off by waving a book at them in a threatening manner as an act of self-defense.

    The rapidity by which information (instead, aren’t we talking about the conveyance of thought itself?) arrives is directly implicated in the US lack of political memory and its shallowness of culture. The illusion of moving at high speed is conveyed hence even the recent past seems too far in the past to be retrieved and reflected upon. History is reduced to non-linear data; connections cannot be made between the sequence of events. There is an immersion in the present but without bestowing animal vitality and grace. Therefore, we feel like animals imprisoned in a cage that is being shaken by a source unknown. .

    As a result, we attempt to obtain clarity by “getting above it all.” A new form of distress follows: vertigo. You know, what goes up, comes down in flames and scattered debris like a SpaceX rocket launch.

    SpaceX rocket and Israeli satellite destroyed in launch pad explosion – Spaceflight Now

    The future must involve falling. Not the fall from fabled Eden. But reconnection with Earth. Cold data and manic memes are softened and come to rest upon the embrace of the veritable ground. At present, the mind is a cluttered mess of gibbering satellites and space junk. The earth breathes… so that you can pause and lay aside your troubles.

    I am not talking about a longing for paradise: that trope was explored in the fable of the serpent, the apple, and the Tree Of Knowledge. The knowledge ended our childhood, our tromp and traipse through the glens and gardens of Eternity. Banished from paradise, we gained our humanity.

    Empires, like the thoughts of the harried and vexed mind, rise and dissipate in indifferent air. Beauty remains. The tears at the heart of things are vouchsafed with deathless truths. Thus we can grant ourselves hours of restorative rest:

    We sleep in the arms of an exquisitely played song that has played since the beginning of time and will play on forever.

    Heart, mind, and soul restored, we can navigate life and respond with clarity to its perils; thus see through the lies piled upon lies retailed by the powerful — whose propagandists promise a return to paradise but deliver a soul-defying landscape of deprivation and perpetual exploitation.

    Anselm Kiefer | The Land of the Two Rivers | The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation
    Anselm Kiefer, “The Land of the Two Rivers”

    The post Beauty Betrayed, from Global Militarism to Alligator Alcatraz first appeared on Dissident Voice.


    This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Phil Rockstroh.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Gaza Ceasefire Talks Collapse Over Israel’s Occupation Demands

    Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israeli officials hit a deadlock in Doha, as Palestinian and Israeli sources say the talks are faltering over the scope of the proposed Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.

    The discussions are based on a US-backed framework for a 60-day ceasefire and the phased release of Israeli captives, but key issues remain unresolved.

    Hamas reportedly rejected Israeli-proposed maps that would leave 40 to 45 percent of the territory under occupation, including all of southern Rafah as well as parts of northern and eastern Gaza.

    The post Gaza Ceasefire Talks Collapse Over Israel’s Occupation Demands appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • ‘Humanitarian city’ would be concentration camp for Palestinians, says former Israeli PM

    Ehud Olmert says forcing people into camp would be ethnic cleansing, and anger at Israel over Gaza war is not all down to antisemitism

    The “humanitarian city” Israel’s defence minister has proposed building on the ruins of Rafah would be a concentration camp, and forcing Palestinians inside would be ethnic cleansing, Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert has told the Guardian.

    Israel was already committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, Olmert said, and construction of the camp would mark an escalation.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Israel Unveils A Concentration Camp In Southern Gaza

    It is said that no news is good news. But when the cone of silence is dropped over meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is prudent to be apprehensive about what we don’t know.

    Before Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington, Trump had indicated that he expected their conversations to be focused almost exclusively on ending the Gaza “war.” The sickening euphemism aside, the fact that neither Trump nor Netanyahu are eager to disclose the contents of their meetings opens a wide range of possibilities. 

    The optimistic view is that Netanyahu is attempting to find a way to accommodate the President’s stated desire to end the genocide in Gaza without causing a rupture in his governing coalition.

    The post Israel Unveils A Concentration Camp In Southern Gaza appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Tiger Teams To Concentration Camps

    This week on State of Play, host Greg Stoker is joined by Jalyssa Dugrot, an independent journalist recently arrested while covering anti-ICE protests for MintPress News in Los Angeles, and Robert Inlakesh, a Middle East analyst and MintPress contributor known for his reporting on politics, repression, and empire, to examine a rapidly expanding surveillance regime that connects U.S. immigration enforcement to Israeli military intelligence and private tech firms.

    In early 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assembled a covert unit called the “Tiger Team,” a task force supposedly created to address “critical threats.”

    The post Tiger Teams To Concentration Camps appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Yes, Israel’s plan for Rafah would be a crime – but international law has never protected Gaza | Raja Shehadeh

    Palestinians continue to hold on to the practice we call sumoud – refusing to give up or leave – despite the world turning its back on us

    Over the past 21 long months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, voices all over the world have decried the demise of international law and the rule-based order. And indeed, the facade of Israel’s adherence to international law has vanished and policies that constitute war crimes are now brazenly declared.

    This week, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, has shared plans to forcibly move Palestinians into a camp in the ruins of Rafah. Once they enter, they cannot leave. In other words, a concentration camp, which by definition is an internment centre for members of a national group (as well as political prisoners or minority groups) on the grounds of security or punishment, usually by military order. Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer, was quoted in the Guardian as saying that Katz “laid out an operational plan for a crime against humanity”. Hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded trying to access food.

    Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian lawyer and writer, and founder of the human rights organisation Al-Haq. His latest book is Forgotten: Searching for Palestine’s Hidden Places and Lost Memorials, with Penny Johnson.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.