Facebook suspends Canadian political candidate Marc Emery during campaign season
By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | August 22, 2021
A Canadian candidate for political office who is currently running for a seat in parliament has been suspended by Facebook, most likely for posts critical of the country’s COVID policy.
Facebook cited five posts published over the past year as the reason, and one of them, Marc Emery took aim at what he called “the evil Covid dictatorship.”
The ban – which will last as long as his campaign and thus cut him off from communicating with his potential voters on the world’s largest social media site – came because Facebook found the posts to violate its community standards on “hate speech.”
Emery, who is a libertarian and a candidate of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), is also an activist and entrepreneur who is known as “prince of pot” for his previous activism to legalize cannabis, and who has run for various offices in the past.
It was precisely the government’s response to the pandemic and the way many Canadians are accepting the sometimes draconian restrictions that inspired Emery to return to politics.
Among the posts that Facebook said contained hate speech is one featuring photos of a takeout bag from a restaurant ruined by lockdowns. Emery linked the shutting down of the restaurant with Canadians being “soft, weak, unprincipled” and “virtually begging for this dictatorship because of hysteria, propaganda, lies and manipulation.”
In the same post, he accused what he said was “the hysterical and evil Covid dictatorship” for destroying businesses every day, something he added was a tyranny happening at all levels of government.
The rest of the posts marked as “hate speech” show what is said to be marijuana that Emery bought legally, and one of cannabis samples he received as a gift.
Facebook names government-funded CBC’s Radio-Canada as “fact-checker” for Canadian election
By Tom Parker | Reclaim The Net | August 23, 2021
Facebook has revealed that Radio-Canada, a French-language news service owned by the government-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), will be serving as a “fact-checker” for the 2021 Canadian election campaign.
Facebook made the announcement as part of its Canadian Election Integrity Initiative and revealed that Radio-Canada’s “Les Décrypteurs,” a team that fact-checks “false information” and “disinformation,” has been added to the program since the last federal election.
Not only is a service that’s owned by a public broadcaster that receives over $1 billion in annual funding from the Canadian federal government being given the power to act as an arbiter of truth for Facebook during a federal election but the appointment also follows CBC admitting to several major factual errors in its own reporting via its public corrections and clarifications page.
Some of CBC’s self-admitted errors this year include incorrectly describing the AstraZeneca vaccine as 100% effective in preventing the severe outcomes of COVID-19 in multiple stories, incorrectly stating that Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman had contracted COVID-19, and incorrectly reporting the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had fatally shot a women in Edmundston, New Brunswick.
In addition to CBC receiving government funding and having a public history of major errors, CBC also sued the Conservative Party, the opposition to the current ruling Liberal Party, during the last Canadian federal election in 2019 for using CBC footage in its ads. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed but critics argued that it was an example of CBC’s bias against the Conservatives.
More recently, journalist and best selling author Candice Malcolm highlighted the disparity in CBC’s coverage of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Erin O’Toole:
“Just last week the CBC ran an article framing Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole as an anti-vaxxer over his stance on mandatory vaccines for the civil service. O’Toole supports vaccines and encourages all federal employees to get vaccinated, with the small caveat that he would make accommodations for those who fail to get the shot.
This is nearly identical to Trudeau’s position. A federal memo on vaccines similarly discusses alternatives and accommodations for those who do not get vaccinated.
And yet, CBC’s report read like a Liberal news release.
“O’Toole has come out against mandatory vaccinations for federal public servants,” read one headline.
“Trudeau pushed to make mandatory vaccination an election issue Friday calling the Conservative opposition to it ‘irresponsible’ and ‘dangerous,’” read another CBC headline.”
Members of Facebook’s fact-checking program can have a significant influence over the total number of clicks posts generate because their fact-checks can result in a warning label being appended to posts. According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, these warning labels cut clicks through to content by 95%.
Award-winning former Toronto Star reporter Richard J. Brennan responded to the news by tweeting: “First off, when did Facebook give a damn about giving its members accurate info? And secondly, CBC should mind its own store.”
Michael Campbell, host of Canada’s top-rated syndicated business radio show MoneyTalks, added: “Now I know I’ve entered the Twilight Zone.”
Are the FDA and Pfizer-BioNTech scamming us with a license-in-name-only? And why do they want us to be vaccinated so badly?
By Dr. Meryl Nass, MD | August 23, 2021
This is a convoluted legal argument, but since it hinges on the potential loss of huge amounts of money, I think there is a good chance my guess is correct.
EUA or “authorized” vaccines and drugs are defined as experimental. Experimental products require informed consent, and there are other restrictions on their use. Most lawyers believe, as I do, that they cannot be legally mandated, because they require you to have the right to refuse. It is written into the EUA statute. There also cannot be approved, licensed drugs that do the same thing as the EUA drug or vaccine, and of course, in this case both HCQ and IVM can prevent as well as treat Covid.
This has troubled the federal government. And so it had the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel manufacture a legal opinion in late July that you could be forced to be vaccinated even while the vaccines were only authorized. However, the OLC arguments were ridiculous and therefore ignored.
When that didn’t work, federal threats got heavy. First it was going to be mandates “if you wanted to do business with the government.” Then mandates for the military. Then mandates for healthcare workers, schools, colleges, you name it. And federal workers.
But legally, all these mandate threats hinged on licensure, aka “approval.” No one wanted to go to court defending a mandate under EUA. And the feds probably promised all the employers, schools, states, etc. that a license would be issued before colleges and schools started.
But there is a huge elephant in the room. Under EUAs, the government pays for the product and the manufacturer has NO liability, unless you can prove willful misconduct AND the DHHS Secretary allows you to sue. That has never happened.
But once the product (Pfizer’s vaccine, today) is licensed, the liability shield under EUA disappears. Unless there has a been a secret agreement regarding liability after approval, which is probably not legal, Pfizer will be liable for all injuries sustained by the licensed vaccine. And Pfizer’s vaccine seems to be causing a record number of injuries and deaths, based on the VAERS data.
The FDA approval letter, issued today, was unusual. It stated that current bottles of vaccine, which are not branded with the “Comirnaty” brand name, are still authorized, not approved. Only newer bottles with “Comirnaty” labels will be approved, licensed product.
What that means is that people cannot be mandated to receive vaccine from the old bottles. But if they do accept the non-brand vaccine, they cannot sue if injured.
If they receive the branded vaccine and are injured, they can be mandated to take it, but they can also sue the company for damages.
Here is what might be happening. FDA issued a license, so everyone thinks the mandate is now in effect. But if no “Comirnaty” labelled vaccine is being administered, just the old authorized vaccine, there is no licensed product being used, and there is no actual mandate. And no ability to sue if injured.
If you have looked at any of the leaked contract documents between Pfizer and Israel or Albania, or heard about the contract signed in Brazil, you will probably agree with me that Pfizer would not be willing to accept liability for this product.
So: if it does not say “Comirnaty” it cannot be mandated.If it does say “Comirnaty,” it can be mandated. But if it doesn’t say “Comirnaty it is still experimental and you cannot be forced to take it, and if you do get injured, you are out of luck.
Don’t sign a liability waiver for this product! Don’t sign away your rights if you take it.
I am guessing Pfizer will continue to supply the old “authorized” vaccine to avoid liability… and that explains the convolution in FDA’s letter this morning. If I am correct, you won’t have to take it… Anyway, not till Pfizer gets rid of the liability problem…which could happen, as a bill has been introduced in Congress to solve Pfizer’s problem. It’s the Vaccine Injury Modernization Compensation Act of 2021. Will our legislators throw us under the bus again and remove manufacturer liability for the few vaccines that still have it? Be forewarned.
You can track the bill here.
Dr Peter McCullough, Louisiana House Oversight Hearing on Monday, August 16, 2021
HealthFreedomLouisiana | August 23, 2021
Dr Peter McCullough offers expert testimony to the LA House Oversight Hearing on Monday, August 16, 2021.
Comments in response to FDA’s license of Pfizer vax today for 16 years and up
By Meryl Nass, MD | August 23, 2021
The vaccine-induced protection provided by Covid vaccines starts fading within months. In late July, Israel’s Minister of Health said vaccine protection had dropped to 39%. It is not preventing severe illness in Israel and the UK either, though the US CDC changed its collecting methods for breakthrough cases on May 1 to disguise this fact.
While the US government has said it will begin booster doses of mRNA vaccines the week of September 20, there is actually NO evidence that Covid-19 boosters will provide increased protection against infection, or that they are effective against the delta variant or other new variants.
For other vaccines, such as mumps and pertussis, there is no evidence that booster doses after the initial course add measurable protection.
Boosters do raise antibody levels, briefly, which increases the risk of autoimmune adverse effects, immune overactivity and the dire possibility of antibody-enhanced disease (AED), a.k.a. vaccine-enhanced disease (VED), in which those who are vaccinated have a much more severe illness when exposed to Covid than do the unvaccinated.
Since the UK’s top vaccine expert Sir Andrew Pollard told Parliament 2 weeks ago that herd immunity cannot be obtained—in fact it is a “myth”– because the vaccine is not halting transmission, and since the CDC director confirmed this, there is no logical reason to mandate vaccinations for anyone, since the vaccines are not protecting the community.
Mandating vaccinations for the young and healthy, who are at minimal risk from Covid, but at increased risk from Covid vaccinations, is a travesty. The risk of myocarditis after vaccination in a male teenager is 50 times higher than the risk to a 65 year old, according to CDC data. The teenager has many years ahead of him, while the long-term side effects from Covid vaccines have yet to be identified.
Reported deaths following Covid vaccinations are at least 10 times higher than for any vaccine ever approved in the US. Yet FDA and CDC have never explained the causes of these deaths, and they pretend they do not exist.
This fact alone should have been sufficient to stop FDA granting a license to the Pfizer vaccine.
Here is the convoluted license-plus-authorization letter from FDA. This could be a bait and switch–see the next post.
Robert Dingwall: We Need to Hold Advocates of Mask Mandates to Account
By Toby Young | The Daily Sceptic | August 23, 2021
Robert Dingwall, a Professor at Nottingham Trent University and a leading sociologist, has written an excellent piece for Social Science Space criticising the imposition of mask mandates, given the paucity of evidence that masks interrupt transmission and the lack of any robust evaluation of the harms masks cause.
First, Professor Dingwall looks at the two main sources of evidence purporting to show that masks are effective.
One is studies at various scales of the impact of mask mandates on reported infection rates. These may compare cities, states, provinces or entire nations using time series data to look for inflections of rates that may be attributable to the mandates. A great deal of mathematical ingenuity has been expended in trying to control for the numerous confounders from biases in reporting, differences in diagnosis, leads and lags in public behaviour in response to the mandates, seasonal fluctuations, mobility – the list is almost endless. By the time these manipulations are complete, though, it is very difficult to conclude that there is any clear and obvious effect. Infection rates do not seem to vary much between comparable communities regardless of the NPIs that have been introduced. I have yet to see a study that identifies a clear and unequivocal benefit from a mask mandate in the form of an obvious inflection point attributable to the intervention. For all the reasons cited, this would be hard to find so perhaps we should not treat its absence as conclusive proof of a lack of benefit so much as something that is consistent with the RCT evidence that any benefit is likely to be minimal.
The other main source of evidence is laboratory studies of the properties of masks using techniques from physics and engineering. Some studies treat masks as a straightforward air filtration experiment. These are well-controlled and reproducible, but bear little resemblance to real-world conditions. The more sophisticated studies use mannikins to create a jet of air carrying inert particles into a controlled space, mimicking human exhalation. Masks can then be used to interrupt the air flow. The resulting measurements are the basis for computational models that provide more general descriptions of the spread of particles, which may be used to create video simulations. These studies are often elegant but suffer familiar problems in generalising to real-world environments. Within reason, the experimenter can manipulate the average velocity of the jet, the size of particles and the permeability of the mask in ways that aim to mimic breathing at different rates, coughing or sneezing. To get reliable measurements, including video or photographic evidence of the dispersion of the particles, the simulated exhalations must enter still air. Air, however, is never still in the real world. In any space there are thermal currents that are moving air around and dispersing exhalations in ways that are not captured, and probably cannot be captured, by the experimenter in a physically meaningful way. The efficacy of masks is also sensitive to the choice of particle size. If the experimenter favours droplets, larger particles, masks capture these quite well – but they also fall quickly to the ground and are unlikely to be inhaled by anyone at a normal social distance. If the experimenter favours aerosols, smaller particles, these are likely to pass through or around cloth masks, whose pore size is typically significantly larger than the aerosol particles. In which case the masks may filter a small proportion of the particles but probably let most through or around the edges. Where higher quality masks have been mandated, the community evidence runs into the same problems as before.
Having concluded that neither body of evidence is remotely persuasive, he then turns to the potential harms that masks do.
The precautionary principle also requires a proper evaluation of the potential harms. Few such studies have actually been done but relevant issues can readily be identified. Four are clearly important. First, they discriminate against a large group of people with communicative disabilities of speech and hearing, with neurodisabilities, such as autism or Aspergers, or with mental health issues, such as prior trauma from confinement as an abused child or as a survivor of sexual assault. Second, they discriminate against people who have medical consequences such as acute skin infections, eye infections or respiratory infections as a result of mask use. In the pre-pandemic world, such people could find workplaces where these issues were avoided but they cannot escape the mandates. Third, there is the impact on child development, particularly in relation to language and social interaction. The American Academy of Pediatrics claimed that there was no evidence for this, but there is a substantial body of research from psychology, education and linguistics establishing the importance of observing faces, particularly for small children. Fourth, and perhaps hardest to measure, there is the impact on community levels of fear and anxiety. This, indeed, has been the ultimate fall-back for committed advocates of masks – they may not have an impact on the transmission of the virus but they remind everyone that there is a pandemic going on and that they should be cautious every time they set foot outside their home – the safety of the home is assumed, of course. The consequence, of course, is that we are nudged towards regarding our fellow human beings as no more than potential vectors of infection. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent. The trust on which everyday life depends in modern societies is fatally compromised.
He concludes that mask mandates should never have been introduced, given the paucity of the evidence and the lack of research into potential harms.
If we do not think it is acceptable to have our lives ordered in ways that discriminate against large sections of the population, that impair the development of children, that damage the mental health of the nation and that make each of us fearful of the other, then it is time to hold the advocates of masking to account for the quality of evidence. It is simply too fragile to justify coercive measures, whether by the state or by private actors. Why has there been so little investment in RCTs? Why are mask advocates now arguing that RCTs would be unethical because the benefits are obvious, when they patently are not? It is more unethical to perpetuate a practice without evidence than to challenge one’s preconceptions. This is truly how science progresses and debate should be conducted.
Worth reading in full.
21,766 Dead Over 2 Million Injured (50% Serious): EU’s Database of Adverse Reactions for COVID-19 Shots
By Brian Shilhavy | Health Impact News | August 18, 2021
The European Union database of suspected drug reaction reports is EudraVigilance, and they are now reporting 21,766 fatalities, and 2,074,410 injuries, following COVID-19 injections.
A Health Impact News subscriber from Europe reminded us that this database maintained at EudraVigilance is only for countries in Europe who are part of the European Union (EU), which comprises 27 countries.
The total number of countries in Europe is much higher, almost twice as many, numbering around 50. (There are some differences of opinion as to which countries are technically part of Europe.)
So as high as these numbers are, they do NOT reflect all of Europe. The actual number in Europe who are reported dead or injured due to COVID-19 shots would be much higher than what we are reporting here.
The EudraVigilance database reports that through August 14, 2021 there are 21,766 deaths and 2,074,410 injuries reported following injections of four experimental COVID-19 shots:
- COVID-19 MRNA VACCINE MODERNA (CX-024414)
- COVID-19 MRNA VACCINE PFIZER-BIONTECH
- COVID-19 VACCINE ASTRAZENECA (CHADOX1 NCOV-19)
- COVID-19 VACCINE JANSSEN (AD26.COV2.S)
From the total of injuries recorded, half of them (1,021,867 ) are serious injuries.
“Seriousness provides information on the suspected undesirable effect; it can be classified as ‘serious’ if it corresponds to a medical occurrence that results in death, is life-threatening, requires inpatient hospitalisation, results in another medically important condition, or prolongation of existing hospitalisation, results in persistent or significant disability or incapacity, or is a congenital anomaly/birth defect.”
A Health Impact News subscriber in Europe ran the reports for each of the four COVID-19 shots we are including here. It is a lot of work to tabulate each reaction with injuries and fatalities, since there is no place on the EudraVigilance system we have found that tabulates all the results.
Since we have started publishing this, others from Europe have also calculated the numbers and confirmed the totals.*
Here is the summary data through August 14, 2021.
Total reactions for the experimental mRNA vaccine Tozinameran (code BNT162b2,Comirnaty) from BioNTech/ Pfizer – 10,616 deaths and 833,498 injuries to 14/08/2021
- 22,844 Blood and lymphatic system disorders incl. 135 deaths
- 22,132 Cardiac disorders incl. 1,591 deaths
- 208 Congenital, familial and genetic disorders incl. 16 deaths
- 10,953 Ear and labyrinth disorders incl. 8 deaths
- 563 Endocrine disorders incl. 5 deaths
- 12,887 Eye disorders incl. 24 deaths
- 75,021 Gastrointestinal disorders incl. 454 deaths
- 220,575 General disorders and administration site conditions incl. 3,013 deaths
- 893 Hepatobiliary disorders incl. 49 deaths
- 9,094 Immune system disorders incl. 58 deaths
- 27,018 Infections and infestations incl. 1037 deaths
- 10,454 Injury, poisoning and procedural complications incl. 158 deaths
- 20,892 Investigations incl. 342 deaths
- 6,172 Metabolism and nutrition disorders incl. 188 deaths
- 112,364 Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders incl. 133 deaths
- 605 Neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps) incl. 51 deaths
- 148,477 Nervous system disorders incl. 1,171 deaths
- 910 Pregnancy, puerperium and perinatal conditions incl. 29 deaths
- 152 Product issues incl. 1 death
- 14,950 Psychiatric disorders incl. 141 deaths
- 2,763 Renal and urinary disorders incl. 169 deaths
- 10,909 Reproductive system and breast disorders incl. 3 deaths
- 36,913 Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders incl. 1,268 deaths
- 40,358 Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders incl. 92 deaths
- 1,416 Social circumstances incl. 13 deaths
- 651 Surgical and medical procedures incl. 28 deaths
- 23,324 Vascular disorders incl. 439 deaths
Total reactions for the experimental mRNA vaccine mRNA-1273 (CX-024414) from Moderna – 5,600 deaths and 229,430 injuries to 14/08/2021
- 4,341 Blood and lymphatic system disorders incl. 49 deaths
- 6,744 Cardiac disorders incl. 614 deaths
- 89 Congenital, familial and genetic disorders incl. 1 deaths
- 2,916 Ear and labyrinth disorders
- 179 Endocrine disorders incl. 1 death
- 3,579 Eye disorders incl. 13 deaths
- 20,063 Gastrointestinal disorders incl. 205 deaths
- 61,894 General disorders and administration site conditions incl. 2,232 deaths
- 372 Hepatobiliary disorders incl. 20 deaths
- 1,926 Immune system disorders incl. 10 deaths
- 6,597 Infections and infestations incl. 340 deaths
- 4,944 Injury, poisoning and procedural complications incl. 105 deaths
- 4,556 Investigations incl. 107 deaths
- 2,230 Metabolism and nutrition disorders incl. 129 deaths
- 28,909 Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders incl. 111 deaths
- 275 Neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps) incl. 29 deaths
- 40,922 Nervous system disorders incl. 572 deaths
- 463 Pregnancy, puerperium and perinatal conditions incl. 5 deaths
- 46 Product issues
- 4,510 Psychiatric disorders incl. 96 deaths
- 1,364 Renal and urinary disorders incl. 93 deaths
- 2,012 Reproductive system and breast disorders incl. 2 deaths
- 10,046 Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders incl. 528 deaths
- 12,375 Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders incl. 47 deaths
- 966 Social circumstances incl. 20 deaths
- 732 Surgical and medical procedures incl. 56 deaths
- 6,380 Vascular disorders incl. 215 deaths
Total reactions for the experimental vaccine AZD1222/VAXZEVRIA (CHADOX1 NCOV-19) from Oxford/ AstraZeneca: 4,740 deaths and 947,675 injuries to 14/08/2021
- 11,297 Blood and lymphatic system disorders incl. 194 deaths
- 15,757 Cardiac disorders incl. 550 deaths
- 137 Congenital familial and genetic disorders incl. 3 deaths
- 11,013 Ear and labyrinth disorders
- 457 Endocrine disorders incl. 4 deaths
- 16,608 Eye disorders incl. 19 deaths
- 93,703 Gastrointestinal disorders incl. 241 deaths
- 249,973 General disorders and administration site conditions incl. 1,166 deaths
- 770 Hepatobiliary disorders incl. 44 deaths
- 3,770 Immune system disorders incl. 19 deaths
- 23,056 Infections and infestations incl. 298 deaths
- 10,571 Injury poisoning and procedural complications incl. 130 deaths
- 20,678 Investigations incl. 108 deaths
- 11,336 Metabolism and nutrition disorders incl. 65 deaths
- 144,069 Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders incl. 66 deaths
- 477 Neoplasms benign malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps) incl. 15 deaths
- 198,450 Nervous system disorders incl. 755 deaths
- 391 Pregnancy puerperium and perinatal conditions incl. 9 deaths
- 146 Product issues incl. 1 death
- 17,784 Psychiatric disorders incl. 40 deaths
- 3,449 Renal and urinary disorders incl. 45 deaths
- 12,080 Reproductive system and breast disorders incl. 1 death
- 33,058 Respiratory thoracic and mediastinal disorders incl. 560 deaths
- 43,592 Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders incl. 31 deaths
- 1,182 Social circumstances incl. 6 deaths
- 1,040 Surgical and medical procedures incl. 21 deaths
- 22,831 Vascular disorders incl. 349 deaths
Total reactions for the experimental COVID-19 vaccine JANSSEN (AD26.COV2.S) from Johnson & Johnson: – 810 deaths and 63,807 injuries to 14/08/2021
- 585 Blood and lymphatic system disorders incl. 24 deaths
- 988 Cardiac disorders incl. 103 deaths
- 24 Congenital, familial and genetic disorders
- 425 Ear and labyrinth disorders
- 27 Endocrine disorders incl. 1 death
- 836 Eye disorders incl. 3 deaths
- 6,041 Gastrointestinal disorders incl. 28 deaths
- 16,787 General disorders and administration site conditions incl. 201 deaths
- 80 Hepatobiliary disorders incl. 7 deaths
- 260 Immune system disorders incl. 5 deaths
- 1,086 Infections and infestations incl. 27 deaths
- 578 Injury, poisoning and procedural complications incl. 11 deaths
- 3,319 Investigations incl. 56 deaths
- 341 Metabolism and nutrition disorders incl. 13 deaths
- 10,533 Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders incl. 19 deaths
- 26 Neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps) incl. 2 deaths
- 13,528 Nervous system disorders incl. 101 deaths
- 23 Pregnancy, puerperium and perinatal conditions incl. 1 death
- 19 Product issues
- 794 Psychiatric disorders incl. 9 deaths
- 230 Renal and urinary disorders incl. 9 deaths
- 484 Reproductive system and breast disorders incl. 3 deaths
- 2,155 Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders incl. 64 deaths
- 1,893 Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders incl. 3 deaths
- 164 Social circumstances incl. 3 deaths
- 490 Surgical and medical procedures incl. 31 deaths
- 2,091 Vascular disorders incl. 86 deaths
*These totals are estimates based on reports submitted to EudraVigilance. Totals may be much higher based on percentage of adverse reactions that are reported. Some of these reports may also be reported to the individual country’s adverse reaction databases, such as the U.S. VAERS database and the UK Yellow Card system. The fatalities are grouped by symptoms, and some fatalities may have resulted from multiple symptoms.
More COVID Shots on the Way
In spite of all these recorded injuries and deaths, most countries around the world are now preparing to roll out a 3rd Pfizer “booster” shot, as well as authorizing the COVID shots for young children, under the age of 12.
While the alleged COVID-19 “virus” has almost NO impact on deaths among young people, tragically, we cannot say the same for the experimental shots.
Israel’s airstrikes in Syria aren’t newsworthy for Western media, as a consequence civilians continue to suffer
By Eva Bartlett | RT | August 22, 2021
Israel again illegally bombed Syria last week, violating Lebanese airspace to do so and putting at risk the lives of untold numbers of civilians. And following this, crickets in the media, again.
On Thursday, just after 11pm, Israeli missiles targeted the vicinities of Damascus and Homs, according to a statement from the Syrian army. Russia’s Reconciliation Center for Syria said Israel did so via six planes which fired 24 guided missiles at Syria.
In its attack on Syria, Israeli missiles put two passenger airplanes in Syrian and in Lebanese airspace at risk, particularly the 130 civilians and flight crew on a Middle East Airlines flight coming from Abu Dhabi to Beirut. Flight trackers show the plane abruptly changed course to avoid being targeted.
Flashback to 2018, when Israel attacked Syria using the cover of a Russian plane – whose presence was legal in Syria, having been invited by the Syrian government, contrary to the invading Israeli plane. Syrian air defense missiles responded to the threat, downing the Russian plane.
Just last month, Israel attacked Syria on multiple occasions, including during Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest times for Muslims.
The reality is that Israel’s bombings of Syria are so routine that this latest attack is hardly ‘news’ and it is hard to make it newsworthy to write about. I’ve written about such attacks before, including noting (February 2021): “Israel’s military chief of staff boasted earlier about hitting over 500 targets in just 2020 alone.”
But each attack is, in my opinion, newsworthy, because each of them affects, if not kills, civilians.
Surely, it would be newsworthy if the routine bombings of a neighboring sovereign country were committed by, say, Russia or China. The entirety of Western media and all of the internet would be livid and demanding accountability.
Israel’s pretext when bombing Syria is usually that it is, “targeting Iranian-backed fighters,” a charge gleefully reprinted in media and by sources supporting the fall of the Syrian government.
In reality, reports claim, Thursday’s bombings killed four Syrian civilians, including at least one youth.
The psychological terror
British journalist Vanessa Beeley, who lives in a heavily populated suburb on the outskirts of Damascus, tweeted of feeling the impacts of the bombings.
Now imagine all of the people in the vicinity feeling that impact, not knowing if that night they would finally be struck. That’s the thing we don’t hear much of if these attacks even make any media coverage: how they impact on civilians, even those not directly injured but terrorized by them.
I know very well of the terror of being near a site Israel has just bombed. And although I have many anecdotes from my three years of living in Gaza, one rather poignant incident involved me sleeplessly musing on the rooftop of the simple central Gazan home I lived in on a hot August 2011 night. I wrote:
“I am watching sporadic shooting stars when the first F-16 appeared from the direction of the sea. Three more follow. The roar is normal, F-16s are normal, and reading in the news the next day that some part of Gaza was bombed is normal. They continue eastward and a bombing seems imminent. It is. A thick cloud of black smoke blots the dim lights of houses in eastern Deir al Balah where the F-16s have struck.”
I went on to write about the planes attacking the city of Khan Younis to the south, and suddenly, bombing close to me.
“Two massive blasts, the house shakes. They’ve bombed somewhere near the sea, which is only a few hundred meters away. Concrete dust flutters down upon us. There is a sustained honking in Gaza that everyone recognizes as make way, we’ve got another victim here.”
And, if I may dwell on this one simple anecdote, I remarked on how the men in the house tried to appear calm and cool but, while we were all accustomed to such random bombings and either put on a brave face or genuinely stop flinching, they do still affect you deeply.
“Every time one of those f***ing F-16s flies over us, it’s a reminder of the last war, or of previous attacks, or of random bombings, or of friends and family martyred in their sleep, cars, homes… Every time those F-16s intentionally break the sound barrier to create a bomb-like sonic boom, everyone within range instinctively remembers their own personal horror at whichever Israeli war or attacks.”
I have more terrifying, all night long bombing memories, with massive bombs landing nearby, including just tens of meters away. Those were during the 2008/9 war on Gaza. With the above account, I want to emphasize how these terrors occur on any random day, but will never be heard of in the media.
But it isn’t just the already bad enough bombings. The psychological terror aspect includes the near-continuous presence of drones overhead.
After Israel’s latest bombing of Syria, I spoke with Lebanese journalist Marwa Osman. She emphasized how Israel’s violation of Lebanese airspace is an almost daily occurrence.
“All day, you can hear them [Israeli drones]. It causes a nervous breakdown for any human to keep listening to this all day. I can’t even imagine what they feel in Gaza when they have them all the time overhead.”
If you haven’t ever been under one, much less tens, of military drones, you won’t know how deeply disturbing hearing them is. It is hard to concentrate with such an ominous cacophony constantly overhead.
When in early August, in what the Israel army claimed was a “retaliation” attack, Israel fired artillery shells at the Khiam region of southern Lebanon, Osman was at her home less than one kilometer from the bombings. She spoke of the terror of her children. “I found one of them hiding under the sink, I found two of them hiding in my bedroom near the closet because they thought this was the safest place to be.”
Limited condemnations, but continued status quo?
Lebanon’s minister of defense condemned Israel’s recent attack and has, “called on the UN to deter Israel from carrying out airstrikes on Syria using Lebanese airspace.” Russia and Iran have on more than one occasion condemned the attacks, rightly noting they violate international law and Syria’s sovereignty. And of course the Syrian government condemns such attacks every time they occur.
But in spite of this, the condemnations get limited notice and the status quo continues. In a day or two, or a week or month, there will be another such Israeli attack that will, again, be deemed not newsworthy.
Eva Bartlett is a Canadian independent journalist and activist. She has spent years on the ground covering conflict zones in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Palestine (where she lived for nearly four years).
Palestinian organizer and former prisoner Ghassan Zawahreh seized by Israeli occupation forces
Ghassan Zawahreh
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network | August 20, 2021
Ghassan Zawahreh, Palestinian former prisoner and longtime struggler for justice, was seized from his home in Dheisheh refugee camp by Israeli occupation forces in the pre-dawn hours of 19 August 2021. Zawahreh has been repeatedly detained since 2002, when he was only 14 years old. He was last released from Israeli occupation prisons on 4 March 2021 after 28 months jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. Almost every time he is released, he may spend only a few months with his family and community before being ripped away once again for arbitrary imprisonment with no charge or trial.
During his last detention, Zawahreh highlighted the injustice of administrative detention, announcing his boycott of the military courts: “Administrative detention is a heinous crime for the ages. What is even more criminal is the occupation’s attempts to mislead through mock courts and charades where the executioner and the ruler, dressed up in military suits, represent the Occupation and its crimes.”
He has spent nearly 16 years in total in Israeli prisons; his brother Moataz Zawahreh was murdered by Israeli occupation forces as he participated in a popular protest in Bethlehem in 2015. Moataz had actually returned home to Palestine from where he was studying in France to support Ghassan, who was engaged in a long-term hunger strike against his imprisonment without charge or trial. He won his release in December 2015, only to be seized again by occupation forces seven months later.
Ghassan Zawahreh mourns his brother after his release in 2015
He was in his last year of studies in social work at the Open University of Jerusalem when he was arrested in 2008, and has been prevented from completing his studies through multiple arrests.
He is well-known in the camp as a community activist and volunteer in popular programs that provide social services to people in the camp. He worked as a taxi driver in order to support his family, on the Bethlehem-Ramallah road.
Administrative detention was first used in Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime; it is now used routinely to target Palestinians, especially community leaders, activists, and influential people in their towns, camps and villages.
There are currently approximately 550 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,750 Palestinian political prisoners. These orders are issued by the military and approved by military courts on the basis of “secret evidence”, denied to both Palestinian detainees and their attorneys. Issued for up to six months at a time, they are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including minor children — can spend years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. There are currently nine Palestinians on hunger strike to end administrative detention without charge or trial.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network demands the immediate release of Ghassan Zawahreh, dedicated struggler for Palestine and leading political prisoner repeatedly attacked by Israeli occupation forces, and all of his fellow Palestinian political prisoners. We are committed to organize, struggle and work to achieve the liberation of Palestinian prisoners, and the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.
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