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Category: Palestine

  • Global Sumud Flotilla Heads Back To Port Due To Inclement Weather

    The Global Sumud Flotilla, dubbed the largest in history, was forced back to Barcelona on 1 September after storms struck Catalonia, with organizers saying the decision was taken to prioritize safety as winds reached over 56 kilometers per hour.

    The convoy is comprised of around 20 boats with participants from 44 countries and is reportedly carrying over 300 tons of aid to help relieve the starving people of Gaza, with additional vessels expected to join the expedition in Tunis and Sicily.

    The fleet departed Barcelona a day earlier under the cheers of thousands of supporters who gathered at the departure point, in an effort to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, but turned back fearing that the smaller vessels could not withstand the storm.

    The post Global Sumud Flotilla Heads Back To Port Due To Inclement Weather appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Why Arab Campaigns To Boycott Israel Aren’t Working

    Under the urgency of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, many of the public tactics adopted by grassroots Arab movements to pressure their governments to boycott Israel and reflect the will of their people simply aren’t working. After nearly two years of genocide, the conventional tools of the Arab boycott campaign are hitting a wall.

    This failure is not only about tactics — it is also about a deeper misreading of where the centers of power lie in Arab countries. This has led to the inability to pressure governments into taking action. Power is no longer centralized in a colonial regime that directly governs us, but is rather scattered and diffused everywhere. But if we understand hegemonic power in this way, then how can we channel our energies strategically into where the boycott movement can have a larger impact?

    The post Why Arab Campaigns To Boycott Israel Aren’t Working appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Walden Bello on Gaza and the media silence: ‘It isn’t fear of the Zionists. It is far worse’

    Israel is boosting its Zionist influence in the Pacific. Australia has exposed such media influence. The media in the Philippines is now under scrutiny. And Aotearoa New Zealand?

    COMMENTARY: By Walden Bello

    When the Flores and Velasco articles and posts whitewashing Israel’s genocidal policies in Gaza first came out a few days ago, I was waiting for people in the Philippine media to criticise and denounce them since they were so obviously hack pieces that did not meet the minimal standards of decent journalism.

    I waited and waited, until I realised that there were no media people or organisations that were going to speak up.

    Where were the progressive and liberal voices, apart from those of Richard Heydarian and Inday Espina Varona?

    Walden Bello's earlier article in Asia Pacific Report on August 31
    Walden Bello’s earlier article in Asia Pacific Report on August 31 exposing “hack propaganda”. Image: APR screenshot

    This was the reason I felt compelled to issue the statement condemning the sordid reporting of Flores and Velasco.

    I was not out to do an expose, but that’s what it effectively became. In my subsequent posts, I raised the question of what was the reason just two journalists were willing to challenge the stories.

    Was it a case of circling the wagons to protect errant colleagues? Was it fear of ties with the Israeli state being exposed by the Israelis in retaliation? Was it fear of physical or political reprisals by the Israelis?

    These may have played a part, but the deafening silence meant there was something bigger at work.

    This morning I received a long text from a prominent media practitioner that provided the answer. It’s not fear. It’s actually worse: agreement with Zionist ideology and policies, including genocide.

    That the person asked me not to divulge his name for fear of suffering retribution from his colleagues stunned me. OMG, is this how deep the rot is with our media? ? Here is his disconcerting revelation to me:

    ‘Most are prejudiced’
    “Yes some are scared, but honestly most of them actually are prejudiced against Muslims and side with the Zionists anytime.

    “Most believe in the US religious fascist Zionist narrative, and also cannot accept that the world has changed — that the US is no longer the unipower it was decades ago, and that Russia, China, India and BRICS are on the rise.

    “And also, you should hear them talk about how Filipino Muslims should be wiped off the face of the earth.

    “These are college graduates from UP [University of the Philippines], UST [University of Santo Tomas], Ateneo who studied media.

    “Whenever I would voice empathy for the Muslim minority here, or Palestinians, I’d be called stupid. Same also because I refused to join in the corruption.

    “Oh, and also they have the same prejudice against China and the Chinese and mistake the Japanese imperial army atrocities as something China did to us!

    “Also this is not limited to media. I have batchmates from UP Diliman, medical doctors, lawyers, engineers who also have the same prejudices.”

    He added: “Some of these journalists have won awards abroad.”

    Walden Bello is a Filipino academic and analyst of Global South issues who was awarded Amnesty International Philippines’ Most Distinguished Defender of Human Rights Award in 2023. He has also served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Deja vu-Lebanon

    In 1982 the world watched as Israeli troops invaded Lebanon, taking over the capital city of Beirut. The Americans and International Community made a deal with Israel that if the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) withdrew from Lebanon, Israel would retreat from Beirut.

    Under a guarantee that the women, children and elderly would be protected by an International peace keeping force, all Palestinian men of fighting age left Lebanon for foreign shores. What happened after the PLO left is well documented. September 1982, Israeli forces surrounded Sabra/Shatilla allowing their proxy Christian Phalange militia to massacre over three thousand civilians.

    There are credible witness accounts of rapes of young girls, mass slaughter, and incidents of pregnant women having their unborn babies ripped from their wombs. Israel provided bulldozers to scoop up the bodies and bury them in mass graves. Palestinians in Shatilla Refugee Camp, describe night as becoming day, because the IDF fired flares to light up the sky making escape for many Palestinian civilians impossible. The massacre lasted three days before the US and international community ordered a halt.

    Forty three years have passed: the US, along with their allies Saudi Arabia and Israel, are telling the Lebanese they should disarm the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah. On this occasion there is no requirement for Israel to stop it’s military attacks in South Lebanon and the Bekka Valley. There is no promise of stopping the Al-Jolani, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) attacks on the northern broader of Lebanon, or the eastern border region. The Lebanese are being told that disarming Hezbollah will be better for them since Israel is an ally of the West, as is Al-Jolani, (formerly ISIS) the newly recognised leader of Syria.

    Western mainstream media reports on the current US demands are deplete of historical context. There is no recognition that Hezbollah represents a third of the Lebanese Government and the role it plays in protecting the sovereignty of Lebanese territory. There is no mention either, of Israel’s expansionist ambitions of establishing its Greater Israel (Eretz Yisrael), even though the Israeli political leadership speak openly about it.

    Hezbollah formed as a direct result of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and the massacre of Palestinian civilians. Ordinary Lebanese citizens – teachers, doctors, builders, tradesmen and so forth, joined Hezbollah in order to create a resistance movement capable of protecting Lebanon from Israel’s recurring attacks on their country.

    Israel’s ambition to expand its territorial borders into all of Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, connects the people of these three countries in a bond of brotherhood.

    No American, Saudi or Israeli official has a right to dictate policy to the Lebanese on how they should govern their country. They have no right to interfere on matters relating to security and defence. Only the Lebanese Government, with the full support of the people, have a right to make such decisions.

    Political Zionism, is a fundamentalist doctrine that holds to the belief that historic Palestine and beyond, belongs to the Jews. The implementation of this doctrine has resulted in a settler colonialist enterprise that is supported financially and militarily by the US, Christian Evangelicals and most of the Western Establishment. Missing from this enterprise for it to be legally and morally binding, however was the pre-requisite that the transfer of statehood from Palestine to Israel be ratified by the people whose country was requisitioned.

    Resistance Movements that have grown out of this initial injustice and the humanitarian crimes committed over the last hundred years by modern-day Zionist Israel, have been labelled as terrorist organizations by Israel, US, and its close allies. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Ansarullah and more recently Palestine Action, a U.K. group, all fall within this framework of being a proscribed terrorist organization, hence anyone who speaks out in support of their actions is arrested under section 13 of the terrorism act of 2000.

    It has become evident that International Law, once perceived as a moral law set up to address international war crimes, has, in the case of Israel, been repeatedly undermined. The International Court of Justice in coming to the conclusion that plausible genocide was taking place in Gaza, along with the International Criminal Court at The Hague, have faced enormous political opposition in their attempt to give the proper name to the crime of genocide and serve arrest warrants on those deemed guilty.

    In International Law those who live under occupation- (A they decide – including armed resistance. As a deeply criminal occupying power, Israel does not have the right to defend itself against those under its occupation. Furthermore, in International Law, all states and movements that are aware that a genocide is being committed are obligated to take action to prevent that genocide from continuing.

    In contrast, to the resistance movements that have found themselves listed as terrorist, it is well documented that the US, along with UK and Israeli, have at different times, financed, trained and supported mercenary terrorist militants, such as al-Jolani’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), ISIS, and Al-Qaeda.

    The International infrastructure is geared toward sustaining the ability for Israel to commit genocide and expand into its neighbouring countries . For justice to ever be achieved, the legitimacy of resistance movements needs to be recognised. Lebanon is currently being given the message: ‘go along with our demands to disarm Hezbollah or resist and face the consequences’. In reality, as with the withdrawal of the PLO from Lebanon in 1982, there are no guarantees that Lebanon will be safe from Israeli military incursion and occupation.

    Given the current threat posed by Israel’s clear expansionist ambitions, disarming Hezbollah would be akin to leaving the back gate open for the thieves to enter. Most Lebanese support Hezbollah, including non-Shia. Short of an absolute dismantlement of the Zionist Israeli enterprise it is unlikely that Hezbollah will agree to disarm.

    The post Deja vu-Lebanon first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • International Association of Genocide Scholars: Israel Is Committing Genocide

    Israel’s actions in Gaza “meet the legal definition of genocide,” an overwhelming majority of the world’s leading scholars on the subject said on Monday. The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) has passed a three-page resolution that outlines a wide range of Israeli actions that it says constitute genocide, including deliberate attacks against civilians, starvation…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Filton 24 hunger striker tells the Canary government is monitoring her under counter extremism

    Because of the government’s abuse of counter-terrorism powers, Teuta Hoxha from the Palestine Action Filton 24, has been held in prison without trial for the last nine months, and has been on hunger strike since 11 August as a protest against the denial of her basic rights. She says herself and her Palestine Action codefendants are being monitored under the Counter Extremism Unit.

    Arrested for taking action against genocide

    Teuta, known as T, is one of the Filton 24 political prisoners, arrested in relation to an action in August last year, against a site belonging to Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems, in Filton, Bristol. Palestine Action activists allegedly broke into the factory and caused over £1 million in damages, in order to disrupt the production of weapons used against Palestinians in the occupied territory, including the genocide in Gaza. Although detained under the Terrorism Act-which gives the authorities more room for abuse in their sentencing and treatment-T and her co-defendants – who are aged between 20 and 52 – face charges of criminal damage, aggravated burglary, and violent disorder.

    T recalls the MET and counter-terrorism officers turning up at her aunt’s house at 7am, the day of her arrest, in November. She told the Canary:

    The officers, said they didn’t need a warrant, now they had found me in the house, and were advising each other to remove their name badges. I later learnt they had raided one of my previous addresses before going to my aunt’s house.

    During the search of her home, one of the officers went through all her cookery books in the kitchen, and then turned to her and said ‘I prefer Jewish cookbooks’, trying to get some sort of response from my Aunt. This is the kind of provocation and insinuation that they’re trying to place on our family and friends, forcing us to want to hold certain views, that are not ours.

    As a result of this raid, my Aunt has sustained a lot of trauma. Her hair came out in clumps for weeks after this, and she didn’t want to be in her house any more.

    Filton 24

    Extremism unit are monitoring the Filton 24

    After her arrest, T was taken to the counter-terrorism unit at Newbury Station, and was held for four days before being interviewed. She was then transferred to Bronzefield Prison, where she remained until early July, after which she was taken to HMP Peterborough. This move, which T says was due to a shortage of space at Bronzefield, means her family, who are based in London, now have a six hour round trip in a car, or a £100 train journey, if they want to visit.

    T, who says she was told by the counter-terrorism unit that her codefendants and herself are being monitored by the Extremism Unit, says they are asked many questions:

    They’ve asked what beliefs I hold, where I come from, if I belong to a certain group. I was even asked by a counter-terrorism officer what my views were on the decision to proscribe Palestine Action.  Regarding this monitoring of us, my understanding is that it happened after the proscription of Palestine Action. We do not hold extremist view, and are just normal people. Spending time with my codies in prison, I can testify they are very generous, kind, wonderful people, who are absolutely of benefit to society.

    The Filton 24 political prisoners have reportedly been reclassified as ‘terrorists’ in prison, which has resulted in their rights being taken away. T’s  recreational activities were stopped, her mail withheld, and her library job at the prison was taken away because, she was told, she holds extremist views, and it was a position with access to a lot of prisoners:

    Filton 24: political prisoners, but called terrorists

    T told the Canary:

    In Bronzefield I worked as a one to one mentor, so when was I meant to have developed these extremist views? Did I not supposedly hold those views then? I guess the only thing that I can see that has potentially changed is the proscription of Palestine Action. If this is the case, I am being punished retrospectively, which shouldn’t be allowed, because I was in prison seven months already by the time of the government ruling.

    These past 14 days in HMP Peterborough I’ve been called a terrorist, heard an officer tell another prisoner that supporting Palestine is terrorism, been accused of being part of a terrorist group, and been placed on report for saying Free Palestine. The case was dismissed! Although the Pathfinder risk assessment group, which operates under the joint extremism unit, has agreed I pose no risk in a library job, security have refused to give me this in writing. I don’t accept that I hold extremist views.

    Calling for these rights to be reinstated, T has been on hunger strike since 11 August but disturbingly says:

    I was told by officers that being on hunger strike is not worth it because the prison doesn’t care what happens to you. This is something I believe to be true, as it took eight days before a nurse came to see me.

    Prison staff are not fulfilling their duty of care towards T, during her hunger strike

    This delay meant T was left without essential medical supervision during that critical period. When finally examined by a doctor, her symptoms such as weakness, tingling in her limbs, and a rash were noted, but neither the prison nor the medical staff have made any effort to protect her from potential long-term health damage. Instead, she has repeatedly been pressured to sign a waiver that would release them from any responsibility if her condition worsens or if anything happens to her. T continues refusing to sign this form.

    She told the Canary:

    For me, the hunger strike is about autonomy. Your body is the one way you can fight against the system, because in every other way they’ve taken everything from you. They lock you up when they want, give you red warnings just because they’ve got that power…So, for me, hunger strike is a very important and necessary tool, and the notion that this is one area they can’t control gives me strength.

    Take action and contact the prison in support of T

    But while her hunger strike is giving T mental strength, her body is getting weaker. The lack of action from staff represents a serious neglect of their duty of care, with no measures being taken to safeguard her health or prevent permanent injury.

    As of 29 August, on day 19 of her hunger strike, two of T’s needs have now been met, but she says she is still waiting to be reinstated into her library job. So her hunger strike continues:

    Each day that passes without action increases the risk to her life, and T’s supporters are now calling for her to be transferred to a hospital for independent medical checks to be carried out.

    CAGE is running a campaign to hold the prison accountable and to demand justice for T. The organisation is calling on her supporters to:

    • Call HMP Peterborough, and talk about their concerns: 01733 217500
    • Send an email to the prison governor- a template for the letter can be found here.

    Use of counter-terrorism legislation against the Filton 24 is unjust

    All members of the Filton 24 have pleaded not guilty to the charges. They have faced prolonged pre-trial detention, with many already held on remand for nine months to a year or more without trial.

    The court trials have been repeatedly delayed. The trials for the earliest arrests were scheduled to begin in November 2025, with some cases- such as T’s trial scheduled for April 2026- extending into mid-2026, reflecting serious concerns about the right to prompt and fair trials given the use of counter-terrorism legislation and extended remand periods.

    The group was originally known as the ‘Filton 18’, and consisted of 18 Palestine Action activists arrested in connection with the direct action against the Elbit Systems factory in Filton, Bristol, in August 2024, but as UK counter-terrorism police raided homes and arrested more individuals believed to be involved in the campaign against Elbit, the number increased to 24.

    Elbit’s Filton factory exports to the occupation

    Elbit Systems, which markets its weapons by boasting they are ‘battle-tested’, is the main provider of surveillance systems and weapons to the occupation’s military-and it has used these extensively during the genocide in Gaza, as well as the West Bank and Lebanon. Despite Elbit UK’s claims of distancing from the genocidal activities of its parent company in Israel, an investigation in January, by Declassified UK, found cargo documents showing shipments from Filton to Israel in 2024.

    Human rights groups and UN experts have criticized the British authorities’ treatment of the activists, arguing that counter-terror laws have been misapplied to what are essentially political protest activities. In June of this year, a coalition of 21 international legal associations and human rights groups warned that these arrests, under misused counter-terrorism laws, acutely threaten the rule of law in the UK.

    The Filton 24 case is part of a broader trend here in the UK, of targeting not only those advocating for Palestinian rights, and acting and speaking up against the genocide in Gaza, but also our right to protest, which have been steadily eroding over the years.

    Erosion of our right to protest in UK amounts to state repression

    According to the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol), we are now seeing protests being treated as a threat, activism classed as extremist, and a sharp rise in the use of counter terror powers at protests.

    In its ‘State of Protest’ report, Netpol says the aggressive police use of new anti-protest laws, coupled with a growing portrayal of protesters as alleged threats to democracy, has grown so routine and so severe that it now amounts to state repression, with Netpol’s Campaigns Coordinator Kevin Blowe saying:

    What we have seen – and what we have heard from protesters and organisers – is the severity of the crackdown on the right to protest finally tipping over into state repression.

    Featured image and additional images supplied

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • 250+ media ‘black out’ front pages and broadcasts to protest Israeli killing of journalists in Gaza

    Reporters Without Borders

    In an unprecedented international operation organised by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the global campaigning movement Avaaz, more than 250 news outlets from over 70 countries simultaneously blacked out their front pages and website homepages, and interrupt their broadcasting to condemn the murder of journalists by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

    Together, these newsrooms — including Asia Pacific Report, Evening Report and Pacific Media Watch — have demanded an end to impunity for Israeli crimes against Gaza’s reporters, the emergency evacuation of reporters seeking to leave the Strip and that foreign press be granted independent access to the territory.

    For the first time in recent history, newsrooms across the world have coordinated a large-scale editorial protest in solidarity with journalists in Gaza.

    The front pages of print newspapers were published in black with a strong written message.

    The Reporters Without Borders "blacked out" website home page
    The Reporters Without Borders “blacked out” website home page today. Image: RSF screenshot APR

    Television and radio stations interrupted their programmes to broadcast a joint statement.

    Online media outlets blacked out their homepages or published a banner as a sign of solidarity.

    Individual journalists have also joined the campaign and posted messages on their social media accounts.

    About 220 journalists have been killed during Israel’s current war on Gaza since it began on 7 October 2023, according to RSF data.

    However, independent analysis by Al Jazeera reveals that at least 278 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel over the past 22 months, including 10 from the network.

    On the night of August 10 alone, the Israeli army killed six journalists in a targeted strike against Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif.

    Al Jazeera's "blacked out" for Gaza journalists website home page
    Al Jazeera’s “blacked out” for Gaza journalists website home page today. Image: AJ screenshot APR

    Fifteen days later, on August 25, the Israeli army killed five journalists in two consecutive strikes.

    Parallel to these killings, the Israeli army has barred foreign journalists from entering the Strip for nearly two years, leaving Palestinian journalists to cover the war while under fire.

    “At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.,” said Thibaut Bruttin, director-general of RSF.

    “This isn’t just a war against Gaza, it’s a war against journalism. Journalists are being targeted, killed and defamed. Without them, who will alert us to the famine?

    Who will expose war crimes? Who will show us the genocides?


    “Shame on our profession for silence.”     Video: Al Jazeera

    “Ten years after the unanimous adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2222, the whole world is witnessing the erosion of guarantees of international law for the protection of journalists.

    “Solidarity from newsrooms and journalists around the world is essential. They should be thanked — this fraternity between reporters is what will save press freedom.

    “Solidarity will save all freedoms.”

    The "blacked out" home page of Asia Pacific Report
    The “blacked out” home page of Asia Pacific Report today.

    In line with the call launched by RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in June, the media outlets involved in this campaign are making four demands.

    • We demand the protection of Palestinian journalists and an end to the impunity for crimes perpetrated by the Israeli army against them in the Gaza Strip;
    • We demand the foreign press be granted independent access to the Gaza Strip;
    • We demand that governments across the world host Palestinian journalists seeking evacuation from Gaza; and
    • With the opening of the 80th UN General Assembly taking place in eight days, we demand strong action from the international community and call on the UN Security Council to stop the Israeli army’s crimes against Palestinian journalists

    More than 250 media outlets in over 70 countries around the world prepared to join the operation on Monday, 1 September.

    They include numerous daily newspapers and news websites: Mediapart (France), Al Jazeera (Qatar), The Independent (United Kingdom), +972 Magazine (Israel/Palestine), Local Call (Israel/Palestine), InfoLibre (Spain), Forbidden Stories (France), Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany), Der Freitag (Germany), RTVE (Spain), L’Humanité (France), The New Arab (United Kingdom), Daraj (Lebanon), New Bloom (Taiwan), Photon Media (Hong Kong), La Voix du Centre (Cameroon), Guinée Matin (Guinea), The Point (Gambia), L’Orient Le Jour (Lebanon), Media Today (South Korea), N1 (Serbia), KOHA (Kosovo), Public Interest Journalism Lab (Ukraine), Il Dubbio (Italy), Intercept Brasil (Brazil), Agência Pública (Brazil), Le Soir (Belgium), La Libre (Belgium), Le Desk (Morocco), Semanario Brecha (Uruguay), Asia Pacific Report, Evening Report and Stuff (New Zealand) and many others.

    International media have been denied free access to the Gaza Strip since the war broke out.

    A few selected outlets have embedded reporters with Israeli army units operating in Gaza under the condition of strict military censorship.

    Israel has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

    Pacific Media Watch cooperates with Reporters Without Borders.

    One of Asia Pacific Report editor David Robie's "blacked out" social media pages
    One of Asia Pacific Report editor David Robie’s “blacked out” social media pages today. APR screenshot

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Gaza, where just a sip of water could kill you

    In Gaza, water is no longer life. It has become like a transparent bullet, entering the body quietly and killing it slowly. The cup that a child raises to his lips may carry delayed death inside it.

    Gaza: where water is now a rare commodity

    In every home, there is a story of thirst. Mothers distribute a few drops to their children as if it were a rare medicine.

    A child wakes up at night screaming “Mama… I’m thirsty,” and the mother finds only salty water (unfit for drinking), so she pours it into the cup with a trembling heart, praying that it will not turn into poison that kills her little one.

    During the ongoing war, Israel has taken a series of steps that have turned the water crisis in Gaza into an existential disaster.

    The Israeli army bombed the main desalination plants and destroyed distribution lines and pipes, leading to an almost complete halt in water supplies. With fuel imports blocked and electricity cut off, water wells, pumping stations, and desalination plants were disrupted, and the networks stopped working completely, leaving neighborhoods without a drop of water.

    Without pumping, salt water seeped into the aquifer, and untreated sewage mixed with the networks after the treatment plants stopped working.

    Thus, the little water that remained turned into a salty, polluted mixture, closer to poison than to life, making every sip in Gaza a real possibility of slow death.

    Before the war, 97% of Gaza’s water was undrinkable, but today there is no water left to distinguish between what is drinkable and what is not. Doctors are recording alarming figures.

    Children are suffering from severe diarrhea, others from liver infections and kidney failure, dehydration is killing the weak, and diseases are spreading as if death were dissolving in every drop.

    One and a half million people in Gaza have no clean water. Two-thirds of children go to bed thirsty or drink contaminated water. These are not collateral damages of war, but slow genocide.

    Israel does not need missiles to kill

    A war fought not with bullets, but with water cuts.

    In Gaza, Israel does not need missiles to kill. It is enough to let people raise a cup to their mouths, only to discover that what they thought was life… was death.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • BREAKING: 86% of experts now agree Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

    On Monday 1 September, the Association of Leading Genocide Scholars announced that Israel’s policies in the Gaza Strip meet the legal criteria for genocide, according to the association’s president.

    Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

    According to Reuters, the decision was supported by 86% of the 500 members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, confirming that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide under Article II of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)”.

    The resolution called on Israel to immediately cease acts classified as genocide and to comply with international standards for the protection of civilians, emphasizing the international community’s responsibility to monitor the situation and ensure the protection of human rights in the region.

    Israel continues its war of extermination in Gaza, which is approaching its third year, leaving more than 62,000 martyrs and tens of thousands of wounded and missing, in addition to destroying the education and health sectors, targetting journalists, and deliberately creating a famine that has led to the deaths of hundreds, most of them children.

    This decision is an exceptional step by the Association of Scholars in highlighting possible violations of international law in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, and reflects the importance of the role of legal experts and researchers in monitoring policies and assessing their impact on civilians.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • A mystery disease is starting to sweep through the Gaza Strip

    The Gaza Strip is witnessing alarming health developments, with thousands of cases of a mysterious illness whose nature has not yet been determined, at a time when the health system is suffering from near-total collapse due to Israel’s genocide and its ongoing siege that has lasted for more than ten months.

    Gaza: mystery disease engulfing the Strip

    The Ministry of Health in Gaza has stated that the symptoms include high fever, joint pain, coughing, runny nose, and severe diarrhea, noting that medical staff are unable to determine the nature of the disease due to the lack of even the most basic laboratory testing equipment.

    The director general of the ministry, Dr. Munir al-Barsh, said that doctors in Gaza “practice medicine with primitive means,” adding: “We use bricks to set broken legs, perform operations under the light of mobile phones, and perform manual resuscitation when the electricity is cut off due to fuel shortages.” He considered that these conditions reflect the magnitude of the tragedy that the sector is experiencing, warning that the world’s silence gives the occupation the green light to continue targeting vital sectors and humanitarian workers as part of a policy of genocide.

    For his part, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, warned of the rapid spread of the virus within shelters crowded with displaced persons. He explained that the symptoms in those infected appeared to be more serious than expected, with cases of high fever, severe joint pain, coughing, and severe diarrhea lasting for days, stressing that children and older people are most vulnerable to complications.

    According to preliminary estimates, thousands of cases have already been recorded, although it is difficult to determine the actual numbers due to the overcrowding in the tents and displacement centers. Doctors attribute the rapid spread of the virus to weakened immunity caused by malnutrition, lack of safe drinking water, and lack of hygiene and sanitation supplies, as well as the crowding of displaced persons in confined spaces, which has created a fertile environment for the spread of disease.

    An unknown virus

    Abu Salmiya stressed that the unknown virus places an additional burden on an already exhausted health system, issuing an urgent appeal to the World Health Organization and international institutions to provide diagnostic tools and develop urgent treatment protocols, warning that the continuation of the situation without intervention could lead to an unprecedented health disaster.

    This development comes amid a comprehensive humanitarian disaster in the sector under the weight of Israeli attacks and a suffocating blockade that restricts the entry of aid. Since the war began on 7 October 2023, the genocide has left more than 62,000 dead and 159,000 wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to more than 9,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced, while famine continues to claim lives, with 317 Palestinians, including 121 children, recorded as having died from hunger and malnutrition.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Israel’s educide in Gaza deepens as 660,000 students face no education

    The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that 660,000 children in the Gaza Strip are out of school for the third consecutive year due to Israel’s ongoing war of genocide that has been raging for 23 months.

    Meanwhile, the West Bank is preparing to open its new school year on 1 September

    Gaza: education system completely destroyed

    UNRWA added in a statement that “the war in Gaza is a war on children and must stop. Children must be protected at all times.”

    It affirmed the right of children to education, explaining that “660,000 children are out of school for the third consecutive year due to the war.”

    The UN agency continued: “In Gaza, children are at risk of becoming a lost generation.”

    It called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to allow children to return to their schools and their lives.

    On Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced the opening of the new school year in the West Bank in early September.

    The ministry explained in posts on Facebook that the Gaza Strip has about 700,000 students who have been suspended after two years of deprivation and targeting.

    It noted that 70,000 students have been denied access to secondary school over two academic years.

    Since the start of the genocide, Israel has killed more than 17,085 school students and more than 1,261 university students in the Gaza Strip, and injured more than 25,213 school students and 2,671 university students, according to the latest statistics from the ministry for the period between 7 October 2023, and 26 August 2025.

    The West Bank

    In the West Bank, Israel killed about 108 school students and 35 university students during the same period, injured about 739 school students and more than 231 university students, and arrested 372 school students and more than 413 university students, according to the ministry.

    Regarding the targeting of educational personnel, the ministry stated that Israel killed 739 school teachers and 226 university professors in Gaza, and injured 3,091 school teachers and more than 1,421 university professors.

    It also stated that the Israeli army killed five schoolteachers in the West Bank and injured about 21 others, arresting more than 182, while arresting about 17 university teachers.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Sumud, The Largest Flotilla To Sail For Gaza, Prepares To Set Out

    Barcelona, Spain – Volunteers from across the world have come together in the main hall of one of Spain’s oldest labour unions, the UGT – once a registration centre for international volunteers who came to Spain to fight fascism during the Spanish Civil War.

    Now it has trained the nonviolent international volunteers – Palestine supporters, activists, journalists and politicians – who will sail on the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza on Sunday.

    “We are not heroes. We are not the story. The story is the people of Gaza,” organiser Thiago Avila, a lifelong activist for Palestine and environmental justice, told the crowds gathered for a news conference before the ships set sail.

    Their goal is to deliver humanitarian aid, which is the flotilla’s only cargo, and open a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians facing being starved and killed by Israel.

    The post Sumud, The Largest Flotilla To Sail For Gaza, Prepares To Set Out appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • People’s Conference For Palestine Draws Thousands Against Genocide

    The second annual People’s Conference for Palestine opened Friday afternoon, August 29, bringing together thousands of people of conscience in Detroit, Michigan. “Through this conference, I invite all of you to take part in the rich revolutionary tradition of Detroit,” said Nelson Garay, a member of Detroit’s People’s Assembly, a grassroots coalition fighting back against Trump’s policies. “In one voice, let us declare that we will not stand for the dehumanization of the Palestinian people, and we will not stand for anything less than their true liberation from a genocidal, apartheid state.”

    Taher Dahleh, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement and an activist in the labor movement through his membership in the Communication Workers of America, opened the conference by describing the major milestones in the Palestine solidarity movement since last year.

    The post People’s Conference For Palestine Draws Thousands Against Genocide appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Massacre of Gaza journalists triggers RSF’s Black Monday protest today

    Pacific Media Watch

    Today, 1 September 2025, is being marked as a Black Monday following the latest deadly strikes by the Israeli army against journalists in the Gaza Strip as part of a worldwide action by the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders and the community politics organisation Avaaz.

    On August 25, one of these strikes targeted a building in the al-Nasser medical complex in central Gaza, a known workplace for reporters, killing five journalists and staff members of local and international media outlets such as Reuters and the Associated Press.

    Two weeks earlier, on the night of August 10, an Israeli strike killed six reporters, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who was the intended target.

    According to RSF data, more than 210 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip in nearly 23 months of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory.

    At least 56 of them were intentionally targeted by the Israeli army or killed while doing their job. This ongoing massacre of Palestinian journalists requires a large-scale operation highly visible to the general public.

    With this unprecedented mobilisation planned for today, RSF renews its call for urgent protection for Palestinian media professionals in the Gaza Strip, a demand endorsed by over 200 media outlets and organisations in June.

    Independent access
    The NGO also calls for foreign press to be granted independent access to the Strip, which Israeli authorities have so far denied.

    “The Israeli army killed five journalists in two strikes on Monday, August 25. Just two weeks earlier, it similarly killed six journalists in a single strike,” said Thibaut Bruttin, executive director of RSF.

    “Since 7 October 2023, more than 210 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

    “We reject this deadly new norm, which week after week brings new crimes against Palestinian journalists that go unpunished. We say it loud and clear: at the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.

    “More than 150 media outlets worldwide have joined together for a major operation on Monday, 1 September, at the call of RSF and Avaaz.

    “This campaign calls on world leaders to do their duty: stop the Israeli army from committing these crimes against journalists, resume the evacuation of the journalists who wish to leave Gaza, and ensure the foreign press has independent access to the Palestinian territory.

    More than 150 media outlets in over 50 countries aretaking part in the operation on Monday, 1 September.

    They include numerous daily newspapers and news websites: Mediapart (France), Al Jazeera (Qatar), The Independent (United Kingdom), +972 Magazine (Israel/Palestine), Local Call (Israel/Palestine), InfoLibre (Spain), Forbidden Stories (France), Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany), Der Freitag (Germany), RTVE (Spain), L’Humanité (France), The New Arab (United Kingdom), Daraj (Lebanon), New Bloom (Taiwan), Photon Media (Hong Kong), La Voix du Centre (Cameroon), Guinée Matin (Guinea), The Point (Gambia), L’Orient Le Jour (Lebanon), Media Today (South Korea), N1 (Serbia), KOHA (Kosovo), Public Interest Journalism Lab (Ukraine), Il Dubbio (Italy), Intercept Brasil (Brazil), Agência Pública (Brazil), Le Soir (Belgium), La Libre (Belgium), Le Desk (Morocco), Semanario Brecha (Uruguay), Asia Pacific Report (New Zealand) and many others.

    Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Police plan for march which will shut Auckland Harbour Bridge this month

    RNZ News

    New Zealand police say planning is well underway ahead of a pro-Palestinian march that will shut the Auckland Harbour bridge later this month.

    The organisers are expecting thousands to turn out for the “March for Humanity” which is due to be held on September 13.

    Police told RNZ they were working with partner agencies, and expected to inform the public on how the march would impact on them.

    A protester holds up a "March The Bridge" flyer for Gaza
    A protester holds up a “March The Bridge” flyer for Gaza at last Saturday’s rally in Auckland’s Queen Street. Image: APR

    They said they remained in contact with the march organisers.

    The organisers say it will be a follow-on from recent protest marches that walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge.

    The organisers say it will be a follow-on from recent protest marches that walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge.

    Those events attracted 50,000 to 300,000 protesters.

    The Auckland march is being organised by Aotearoa for Palestine, a coalition of Palestinians and tangata whenua. They want the government to sanction Israel for what they say is a genocide being carried out in Gaza.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    Auckland harbour bridge at sunset
    Auckland Harbour Bridge . . . following on from recent protest marches that walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge in Australia. Image: RNZ/Tom Kitchin

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • How two Filipino ‘journalists’ took part in Israeli whitewashing of genocide

    COMMENTARY: By Walden Bello

    I am alarmed by reports that Filipino journalists were flown in by the Israeli government to participate in what is essentially a whitewashing campaign for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

    At least two articles, atrocious excuses for journalism, have come out of this trip.One is a piece by Wilson Lee Flores for The Philippine Star, entitled “Israel beyond the headlines: Where ancient stones speak.”

    By attempting to divert attention from the massacre of Palestinian civilians to “the Old City’s labyrinthine alleys,” Flores acts as an apologist for war crimes, akin to writing a travel blog about Nazi Germany.

    In a Facebook post, Flores further parrots Israel’s propaganda by highlighting how the brutal IDF employs both men and women to carry out atrocities, a cynical weaponisation of “feminism.”

    Even more repulsive is the piece from the Daily Tribune about “Gaza’s Fake Famine” from Vernon Velasco. It is a parody of a story, overly simplifying the famine of Gaza to a matter of food truck logistics, and uncritically quoting an IDF Officer.

    Fittingly, the article contains three photos of shipping containers but not a single photo of a human being.

    This runs counter to facts laid out by UN officials, including Joyce Msuya, the UN’s Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who points out how half a million people face “starvation, destitution, and death”.

    ‘Moral failure’ over Gaza
    A study published in the prestigious medical journal Lancet points to the “moral failure” as 1-2 million people live in the most extreme food insecurity level (phase 5 or catastrophe famine) according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

    "By attempting to divert attention from the massacre of Palestinian civilians to 'the Old City’s labyrinthine alleys,' Flores acts as an apologist for war crimes"
    “By attempting to divert attention from the massacre of Palestinian civilians to ‘the Old City’s labyrinthine alleys,’ Flores acts as an apologist for war crimes, akin to writing a travel blog about Nazi Germany.” Image: TPS “Life” screenshot APR

    This famine unfolds as shameless journalists make food vlogs kilometres away.

    The facts are clear. At least 63,000 people have been killed and 150,000 injured, with women and children making up a significant portion of the casualties. The UN has also reported that nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s population (around 1.9 million people) has been displaced.

    Widespread destruction has left over 70 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure destroyed, including more than 94 percent of hospitals either damaged or destroyed. No amount of narrative spin or “complexity” can sanitise this genocide.

    As we celebrate National Press Freedom Day, I implore friends in the press to not fall for the lies of the murderous Zionist regime.

    It would be tragic for journalists to provide cover for a regime that has murdered at least 240 of their peers.

    Filipino journalists must shed the unhealthy culture of silence and non-intervention, and not hesitate to criticise errant colleagues.

    They must make it clear that these recipients of Zionist gold are a disgrace to Philippine journalism. The Philippine government must look into the activities of the Israeli Embassy and their manipulation of local media narratives to sanitise their genocide.

    Filipino journalists must stand in solidarity with their slain colleagues abroad, not with their killers.

    Walden Bello is a Filipino academic and analyst of Global South issues who was awarded Amnesty International Philippines’ Most Distinguished Defender of Human Rights Award in 2023. He has also served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Washington Blocks Palestinian Leaders From Attending UN General Assembly

    In an unprecedented move, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 29 August revoked visas for Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

    The State Department justified the move by citing PA payments to the families of Palestinian martyrs, President Mahmoud Abbas’ plan to use a “constitutional declaration” to declare an independent Palestinian state at the General Assembly meeting, and Palestinian efforts to hold Israel accountable for war crimes in international courts.

    “The Palestinian Authority must also cease its attempts to circumvent the negotiations through international legal campaigns, including appeals to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and efforts to secure unilateral recognition of a possible Palestinian state,” the State Department said in a statement.

    The post Washington Blocks Palestinian Leaders From Attending UN General Assembly appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • CUNY Classes Begin With Divestment Win

    A new semester is beginning at the City University of New York (CUNY) with the fight against repression and for Palestine at the center. While we are facing intense crackdowns, including the firing of four faculty members over their pro-Palestine activism and the suspension of at least one student, there is also a movement fighting back. Amid these attacks, we’ve also had victories — most recently, a court decision forcing CUNY to disclose its investments in Israel. 

    As Israel escalates its genocidal campaign in Gaza, including a famine, with full support from the U.S. government, CUNY has targeted faculty who speak out against it. This comes as President Trump intensifies his attacks on immigrants, mobilizes the National Guard in major cities, and escalates a broader assault on democratic rights. 

    The post CUNY Classes Begin With Divestment Win appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Jewish Artists For Palestine Disrupt BBC Proms

    On Friday 29 August 2025 Jewish Artists for Palestine disrupted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms, silencing the orchestra, forcing the performance to restart and bringing the live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 to a halt. With this action we’ve sent a clear message: we reject Zionist funding, censorship and complicity in our cultural institutions. We also call out the BBC for their ongoing complicity and inability to acknowledge the genocide.

    As Jewish artists and cultural practitioners we are calling out and disrupting the BBC, Royal Albert Hall and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s complicity. We call upon all cultural workers to rise up in their own institutions, against Israel’s continued apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine.

    The post Jewish Artists For Palestine Disrupt BBC Proms appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Workers’ Intifada Against Microsoft

    As the United Nations’ world food crisis authority finally declared a famine in Gaza, direct action demonstrators protested war profiteer Microsoft, whose technology is used to aid the U.S./Israeli war, which is committing genocide in Gaza.

    After months of protests in Seattle, on Aug. 20 and 21 worker-led activists took the struggle to Microsoft’s vast campus in Redmond, Washington, where No Azure for Apartheid and Bilyad Seattle exposed Microsoft’s complicity.

    On Aug. 20, around 35 current and former Microsoft workers and solidarity activists set up a protest encampment on the East Campus Plaza of Microsoft. They claimed it as the Martyred Palestinian Children’s Plaza. They left when Microsoft asked them to leave, but returned the next day and declared their occupation is not going anywhere!

    The post Workers’ Intifada Against Microsoft appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Bahri’s Dark Geopolitical Ties


    Bahri or National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia is a giant maritime company in the Middle East. But, behind this commercial image, there is a provocative and worrying history of its geopolitical process, especially the means of transporting weapons and the manner in which Saudi Arabia participates in the geo conflict such as in Yemen and Gaza.. Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has been a major component of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, which also comprises the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Morocco and Kuwait. This military effort by this coalition has caused high civilian fatality, dislocation of millions of people and in humanitarian terms is one of the worst disasters in the world, as reported by the United Nations. This article will attempt to create an enlightened balanced discussion of these controversies as it gives some background and insight to a novice reader yet with the professional and analytical style.

    Bahri Saudi Shipping Company

    Bahri, which is a national shipping company of the Saudi Arabia, engages mostly in international marine logistics as well as the transport of crude oil, chemicals and bulk products and general merchandise. It also has big ships in oil products, dry bulk and specialised transportation. In an area of the world where maritime trade is one of the most essential veins, strategically based in the Red Sea and other trade gateways, the location of Bahri activities puts it in the realm of intersections between regional and international political dynamics, and as such, extends its operational being beyond commerce.

    Weapons Transport to Israel Amid Gaza Genocide

    In August 2025, the Saudi-owned Bahri Yanbu was at the centre of an international outcry after dockworkers in the port of Genoa, Italy, intercepted the ship after suspicions rose that it was carrying a heavy load of weapons bound to Israel. Independent observers and humanitarian organisations reported that among the cargo were Italian produced armed materials like Oto Melara naval guns, armoured vehicles, tanks, ammunition and explosives. The interception came at a time when Israel was actually undertaking heavy handed military actions in Gaza which are generally regarded as genocidal in character. A moral stance on becoming participants in the further crime in Gaza was one of the factors that drove the dockworkers into a blockade.

    The consequences of this happening are huge. It brought into the spotlight the secret dealings-or at least acquiescence by Saudi Arabia to supply Israeli war machine despite the fact that Saudi Arabia holds official stands in favour of the Palestinian cause. According to critics, these moves are not only defied to the international humanitarian law, but go further to normalise and entrench the military and economic relations between both nations (Saudi Arabia and Israel). This change belongs to the larger scheme of things in Middle East where traditional enmity towards Iran and strategic interests have muted the old Saudi public opinion on the Palestine case in a silent bid of geopolitical balance.

    However, Bahri made a formal refusal to have any relations with supply of arms to Israel. The company made outright claims that it has never ever travelled to Israel in any form and fully complies with the formal policies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in supporting Palestine and the entire international maritime laws. Bahri highlighted that it has strict monitoring and auditing practices that are aimed at striving to comply. Nonetheless, despite the rebuttals, the incident in Genoa has initiated combined efforts to conduct independent operations and exert more investigation to the maritime affairs of Saudi Arabia, which exemplified a cloudy backdrop of the policy regarding Saudi Arabia compared to its ethical statements.

    Yemen’s Conflict and Arms Supply

    Probably the most sinister one in the recent history of Saudi Arabia foreign policy is the invasion of Yemen that the Saudi Arabia government has been carrying out since 2015. Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of a coalition that has been involved in large volume airstrike campaigns, naval blockade and ground offensives against the Houthi rebels, who have forced the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of big sections of their country. The ongoing conflict in Yemen is viewed by many observes, including the analysts in Al Jazeera and other local media stations as a kind of proxy warring between the majority-Sunni Saudi Arabia and the majority Shia Iran with the two nations, most times, supporting conflicting sides on the ground. Saudi Arabia also supports the Yemeni government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi that had been recognised by the UN Security Council resolutions in Resolution 2216 (2015).

    The maritime activities of Bahri are once more in the limelight as it transports weapons and military equipment to Saudi forces that partake in Yemen. Research carried out by anti-war movements and human rights groups in Europe found out that the Bahri ships are regularly transporting arms to Saudi Arabia including ammunition, explosives and heavy arms through European ports like Antwerp. The CSO estimates by Amnesty international reveal that since the commencement of the war, Bahri has delivered hundreds of millions of euros of American and European, military equipment.

    This weapon provision has been closely associated with a high number of the war crime charges charged against Saudi-led coalition such as civilian target attack and starvation weapons used in blocking of the sea by the coalition. The condition in Yemen is termed the worst humanitarian crisis in the world since more than 24 million people approximately 80 percent of the total population are in need of aid and millions have been starved, stricken by diseases, displaced, and basic services are becoming non-functional due to continuous conflict as stated by the United Nations and various humanitarian agencies. The importance of Bahri in this war as a logistic lifeline highlights the corporate aspects of this Saudi war machine and the intense intertwining of the business interests with devastating geopolitics.

    Geopolitical Agenda

    To appreciate the role of Bahri Saudi Shipping Company in such conflicts, it is important to understand Saudi geopolitical agenda in general. Saudi Arabia is a traditional foe of the occupation policies of Israel but over the past ten years is slowly moving towards an avoidance of confrontation with Israel over mutual fears of allowing Iran to consolidate its influence in the region. In the past, Saudi Arabia has opposed the occupation policies of Israel, but over the last ten years there has been growing signs of it engaging in limited relations with Israel due to a shared worry of Iran and its growing role in the region, especially in Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen (Israel-Saudi Arabia relations).

    According to the reports this rapprochement has involved activities such as secret intelligence-sharing at least on the issue of Iranian missile programs, discreet delegations meeting each other in the third nations and initial discussions of prospective technology and trade association. In the example, Wall Street Journal (2025) and Congress.Gov (2025) cover the cases when Israeli and Saudi officials met to align security policies against Iran.

    At the same time, Saudi Arabia still tends to regard Yemen as the essential buffer area that must be maintained to ensure access to the important strategic waterways, such as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is essential to overall oil traffic and vital to the regional security. The kingdom views the Houthi movement as a proxy of Iranian policy and a serious direct threat to its southern borders, which influenced the long and violent military operation that is criticised by the international community and labeled as war crimes.

    The fact that Saudi Arabia publicly defends Palestinian rights and at the same simultaneously advances its strategic relations with the state of Israel and intensifies its military operations in Yemen presents a complex, at times self-contradictory policy based on the logic of realpolitik, the calculations of regional power interests, and the unification of the domestic and foreign policy of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

    Conclusion

    The controversies surrounding Bahri Saudi Shipping Company reveal much more than a logistics enterprise; they expose a nexus of geopolitical interests, ethical dilemmas, and the harsh realities of Middle Eastern conflicts. The ship interception in Genoa spotlighted Bahri’s alleged role in facilitating arms shipments during an ongoing genocide in Gaza, while its broader operations underpin Saudi Arabia’s war efforts in Yemen, exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

    While the company officially denies transporting weapons to Israel and asserts full compliance with policies and international law, evidence from protests, investigations, and independent reports portrays a different picture—one of a state and its corporate instruments engaged in complex and controversial power plays with severe human costs.

    For novice readers, it is essential to recognise that Bahri operates at the intersection of commerce and conflict, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s evolving and contentious role on the world stage. The ongoing scrutiny of these activities underscores the urgent need for transparency, accountability, and adherence to international humanitarian norms in international shipping—and for the global community to hold such actors to those standards.

    The post Bahri’s Dark Geopolitical Ties first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • The Attack On Palestine Chronicle

    The Palestine Chronicle is not a militant organization. It is a modest, independent publication, sustained by small donations and animated by a singular mission: to bear witness. It tells the untold stories of Palestine, documenting dispossession, resistance and the endurance of a people condemned to silence.

    In a media landscape dominated by powerful conglomerates repeating the language of governments, the Chronicle insists on a journalism of proximity — grounded in daily lives, in the rubble of Gaza, in voices otherwise erased. Its true offense, in the eyes of its detractors, is not invention but truth.

    At the heart of this endeavor stands Ramzy Baroud. His career is the antithesis of clandestine.

    The post The Attack On Palestine Chronicle appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Rubio Revokes Visas for Palestinian Officials, Denying Address at UN Meeting

    The U.S. State Department announced on Friday that it is “denying and revoking visas” for Palestinian officials ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York City next month, where several states are expected to recognize a Palestinian state. In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s office said that it is denying visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Talks for “Trump Riviera” in Gaza Persist as Israel Pushes Deeper Into Gaza City

    As Israel pushes deeper into Gaza City, President Donald Trump met Wednesday to discuss plans for a postwar Gaza with his son-in-law and former Middle East envoy, Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This comes as Israeli business leaders are reportedly involved in developing a postwar Gaza plan that includes the creation of a “Trump Riviera” and a manufacturing zone named…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Israel Announces Total Siege of Gaza City, Declaring Entire Area “Combat Zone”

    Israel announced on Friday that it has begun the “initial stages” of its siege on Gaza City, declaring the capital city a “dangerous combat zone” and ending its daytime pauses for the supposed purpose of allowing the passage of humanitarian aid, despite a famine declaration across the area last week. “We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Far-right Israeli settlers just assaulted a disabled Palestinian man

    Sheik Saeed Al-Amour, 61, is a community leader, and a prominent land rights activist. On August 28, Israeli colonial settlers, all illegal under international law, stormed onto his land near his home in the village of Al-Rakeez, Masafer Yatta, in the Southern occupied West Bank.

    They released sheep onto it to destroy his olive trees. Video footage taken at the time, show the settlers brutally pushing Saeed, who is disabled, to the ground:

    According to Saeed’s son, Issa Al-Amour, who we spoke with yesterday, the family suffers from almost daily attacks on their land.

    He said:

    Today, at seven in the morning, a settler came with sheep and brought them into our land and assaulted my father. We called the police but, unfortunately, the settler claimed that my father had beaten him, and the police took my father into investigation. The settler is called Amichai, and is the owner of the sheep, but he usually brings children to bring the sheep onto Palestinian lands.

    Saeed was released this afternoon, after being made to pay a fine of 1,500 Shekels – equivalent to more than £330, even though it was him who was attacked, and he has official papers and documentation proving he is the owner of the land.

    Israeli settlers running amok

    In April, a settler shot Saeed at close range, and because of the delay caused by the occupation’s soldiers preventing the ambulance from reaching him, and also the severity of the injury, doctors ended up amputating his leg- while he was handcuffed to the hospital bed, according to Al Jazeera.

    Saeed and his son ended up in court, blamed with attacking the settlers, and had to pay bail money- this time the equivalent of more than £1100- while the violent settler walked free.

    These settlers, who carry out systematic assaults on Palestinian farmers, civilians and peace activists, and terror attacks on Palestinian towns and villages, are heavily funded and supported by the occupation’s regime, and their actions are intended not only to intimidate, but to erase Palestinian history and culture, while also destroying livelihoods, and ethnically cleansing the territory.

    These intentions have been made loud and clear with Netanyahu, earlier this month, telling Israeli i24NEWS channel that he feels “very much” connected to the “Greater Israel” vision. This encompasses the occupied Palestinian territories, plus significant parts of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

    Uprooting trees

    For decades, settlers have uprooted, burned, and destroyed Palestinian trees, especially olives, many of which are hundreds of years old. A report by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem states that in 2024 there were more than 150 attacks destroying trees in the occupied West Bank, resulting in the uprooting of more than 21,000, mainly olive trees.

    It is now often impossible to tell the difference between settlers and soldiers, who are all armed, often wear the same clothing, and not only provoke the Palestinian population, but also participate in the attacks on them.

    The occupation permits these settlers, who are all illegal under international law, to live in illegal settlements and outposts on land belonging to Palestinians, in the West Bank. They can be from any country in the world, the only stipulation being they must be Jewish.

    The attacks continue unabated. Saeed again ended up hospitalised, when settlers assaulted him earlier this month. They broke his crutch during the attack, which occurred when they released livestock onto his land. But Saeed and his family are determined to defend their home.

    ‘We’re afraid’

    Issa says:

    Of course we are afraid, because the settlers are armed but we will not leave. We will stay here on our land, until our last breath.

    In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as illegal, leading human rights experts to say this reaffirmed that ‘freedom from foreign military occupation, racial segregation and apartheid is absolutely non-negotiable”.

    For more information about the everyday struggles faced by Saeed, watch Channel 4’s interesting short film about him.

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • UN Security Council slams Israel’s starvation of Gaza – with the exception of the US

    In a special session of the UN Security Council, the 15 members, with the exception of the United States, called for an immediate end to the worsening famine in the Gaza Strip, a halt to the war, and a reversal of Israel’s plan to expand its military operations within the Strip.

    UN: deep concern over Israel’s actions in Gaza

    In a joint statement issued on Wednesday evening, 14 countries expressed “deep concern” about the humanitarian situation, stressing that the famine officially declared by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip is not a natural disaster but a “man-made crisis.” The countries condemned “the use of starvation as a weapon of war,” considering it a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

    The statement stressed the need for an immediate, permanent, and unconditional ceasefire, the release of all prisoners, and the urgent flow of humanitarian aid. It also called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the entry of aid and to reverse its military decision to take control of Gaza City.

    In contrast, the United States was the only country that refused to join the statement, with its ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Shea, rejecting what she described as “the lie of starvation policy” and criticizing the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, claiming that it “failed the test.”

    Last Friday, the UN report confirmed that famine has become a reality in the Gaza Strip, affecting more than half a million people, with warnings that it could spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis in the coming weeks.

    A war of extermination

    This comes as the Israeli army continues a large-scale military operation to occupy Gaza City, concentrated in the neighborhoods of Shuja’iyya, Al-Zaytoun, and Al-Sabra in the south and east, and in the Jabalia camp in the north, causing new waves of displacement and migration.

    Since October 2023, Israel has been waging a war of extermination against the people of Gaza with US support, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop the war. As of Wednesday, this war has resulted in 62,895 martyrs and 158,927 wounded, most of them women and children, in addition to 9,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced, while starvation alone has claimed the lives of 313 Palestinians, including 119 children.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Former Biden official justifies the murder of Palestinian children

    Former United States secretary and Biden advisor, Jacob Lew, has stumbled into a series of embarrassing admissions in an interview with The New Yorker. Veteran journalist Isaac Chotiner had questions for Lew about the Biden administration’s handling of Israel in the early days of the genocide. Chotiner pressed Lew on America’s relationship to Israel’s internal demands for ethnic cleansing:

    This is a war that a former defense minister to Netanyahu has referred to as ethnic cleansing. Whether you agree with this characterization or not, there is a certain point at which the U.S. could choose to stop helping Israel.

    Lew describes how the US government at the time advised on not only Israel’s humanitarian obligations as the occupying power, but on their conduct:

    We were engaging not just on humanitarian assistance; we were engaging on the conduct of the war. I’m not saying that everything went the way we would’ve advised, and I’m not saying we didn’t call them in the middle of the night many times saying, What on earth happened just now?
    So, which is it? Did the US exert its influence over Israel over its conduct on war, or not?

    Biden’s abandonment of Palestinians

    When asked what was the content of those late night calls, Lew describes:

    The general pattern was that in-the-moment stories were inaccurate, and that the Israeli military and government establishment were not in a position to fully explain yet. We could almost never get answers that explained what happened before the story was fully framed in international media, and then when the facts were fully developed, it turned out that the casualties were much lower, the number of civilians was much lower, and, in many cases, the children were children of Hamas fighters, not children taking cover in places.
    Here, Lew appears to not realise what he has just said. Namely, that he considers it acceptable for children to be killed if they are “children of Hamas fighters.” Chotiner immediately pulls him up on it:
    Sorry, what did you just say?
    In many cases, the original number of casualties—
    No, I meant the thing about who the children were.
    They were often the children of the fighters themselves.
    And therefore what follows from that?
    What follows is that whether or not it was a legitimate military target flows from the population that’s there.
    Hold on, Mr. Secretary. That’s not, in fact, correct, right? Whether it’s a legitimate target has to do with all kinds of things like proportionality. It doesn’t matter if the kids are the kids of—
    Lew, remarkably, doubles down:
    If you’re the commander of a Hamas unit and you bring your family to a military site, that’s different. I’m not saying everything fits into that, and I’m not saying it’s not a tragedy.
    So, according to Biden’s former advisor, it’s not ideal that children are killed. But, it is certainly understandable if they’re the children of Hamas members. Chotiner, again, points out that it doesn’t make a difference who the children are when it comes to international law. However, Lew is adamant that this is the reality of the situation.
    That one interaction reveals much about the strategic decisions America takes in its undying support of Israel. There is no situation in which America will oppose Israeli interests. It’s been made heartbreakingly irrelevant by this point, but international law technically forbids the killing and maiming of children during any conflict. Apparently, the exception to that if US strategists believe it’s justified.

    ‘Blood-soaked demon’

    Online commenters saw Lew’s characterisation for what it was:

    Writer Pete Forester showed just how cruel and asinine Lew’s remarks were:

    And, writer Tariq Kenney-Shawa pointed out that just because Israel claim someone is in Hamas doesn’t mean they are:

    Israel have routinely claimed everyone from children, aid seekers, and basically anyone they want to (or have) bombed are Hamas. That includes the “Hamas camera” which apparently was the reason they bombed a hospital just days ago. When combined with the fact that Israel’s own data reveals that a sickening 83% of the people they’ve killed are civilians, Israel’s assertions that Hamas is everywhere is as compelling as international law.

    Denial of manufactured famine

    Chotiner begins the interview by referencing an article Lew wrote along with former US ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield. In the piece, the two argue that the Biden administration effectively held off famine in Gaza. Instead, it laid the blame for the current famine squarely at Trump’s feet. Chotiner pushes Lew to elaborate on what the Biden administration did differently to the Trump administration in relation to American consultancy with Israel on humanitarian requirements.

    Lew responds:

    And every time there were reports of famine that were not accurate, it made it harder to do the job of getting more aid in. We were trying to make the critique in a balanced way to keep pressure on Hamas—and to not abandon Israel’s just effort to defeat an enemy that attacked it on October 7th, killing twelve hundred people—while still saying that you have an obligation every day, even if it’s at some risk, to keep the aid crossings open to Gaza. It was arduous work.
    The risk of strengthening Hamas, if Hamas got hold of the fuel or the food, was a serious question. It wasn’t a made-up concern
    Again, the spectre of Hamas rears its head as a boogeyman and scapegoat for the moral failings of the US and Israel. Lew’s remarks suggest that the possibility of Hamas potentially gaining access to aid made the very real threat of starvation an acceptable outcome for civilians.
    Chotiner pushes Lew to admit that the Biden administration’s policy was to support Israel in allowing enough trickles of aid through so as to avoid all-out famine, but no more. Lew states:
    I think the reports of famine were premature and exaggerated.
    Chotiner points out that people were still starving to death in 2024. And, Lew’s remarks are even more galling in light of Lew’s dismissal of reports of famine given that, as journalist Brian Tashman alleges, Lew:
    threatened the group that issued the famine alert last year until they withdrew their famine alert.
    Chotiner pushes Lew on the assertion that the US government directed its efforts towards allowing Benjamin Netanyahu remain in power. Their next exchange reads:
    So when you say that, “Allowing Netanyahu to cite a need to satisfy U.S. demands was crucial then—and remains crucial today,” what do you mean? Netanyahu doesn’t want to piss off the super far-right ministers in his government by having it seem that Israel is delivering aid. So you’re saying that allowing Netanyahu to cite the need to satisfy U.S. demands is crucial to him remaining in power, correct?
    You’re putting words in my mouth. I’m not going to let that happen. What I’m saying is in order to get a decision through his Cabinet, he needed to be armed with positions that he was able and willing to use. And what we would say is, “We need you to do this, and if that is a strategic concern then you do what we need.” I understand that you can see that as political cover, but it’s political cover to get a policy enacted, not to preserve a coalition. Our goal was to get aid in, and we were trying to help drive the decision-making process in a constructive way. I think that’s very different from taking political sides in a domestic context in another country.
    It appears to be lost on Lew that his description of a US consideration of Netanyahu’s position amongst his far-right cabinets is “political cover” to preserve an Israeli government propped up by the US itself.

    Israeli interests above all

    Lew’s quibbling of which administration is responsible for the Israeli manufactured genocide in Gaza, once again, reveals much about America’s relationship with Israel. Lew’s account of his role as a high level advisor to Biden confirms what we have known for some time about America’s role in Israel’s genocide in Palestine. Rather than urging Israel to follow its humanitarian obligations, or to stop the relentless bombing and increasing list of war crimes, they leveraged their considerable sway over Israel not to save Palestinian lives, but to preserve Israel’s global standing and obliteration of Palestine.
    America have been, and continue to be the shield that protects Israel as they terrorise Palestine. As much as Lew may wish to pretend otherwise, there is no significant break in policy or position when it comes to Israel between the Biden and Trump administrations.
    Featured image via the Canary

    By Maryam Jameela

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • UN: Gaza famine is a “man-made disaster” requiring urgent action

    On Wednesday, the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People called for urgent international action to end the worsening Israeli-caused famine in the Gaza Strip, considering that what is happening is not the result of a natural disaster but a systematic policy practiced by Israel against more than two million besieged people.

    In a statement published on its website, the committee said that more than half a million people are facing starvation and death in Gaza, noting that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating day by day as the near-total destruction caused by bombing and suffocating siege spreads.

    The committee strongly condemned what it described as a policy of “starvation as a weapon of war,” stressing that it constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and calling on states to fulfill their legal obligations and take immediate action to stop this catastrophe. It also stressed the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, ensuring unimpeded access for humanitarian aid to all areas of the Strip, and holding those responsible for obstructing relief efforts and targeting civilians accountable.

    Warnings in the UN Security Council

    The same concerns were echoed at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, where Ramez Al-Akbarov, Deputy UN Coordinator for the Peace Process, and Joyce Musoya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, expressed “grave concern” about the spreading famine and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

    Al-Akbarov said that the sector was “sinking deeper and deeper into a catastrophic situation” with rising civilian casualties, mass displacement, and severe hunger. He explained that the results of the latest food security analyses confirmed that a famine was indeed underway, while Israel’s decision to take complete control of Gaza on August 8 had led to “another deadly escalation” against the population.

    The UN official noted that Israeli shelling is now targeting tents for displaced persons, schools, hospitals, and residential buildings, compounding the suffering of civilians who cannot find shelter or safe food.

    For her part, Masuya warned that more than 500,000 people are currently facing severe hunger, destitution, and death, with the number expected to exceed 640,000 by the end of September if the situation continues as it is. She added:

    This famine is not the result of drought or natural disaster, but a catastrophe created by a bloody conflict that has left thousands dead and wounded and caused widespread destruction and mass displacement.

    Tight siege and deliberate starvation

    Since 2 March, Israel has closed all Gaza crossings and allowed only a very small number of trucks loaded with aid to enter, which the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has described as a dangerous acceleration in the pace of famine.

    According to the UN committee, what Gaza is experiencing today is a “man-made disaster” that will only end with a political decision to end the siege and bombing and restore civilians’ right to life and dignity.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Activists take aim at right-wing dark money think tank Policy Exchange

    Shut The System (STS) activists smashed windows and sprayed blood-red paint at the offices of the right-wing think-tank, Policy Exchange, on Old Queen Street in Westminster on Friday 29 August.

    Policy Exchange: activists stick it to right-wing think tank

    The activists oppose Policy Exchange’s advocacy for increasingly authoritarian restrictions on human rights such as the right to free speech and the right to assemble. These include new laws to clamp down on legitimate climate protest and the proscription of Palestine Action. The direct action organisation has no convictions for violent offences.

    Policy Exchange's building sprayed with red paint.

    A spokesperson from the Palestine faction of STS said:

    Policy Exchange’s malign influence suppressing effective protest is unsurprising considering the reported $30k donation to Policy Exchange by ExxonMobil. We have targeted Policy Exchange today not in response to any particular action, but in recognition of the role they have played in making the UK the less tolerant, more unequal, increasingly authoritarian and poorly governed nation it is today.

    Policy Exchange has advocated for and assisted the government to draft legislation. In particular, it has influenced elements seeking to restrict the effectiveness of climate-related protest, as revealed by Rishi Sunak while serving as prime minister.

    The STS spokesperson continued:

    Policy Exchange’s corrupt entanglement with governments and elites directly suppresses the proud tradition that champions women’s suffrage, the end to apartheid in South Africa, toppled the injust Poll Tax and held the government accountable for prosecuting illegal wars.

    Anti-protest law à la Policy Exchange

    Policy Exchange lobbied for additional anti-protest laws in the Public Order Act 2023. These created new offences enabling easier prosecution for protest tactics such as locking-on, tunnelling, and even peaceful protest marches.

    In the Public Order Act, former home secretary Suella Braverman attempted to introduce a vague definition of ‘serious disruption’ as anything that is “more than minor”. When parliament blocked this attempt, the home secretary used obscure powers to introduce this definition by the back door. The Divisional Court subsequently found this unconstitutional, in a case brought by Liberty.

    The STS spokesperson explained:

    The authoritarian agenda advocated by Policy Exchange and its attempt to equate protest with extremism has emboldened multiple governments to adopt policies which would have been unthinkable in the UK only a decade ago, not least labelling Palestine Action as terrorists. Protest and direct action are not extremist activities, they are an essential aspect of any functioning democracy.

    The action contributes to an escalating ‘summer of sabotage’ that Shut The System on Monday declared on 18 August. To launch it, activists cut electric cables and communications at offices of JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, and Allianz, three of the world’s worst financial backers of fossil fuel expansion and arms Israel is using in the genocide in Gaza. Activists took further action at a Barclay’s branch in Oxford, smashing windows.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.