The United States is “fuelling confrontation” in Asia by regularizing its military behavior with South Korea, Japan, Australia, and others to create a giant military alliance, North Korea’s state media said on Monday.
Citing the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, commonly known as the Quad, and the AUKUS security pact between Australia the United Kingdom and U.S., the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said that the “aggressive Indo-Pacific strategy” of the U.S. had led to tensions in the region and grave threats to peace and security.
“Although the U.S. wraps its Indo-Pacific strategy in the guise of ‘building a free and open Indo-Pacific region’ and ‘promoting peace, security, and prosperity in the world,’ it is actually trying to force its own side and mobilize its followers to surround and subdue Russia, China, and other countries to secure its hegemony,” the newspaper said.
“The U.S. military hegemony has led to the realization of a new Cold War in the Asia-Pacific region, and the atmosphere of war is hovering,” it added.
North Korea’s comments came after the leaders of the United States, India, Japan and Australia on Saturday denounced North Korea’s “destabilizing” missile launches and its nuclear program, and reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi take part in a Quad leaders summit family photo in Claymont, Delaware, U.S., Sept. 21, 2024. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued a joint statement after the four countries’ fourth in-person Quad summit in Wilmington, Delaware.
“We condemn North Korea’s destabilizing ballistic missile launches and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions. These launches pose a grave threat to international peace and stability,” the leaders said in a statement they called “the Wilmington Declaration.”
The leaders also said that countries who expanded military cooperation with the North were undermining the global nonproliferation regime.
“We express our grave concern over North Korea’s use of proliferation networks, malicious cyber activity and workers abroad to fund its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs,” they said.
“In that context, we urge all U.N. Member States to abide by the relevant UNSCRs including the prohibition on the transfer to North Korea or procurement from North Korea of all arms and related materiel,” they said, referring to U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Quad leaders also condemned China’s recent aggressive actions in the South China Sea.
“We continue to express our serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea,” they said.
“We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers.”
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.
Vice President Harris recently received endorsements from some of the worst human beings in the country – a list that includes Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez. The campaign is thrilled about these endorsements, but average Democratic voters don’t like what they’re seeing. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software […]
Racism, torture and arbitrary arrests are some examples of discrimination indigenous Papuans have dealt with over the last 60 years from Indonesia, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.
“I have heard about this day to day racism since I had my first Papuan friend when I was in my 20s in my college, it means that over the last 40 years, that kind of story keeps on going on today,” Harsono said.
“Regarding torture again this is not something new.”
The report said infant mortality rates in West Papua in some instances are close to 12 times higher than in Jakarta.
Pemerintah Indonesia seharusnya meninjau kebijakan soal Papua Barat, mengakui dan mengakhiri sejarah rasisme sistematis terhadap orang asli Papua, minta pertanggungjawaban dari mereka yang bertanggung jawab atas pelanggaran hak-hak orang Papua https://t.co/JfnAZhsi0Epic.twitter.com/lzB6n0zrJ5
Papuan children denied education
Papuan children are denied adequate education because the government has failed to recruit teachers, in some instance’s soldiers have stepped into the positions “and mostly teach children about Indonesian nationalism”.
It said Papuan students find it difficult to find accommodation with landlords unwilling to rent to them while others were ostracised because of their racial identity.
In March, a video emerged of soldiers torturing Definus Kogoya in custody. He along with Alianus Murib and Warinus Kogoya were arrested in February for allegedly trying to burn down a medical clinic in Gome, Highland Papua province.
According to the Indonesian army, Warinus Kogoya died after allegedly “jumping off” a military vehicle.
President-elect Prabowo Subianto’s takes government next month.
Harsono said the report was launched yesterday because of this.
“We want this new [Indonesian] government to understand the problem and to think about new policies, new approaches, including to answer historical injustice, social injustice, economic injustice.”
Subianto’s poor human rights record
Harsono said Subianto has a poor human rights record but he hopes people close to him will flag the report.
He said current President Joko Widodo had made promises while he was in power to allow foreign journalists into West Papua and release political prisoners, but this did not materialise.
When he came to power the number of political prisoners was around 100 and now it’s about 200, Harsono said.
He said few people inside Indonesia were aware of the discrimination West Papuan people face, with most only knowing West Papua only for its natural beauty.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The man behind the 2000 coup in Fiji, George Speight, and the head of the mutineers, former soldier Shane Stevens, have been granted presidential pardons.
In a statement yesterday, the Fiji Correction Service said the pair were among seven prisoners who has been granted pardons by the President, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, after recommendations by the Mercy Commission.
“These pardons were formally granted on 18 September 2024. As a result, the named individuals have been officially discharged from custody today, Thursday, 19 September 2024,” the statement said.
“The Fiji Correction Service and the government remain committed to the principles of justice, rehabilitation, and the rule of law, and the Mercy Commission plays a vital role in ensuring that petitions for clemency are considered carefully, with due regard to the circumstances of each case.”
Speight was serving a life sentence for the charge of treason while Stevens was serving a life sentence for the charge of mutiny.
Also released are Sekina Vosavakatini, Nioni Tagici, James Sanjesh Goundar, Adi Livini Radininausori and John Miller.
Speight sought pardon In June 2023, Speight had applied for a presidential pardon under a mercy clause, raising the possibility of his release from prison after serving more than 20 years of a lifetime sentence.
Speight’s 2000 coup was the only civilian to raise an armed group to overthrow the government.
In 2002, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka — who started the coup culture in Fiji with two coups in 1987 — had stated a pardon for Speight would be a catastrophe and could pave the way for more coups.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
America’s Lawyer E115: A gunman was apprehended on Donald Trump’s golf course over the weekend, sparking new fears of domestic terrorism and potential assassination attempts. We’ll bring you the latest details. Boeing is in deep trouble as workers have gone on strike demanding better wages. This strike came after 16 years of workers being forced […]
The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding that the Israeli government end its occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months — but half of the countries that voted against are from the Pacific.
Affirming a recent International Court of Justice opinion that deemed the decades-long occupation unlawful, the opposition from seven Pacific nations further marginalised the region from world opinion against Israel.
The final vote tally was 124 member states in favour and 14 against, with 43 nations abstaining.
Pacific countries that voted with Israel and its main ally and arms-supplier United States against the Palestinian resolution are Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu.
Kiribati, Samoa and Vanuatu abstained while Solomon islands voted yes. Australia abstained while New Zealand and Timor-Leste also supported the resolution.
The Palestine-led resolution, co-sponsored by dozens of nations, calls on Israel to swiftly withdraw “all its military forces” from Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Palestine is a permanent observer state at the UN and it described the vote as “historic”.
The court’s opinion had been sought in a 2022 request from the UN General Assembly.
The UNGA vote comes amid Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,250 Palestinians.
The United Kingdom, which recently suspended some arms export licenses for Israel, abstained from yesterday’s vote, a decision that the advocacy group Global Justice Now (GJN) said shows “complete disregard for the ongoing suffering of Palestinians forced to live under military-enforced racial discrimination”.
However, other US allies such as France voted for the resolution. Australia, Germany, Italy and Switzerland abstained but Ireland, Spain and Norway supported the vote.
“The vast majority of countries have made it clear: Israel’s occupation of Palestine must end, and all countries have a definite duty not to aid or assist its continuation,” said GJN’s Tim Bierley.
“To stay on the right side of international law, the UK’s dealings with Israel must drastically change, including closing all loopholes in its partial arms ban and revoking any trade or investment relations that might assist the occupation.”
NEWS: UN General Assembly adopts resolution demanding that Israel brings to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory without delay and within the next 12 months.https://t.co/Vj0Ve1lLBipic.twitter.com/2rKKvDNDqd
BDS welcomes vote
The Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement welcomed passage of the resolution, noting that the UN General Assembly had voted “for the first time in 42 years” in favour of “imposing sanctions on Israel”, reports Common Dreams.
The resolution specifically calls on all UN member states to “implement sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against natural and legal persons engaged in the maintenance of Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in relation to settler violence.”
The resolution’s passage came nearly two months after the ICJ, or World Court, the UN’s highest legal body, handed down an advisory opinion concluding that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and must end “as rapidly as possible.”
The newly approved resolution states that “respect for the International Court of Justice and its functions . . . is essential to international law and justice and to an international order based on the rule of law.”
The Biden administration, which is heavily arming the Israeli military as it assails Gaza and the West Bank, criticised the ICJ’s opinion as overly broad.
Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement that “the Biden administration should join the overwhelming majority of nations around the world in condemning these crimes against the Palestinian people, demanding an end to the occupation, and exerting serious pressure on the Israeli government to comply”.
“We welcome this UN resolution demanding an end to one of the worst and ongoing crimes against humanity of the past century,” said Awad.
The UN General Assembly votes for the end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and for sanctions . . . an overwhelming “yes”. Image: Anadolu/Common Dreams
Turning ‘blind eye’
Ahead of the vote, a group of UN experts said in a statement that many countries “appear unwilling or unable to take the necessary steps to meet their obligations” in the wake of the ICJ’s opinion.
“Devastating attacks on Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory show that by continuing to turn a blind eye to the horrific plight of the Palestinian people, the international community is furthering genocidal violence,” the experts said.
“States must act now. They must listen to voices calling on them to take action to stop Israel’s attacks against the Palestinians and end its unlawful occupation.
“All states have a legal obligation to comply with the ICJ’s ruling and must promote adherence to norms that protect civilians.”
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and subsequently annexed the entire holy city in 1980, reports Al Jazeera.
International law prohibits the acquisition of land by force.
Israel has also been building settlements — now home to hundreds of thousands of Israelis — in the West Bank in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bans the occupying power from transferring “parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”.
The armed faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) kidnapped Phillip Merhtens, a 38-year-old pilot working for the Indonesian internal feeder airline Susi Air, in February last year after he landed a small commercial plane in a remote, mountainous area.
It is now asking the New Zealand government, including the police and army, to escort the pilot and for local and international journalists to be involved in the release process.
Both Foreign Affairs and the minister’s office say they are aware of the proposed plan.
In a statement, they say their focus remains on securing a peaceful resolution and the pilot’s safe release.
“We continue to work closely with all parties to achieve this and will not be discussing the details publicly.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The Guardian reports that Indonesian human rights advocate Andreas Harsono, who covers the country for Human Rights Watch, said the proposal was “realistic”, despite Indonesia’s ongoing restriction on reporters and human rights monitors in the region.
“The top priority should be to release this man who has a wife and kids,” The Guardian quoted Harsono as saying.
West Papua’s armed group issued a proposal to release a New Zealand hostage, asking more than a dozen foreign journalists and rights monitors to be present in Wamena and Jayapura to witness the process https://t.co/4LAYNiipaLpic.twitter.com/yhRKYsX605
Sebby Sambom, the TPN-PB spokesman, and Terianus Satto, a general affairs chief of the armed group, state that they issued a proposal to release the New Zealand pilot unconditionally but need witnesses to secure the release in West Papua pic.twitter.com/dg8InXQo6h
China imposed sanctions on Wednesday on nine U.S. military-linked firms for their sale of equipment to Taiwan and it denounced what it called the “dangerous trend” of U.S. military support for the democratic island.
On Monday, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced the sale of aircraft spare parts and related logistics and support worth about US$228 million to Taiwan, adding that the spare parts would boost the island’s “ability to meet current and future threats.”
The sale included both classified and unclassified components for the aircraft, as well as related engineering, technical and logistics support services.
Washington’s arms sales to Taipei “seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs, and seriously damaged China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. The democratic island has been self-governing since it effectively separated from mainland China in 1949 after the Chinese civil war.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday also urged the U.S. to immediately stop the “dangerous trend” of arming Taiwan.
“Stop conniving and supporting Taiwan independence, and stop undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” said Lin Jian at a regular press briefing.
The steps taken against the firms, including Sierra Nevada Corporation and Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC, come into effect on Wednesday and will freeze their property within China, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
It described the sanctions as countermeasures and said they also applied to Cubic Corporation, S3 Aerospace, TCOM Ltd Partnership, TextOre, Planate Management Group, ACT1 Federal and Exovera.
Organizations and individuals within China are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the firms, the ministry added.
China previously sanctioned and banned firms, including units of Lockheed Martin, for selling arms to Taiwan.
The latest sales were the 16th military sale to Taiwan authorized by the administration of President Joe Biden.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry expressed its appreciation for the U.S.support for Taiwan’s security while its Ministry of National Defense highlighted the strategic importance of the sale, noting that China’s gray zone tactics – a tactic using the threat of force to create fear and intimidation – had affected Taiwan’s training and operational readiness.
The aviation-related equipment would enhance the combat readiness and security of Taiwan’s air force, the ministry said.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.
The International Press Institute (IPI) has strongly condemned the Israeli government’s recent decision to revoke the press passes of Al Jazeera journalists, months after the global news outlet was banned in the country.
“The Israeli government’s decision to revoke Al Jazeera press passes highlights a broader and deeply alarming pattern of harassment of journalists and attacks on press freedom in Israel and the region,” IPI interim executive director Scott Griffen said.
Nitzan Chen, director of Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO), announced the decision via X on Thursday, accusing Al Jazeera of spreading “false content” and “incitement against Israelis”.
Use of press office cards in the course of the journalists’ work could in itself “jeopardise state security at this time”, claimed Chen.
The journalists affected by the decision would be given a hearing before their passes are officially revoked.
While the GPO press card is not mandatory, without it a journalist in Israel will not be able to access Parliament, Israeli government ministries, or military infrastructure.
Only Israeli recognised pass
It is also the only card recognised at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank.
Griffen said the move was indicative of a “systematic effort” by Israeli authorities to “expand its control over media reporting about Israel, including reporting on and from Gaza”.
He added: “We strongly urge Israel to respect freedom of the press and access to information, which are fundamental human rights that all democracies must respect and protect.”
At the time, Al Jazeera described it as a “criminal act” and warned that Israel’s suppression of the free press “stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law”.
GPO Director Nitzan Chen: “Al Jazeera disseminates false content, which includes incitement against Israelis and Jews and constitutes a threat to IDF soldiers. Use of GPO cards in the course of the journalists’ work could in itself jeopardize state security at this time”.
(2/3)
Media freedom petition rejected A petition for military authorities to allow foreign journalists to report inside Gaza was rejected by the Israeli Supreme Court in January 2024.
IPI and other media watchdogs have repeatedly called on Israel to allow international media access to Gaza and ensure the safety of journalists.
Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israeli analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that the attack was something that Israel had had in the works for several months and risked losing if Hezbollah became suspicious.
This concern may have led the Israeli army to trigger the blasts, but Israel’s strategy overall remains unclear.
“Where is Israel going to go from here? This question still hasn’t been answered,” Zonszein said.
“Without a ceasefire in Gaza, it’s unclear how Israel plans to de-escalate, or if Netanyahu is in fact trying to spark a broader war,” the analyst added, noting that more Israeli troops were now stationed in the West Bank and along the northern border than in the Gaza Strip.
In a historic moment, Palestine, newly promoted to observer status at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), has submitted a draft resolution at the body demanding an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
Building on a recent International Court of Justice ruling, the resolution calls for Israel to withdraw its troops, halt settlement expansion, and return land taken since 1967 within 12 months.
While the US opposes the resolution, it has no veto power in the UNGA, and the body has previously supported Palestinian recognition.
The resolution, which will be voted on by UNGA members today, is not legally binding, but reflects global opinion as leaders gather for high-level UN meetings next week.
Fears of potential unrest on New Caledonia’s symbolic September 24 date have prompted stronger restrictions in New Caledonia and the deployment of large numbers of French security personnel.
The date originally marked what France termed the “taking of possession” of New Caledonia in 1853.
Since 2004, what the pro-independence Kanak movement has been calling for years “a day of mourning”, was consensually renamed “Citizenship Day” by the local government in a move to foster a sense of inclusiveness and common destiny.
Since the riots emerged, UC leader Daniel Goa publicly claimed he intended to use the date to declare unilaterally the French Pacific archipelago’s independence.
While the overall situation of New Caledonia has been slowly returning to some kind of normalcy and despite some pockets of resistance and roadblocks, including in the Greater Nouméa area, the French High commission on Friday announced a package of restrictions, combining the current curfew (10pm to 5am) with new measures.
‘I am being prudent’
High Commissioner Louis Le Franc told local media: “There is considerable force to ensure that law and order will prevail . . . I am being prudent.
“I have asked for reinforcements and I have got them”, he told local anti-independence radio RRB on Friday.
He said it is more than what was ever sent to New Caledonia during the hardest moments of 1984-1988 when the territory was in a state of insurrection.
Le Franc detailed that the security contingent deployed would comprise “almost 7000” personnel, including mobile gendarmes, police (to “protect sensitive areas”) and military.
General Nicolas Mathéos, who heads the French gendarmes in New Caledonia, also stressed he was determined.
Speaking on Monday to local TV Caledonia, he said the reinforcements came as the French) state “has put in every necessary means to ensure this 24 September and the days before that take place in a climate of serenity”.
“New Caledonia now needs serenity. It needs to rebuild. It needs to believe in its future after this violent crisis,” he said.
Numbers ‘in control’
“We will be in numbers to hold the territory, to control it, including on the roads, so that this day is a day of peace.
“Because no one wants to go through again the nightmare of May.”
The general said reinforcements had already arrived.
“For the gendarmerie, this is almost 40 units mobilised.
“Public order will be maintained, on September 24, before September 24 and after September 24.”
General Nicolas Mathéos, head of French gendarmes in New Caledonia, speaking to TV Caledonia on September 16. Image: TV Caledonia screenshot
The curfew itself, which had been gradually relaxed over the past few weeks, is now returning to a stricter 6pm-6am duration for the whole of New Caledonia, specifically concerning the September 21-24 period (a long weekend).
Additional measures include a ban on all public meetings within Nouméa and its outskirts.
Firearms, alcohol banned
Possession, transportation and sale of firearms, ammunition and alcohol also remain prohibited until September 24.
Fuel distribution and transportation is subject to restrictions, the French High Commission said in a release on Friday.
High Commissioner Louis Le Franc told local media that the measures were taken due to the current circumstances and the appearance of some posts seen on social media which “call on public order disturbances on 24 September 2024”.
“Under those circumstances, a ban on circulation…is a measure that can efficiently prevent disruption of public order,” he said.
The restrictions, however, do not apply to persons who can provide evidence that they need to move within the prohibited hours for professional, medical emergency, domestic or international air and sea travel reasons.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan delegation from New Caledonia is scheduled to travel to Paris next week to meet high officials, including the presidents of both Houses of Parliament, French media has reported.
New Caledonia’s delegation is scheduled to travel from September 23 to October 4.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Fears of potential unrest on New Caledonia’s symbolic September 24 date have prompted stronger restrictions in New Caledonia and the deployment of large numbers of French security personnel.
The date originally marked what France termed the “taking of possession” of New Caledonia in 1853.
Since 2004, what the pro-independence Kanak movement has been calling for years “a day of mourning”, was consensually renamed “Citizenship Day” by the local government in a move to foster a sense of inclusiveness and common destiny.
Since the riots emerged, UC leader Daniel Goa publicly claimed he intended to use the date to declare unilaterally the French Pacific archipelago’s independence.
While the overall situation of New Caledonia has been slowly returning to some kind of normalcy and despite some pockets of resistance and roadblocks, including in the Greater Nouméa area, the French High commission on Friday announced a package of restrictions, combining the current curfew (10pm to 5am) with new measures.
‘I am being prudent’
High Commissioner Louis Le Franc told local media: “There is considerable force to ensure that law and order will prevail . . . I am being prudent.
“I have asked for reinforcements and I have got them”, he told local anti-independence radio RRB on Friday.
He said it is more than what was ever sent to New Caledonia during the hardest moments of 1984-1988 when the territory was in a state of insurrection.
Le Franc detailed that the security contingent deployed would comprise “almost 7000” personnel, including mobile gendarmes, police (to “protect sensitive areas”) and military.
General Nicolas Mathéos, who heads the French gendarmes in New Caledonia, also stressed he was determined.
Speaking on Monday to local TV Caledonia, he said the reinforcements came as the French) state “has put in every necessary means to ensure this 24 September and the days before that take place in a climate of serenity”.
“New Caledonia now needs serenity. It needs to rebuild. It needs to believe in its future after this violent crisis,” he said.
Numbers ‘in control’
“We will be in numbers to hold the territory, to control it, including on the roads, so that this day is a day of peace.
“Because no one wants to go through again the nightmare of May.”
The general said reinforcements had already arrived.
“For the gendarmerie, this is almost 40 units mobilised.
“Public order will be maintained, on September 24, before September 24 and after September 24.”
General Nicolas Mathéos, head of French gendarmes in New Caledonia, speaking to TV Caledonia on September 16. Image: TV Caledonia screenshot
The curfew itself, which had been gradually relaxed over the past few weeks, is now returning to a stricter 6pm-6am duration for the whole of New Caledonia, specifically concerning the September 21-24 period (a long weekend).
Additional measures include a ban on all public meetings within Nouméa and its outskirts.
Firearms, alcohol banned
Possession, transportation and sale of firearms, ammunition and alcohol also remain prohibited until September 24.
Fuel distribution and transportation is subject to restrictions, the French High Commission said in a release on Friday.
High Commissioner Louis Le Franc told local media that the measures were taken due to the current circumstances and the appearance of some posts seen on social media which “call on public order disturbances on 24 September 2024”.
“Under those circumstances, a ban on circulation…is a measure that can efficiently prevent disruption of public order,” he said.
The restrictions, however, do not apply to persons who can provide evidence that they need to move within the prohibited hours for professional, medical emergency, domestic or international air and sea travel reasons.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan delegation from New Caledonia is scheduled to travel to Paris next week to meet high officials, including the presidents of both Houses of Parliament, French media has reported.
New Caledonia’s delegation is scheduled to travel from September 23 to October 4.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition in Palestinian society leading the global BDS movement, has called for immediate pressure on all states to support the updated resolution tabled at the UN General Assembly calling for sanctions on Israel.
The resolution is aimed at enacting the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and its violation of the prohibition of apartheid under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
This resolution, a diluted version of an earlier draft, falls below the bare minimum of the legal obligations of states to implement the ICJ ruling, undoubtedly a result of intense bullying and intimidation by the colonial West — led by the US and Israel’s partners in the ongoing Gaza genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians.
By relegating ending the Gaza genocide to an afterthought, the resolution ignores its utmost urgency.
Despite such obvious failure, the resolution does call for:
Ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, within 12 months;
Ending states’ complicity in aiding or maintaining this occupation by imposing trade and military sanctions such as “ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment” to Israel. In April 2024, the UN Human Rights Council called for an embargo on “the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel, the occupying Power;”
Preventing, prohibiting and eradicating Israel’s violations of article 3 of CERD identified in the advisory opinion, regarding apartheid;
Imposing sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against individuals and entities engaged in the maintenance of Israel’s unlawful occupation.
Step in right direction
Limited in scope to addressing a mere subset of Palestinian rights, the resolution does not, indeed cannot, legally or morally prejudice the other rights of the Indigenous people of Palestine, particularly the right of our refugees since the 1948 Nakba to return and receive reparations and the right of the Palestinian people, including those who are citizens of apartheid Israel, to liberation from settler-colonialism and apartheid.
Supporting this resolution would therefore be only a step in the right direction. It cannot absolve states of their legal and moral obligations to end all complicity with Israel’s regime of oppression.
Meaningful targeted sanctions by states and inter-state groups (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, African Union etc.) remain absolutely necessary to stop Israel’s genocide and end its occupation and apartheid.
Failing to do so would further shatter international law’s credibility and relevance to the global majority.
Dozens of UN human rights experts have confirmed that the ICJ ruling “has finally reaffirmed a principle that seemed unclear, even to the United Nations: Freedom from foreign military occupation, racial segregation and apartheid is absolutely non-negotiable”.
The ruling in effect affirms that BDS is not just a right but also “an obligation,” and it constitutes a paradigm shift from one centered on “negotiations” between oppressor and oppressed to one centered on accountability, sanctions and enforcement to end the system of oppression and to uphold the inalienable, internationally recognised rights of the Palestinian people.
States must be pressured
To sincerely implement the ICJ ruling on the occupation and fulfil the legal obligations triggered by the court’s earlier finding that Israel is plausibly perpetrating genocide in Gaza, and in line with the demands by UN human rights experts, all states must be pressured to immediately:
Impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, including the export, import, shipping and transit of military and dual-use items, military cooperation, and academic and industrial research;
Impose sanctions on trade, finance, travel, technology and cooperation with Israel;
“Review all diplomatic, political, and economic ties with Israel, inclusive of business and finance, pension funds, academia and charities,” as stated by UN experts, to ensure an end to all complicity in Israel’s illegal occupation;
Impose an embargo on oil, coal and other energy exports to Israel;
Declare support for suspending apartheid Israel’s membership in the UN, as apartheid South Africa was suspended;
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition in Palestinian society leading the global BDS movement, has called for immediate pressure on all states to support the updated resolution tabled at the UN General Assembly calling for sanctions on Israel.
The resolution is aimed at enacting the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and its violation of the prohibition of apartheid under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
This resolution, a diluted version of an earlier draft, falls below the bare minimum of the legal obligations of states to implement the ICJ ruling, undoubtedly a result of intense bullying and intimidation by the colonial West — led by the US and Israel’s partners in the ongoing Gaza genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians.
By relegating ending the Gaza genocide to an afterthought, the resolution ignores its utmost urgency.
Despite such obvious failure, the resolution does call for:
Ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, within 12 months;
Ending states’ complicity in aiding or maintaining this occupation by imposing trade and military sanctions such as “ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment” to Israel. In April 2024, the UN Human Rights Council called for an embargo on “the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel, the occupying Power;”
Preventing, prohibiting and eradicating Israel’s violations of article 3 of CERD identified in the advisory opinion, regarding apartheid;
Imposing sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against individuals and entities engaged in the maintenance of Israel’s unlawful occupation.
Step in right direction
Limited in scope to addressing a mere subset of Palestinian rights, the resolution does not, indeed cannot, legally or morally prejudice the other rights of the Indigenous people of Palestine, particularly the right of our refugees since the 1948 Nakba to return and receive reparations and the right of the Palestinian people, including those who are citizens of apartheid Israel, to liberation from settler-colonialism and apartheid.
Supporting this resolution would therefore be only a step in the right direction. It cannot absolve states of their legal and moral obligations to end all complicity with Israel’s regime of oppression.
Meaningful targeted sanctions by states and inter-state groups (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, African Union etc.) remain absolutely necessary to stop Israel’s genocide and end its occupation and apartheid.
Failing to do so would further shatter international law’s credibility and relevance to the global majority.
Dozens of UN human rights experts have confirmed that the ICJ ruling “has finally reaffirmed a principle that seemed unclear, even to the United Nations: Freedom from foreign military occupation, racial segregation and apartheid is absolutely non-negotiable”.
The ruling in effect affirms that BDS is not just a right but also “an obligation,” and it constitutes a paradigm shift from one centered on “negotiations” between oppressor and oppressed to one centered on accountability, sanctions and enforcement to end the system of oppression and to uphold the inalienable, internationally recognised rights of the Palestinian people.
States must be pressured
To sincerely implement the ICJ ruling on the occupation and fulfil the legal obligations triggered by the court’s earlier finding that Israel is plausibly perpetrating genocide in Gaza, and in line with the demands by UN human rights experts, all states must be pressured to immediately:
Impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, including the export, import, shipping and transit of military and dual-use items, military cooperation, and academic and industrial research;
Impose sanctions on trade, finance, travel, technology and cooperation with Israel;
“Review all diplomatic, political, and economic ties with Israel, inclusive of business and finance, pension funds, academia and charities,” as stated by UN experts, to ensure an end to all complicity in Israel’s illegal occupation;
Impose an embargo on oil, coal and other energy exports to Israel;
Declare support for suspending apartheid Israel’s membership in the UN, as apartheid South Africa was suspended;
Vietnam’s famous Củ Chi tunnel network was on our bucket list for years.
For me, it was for more than half a century, ever since I had been editor of the Melbourne Sunday Observer, which campaigned against Australian (and New Zealand) involvement in the unjust Vietnam War — redubbed the “American War” by the Vietnamese.
For Del, it was a dream to see how the resistance of a small and poor country could defeat the might of colonisers.
“I wanted to see for myself how the tunnels and the sacrifices of the Vietnamese had contributed to winning the war,” she recalls.
“Love for country, a longing for peace and a resistance to foreign domination were strong factors in victory.”
We finally got our wish last month — a half day trip to the tunnel network, which stretched some 250 kilometres at the peak of their use. The museum park is just 45 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh city, known as Saigon during the war years (many locals still call it that).
Building of the tunnels started after the Second World War after the Japanese had withdrawn from Indochina and liberation struggles had begun against the French. But they reached their most dramatic use in the war against the Americans, especially during the spate of surprise attacks during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
Checking out the Củ Chi tunnel network near Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. Image: David Robie/APR
The Viet Minh kicked off the network, when it was a sort of southern gateway to the Ho Chi Minh trail in the 1940s as the communist forces edged closer to Saigon. Eventually the liberation successes of the Viet Minh led to humiliating defeat of the French colonial forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Cutting off supply lines The French had rebuilt an ex-Japanese airbase in a remote valley near the Laotian border in a so-called “hedgehog” operation — in a belief that the Viet Minh forces did not have anti-aircraft artillery. They hoped to cut off the Viet Minh’s guerrilla forces’ supply lines and draw them into a decisive conventional battle where superior French firepower would prevail.
However, they were the ones who were cut off.
The Củ Chi tunnels explored. Video: History channel
The French military command badly miscalculated as General Nguyen Giap’s forces secretly and patiently hauled artillery through the jungle-clad hills over months and established strategic batteries with tunnels for the guns to be hauled back under cover after firing several salvos.
Giap compared Dien Bien Phu to a “rice bowl” with the Viet Minh on the edges and the French at the bottom.
After a 54-day siege between 13 March and 7 May 1954, as the French forces became increasingly surrounded and with casualties mounting (up to 2300 killed), the fortifications were over-run and the surviving soldiers surrendered.
The defeat led to global shock that an anti-colonial guerrilla army had defeated a major European power.
The French government of Prime Minister Joseph Laniel resigned and the 1954 Geneva Accords were signed with France pulling out all its forces in the whole of Indochina, although Vietnam was temporarily divided in half at the 17th Parallel — the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, and the republican State of Vietnam nominally under Emperor Bao Dai (but in reality led by a series of dictators with US support).
Debacle of Dien Bien Phu
The debacle of Dien Bien Phu is told very well in an exhibition that takes up an entire wing of the Vietnam War Remnants Museum (it was originally named the “Museum of American War Crimes”).
But that isn’t all at the impressive museum, the history of the horrendous US misadventure is told in gruesome detail – with some 58,000 American troops killed and the death of an estimated up to 3 million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians. (Not to mention the 521 Australian and 37 New Zealand soldiers, and the many other allied casualties.)
The section of the museum devoted to the Agent Orange defoliant war waged on the Vietnamese and the country’s environment is particularly chilling – casualties and people suffering from the aftermath of the poisoning are now into the fourth generation.
“Peace in Vietnam” posters and photographs at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. Image: David Robie/APR“Nixon out of Vietnam” daubed on a bombed house in the War Remnants Museum. Image: Del Abcede/APR
The global anti-Vietnam War peace protests are also honoured at the museum and one section of the compound has a recreation of the prisons holding Viet Cong independence fighters, including the torture “tiger cells”.
A shackled Viet Cong suspect (mannequin) in a torture “tiger cage” recreation. Image: David Robie/APR
A guillotine is on display. The execution method was used by both France and the US-backed South Vietnam regimes against pro-independence fighters.
A guillotine on display at the Remnants War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. Image: David Robie/APR
A placard says: “During the US war against Vietnam, the guillotine was transported to all of the provinces in South Vietnam to decapitate the Vietnam patriots. [On 12 March 1960], the last man who was executed by guillotine was Hoang Le Kha.”
A member of the ant-French liberation “scout movement”, Hoang was sentenced to death by a military court set up by the US-backed President Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime.
Museum visit essential
Visiting Ho Ch Min City’s War Remnants Museum is essential for background and contextual understanding of the role and importance of the Củ Chi tunnels.
The Sunday Observer coverage of the My Lai massacre. Image: Screenshot David Robie/APR
Ironically, we were prosecuted for “obscenity’ for publishing photographs of a real life US obscenity and war crime in the Australian state of Victoria. (The case was later dropped).
So our trip to the Củ Chi tunnels was laced with expectation. What would we see? What would we feel?
A tunnel entrance at Ben Dinh. Image: David Robie/APR
The tunnels played a critical role in the “American” War, eventually leading to the collapse of South Vietnamese resistance in Saigon. And the guides talk about the experience and the sacrifice of Viet Cong fighters in reverential tones.
The tunnel network at Ben Dinh is in a vast park-like setting with restored sections, including underground kitchen (with smoke outlets directed through simulated ant hills), medical centre, and armaments workshop.
ingenious bamboo and metal spike booby traps, snakes and scorpions were among the obstacles to US forces pursuing resistance fighters. Special units — called “tunnel rats” using smaller soldiers were eventually trained to combat the Củ Chi system but were not very effective.
We were treated to cooked cassava, a staple for the fighters underground.
A disabled US tank demonstrates how typical hit-and-run attacks by the Viet Cong fighters would cripple their treads and then they would be attacked through their manholes.
‘Walk’ through showdown
When it came to the section where we could walk through the tunnels ourselves, our guide said: “It only takes a couple of minutes.”
It was actually closer to 10 minutes, it seemed, and I actually got stuck momentarily when my knees turned to jelly with the crouch posture that I needed to use for my height. I had to crawl on hands and knees the rest of the way.
David at a tunnel entrance — “my knees turned to jelly” but crawling through was the solution in the end. Image: David Robie/APR
A warning sign said don’t go if you’re aged over 70 (I am 79), have heart issues (I do, with arteries), or are claustrophobic (I’m not). I went anyway.
People who have done this are mostly very positive about the experience and praise the tourist tunnels set-up. Many travel agencies run guided trips to the tunnels.
How small can we squeeze to fit in the tunnel? The thinnest person in one group visiting the tunnels tries to shrink into the space. Image: David Robie/APRA so-called “clipping armpit” Viet Cong trap in the Củ Chi tunnel network. Image: David Robie/APR
“Exploring the Củ Chi tunnels near Saigon was a fascinating and historically significant experience,” wrote one recent visitor on a social media link.
“The intricate network of tunnels, used during the Vietnam War, provided valuable insights into the resilience and ingenuity of the Vietnamese people. Crawling through the tunnels, visiting hidden bunkers, and learning about guerrilla warfare tactics were eye-opening . . .
“It’s a place where history comes to life, and it’s a must-visit for anyone interested in Vietnam’s wartime history and the remarkable engineering of the Củ Chi tunnels.”
“The visit gives a very real sense of what the war was like from the Vietnamese side — their tunnels and how they lived and efforts to fight the Americans,” wrote another visitor. “Very realistic experience, especially if you venture into the tunnels.”
Overall, it was a powerful experience and a reminder that no matter how immensely strong a country might be politically and militarily, if grassroots people are determined enough for freedom and justice they will triumph in the end.
China’s National People’s Congress is considering amendments to the law that would expand compulsory military training at universities and ‘national defense education’ in high schools.
Under the amendments, branches of the People’s Liberation Army will be stationed in colleges, universities and high schools across the country to boost a nationwide program of approved military education and physical training to prepare young people for recruitment, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sept. 10.
“The second draft of the revised bill clarifies that ordinary colleges, universities and high schools should strengthen military skills training, hone students’ willpower, enhance organizational discipline, and improve the level of military training,” the agency said in a summary of the amendments.
China has long had a culture of military training in schools and universities, with military-style boot-camps for kids on vacation and ‘defense education bases’ catering to corporations and tour groups. The authorities in Hong Kong have also imposed such training on former young protesters, alongside “patriotic education.”
People’s Armed Forces departments already exist at every level of government, in schools, universities and state-owned enterprises to strengthen ruling Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, control over local militias, guard weapons caches and find work for veterans.
After decades of relative invisibility throughout the post-Mao economic boom, they are once more mobilizing to build militias in big state-owned companies and consolidate party leadership over local military operations.
But analysts say the amendments, if adopted, will standardize these activities under guidelines laid down by the CCP’s military arm, in a bid to create more potential recruits as part of preparations for war. While Chinese citizens have an obligation to serve in the People’s Liberation Army on paper, this hasn’t been implemented since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
‘Glorious’ military service
Under the planned amendments, high schools will also be obliged to teach children about military service, and create an atmosphere in which military service is seen as “glorious,” Xinhua said.
Primary and junior high schools are included in the plan, which calls on them to “combine classroom teaching with extracurricular activities,” according to the China News Service.
“Students in colleges and high schools are required to offer compulsory basic military training, while junior high schools may also organize such activities,” the report said.
According to a report in the Legal Daily newspaper, the amendments aim to build a nationwide program of military training that connects schools at all levels and of all types.
They also guarantee funding for these activities, which will include military camps and “national defense education bases,” the paper said.
Primary school students wearing Red Army uniforms visit the Martyrs Cemetery in Yecheng, northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, ahead of the Qingming grave-tending festival, April 4, 2015. (Reuters)
“They want students to know about national defense, an awareness of who the enemy is, at a much younger age,” Shan-Son Kung, an associate researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview.
“[They also] want kids to get basic military training, which is being extended lower down the system, so as to universalize basic military knowledge,” he said. “The aim is to step up preparations for a future war, so that there will be more conscripts available following the passing of the Mobilization Law.”
The National Defense Mobilization Law of the People’s Republic of China took effect on July 1, 2010, with the aim of setting up a nationwide structure for national defense mobilization.
Currently, the Chinese military mostly relies on recruitment, and most of the standing army are professional soldiers, Kung said.
“In the next few years, we could see growing tensions between China and the United States, and China may look to strengthen its economic and military mobilization as well as the frequency and scope of exercises sooner rather than later,” Kung said. “They may be making advance preparations for a large-scale war.”
‘Educational brainwashing’
China already requires graduates in fluid mechanics, machinery, chemistry, missile technology, radar, science and engineering, weapons science and other technical disciplines to join the People’s Liberation Army.
Taiwan-based Chinese dissident Gong Yujian said the Chinese Communist Party is aware that it may face great difficulty in recruiting young people to the military, given the shrinking of that age group due to the one-child policy, so it’s stepping up pro-military propaganda while they’re still young.
“They need to cultivate high school students to be loyal to the party and patriotic, and worship the People’s Liberation Army,” Gong said. “It’s educational brainwashing.”
“That way, they can join up after graduation and boost the People’s Liberation Army’s recruitment figures,” he said.
Gong said he still has memories of some military training exercises from when he was in high school.
“When we were in school, we had seven days’ military training, but it was just a formality,” he said. “The local armed police force sent soldiers to our school to teach the students how to march, and how to fold a blanket.”
“But we didn’t even so much as touch a firearm,” he said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Hsia Hsiao-hwa for RFA Mandarin.
Two open letters on the genocidal Israeli war against Palestinian sent to The Press for publication that have been ignored in the continued Aotearoa New Zealand media silence over 11 months of atrocities.
Both letters have been sent to the Christchurch morning daily newspaper by the co-presenter of the Plains FM radio programme Earthwise, Lois Griffiths.
The first letter, had been “sent . . . in time for it to be published on 29 August 2024. the anniversary of the Palestinian political cartoonist Naji al-Ali‘s murder”, Griffiths said.
A protest boat aimed at breaking the illegal Israeli siege of Gaza, Handala, is named after a cartoon boy created by the cartoonist.
On board the Handala, currently in the Mediterranean ready to break the siege with humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, are two New Zealand-Palestinian crew, Rana Hamida and Youssef Sammour.
Yet even this fact doesn’t make the letter newsworthy enough for publication.
Griffiths sent Naji al-Ali’s cartoon figure Handala with the letter to The Press. The open letter:
Dear Editor,
The situation in Gaza is so very very disturbing . . . those poor people . . . those poor men, women and CHILDREN.
How many readers are aware that 2 New Zealanders are on a boat that hopes to take aid to Gaza. Maybe the brave actions of those 2 Kiwis, joined by other international volunteers, of trying to break the siege of Gaza, will rally the rest of the world to finally stop looking away.
Handala, the cartoon character . . . a symbol of Palestinian resistance. Image: Naji al-Ali
They are on a very special boat, a boat with a name chosen to fit the occasion, the Handala.
Handala is the name chosen by the Palestinian political cartoonist Naji al-Ali, for a cartoon refugee boy who stands with his back to the reader, in the corner of his political cartoons.
Handala witnesses the suffering inflicted on his people.
We have a book of al-Ali’s drawings, A Child in Palestine.
Naji al-Ali was well-loved by the Palestinians for using his skills to share, with the world, stories of what the people had to endure.
On 29 August 1987, the cartoonist died after being shot in London by an unknown assailant.
Yet the memory of Naji al-Ali survives.
The memory of Handala survives. He represents the Palestinian children. And the boat named Handala is sailing for the children of Gaza.
Yours Lois Griffiths
South Africa then, why not Israel now?
In the other letter sent to The Press a week ago, Lois Griffiths, in time for the opening of the UN General Assembly on September 8, she urged the New Zealand government to call for the suspension of Israel.
Not published, yet another example of New Zealand mainstream newspapers’ blind responses and hypocrisy over community views on the Gaza genocide?
Dear Editor,
Tuesday of this week, 08 September, is the date for the opening of UNGA, the UN General Assembly.
In 1974, South Africa was suspended from the UN General Assembly after being successfully charged by the ICJ, International Court of Justice, of apartheid. This move isolated South Africa and was very effective in leading to the collapse of the apartheid regime.
Now, the democratic regime of South Africa has taken a case to the ICJ [International Criminal Court] charging Israel with genocide. In an interim judgment, the ICJ has broadly supported South Africa’s case.
The situation in Gaza is so vile now: the bombing, the targeting of residences, schools and hospitals, the lack of protection from disease, the huge numbers of bodies lying under rubble. And now, violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank is on the increase.
Where is humanity? What does it mean to be human?
A step that would certainly help to slow down the genocide, would be for Israel to be suspended from the UN General Assembly.
Please New Zealand. Call for the suspension of Israel from the UNGA.
NOW!!
Yours, Lois Griffiths
Palestinian resistance artwork on the humanitarian boat Handala . . . hoping to break the Gaza blockade. Image: Screenshot PushPull
The United States has been supplying weapons to Saudi Arabia for their onslaught of attacks against Yemen, and a new report has revealed that the Saudi royal family is still REFUSING to pay the massive bills that they owe our country. In spite of that delinquent payment, we are STILL sending them more weapons. Mike Papantonio & Farron […]
The Victorian Greens have demanded an independent inquiry into Australian police tactics and alleged excessive use of force today against antiwar protesters at the Land Forces expo in Melbourne.
State Greens leader Ellen Sandell said her party had lodged a formal protest to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).
“We have seen police throw flash grenades into crowds of protesters, use pepper spray indiscriminately, and whip people with horse whip,” she also said in a X post.
“These are military-style tactics used by police against protesters who are trying to have their say, as is their democratic right.”
Police used stun grenades and pepper spray and arrested 39 people as officers were pelted with rocks, manure and tomatoes in what has been described as Melbourne’s biggest police operation in two decades, reports Al Jazeera.
The Victorian Greens and I have demanded an independent inquiry into Victoria Police tactics and excessive use of force at the Land Forces protests in Melbourne today. pic.twitter.com/p8iLU073S0
The Land Forces expo protest. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot
The pro-Palestine protesters, also demanding a change in Canberra’s stance on Israel’s war in Gaza, clashed with the police outside the arms fair.
Thousands picketed the Land Forces 2024 military weapons exposition. Australia has seen numerous protests against the country’s arms industry’s involvement in the war over the past 11 months.
Protesting for ‘those killed’ in Gaza
“We’re protesting to stand up for all those who have been killed by the type of weapons [in Gaza] on display at the convention,” said Jasmine Duff from organiser Students for Palestine in a statement.
About 1800 police officers have been deployed at the Melbourne Convention Centre hosting the three-day weapons exhibition. Up to 25,000 people had previously been expected to turn up at the protest.
Two dozen people were reported as requiring medical treatment, said a Victoria state police spokesperson in a statement.
Demonstrators also lit fires in the street and disrupted traffic and public transport, while missiles were thrown at police horses.
However, no serious injuries were reported, according to police.
Deputy Greens leader backs protesters
In a speech to the Senate, the deputy federal leader of the Greens, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, offered her solidarity to “the thousands protesting in Melbourne today to say no to the business of war”.
Australian Greens Deputy Leader Senator Mehreen Faruqi . . . [Australia’s] Labor government is complicit in genocide”. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot“[The governing] Labor tries to distract and deflect, but there is no deflection. So long as we have defence contracts with Israeli weapons companies, the Labor government is complicit in genocide, so long as you refuse to impose sanctions on Israel, this Labor government is complicit in genocide, and there are no excuses for inaction,” she said.
“The UK has suspended some arms sales to Israel. Canada today is halting more arms sales to Israel.
“What will it take for [Australia’s] Labor government to take action against the apartheid state of Israel?”
Police used stun grenades and pepper spray and arrested 39 people at today’s Land Forces expo in Melbourne, Victoria. Image: V_Palestine20
Between tomorrow and Friday, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) will host a weapons bazaar that ought to be called “The Merchants of Death”.
The times for these merchants are positively bullish, given that total global military expenditure exceeded US$2.4 trillion last year, an increase of 6.8 percent in real terms from 2022.
“The Land Forces 2024 International Land Defence Exposition is the premier platform for interaction between defence, industry and government of all levels, to meet, to do business and discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the global land defence markets.”
The website goes on to describe the Land Defence Exposition as “the premier gateway to the land defence markets of Australia and the region, and a platform for interaction with major prime contractors from the United States and Europe”.
At the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in 2022, the event attracted 20,000 attendees, 810 “exhibitor organisations” from 25 countries, and ran 40 conferences, symposia and presentations.
From 30 nations, came 159 defence, government, industry and scientific delegations.
Land Forces 2024 is instructive as to how the military-industrial complex manifests. Featured background reading for the event involves, for instance, news about cultivating budding militarists.
Where better to start than in school?
School military ‘pathways’
From August 6, much approval is shown for the $5.1 million Federation Funding Agreement between the Australian government and the state governments of South Australia and West Australia to deliver “the Schools Pathways Programme (SPP)” as part of the Australian government’s Defence Industry Development Strategy.
The programme offers school children a chance to taste the pungent trimmings of industrial militarism — visits to military facilities, “project-based learning” and presentations.
Rather cynically, the SPP co-opts the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) aspect of government policy, carving up a direct link between school study and the defence industry.
“We need more young Australians studying STEM subjects in schools and developing skills for our future workforce,” insisted Education Minister Jason Clare. It is hard to disagree with that, but why weapons?
There is much discontent about the Land Forces exposition.
Victorian Greens MP Ellen Sandell and federal MP for Melbourne Adam Bandt wrote to Premier Jacinta Allan asking her to call off the arms event.
The party noted that such companies as Elbit Systems “and others that are currently fuelling . . . Israel’s genocide in Palestine, where 40,000 people have now been killed — will showcase and sell their products there”.
Demands on Israel dismissed
Allan icily dismissed such demands.
Disrupt Land Forces, which boasts 50 different activist collectives, has been preparing.
Defence Connect reported as early as June 4 that groups, including Wage Peace — Disrupt War and Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance, were planning to rally against the Land Force exposition.
The usual mix of carnival, activism and harrying have been planned over a week, with the goal of ultimately encircling the MCEC to halt proceedings.
Ahead of the event, the Victorian Labor government, the event’s sponsor, has mobilised 1800 more police officers from the regional areas.
Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines did his best to set the mood.
“If you are not going to abide by the law, if you’re not going to protest peacefully, if you’re not going to show respect and decency, then you’ll be met with the full force of the law.”
Warmongering press outlets
Let us hope the police observe those same standards.
Warmongering press outlets, the Herald Sun being a stalwart, warn of the “risks” that “Australia’s protest capital” will again be “held hostage to disruption and confrontation”, given the diversion of police.
Its August 15 editorial demonised the protesters, swallowing the optimistic incitements on the website of Disrupt Land Forces.
The editorial noted the concerns of unnamed senior police fretting about “the potential chaos outside MCEC at South Wharf and across central Melbourne”, the context for police to mount “one of the biggest security operations since the anti-vaccine/anti-lockdown protests at the height of covid in 2021–21 or the World Economic Forum chaos in 2000”.
Were it up to these editors, protesters would do better to stay at home and let the Victorian economy, arms and all, hum along.
The merchants of death could then go about negotiating the mechanics of murder in broad daylight; Victoria’s government would get its blood fill; and Melbournians could turn a blind eye to what oils the mechanics of global conflict.
The protests will, hopefully, shock the city into recognition that the arms trade is global, nefarious and indifferent as to the casualty count.
Dr Binoy Kampmark lectures in global studies at RMIT University. This article was first published by Green Left and is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.
Officials in the United States have said that Washington still does not “know with full certainty what transpired” when a US citizen was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last week, stressing that they were waiting for the findings of an Israeli investigation.
The US on Monday also appeared to reject calls for an independent investigation into the fatal shooting of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi,reports Al Jazeera.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel declined to acknowledge that Eygi was killed by an Israeli soldier, but he called for the process to “play out and for the facts to be gathered”.
He also urged Israel to “quickly and robustly conduct” its probe and make the findings public but confirmed the administration is not planning to independently investigate the killing — as Eygi’s family had requested.
“We are working closely to ascertain the facts, but there is not a State Department-led investigation that is going on,” Patel told a press briefing yesterday.
Eygi, 26, a Turkish-American citizen, was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper on Friday while attending a demonstration against the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in Beita, south of Nablus.
Israeli forces fired live ammunition, stun grenades and tear gas at demonstrators, with eyewitnesses saying Eygi was intentionally targeted even as she posed no threat.
Palestinian rights advocates and Eygi’s loved ones have been calling for accountability for her killing.
Earlier this month, following the killing in Gaza of US-Israeli captive Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the US Department of Justice quickly announced it was investigating his killing “and each and every one of Hamas’s brutal murders of Americans”.
Procession for Turkish American activist killed by Israeli forces. Video: Al Jazeera
Pressed on the double standard yesterday, Patel sought to differentiate Goldberg-Polin’s killing from the shooting of Eygi.
“Let’s make sure we are not conflating the direct murder of American-Israeli citizens, hostages, being held by a terrorist group,” he told reporters.
“Each circumstance is unique and different,” he added.
The department did not immediately answer a request by Al Jazeera to elaborate on that comment.
Patel also did not directly answer questions about how Eygi’s family and those of others killed by Israel could trust an investigation process handled by the perpetrators of their killings.
NoUS investigation After the White House said on Friday that it was “deeply disturbed” by the killing and that it had requested Israel to conduct an investigation, Eygi’s family pushed back and called for an independent one.
American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi . . . shot dead by an Israeli sniper and her family has called for an independent investigation. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot
“We welcome the White House’s statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Aysenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate,” they said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the White House said on Monday that US President Joe Biden had not yet spoken to the family.
Ahmad Abuznaid, the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USPCR), dismissed the US call for Israel to investigate its own forces.
Israeli authorities rarely ever prosecute troops for abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories despite reports of rampant rights violations against Palestinians.
“The first investigation should be into how the State Department continues to arm the state of Israel as it’s killed several US citizens and tens of thousands of Palestinians in the last year alone. That’s the primary investigation we’re waiting on the results for,” Abuznaid told Al Jazeera.
Margaret DeReus, executive director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding, also described the US call for an Israeli investigation as “wholly insufficient”.
“Israel doesn’t conduct transparent investigations and neither Israel nor the US hold the perpetrators of these killings accountable. You don’t rely on the criminal to investigate his crime,” DeReus said.
“Over the past nearly 11 months, President Biden has shown daily which lives he values and which lives he deems dispensable. He cannot place his allegiance to this genocidal regime over the lives of his own citizens,” she added.
‘Cover-ups’ over US citizens Israeli forces have killed several US citizens in recent years, but the Biden administration has consistently rejected calls for independent investigations into those incidents as well.
For example, in 2022, Washington resisted demands for a US-led probe into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli military in the West Bank, urging Israel to conduct its own probe instead.
Israeli authorities eventually dismissed the fatal shooting as an “accident” and refused to pursue criminal charges in the case.
Israeli and US media outlets reported months after the killing of Abu Akleh that the US Justice Department opened a probe into the shooting. But US officials have not publicly confirmed the existence of the investigation, whose findings remain unknown.
Families of the victims have condemned the decision to once again allow Israel to investigate a killing by its own forces.
“Israel does not do investigations; they do cover-ups,” Cindy Corrie, Rachel Corrie’s mother, told Democracy Now on Monday.
An Israeli soldier crushed Rachel Corrie to death with a bulldozer in Rafah in 2003. Her family spent years lobbying multiple administrations to launch an independent, US-led probe — to no avail.
“Our family worked for an investigation into Rachel’s killing, and we wanted some consequences out of that. And we hoped — even though we didn’t know the names of the people that would be killed in the future, we hoped that that would stop and it would not happen,” Cindy Corrie said.
Some advocates have argued that even a US-led investigation would not suffice.
“An international investigation, ideally by the ICC, must commence because Israeli authorities cannot be trusted to credibly investigate the killings of American citizens, and the US government is unwilling to hold Israel accountable,” human rights lawyer Jamil Dakwar, who co-represented the Corrie family in their civil case in Israeli courts, said.
Eygi, who was born in Antalya, Turkey but grew up in Seattle, Washington in the US, had recently graduated from the University of Washington, where she had participated in campus protests against US support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
She was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organisation.
In recent years, Beita has been the site of weekly demonstrations against the construction of new illegal Israeli outposts. Before Eygi, 17 Palestinian protesters were killed there since 2020, according to the group.
Pro-Palestinian anti-war activists in Australia have protested in Melbourne, disrupting a defence expo set to open on Wednesday.
Protesters gathered yesterday in front of companies connected to weapons manufacturing across Melbourne as police were called to prevent an escalation of the events, according to 7News Melbourne.
Many police cars and units were visible in front of company buildings to prevent an escalation of the protests.
Protests are expected to move across the city to different areas ahead of the Land Forces Military Expo on Wednesday, with more than 25,000 participants, potentially one of the biggest in the country in decades.
On Sunday, Extinction Rebellion activists blocked Montague Street near the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre where the expo is being held.
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Australia have been urging the government to impose sanctions on Israel for its genocidal war on Gaza.
Israel has continued a devastating military offensive in the Gaza Strip since an attack by Hamas resistance forces on October 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 91,700 wounded, according to local health authorities.
As the Israeli war enters its 12th month, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel has also intensified its attacks on the Occupied West Bank in recent weeks, killing at least 692 Palestinians.
Extinction Rebellion disruption
Formed in 2018, Extinction Rebellion has employed disruptive tactics targeting roads and airports to denounce the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, reports Al Jazeera.
However, since the war on Gaza, they have also taken a strong position on the fighting and have called for an immediate ceasefire.
“If we believe in climate and ecological justice, we must seek justice in all forms. The climate and ecological emergency has roots in centuries of colonial violence, exploitation and oppression,” the UK-based group said in a statement in November.
We are deeply concerned with the misleading nature of the journalism presented in your recent coverage of the escalating crisis in Gaza and the West Bank. By focusing on specific language and framing, while leaving out the necessary context of international law, the broadcast misrepresents the reality of the situation faced by Palestinians.
This has the effect of perpetuating a narrative that could be seen and experienced as biased and dehumanising.
This ruling highlights the severity of Israel’s actions and the international community’s obligation to hold those responsible accountable. However, TVNZ’s coverage has often failed to reflect this legal and humanitarian perspective.
Instead it echos biased narratives that obscure these realities. This includes the expansion of genocidal like acts to the West Bank and the serious concerns about the potential for mass ethnic cleansing and further escalation of grave human rights violations.
Under international law, including the Genocide Convention, media organisations have a crucial responsibility to report accurately and avoid inciting violence or supporting those committing genocidal acts.
Complicity in genocide can occur when media coverage supports or justifies the actions of perpetrators, contributing to the dehumanisation of victims and the perpetuation of violence. By failing to provide balanced reporting and instead contributing to harmful stereotypes and misinformation, TVNZ risks being complicit in these grave violations of human rights.
Tragic history of attacks
New Zealand’s own tragic history of attacks on Muslims, such as the Al Noor Mosque shootings, should serve as a powerful reminder of the consequences of dehumanising narratives. The media plays a pivotal role in shaping public perception, and it is deeply concerning to see TVNZ contributing to the marginalisation and demonisation of Muslims and Palestinians through biased reporting.
We urge you to review your coverage of the genocide to ensure that it is fair, balanced, and aligned with international law and journalistic ethics. Specific examples of biased reporting include recent stories on Gaza that failed to mention the ICJ ruling or the context of an illegal occupation.
This includes decades of systematic land confiscation, military control, restrictions on movement, and the suppression of Palestinian voices through media censorship and the shutdown of local newspapers. Accurate and responsible journalism is essential in fostering an informed and empathetic public, especially on matters as sensitive and impactful as this.
On August 29, 2024, TVNZ aired a news story that exemplifies problematic media framing when reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The story begins by benignly describing Israel’s “entry into the West Bank” as part of a “counter-terrorism strike”— the largest operation in 10 years — implying that the context is solely anti-terrorism.
Automatically, the use of the word terrorism, sets the narrative of “good Israel” and “bad Palestinian” for the remainder of the news story. However, the report fails to mention numerous critical aspects, such as the provocations by Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque and threatening to build a synagogue at Islam’s third holiest site, or Israel’s escalations and violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The Convention considers the transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population into the territory it occupies a war crime, and under international law, Palestinians have the right to resist such occupation, a right recognised and protected by international legal frameworks.
The story uses footage, presumably provided by the IDF, that portrays the Israeli military as a calm, moral force entering “terrorist strongholds”, which is at odds with abundant open-source footage showing the IDF destroying infrastructure, terrorising civilians, and protecting armed settlers as they displace Palestinians from their homes.
Bulldozers used to destroy Palestinian homes
It portrays the IDF entering the town with bulldozers, but makes no mention of how those bulldozers are used to destroy Palestinian homes and infrastructure to make way for Israeli settlements.
Furthermore, the report fails to mention that just last month, the Israeli government announced its plans to officially recognise five more illegal settlements in the West Bank and expand existing settlements, understandably exacerbating tensions.
The narrative is further reinforced by giving airtime to an Israeli spokesperson who frames the operation as a defensive counter-terrorism initiative. The journalist echoes this narrative, positioning Israel as merely responding to threats.
Although a brief soundbite from a Palestinian Red Crescent worker expresses fears of what might happen in the West Bank, the report fails to provide any counter-narrative to Israel’s self-defence claim.
The story concludes by listing the number of deaths in the West Bank since October 19, implying that the situation began with Hamas’s actions in Gaza on that date, rather than addressing the illegal Israeli occupation since 1967, as the root cause of the violence.
Why is this important? The news story is a violation of the Accuracy and Impartiality Standard with TVNZ failing to present a balanced view of the situation in Palestine, potentially misleading the audience on critical aspects of the conflict.
Secondly, the news story violates the Harm and Offence Standard, being an insufficient and inflammatory portrayal of the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine contributing to public misperception and harm.
Additionally, there is a concern regarding the Fairness Standard, with individuals and groups affected by the conflict not being given fair opportunity to respond or be represented in the broadcast.
These breaches are significant as they undermine the integrity of the reporting and fail to uphold the standards of responsible journalism. Holding our media outlets to high journalistic standards is essential, particularly in the context of the genocide in Gaza.
The media plays a significant part in either exposing or obscuring the realities of such atrocities. When news outlets fail to report accurately or neglect to label the situation in Gaza as genocide, they contribute to a narrative that minimises the severity of the crisis and enables and prolongs Israel’s social license to continue it’s genocidal actions.
Should there be no substantial changes to address our concerns, we will escalate this matter to the Broadcasting Standards Authority for further review.
A new report has uncovered the disgusting pipeline between the Pentagon and defense contractors – where the Pentagon sends TRILLIONS of dollars worth of contracts to these companies in exchange for getting lucrative jobs for themselves. Then, grocery store chains used the pandemic to raise prices on everything, and those higher prices appear to be […]
Myanmar’s junta jailed 144 civilians for supporting insurgents more than three months after they were detained following a massacre of nearly 80 people in their village, which residents blamed on junta troops, families of the detained told Radio Free Asia on Monday.
Relatives of the jailed residents of Byain Phyu in Rakhine state dismissed the convictions, denying they had supported Arakan Army insurgents, who have been making significant advances on the battlefield against the military.
“How can we support the AA when day to day we’re struggling ourselves and hardly making ends meet?” said a relative of one of those jailed on Friday under a law against unlawful association by a military court in the main prison in the western city of Sittwe.
“But the court didn’t accept this and convicted them anyway.”
Byain Phyu is on the outskirts of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, and junta forces have been keen to ensure that AA fighters can not dig into positions there from which to attack the city.
Shortly after the May 29 killings, a junta spokesman said the military had conducted a clearance operation there and rebel forces had attacked with “drone bombs and artillery”.
At the time, the military said it found bunkers built from sandbags in houses throughout the village, which it said were positions for AA soldiers.
The military detained some 300 villagers at the time. Only four people on trail on Friday were found not guilty, residents said, adding that more than 150 more were due to be tried by the court on Monday.
The AA has made unprecedented gains in fighting in Rakhine state since late last year, leaving junta forces increasingly confined to pockets of territory, including Sittwe.
A Sittwe resident, who also declined to be identified for safety reasons, said junta forces were enraged by their setbacks and were taking out their frustration on civilians.
“Sources close to the court told us before that only 38 people would be jailed and the rest would be released, but days before the verdict, the Sittwe-based Regional Command Headquarters was attacked with heavy weapons by the Arakan Army,” he said.
“It seems as if the attack might have caused casualties, so they convicted the villagers.”
Neither the junta’s main spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, nor the Rakhine states junta spokesperson, Hla Thein, responded to attempts by RFA to contact them for information.
Byain Phyu is largely deserted now with nearly 2,000 of villagers sheltering in monasteries and schools in Sittwe, residents said, with junta troops deployed to prevent anyone returning.
In Sittwe, nervous junta soldiers are conducting many checks and detaining people, residents said.
The AA has also made gains in both the north and south of Rakhine state.
