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Hamas: We are seeking to extend the four-day truce

Palestine Information Center – November 26, 2023

GAZA – The Hamas Movement declared in a brief statement issued Sunday evening that it is seeking to extend the four-day truce with Israel.

We are seeking to extend the four-day truce with Israel should serious efforts be made to increase the number of Palestinian detainees released from Israeli prisons, the statement reads.

For his part, member of the Hamas Political Bureau, Khalil Al-Hayya, confirmed his movement’s seriousness in proceeding with a comprehensive prisoner exchange deal.

The Hamas Movement responded positively to the prisoner exchange deal, he said in press statements, stressing its keenness to adhere to the terms of the exchange deal.

We were concerned from day one with the return of detained women and children to their families, he added, saying that “we will strive with all diligence to secure the release of more civilian detainees.”

Around 150 Palestinian prisoners and 50 Israeli captives held in Gaza are to be released over four days under the truce deal.

 

November 26, 2023 Posted by | Timeless or most popular, Video | , , | 1 Comment

Three Palestinian students shot, wounded in US state of Vermont

Palestinian college students Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid were shot walking down the street in Vermont on November 25, 2023.
Press TV – November 26, 2023

Three Palestinian college students have been shot and wounded in the US state of Vermont, in what is perceived to be an Islamophobic act amid unfaltering US support for the Israeli regime’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Burlington Police said that officers responded to a call on Saturday evening and found two shooting victims, with the third a short distance away, all close to the University of Vermont campus.

One victim was reportedly shot in the back while another is said to have been shot in the chest and a third sustained minor injuries.

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom identified the students as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdelhamid and Tahseen Ahmed.

He posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that each of the victims was wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh when they were attacked, identifying them as “three young Palestinian men.”

“The hate crimes against Palestinians must stop. Palestinians everywhere need protection,” Zomlot wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said in a news release that they “have reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.”

The ADC said the students were speaking Arabic when the gunman yelled at them and opened fire.

“The surge in anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment we are experiencing is unprecedented, and this is another example of that hate turning violent,” said ADC National Executive Director in a statement on Sunday.

Burlington Police Chief said the shooter or shooters have not been identified or apprehended, adding the police department is “at the earliest stages of investigating this crime.”

The shooting is part of a broader surge in hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs in the United States.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the US largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization reported receiving 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias from the beginning of October to early November, an increase of 216 percent compared to 2022.

November 26, 2023 Posted by | Islamophobia | , , | Leave a comment

Free Speech Groups Call on Congress To Block NewsGuard Funding

By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | November 26, 2023

As many as 36 groups advocating free speech, the Free Speech Alliance, have turned to US Congress with a request to stop any further funding of NewsGuard.

NewsGuard is an outfit that describes itself as countering “misinformation on behalf of news consumers, brands and democracies.”

That “mission” also includes (trust) rating system for news sites – right in people’s browsers.

But members of the Free Speech Alliance, and those supporting it are not buying this pitch, summing up and denouncing NewsGuard instead as an ideologically-motivated “internet traffic cop.”

And they are warning that taxpayer money should never have been spent on financing it, and its ilk – and even less so, that the US authorities should continue to spend taxpayer money on what is described as politically motivated censorship of speech.

And these free speech groups want Congress to make sure the Biden White House is prevented from bankrolling such an organization – a particularly sensitive issue given the stage of the election cycle in the country – via the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

In a letter this week, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson are urged to make sure Congressman Richard McCormick’s free speech amendment to the NDAA sticks.

We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.

It seeks to ensure that the Department of Defense (DoD) is prevented from handing out contracts to NewsGuard and others, such as another highly controversial group, the Global Disinformation Index (GDI).

The complaint against them is that they show obvious and damaging ideological and political bias against the media in the right-oriented space.

The letter comes in the context of the news that NewsGuard and GDI thus far received money from the DoD, and the Department of State, respectively (NewsGuard to the tune of $750,000 from the DoD).

“As shown by two MRC (Media Research Center, one of the letter’s signatories) Free Speech America studies, NewsGuard’s ratings are heavily skewed in favor of leftist media and consistently target right-leaning outlets with scathingly low ratings,” it is stated by NewBusters.

As for GDI, its track record includes blacklisting the New York Post, The Daily Wire, Real Clear Politics and The Federalist.

The key point of the letter is that in case a (private, or NGO) organization is suspected of having political bias – well, that’s unconstitutional for a US government to support financially.

And a very pertinent point is made in the letter, regarding the “outsourcing of censorship.” Namely:

“That which government is constitutionally prohibited from doing, it cannot contract with others to do. Please ensure that Section 1532 is preserved in the final version of the NDAA.”

November 26, 2023 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance | | Leave a comment

Israel dropped 40,000 tons of explosives on Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, says media office

MEMO |November 26, 2023

The Gaza government’s media office said on Sunday that the Israeli army has dropped 40,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, with the apparent goal of rendering the enclave uninhabitable.

Salama Maarouf, the head of the media office, issued a statement on Telegram on the third day of the temporary humanitarian pause between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on Friday morning.

“The Israeli occupation forces have dropped 40,000 tons of explosives on the Strip (since Oct. 7), and the atrocities of the occupation (forces) have unfolded away from the scrutiny of cameras,” Marouf said.

He explained that “the bombs recently used by the occupation (forces) have never been used before, and hundreds of martyrs are buried in the places where they died. The devastation by the occupation (forces) reflects its intent to make Gaza uninhabitable.”

In the statement, Maarouf also discussed the temporary pause, emphasizing that “the days of respite have laid bare the enormity of the significant massacre, resulting in substantial destruction to infrastructure and residences.”

“One-third of the Gaza Strip’s population has yet to receive essential supplies, and the absence of all international institutions is evident,” he stated, calling on the international community to act.

“There is a pressing need for the establishment of a sizable field hospital,” he added.

November 26, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | 1 Comment

Biden moves to lift all restrictions on Israel’s access to US weapons stockpile: US media

Press TV – November 26, 2023

US President Joe Biden has requested the removal of nearly every restriction on Israel’s use of the stockpiles of weapons and ammunition stored by the United States in Israel, according to an American report.

The Intercept said on Saturday that Biden is seeking to remove all restrictions on the usage of the little-known US weapons stockpiles in Israel that the Pentagon established for use in regional conflicts, to which the Israeli regime had been previously permitted to have access in limited circumstances.

The move was included in the White House’s supplemental budget request, sent to the Senate on October 20, according to the report.

“This request would allow for the transfer of all categories of defense articles,” the proposed budget says.

The War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel (WRSA-I) was created in the 1980s to supply the United States with equipment in the case of a regional war, which is the largest node in a network of de facto US foreign arms stockpiles. These warehouses are controlled by a set of strict requirements.

Under the conditions outlined in these requirements, the Israeli regime has been able to tap into these stockpiles and purchase weapons at low costs if effective subsidization of US military aid is used.

The report notes that with WRSA-I, Biden seeks to remove nearly all meaningful restrictions on the stockpile and arms transfer to Israel, with plans to lift restrictions on obsolete or surplus weapons, waive an annual spending cap on replenishing the stockpile, remove weapon-specific restrictions, and curtail congressional oversight.

All of the changes in the Biden budget plan would be permanent, except for lifting the spending cap, which is limited to the 2024 fiscal year. The changes would come in an arms-trade relationship that is already shrouded in secrecy.

The House has already passed legislation reflecting the White House’s request last month, and it now stands before the Senate.

“By dropping the requirement that such articles be declared excess, it would also increase the existing strain on US military readiness in order to provide more arms to Israel,” said Josh Paul, who was the director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, for over 11 years.

Paul, whose resignation last month due to US military aid to Israel caused a stir in Washington, admitted that “the President’s emergency supplemental funding request, would essentially create a free-flowing pipeline to provide any defense articles to Israel by the simple act of placing them in the WRSA-I stockpile, or other stockpiles intended for Israel.”

According to experts, the White House request would make it much harder for Congress or the public to monitor US arms transfers to Israel.

Under US law, there must be 30 days prior notice to Congress before arms transfer, but the Biden budget request would allow this to be shortened in “extraordinary” circumstances.

In a report last January, The New York Times, citing US and Israeli officials, revealed that the Pentagon sent hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine from the so-called American emergency stockpile in Israel to help meet Ukraine’s need for artillery shells in the war with Russia.

The US has been a steadfast supporter of Israel for decades, both diplomatically and militarily. Each year, the US provides around $4bn of military support to the regime.

In early November, the American news outlet Bloomberg stated that the Pentagon has secretly increased its military aid to Israel, including more sophisticated missiles and equipment such as thousands of Hellfire missiles, which have been used extensively by Israel in Gaza war.

On Saturday in a phone call with Israeli minister of military affairs, Yoav Gallant, Pentagon chief Lloyd J. Austin underscored the US’s unwavering support for Israel and received updates as a temporary ceasefire continues across the besieged Gaza Strip following nearly seven weeks of Israeli genocidal war.

According to the Gaza-based health ministry, nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli strikes, most of them women and children, and injured around 36,000 others. 7,000 Palestinians are still missing.

November 26, 2023 Posted by | Corruption, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism, War Crimes | , , , , | 2 Comments

Explainer: Why are Celtic fans staunch supporters of Palestinian cause?

By Ivan Kesic | Press TV | November 26, 2023

Amid the Israeli regime’s devastating blitzkrieg on the blockaded Gaza Strip, a football club based in Glasgow has grabbed headlines in recent weeks for its support of Palestine.

Despite the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) slapping fine on the Celtic Football Club, the club fans have vowed to continue their support for Palestine against the Israeli occupation.

On Wednesday, Europe’s top football body announced a new fine of $19,000 against the club over a “number of incidents” during its Champions League match against Atletico Madrid in late October, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Celtic was ordered to shell out €17,500 for its supporters’ displaying “a provocative message of an offensive nature,” €8,000 for “blocking of public passageways” and €3,500 for “lighting of fireworks.”

The club fans, led by the Green Brigade group, were heard singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ while unfurling two large banners that read ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Victory to the Resistance’.

The Green Brigade was banned by the Scottish club in October from attending its away matches but has remained insistent on showing support for Palestine by displaying its flags at Celtic matches.

Two pro-Palestinian displays

The incident took place at the match between Celtic and Atletico on October 25 at the club’s home ground Celtic Park in Glasgow, attended by 60,000 Celtic fans, including the Green Brigade group.

As the start of the Champions League group stage match approached, the stadium turned into a sea of Palestinian flags, every stand awash with the colors of Palestine in a show of solidarity with those bombed and killed by the Israeli occupying regime in the Gaza Strip.

A few days earlier, after a home match against Kilmarnock, Celtic fans strongly criticized the broadcasters for not wanting to show the North Curve corner section with Palestinian flags displayed.

This time the media was not able to cover up anything because the Palestinian symbolism was not limited to one corner of the stand, but the whole stadium was painted with colors of the Palestinian flag.

Spectacular photos and videos of pro-Palestinian Celtic fans, singing collectively “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” quickly spread around the world and were shared by millions of netizens on social media.

During the earlier Scottish premiership match against Kilmarnock in Glasgow on October 7, the Green Brigade displayed two large banners saying “Free Palestine” and “Victory to the Resistance.”

Defiance of club appeals

Two days after the 3-1 victory against Kilmarnock, the club’s board distanced itself from the fan group’s show of solidarity, issuing a statement saying “Celtic is a football club and not a political organization.”

“We ask that banners, flags and symbols relating to the conflict and those countries involved in it are not displayed at Celtic Park at this time,” the club said in a statement before the game against Atletico.

However, the Green Brigade ignored the club’s directives and, on the contrary, called on all Celtic fans to raise the Palestine flag during the club’s UEFA Champions League match.

“We must apply learning from apartheid South Africa to dismantle apartheid Israel; if we are neutral in situations of injustice, we have chosen the side of the oppressor,” the Green Brigade said in a counter-statement.

“We send our sincere solidarity and prayers to our friends across all of Palestine at this traumatic time when yet again much of the international community turns its back in cowardice while war crimes are inflicted on a largely defenseless, imprisoned population.”

Keeping the fan tradition

In another statement, issued as a response to the club’s appeals, the Green Brigade also highlighted their tradition of supporting the oppressed and criticized hypocrisy by the political and media class.

“Football remains one of the few areas of public life where working-class people have genuine political agency, and we will not be dictated to by an elitist board that has repeatedly demonstrated contempt for the history and traditions of Celtic FC,” the fan club said.

“Celtic was born out of famine and oppression, a product of colonial rule, death and the mass displacement of people. It is because of this history that Celtic fans are renowned for their empathy and solidarity; consistently siding with the oppressed and destitute,” they added.

It slammed the “hypocrisy” of the club staff, which it said is in line with “much of the political and media class, epitomized through the example of Ukraine.”

“Political messaging was welcome at Celtic Park then, yet it is being condemned now,” the statement noted. “The question on any reasonable mind should be – why? Why are Ukrainian lives more sacred than Palestinian lives.”

The fans referred to the fact that some months ago, pro-Ukrainian support on the pitches and sports stadiums was not prohibited but encouraged, ibyUEFA’s official policy.

While the Green Brigade is renowned for its Irish Republicanism and steadfast support for Palestine, fans of Celtic’s local rival Rangers have in turn supported the Israeli regime when facing Celtic.

In recent weeks, Rangers fans have waved Israeli regime flags and held a minute’s silence for the Israeli victims, but the club has not been punished for such actions.

Humanity of the club

The support of Celtic fans is much more than waving flags and is not a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza, they have been organizing pro-Palestinian support since the 2000s.

In 2012, they organized a display of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, featuring a banner reading “Dignity is More Precious than Food” alongside Palestinian flags.

Their most noble pro-Palestinian action came in 2016 after UEFA fined them £8,600 for flying Palestinian flags in a match against Israeli club Hapoel Beer-Sheva.

Defiant as always, the Green Brigade launched a crowdfunding campaign and ultimately a remarkable £176,076 was raised and split between two beneficiaries that provide medical aid to Palestinians.

One of the results of those donations was the establishment of the refugee football club Aida Celtic, based in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

The Green Brigade has continued with humanitarian actions in recent weeks, collecting donations for health organizations that help the Palestinian people.

Interestingly, the club was formed in 1888 by Brother Walfrid, an Irish Catholic cleric, to raise money for poor Irish immigrants in the West of Scotland, according to reports.

So, as it appears, the foundation of the Scottish club itself was based on a human cause.

November 26, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, Solidarity and Activism | , , , | 1 Comment