The Disinformation Project, launched in early 2020 in New Zealand as a “disinformation research” group, but slammed by critics as seeking to usher in ideological censorship, is no more.
The project is the product of the Covid era, initially focused on what was at the time considered “disinformation” but then branching out to things like vaccine skepticism in general, climate change – and, apparently, even local politics.
The group, which coordinated with the New Zealand government, described its activities as research and analyses of all manner of “extreme conspiratorial beliefs” as well as their compatriots’ “descent” into those.
Critics, however, point out that silencing the opposition, including by supporting “hate speech” laws, was among the activities of the now-shut-down endeavor that was led by Kate Hannah.
These critics accuse the Disinformation Project of moving from being a handy tool for the New Zealand government to spread its narratives promoting COVID-19 measures (some of the most restrictive in the world), to becoming a political weapon promoting a certain agenda.
Back in April, some commentators were concerned about where the Disinformation Project’s shift from the “abandoned pandemic” to political influencing might lead.
We now know that it has led to the group’s demise – but it is only one of the many similar efforts that appeared during the Covid era around the world.
A specific accusation against this one comes from New Zealand-based journalist Chris Lynch, who claims that Hannah, along with Sanjana Hattotuwa, attempted to effectively manipulate the 2023 election in the country by influencing the media via “secretive briefings.”
This didn’t succeed in this instance because they got “called out” – but over the past four years, the Disinformation Project has been accused of getting increasingly desperate to stay relevant, and finding ways to do that, with the policies it pushed accepted without critical examination by the legacy media.
Lynch is optimistic that the demise of this project and the rise of some that challenge the established media-political narratives means that New Zealand has turned the corner when it comes to censorship disguised as concern for democracy and the fight against “disinformation.”
However, it’s equally possible that where one such outfit exits the scene, another, under a different name and leadership but with the same purpose, might take its place.
The US Special Operations Command is allegedly looking for contractors to create deepfake internet users that neither humans nor computers could detect, media reported.
In particular, the command is interested in solving the problem of verifying users on social networks, so it is looking for technology that can create selfies and official documentation to bypass these checks, the report read. Special operations troops “will use this capability to gather information from public online forums,” the media reported on Thursday, citing the command’s plan.
“Special Operations Forces (SOF) are interested in technologies that can generate convincing online personas for use on social media platforms, social networking sites, and other online content … [users must] appear to be a unique individual that is recognizable as human but does not exist in the real world,” the report added.
However, these plans ran counter to the official position of the US government, since the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Security Agency have previously called deepfakes a threat.
Israeli sharpshooters shot and critically injured Al-Jazeera cameraman, Fadi Al-Wahidi, and injured another journalist, while two others were killed while they were covering occupation forces’ assault in and around the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip on October 9, 2024.
The occupation army snipers targeted a group of journalists in the Jabalia refugee camp while they were performing their duties, shooting Al-Wahidi in the neck with live ammunition, causing permanent paralysis.
Al-Jazeera journalist, Anas al-Sharif posted on his X account that “Israeli forces shot at the Al Jazeera crew, and the network’s photographer, our beloved colleague Fadi al-Wahidi, was injured by a sniper’s bullet in the neck during our coverage.”
On the same day, Israeli forces killed the photojournalist, Mohammad Al-Tanani and the journalist, Omar al-Balawi after targeting a group of journalists documenting the occupation’s massacres in Jabalia.
Tamer Labad, Al-Aqsa TV journalist was also shot by Israeli fire during the same incident, while covering the bombardment and ground invasion of the Jabalia refugee camp.
Al-Jazeera, in a statement affirmed that the targeting of journalists is a violation of international laws protecting the press and humanitarian workers in war zones.
The UK government and police – the British state – made clear today they are waging a war of intimidation against the country’s independent journalists in a desperate attempt to silence them.
Ten Metropolitan police officers made a dawn raid on the home of investigative journalist Asa Winstanley and seized his electronic devices under the UK’s draconian Terrorism Act. A letter from the Met indicates that the associate editor of the Electronic Intifada is being investigated by the force for “encouraging terrorism”.
The raid isn’t about terrorism – except the UK government’s. It’s about scaring us into staying silent on Britain’s collusion in Israel’s genocide.
Winstanley is the latest – and most high profile – independent journalist to be targeted by counter-terrorism police in recent weeks. Earlier, Richard Medhurst was arrested at Heathrow airport on returning to the UK from a trip abroad. Then Sarah Wilkinson was arrested and her home ransacked.
Winstanley has repeatedly embarrassed the British establishment by exposing its covert and deep ties to Israel and its collusion with the Israeli lobby.
In his book Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn, Winstanley exposed in shocking detail how antisemitism was weaponised against the former Labour leader.
The book would have made uncomfortable reading for his successor, Sir Keir Starmer, now Britain’s prime minister, because it documents his role in the smear campaign.
While in opposition, Starmer’s Labour party threatened to expel Winstanley as a member – he resigned in protest instead – and have made legal threats against him.
As the Electronic Intifada website notes: “Now that Labour is the UK’s ruling party, it has the potential to use the apparatus of the state against those it views as its own – or Israel’s – political enemies.”
There is precisely no reason for police to raid Winstanley’s home or seize his electronic devices. The preposterous accusation of “encouraging terrorism” clearly relates to his online work, which is fully in the public domain.
The British state wants to insinuate through the dawn raid and confiscation of his devices that he is somehow harbouring secret or classified information, or in illicit contact with terror groups, and that incriminating evidence will be forthcoming from searches of those devices.
It won’t. If there were any real suspicion that Winstanley had such information, the police would have arrested him rather than making a public show of a 6am raid and search they knew beforehand would turn up nothing.
This isn’t about terrorism at all. It is about frightening those opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the West’s collusion in it, into silence. If the British state is going after someone like Winstanley, you are supposed to conclude, they will surely soon come for me too.
Even the name of the “counter-terrorism” raid is performative: “Operation Incessantness”. The message the state wants to send is that it will not rest till it has us all behind bars.
Don’t believe this nonsense. The police have nothing on Winstanley. Exposing information about Israel and its genocide, and the British government’s culpability, is not a crime. At least not yet.
They want you to think it is, of course. They want you scared and mute. Because every time you go out and protest, you remind the world that the British government, and their bully-boys in blue, are the real criminals – for enabling genocide.
Dockworkers in Greece have blocked the shipment of an ammunition-filled container destined for Israel, refusing to load the cargo onto a vessel at the Port of Piraeus, Anadolu Agency reports.
The container, reportedly transported to Greece via North Macedonia, was meant to be shipped to Israel’s Haifa Port.
However, in response to calls from local labour unions, dockworkers at the Piraeus Port gathered and took a firm stance, preventing the shipment from proceeding.
According to Greek State Television, ERT, the workers had written “Murderers, get out of the port” on the container and voiced their solidarity with the Palestinian people, chanting slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine”.
Markos Bekris, the president of the Piraeus Port Trade Union, released a statement condemning the shipment of ammunition intended for the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
“We have decided not to allow the shipment of war ammunition from the Port of Piraeus that will continue the genocide of the Palestinian people,” Bekris said, emphasizing that the workers would not stain their hands “with the blood of the Palestinian people”.
Bekris also urged Greece to halt any involvement in the conflict, calling for an immediate cessation of the country’s participation. “We demand that our country immediately stop engaging in the war,” he added.
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on 7 October last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
More than 42,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 99,100 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
Israeli settlers today attacked vehicles belonging to Palestinian residents of Yatma village, south of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank.
According to the Wafa news agency, the settlers attempted to assault passengers, escalating tensions in the area. Although no injuries have been confirmed, the atmosphere remains tense as residents fear further violence from Israeli settlers.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident in Al-Khader, near Bethlehem, an Israeli settler assaulted a local Palestinian family while they were harvesting olives. The settler forced the family to leave their land threatening them with a weapon, warning they would be arrested if they returned.
This olive harvesting season in the West Bank has seen repeated settler attacks, including violence against farmers, restricted land access and damage or theft of olive trees and crops.
According to UN OCHA figures released this week, since the beginning of October 2024, 51 settler-related attacks on Palestinians and their properties have been recorded, including 32 that led to casualties, property damage or both, which took place in 57 communities across the occupied West Bank. The majority of the incidents were related to the olive harvest season whereby Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians or prevented them from gaining access to their lands and damaged trees, stole crops and harvesting tools.
It added that since 1 October 2024, 54 Palestinians were injured within the context of settler attacks against Palestinians, including 44 by Israeli settlers and ten by Israeli occupation forces. Furthermore, about 600 (mainly olive) trees and saplings were burnt, sawed off, had their crops stolen, or otherwise vandalised, affecting Palestinian farmers in about 15 communities across the West Bank.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said on Friday that the Israeli army has repeatedly and deliberately attacked the UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon.
In remarks carried by Lebanese media, the UN mission spokesman said that the Israeli army targeted the UNIFIL forces five times deliberately.
Meanwhile, he noted that the Israeli occupation army has used phosphorus munitions.
“We found evidence of possible use of white phosphorus several months ago near one of our posts” in south Lebanon.
He added that the destruction inflicted upon the Lebanese border town due to Israeli bombardment was “shocking.”
However, Tenenti underlined the need for the international forces to stay in Lebanon, stressing that their morale is high.
Asked about the possibility of resorting to self-defense against the Israeli occupation army, the spokesman said: “It can be resorted to, but the priority now is for de-escalation.”
The Israeli occupation army has repeatedly attacked UNIFIL posts recently, with several times causing casualties among the international force members.
The latest attack was in the border southern town of Kfar Kila on Thursday, when and Israeli Merkava fired at a UNIFIL watchtower.
Hamas today confirmed that its chief, Yahya Sinwar, was killed in fighting in Gaza, a statement issued on the group’s social media channels said.
“Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya announces the martyrdom of the great leader, President of the Hamas Political Bureau, the hero of Al-Aqsa Flood, Yahya Sinwar, who sought martyrdom and attained it after clashing with a zionist force alongside other fighters in the #Gaza Strip,” the movement said.
“Hamas will remain until a Palestinian state is established on all historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital,” Al-Hayya continued, adding that Sinwar’s martyrdom, like that of his predecessors including Hamas founders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Al-Rantisi, will only “empower the resistance” and “will be a curse on the occupiers”.
Israel’s prisoners, he continued, “will not be returned without a complete ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and the release of Palestinian prisoners from the occupation’s prisons.”
Israel announced yesterday that Sinwar was killed after a firefight with occupation forces in the southern Rafah governorate on Wednesday. It later released drone footage of his last moments showing him fighting against the occupation until the end. He was wearing a keffiyeh to conceal his face and army fatigues.
Sinwar was appointed leader of Hamas’ political bureau in August, a week after the assassination of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh in a “Zionist raid” while he was on an official visit to Iran.
Flotillas of Russian and Omani warships have arrived in Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf to participate in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Maritime Exercise “IMEX 2024,” which will be hosted by the Southern Fleet of the Iranian Navy in the coming days.
The warships docked in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Friday and were received by the Iranian Navy and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) helicopters and naval vessels upon arrival.
Representatives of several other countries, like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Thailand, also landed at Bandar Abbas International Airport to take part in the war game as observers.
The purpose of the “IMEX 2024” joint naval exercise is to increase collective security in the region, expand multilateral cooperation, and display the goodwill and capabilities to safeguard peace, friendship and maritime security.
The participants in the exercise will also practice tactics to ensure international maritime trade security, protect maritime routes, enhance humanitarian measures, and exchange information on rescue and relief operations.
The IONS features 24 Indian Ocean littoral states, which gather biennially for multilateral meetings and naval exercises.
The IONS seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies and provide a forum for discussion of regional maritime issues and the promotion of friendly relationships.
The “Victory Plan” presented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is an acknowledgment of capitulation because it is obvious that, even in his estimation, without the massive involvement of NATO countries in the conflict, the Ukrainian army will not be able to hold back Russian forces in the foreseeable future.
Zelensky presented his Victory Plan to the Ukrainian parliament on October 16 and the European Council on October 17. The plan consists of five points and three secret amendments. In addition to admitting defeat, Zelensky’s Victory Plan also reveals a desire for maximum escalation of the conflict, where, of course, the main burden should be borne by NATO countries and not Ukrainian forces.
The Ukrainian president thinks that escalating what led to the suffering of his citizens and destroyed the economy will lead to Ukraine’s victory.
At the same time, his Victory Plan could be used to pressure Biden or his successor to make decisions about striking deep into the Russian Federation without, supposedly, provoking Moscow to react excessively. Nonetheless, the Kremlin has already said Russia will respond to any attacks.
The Victory Plan truly hinges on US support and not European. Therefore, bodies such as the Council of Europe only serve to give the Biden administration legitimacy when he puts pressure on some parts of the American establishment that are clearly resisting further support for Ukraine.
The first point of Zelensky’s Victory Plan is geopolitical and concerns Ukraine’s immediate invitation to NATO. The other points concern the Ukrainian military and its allies destroying Russia’s aviation, deploying a non-nuclear strategic containment package on its territory, strengthening sanctions on Russia, and allowing Ukrainian soldiers to replace part of the American contingent in Europe in the post-war period.
According to the latest available data, 84% of Ukrainians want their country to be a member of NATO. Despite the widespread support for joining the alliance and although NATO has declared Ukraine’s membership path irreversible, it cannot be completed during the war, and the alliance declined to present a timeline. In effect, NATO has categorically ruled out membership until the war is over, which already makes Zelensky’s Victory Plan detached from reality since the very first point of the plan to defeat Russia is to join the bloc.
For this reason, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned Zelensky’s Victory Plan as nothing more than a collection of “incoherent slogans.”
“This is, of course, no plan at all. It is a collection of incoherent slogans. It is blood foam at the mouth of a neo-Nazi murderer,” the spokeswoman stated during a briefing on October 16.
She also criticised Zelensky’s intention to damage the Russian air force with the assistance of his allies, saying, “He is pushing NATO to a direct conflict with our country and again insists on getting permission to use long-range weapons on Russian territory, knowing perfectly well, at least those who wrote him these speeches, realised what it would lead to because the corresponding statements by the Russian leadership were made just a week ago.”
“Taken as a sum, all these points and secret sub-clauses are not Zelensky’s plan of victory but a plan to bring misfortune upon Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. This aims to keep the money flowing and present his terrorist capabilities. I think that today Zelensky definitively proved to everyone that he hates Ukrainians to the extent that can be characterised as Ukrainophobia,” Zakharova added.
Since Zelensky evidently does not have any plans to begin serious negotiations, as seen by his Victory Plan, any negotiations conducted in the short term can be used by the West and the Kiev regime to freeze the conflict in Ukraine, replenish their capabilities and launch new attacks against Russia.
According to Western media, including The Washington Post, Zelensky has shown himself more open to holding talks with Russia amid Ukraine’s weakening positions. At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that no adequate proposals had yet been received regarding the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, apart from the hype in the Western media.
Zelensky’s masters in the West are beginning to see that they are not able to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia and are beginning to ask for negotiations. For the moment, they are resorting to negotiation chatter, as mentioned, to try to freeze the conflict and build up forces. In this context, the only way to end the conflict is the complete defeat of Ukraine, peace on Moscow’s terms, and the strategic retreat of the West from Russia’s borders.
The Victory Plan has certainly dominated headlines and occupied the attention of many world leaders, but Kiev has no way of enforcing it, especially since, from the very first point, it ensures failure, considering NATO has been very clear on Ukraine’s membership path, which cannot progress until the war is already over.
Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.
Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, addressed parliament yesterday and justified Israel’s targeting of civilians in Gaza.
‘Self-defence means not only attacking terrorists but destroying them. When Hamas terrorists hide behind people, behind schools… civilian places lose their protected status because terrorists abuse it.’
This, however, is not true, according to human rights lawyer, Craig Mokhiber. The former senior UN human rights official told MEMO claims that Israel has a right to ‘self-defence’ in Gaza don’t have a standing in international law.
The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, strongly condemned the statements made by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday, in which she claimed that “Israel” can target civilians in Gaza for “self-defense.”
In a statement, Hamas said the “German government is unashamed of the targeting of civilians and hospitals as long as it provides security for Israel, and this is part of its commitments.”
Bildcited internal Defense Ministry documents to report that Germany finally maxed out its military support for Ukraine and won’t give any more heavy equipment, which comes around six weeks after the Polish Defense Minister effectively said the same thing about his country’s support. The Federal Cabinet detailed “The arms and military equipment Germany is sending to Ukraine” last month, which they said totals €28 billion in assistance that’s either already been provided or committed for future years.
Poland and Germany have done much more for Ukraine in this regard than most countries so the fact that they’ve already maxed out their support suggests that the West as a whole might soon seriously consider freezing the conflict. After all, Russia is already far ahead of NATO in the “race of logistics”/“war of attrition”, with even Sky News candidly reporting earlier this year that Russia is producing three times as many shells as NATO at one-quarter of the price.
This was followed last month by CNN sharing a glimpse of just how bad everything has become for Ukraine, which coincides with growing interest among the Western public and even some of their elite in cutting their side’s losses by exploring a political solution to the NATO-Russian proxy war in Ukraine. “Russia’s Capture Of Pokrovsk Could Reshape The Conflict’s Dynamics” whenever it comes to pass so it naturally follows that they’d either want to preempt that or find a way to freeze the conflict afterwards.
The challenge though is that Russia won’t consider a ceasefire so long as Ukraine continues to occupy Kursk and Donbass, neither of which Kiev is willing to withdraw from as a “goodwill gesture”, thus risking the scenario that the front lines collapse due to the combination of attrition and Russia’s new tactics. In that case, Russia might try to expel Ukraine from the remainder of Zaporozhye Region east of the Dnieper, including its namesake city of an estimated 750,000 people.
There’s also the chance that Russia moves into eastern Dnipropetrovsk (“Dnipro”) Region despite having no claims to it either to coerce Ukraine into withdrawing from eastern Zaporozhye and its namesake capital and/or to push the Line of Contact (LOC) as far as possible before freezing it. This tactic could also enable Russia to open up a southern front in Kharkov Region to complement the eastern and northern ones. The worst-case scenario for Ukraine is simultaneous attacks along these three axes.
With Poland and Germany having already practically tapped out, unless they dig into the rest of their reserves that they’ve thus far preserved to meet their minimum national security requirements, this sequence of events is certainly possible. It could only be preempted by a comparatively more generous ceasefire proposal from the West that piques the Kremlin’s interest, Russian self-restraint, or Ukraine and/or the West “escalating to de-escalate”.
The first could see the West pressure Ukraine into withdrawing from eastern Zaporozhye Region, the second could be due to Russia not wanting to risk overextending its military logistics, and the third could involve a nuclear provocation, the formaldeployment of NATO to Ukraine, and/or an attack on Belarus. Relevant factors include the timing of any potential Russian breakthrough and the outcome of the US elections, both of which could influence Ukraine and/or the West, perhaps even in different ways.
All that can be said for sure is that Ukraine can’t depend on more military aid after Germany just joined Poland in dropping out of the “war of attrition”. Unless they dig into their reserves or others step up (if they even have much left to give), then something game-changing might soon happen, though whether it’s positive or negative remains to be seen. Russia will either decisively win, be offered a more generous ceasefire that it’ll accept for pragmatic reasons, or its enemies will dangerously “escalate to de-escalate”.
Reknowned economist M. Shahid Alamoffers this excellent critique of Noam Chomsky’s defective analysis of the relative influence of Oil versus the Israel lobby over US foreign policy: … continue
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Al Mayadeen | October 16, 2024
