Scott Ritter Says Ending Cooperation With RT, Sputnik Due to US Sanctions
Sputnik – 05.09.2024
The US Department of the Treasury issued a statement on Wednesday to announce sanctions against the Rossiya Segodnya media group, RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik and Ruptly. The sanctions affected Rossiya Segodnya and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan and a number of other senior executives.
“The actions by the Department of the Treasury in levying new sanctions against RT, Sputnik, and other Russian media organizations has made it impossible for me to continue my work as an outside contributor for RT and Sputnik, as well as participating in interviews and other collaborations with other Russian media,” Ritter said on X.
He said his work with Russian media organizations was legitimate journalism.
“I reject the notion that the work I have done over the past years with the newly sanctioned Russian media organizations has been anything other than legitimate journalism, the content of which has been factually correct and analytically sound, and always of my own creation,” Ritter said.
However, he said, he is committed to obeying US laws.
“Nonetheless, I am fully committed to obeying US law, and as such will be terminating all contractual relationships with both RT and Sputnik effective immediately, as well as suspending my participation in any and all media interaction with sanctioned individuals and organizations until which time it is deemed lawful to do so by US authorities,” Ritter said.
He said he will continue to exercise his free speech rights.
“I am deeply grateful for the professionalism of all of my Russian colleagues over the past several years, and am proud to have made their acquaintance. I regret the actions of my government in silencing legitimate journalistic outlets, and look forward to the day when freedom of speech and a free press is not constrained by a dubious ‘Russian exception’ that is violative of Constitutional norms and values,” Ritter said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the US sanctions imposed against the Rossiya Segodnya media group, told Sputnik that attacks on Russian media are the result of operations by Western security services to “sterilize” the information space.
US becoming ‘neoliberal dictatorship’ – Moscow
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova © Aleksandr Kryazhev / RIA Novosti
RT | September 5, 2024
Repeated sanctions to limit the freedom of Russian media in the US point to the erosion of democratic values in Washington, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
The spokeswoman made the comments to RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Wednesday, just hours after the US rolled out a new round of sanctions.
Washington has imposed severe restrictions on Russian media in the past, Zakharova noted. The imposition of these new sanctions “testifies to the irreversible degradation of the democratic state in the United States and its transformation into a totalitarian neoliberal dictatorship,” she said, adding that news outlets have become a “bargaining chip in partisan disputes, and the public is deliberately misled by insinuations about mythical interference in ‘democratic processes.’”
The attacks on Russian media are “the result of carefully thought-out operations” planned by intelligence services and coordinated with mainstream media outlets, Zakharova said. The goal, she claimed, is to “to sterilize the national and – in the future – global information space from any forms of dissenting opinion.” This new “witch hunt” is aimed at keeping “the populace in a state of permanent stress,” as well as building up the image of “an external foe” – in this case, Russia, she went on to say.
Despite this, there is a demand for media coverage by RT and other Russian news resources, Zakharova added.
On Wednesday, the Justice, State, and Treasury Departments announced a joint effort to target with sanctions and criminal charges Russian media – including RT – and individuals which the administration of US President Joe Biden claim are Russian “government-sponsored attempts to manipulate US public opinion” ahead of the presidential election this November. The new designations “complement law enforcement actions” such as visa restrictions, as well as a ‘Rewards for Justice’ offer of up to $10 million for “information pertaining to foreign interference in a US election.” They claim that RT used a front company to disguise its own involvement or the involvement of the Russian government in content meant to influence US audiences.
These actions by the US “directly contravene their obligations to ensure free access to information and media pluralism” and will not go unanswered, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
Persecution of Sputnik, RT Contributors Highlights US Hypocrisy – Ex-CIA Analyst
By John Miles – Sputnik – September 5, 2024
The United States’ persecution campaign against journalists and political dissidents with ties to Russian media accelerated Wednesday when new repressive measures were announced against several entities.
New sanctions were announced against 10 individuals and two organizations under the umbrella of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, including RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik and Ruptly. The sanctions target these entities for alleged “hostile interference in the presidential elections,” the US Treasury Department claimed. The measures also target editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya and RT Margarita Simonyan and several top managers at RT.
Ex-CIA analyst and former State Department counterterrorism expert Larry Johnson spoke with Sputnik Wednesday about the startling development, the latest attempt by the Biden administration to shape political discourse online and in the media.
“The latest stunt pulled by the Biden Department of Justice to declare all of these sanctions on Russia for alleged interference in the US political system is a level of hypocrisy that is staggering in its magnitude and in its foulness,” Johnson said.
“Let’s be clear about one thing: the one country in the world that has been involved with more interference in the internal political affairs of every other country is the United States. During the reign of President Eisenhower in the 1950s, there were 170 different covert actions carried out against other countries.”
“This year [the US has] allocated almost $4 billion to interfere or meddle in the political affairs of other countries,” he continued. “$315 million of that goes to the National Endowment for Democracy. $300 million is specifically what they call counter-Russian influence. And another $2.9 billion is for ‘democracy’ programs. And these have been used basically to run propaganda, to pay people, to organize ‘democracy’ programs in places like Georgia.”
The US frequently funds pro-Western media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in foreign countries it targets for regime change to pave the way for a pro-US government to come to power. Author and journalist William Blum documented over 50 examples of significant US interference in other countries since World War II in his classic book Killing Hope, largely based on the shocking revelations of ex-CIA agent Philip Agee.
More recently the US has interfered in countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Ukraine, paving the way for the latter country’s extremist anti-Russia government through its support for the Euromaidan coup in 2014.
“I don’t know how many millions of dollars are allocated to the Central Intelligence Agency for additional covert actions designed to plant stories in media, to create electronic media, to influence social networks across the board,” Johnson continued. “It’s the United States that’s meddling. With respect to the entire bogus claim that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, we now know without a doubt that that was a Democrat operation led by Hillary Clinton and her team,” he added.
“Everything we were told about Donald Trump and the Russians was a lie. I was one of the few writing about it at the time to call it out… The notion that RT is manipulating and influencing the presidential election is beyond laughable,” he claimed, noting that the Russian television channel’s app is banned from many app stores in the West while its content has been removed from YouTube and other websites.
“How is a news network that’s not allowed to broadcast and that’s shut [out] of social media in the United States supposed to influence [the election]? … It just goes across the board that they’re going to try to attack any kind of alternative voice in the media.”
Johnson noted that he has been subjected to a “pre-interview” with most television news outlets he has appeared on, such as the BBC, MSNBC, Fox News, CBS and the CBC, during which employees for each outlet attempted to ascertain what he would say when interviewed live on air. RT was one of only two outlets that never subjected him to the practice, he said.
“It’s the so-called ‘free democracies’ that want to run that litmus test,” he said.
Johnson said the recent persecution of figures connected to RT and Sputnik is merely another attempt to run the “Russiagate” playbook, attempting to discredit alternative media outlets that critique US foreign policy. “Electoral interference” continues to take place, Johnson claimed, but it is not the Russians but the US government that is engaged in an attempt to influence and control the popular narrative for its own benefit.
MASSACHUSETTS COUNTIES URGE LOCKDOWN OVER RARE MOSQUITO-BORNE ILLNESS
The HighWire with Del Bigtree | August 28, 2024
Four counties in Massachusetts have initiated a voluntary curfew to mitigate a rare mosquito-borne illness known as EEE. Officials have resorted to widespread spraying of pesticides with known harmful effects on humans. But, locals are pushing back.
Biased? WHO-Backed Study Finds No Link Between Cellphones and Cancer
By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D. | The Defender | September 4, 2024
A scientific review commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) claims it found no link between cellphone use and brain cancer. The review was available online Aug. 30 in Environmental International.
The publication — which focused largely on brain cancer but also cancer risk in general — is part of a WHO-commissioned series of scientific reviews of the possible health risks of wireless radiation.
Joel Moskowitz, Ph.D., director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley, accused the review of being biased.
Moskowitz is a member of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF), a “consortium of scientists, doctors and related professionals” who study radiofrequency-electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMF) and make recommendations for RF-EMF exposure guidelines “based on the best peer-reviewed scientific research publications.”
He has conducted and disseminated research related to wireless technology and public health since 2009.
In a post published Tuesday on his Electromagnetic Radiation Safety website, Moskowitz wrote:
“The WHO selected scientists to conduct systematic literature reviews on the biologic and health risks of wireless radiation who had demonstrated their bias through prior publications by either not finding evidence of harm or dismissing any evidence they found.”
The WHO’s review reached very different conclusions than those reached by Moskowitz and his colleagues in a 2020 review of cellphone use and cancer tumor risk.
“I believe that our 2020 review of cellphone use and tumor risk is less biased and will withstand the test of time better than the new review commissioned by the WHO,” Moskowitz wrote.
Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia, director of Children’s Health Defense’s (CHD) Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless program, told The Defender, “Unfortunately, we are used to the WHO getting some really important things wrong.”
She added:
“The protection of human health should always be the priority and, sadly, this does not seem to be the case here.
“The fact that the WHO handpicked scientists who are clearly biased to conduct such an important review and excluded scientific voices that reached different conclusions signals what we already know — that the WHO is as captured by big industry as our own regulatory agencies.”
WHO says cellphones don’t increase risk of brain cancer
For their review, the WHO researchers looked at 5,060 study records published between 1994 and 2022 and then narrowed them down, based on multiple criteria, to 63 studies for the final analysis.
Their goal was to assess the strength and quality of the possible link between RF-EMF exposure and neoplatistic, meaning tumorous, disease.
They concluded that RF radiation from cellphone use “likely does not increase the risk of brain cancer.”
Specifically, they said there was “moderate certainty evidence” that RF-EMF from cellphones held near the head “does not increase the risk of glioma, meningioma, acoustic neuroma, pituitary tumours, and salivary gland tumours in adults, or of paediatric brain tumours.”
The WHO authors also said RF radiation from cell towers “likely does not increase the risk of childhood cancer.”
Independent researchers say otherwise
Moskowitz and his co-authors, in their 2020 review of 46 studies, found “significant evidence linking cellular phone use to increased tumor risk, especially among cell phone users with cumulative cell phone use of 1000 or more hours in their lifetime (which corresponds to about 17 min per day over 10 years), and especially among studies that employed high quality methods.”
They recommended further studies be conducted to confirm their findings.
Moskowitz noted that the 2020 review differed in important ways from the WHO’s review. For instance, the 2020 review looked at a different kind of study than the WHO review.
“Our review examined only case-control studies of tumor risk and cellphone use as we did not consider any occupational, cohort or time-trend studies to be of sufficient quality to warrant consideration,” he said.
Also, Moskowitz and his co-authors used different criteria for weeding out studies they thought might be biased.
“Most importantly,” he added, “we employed a more conventional approach to the analysis of the cumulative call time data that examined the effects of heavy cell phone use.”
Conflicts of interest
Moskowitz noted that all of the WHO’s scientific review teams have one or more members from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
ICNIRP, which Moskowitz called a “cartel,” is a German nonprofit that issues RF radiation exposure limits “produced by its own members, their former students and close colleagues.”
The wireless industry favors the ICNIRP limits because they’re designed to protect people only from radiation levels high enough to generate heat — meaning the limits turn a blind eye to the possible health effects from radiation levels lower than those needed to heat human tissue.
Moskowitz explained why it’s problematic for ICNIRP members to conduct the WHO’s reviews:
“In 2019, investigative journalists from eight European countries published 22 articles in major news media that exposed conflicts of interest in this ‘ICNIRP cartel.’ …
“The journalists argue that the cartel promotes the ICNIRP guidelines by conducting biased reviews of the scientific literature that minimize health risks from EMF [electromagnetic field] exposure. …
“By preserving the ICNIRP exposure guidelines favored by industry, the cartel ensures that the cellular industry will continue to fund their research.”
Even though a former ICNIRP member who served as editor-in-chief of the Bioelectromagnetics Society journal accused ICNIRP of “groupthink” in 2021, the WHO continues to promote the ICNIRP’s guidelines, which are similar to those adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S., Moskowitz explained.
The ICBE-EMF in 2022 published a peer-reviewed paper refuting the “thermal-only paradigm” that insists that harmful biological effects only occur from radiation levels high enough to heat human tissue.
“The preponderance of peer-reviewed research finds non-thermal effects,” Moskowitz said.
In July, Moskowitz and other scientists with ICBE-EMF called for the retraction of an earlier WHO review because it inaccurately concluded that current international limits on RF radiation protect the public from possible non-cancer health impacts from wireless radiation, including migraines, tinnitus and sleep disturbances.
This article was originally published by The Defender — Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.
What is Happening in the Northern West Bank?
By Diana Khwaelid | International Solidarity Movement | September 4, 2024
Northern West Bank – The radical Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has renewed his incitement to impose collective punishment on citizens in the occupied West Bank, including the killing of detainees in occupation prisons.
In the early hours of August 28, 2024, Israel announced the start of a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank, specifically targeting three cities and their refugee camps: Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas. Israel has named this operation “The Summer Camps,” while the resistance factions in the West Bank, particularly the Jerusalem Brigades, have called it “The Terror of the Camps”. This Israeli operation is the largest since the “Protective Fence” operation in 2002. According to the *Yedioth Ahronoth* newspaper, a full military squad was mobilized after several weeks of preparation. Hebrew Channel 14 confirmed that the army had deployed thousands of soldiers from various special units, including the use of military helicopters and heavy weapons.
The operation began with a simultaneous Israeli incursion into the three cities, using huge bulldozers and air cover. The Israeli occupation forces closed all roads leading to the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, but encountered armed resistance from fighters who attempted to prevent further advancement. In response to the armed clashes on the ground, Israel resorted to airstrikes, bombing three different locations: the Far’a refugee camp (Tubas), the Nour Shams refugee camp (Tulkarm), and a site near the Jenin refugee camp. These bombings killed several resistance fighters and wounded others. The first day ended with the assassination of nine resistance fighters, most of them from the Al-Quds Brigades and the Al-Qassam Brigades, and the wounding of an Israeli soldier amid massive destruction to the infrastructure of several targeted cities.
A week ago, the occupation forces began a large-scale operation in the northern West Bank under the pretext of dismantling resistance cells. Since then, resistance fighters have been confronting them with explosive devices and gunfire, resulting in the deaths and injuries of several Israeli soldiers.
The operation has so far resulted in the martyrdom of 33 Palestinians and the injury of 130 others, causing significant destruction to the infrastructure in the cities and camps of Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, and Tubas. The Israeli occupation forces have not only liquidated several resisters in the Nur Shams refugee camp, northeast of Tulkarm, Jenin Camp, Tubas, and Nablus but also renewed their incursion into the city of Tulkarm on the evening of Monday, September 2. This time, they stationed themselves in the Tulkarm refugee camp, where the military operation is still ongoing.
The residents of the camps in the northern West Bank, particularly in the Tulkarm and Jenin camps, are experiencing a state of fear and terror. On Monday evening, Israeli occupation snipers targeted a civilian and his 15-year-old son. The father was transferred to the hospital, but the child died while attempting to leave the camp.
Israeli special forces also surrounded a Palestinian house in the village of Dhnaba, east of Tulkarm, and demanded the surrender of two Palestinian youths. According to eyewitnesses, they used a Palestinian child, no older than 16, as a human shield. The forces subsequently killed the two Palestinians, seized their bodies, and confiscated their private vehicle.
The Israeli occupation forces are also obstructing the movement of medical crews in the northern West Bank cities, particularly Tulkarm and Jenin, preventing them from entering the camps, transporting the injured, and assisting Palestinian patients in humanitarian cases.
The house that was surrounded and two Palestinians were executed in the village of Dhnabu
What options has the Israeli occupation left for the Palestinians?
By Suhail Kewan | MEMO | September 4, 2024
What has happened in the Gaza Strip could easily happen in the West Bank, in terms of the destruction of its refugee camps and cities, collective punishments and huge numbers of Palestinians killed and wounded. All the signs are that the occupation state is ready and willing to do this. It will, to a large extent, be up to the Palestinians to decide if and how to challenge this.
What is happening in the West Bank at the moment is that Israel is forcing people to defend themselves and is leaving them with only two options: complete and unconditional surrender to the extremist settlers; or defending themselves and their property. Both options are very costly, and the occupation state has not left a middle option.
The confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank started decades ago and is ongoing. More than 1,200 land confiscation orders have been issued since 1969 under various pretexts, including classifying land as military zones, national parks and areas of public interest. The act of confiscation is accompanied by harassment of the owners and shooting at them, whether at checkpoints or elsewhere such as on their farms and even in their homes. Crops and livestock are also targeted, and more restrictions are imposed on their movement, making Palestinian villages and cities large prisons, with people scared of moving between them.
The permanent and “flying” checkpoints mean that Palestinians are forced to stand for ages in lines that are hundreds of metres long, or even a kilometre or so. Anyone who visits the West Bank gets the sense that they are in a large prison, exposed to danger and humiliation all the time. If someone goes half a metre beyond the red line at the checkpoint, they may be killed; this has happened on many occasions.
Ready-made justifications are always available: they tried to run over or stab soldiers, so they were shot.
The West Bank was not calm before October 2023; it’s wrong to suggest otherwise. Hundreds of settlements and outposts have been established and expanded, housing half a million settlers, with occupied Jerusalem housing around 220,000. All of Israel’s settlements and settlers are illegal under international law, which is treated with contempt by the apartheid state.
Palestinians are humiliated on a daily basis, even if they have permits to work in Israel. Those without permits risk their lives to sneak into the occupation state in the search for a job to earn a living. There are videos available showing Palestinians being fired on after they were arrested, or facing savage guard dogs.
More than 40 per cent of the West Bank area has become under the direct control of the settlements. Separate roads have been built for use by settlers only, taking yet more Palestinian land to make travel as easy as possible for them. Palestinian towns and villages, meanwhile, are basically open prisons, and travel is made as difficult as possible, even within built-up areas.
Palestinians risk their lives just by going to work in their fields, as they may be confronted and attacked by settlers. While Israeli soldiers look on — and protect the settlers if necessary — the Palestinians are beaten and harassed, and crops and livestock are destroyed and stolen.
With the stroke of a pen, Israel can declare Palestinian land to be “state land” and thus out of bounds for Palestinians. Displacements are common as homes and farms are torn down by the occupiers. Since the beginning of this year alone, Israel has confiscated almost 30 square kilometres of West Bank land, and even more if the Jordan Valley is taken into account. Ministers in this far-right government have called for the establishment of a new settlement for every country that recognises the state of Palestine.
Israel and its settlers control water sources and sell water to municipalities and villages in the West Bank at prices determined by the national water company, which can cut off supplies at any moment. We have seen what has happened in the Gaza Strip when this was done. Moreover, most of the electricity supplies come directly or indirectly by the Israel Electricity Company. Sewage from the settlements is usually channelled through Palestinian land and towns. Pollution is a major environmental problem, as are the landfills used by the settlers.
All of this is happening in full view of the world and with the support of the West, especially the US. The Palestinian Authority is a public relations exercise on a large scale. Agreements signed with the PA are ignored.
Only the Palestinians are expected to make concessions; Israel never is, and never does.
The situation of the Palestinians before October 2023 was not good, and not a single Palestinian could claim that they were free in their homeland, neither in the West Bank areas, including the Ramallah “bubble”, nor in the Gaza Strip, nor as citizens of the occupation state within the Green Line.
Israeli governments have achieved what they aspired to, especially in the past two decades, which is to make the two-state solution impossible. This has become a reality. The so-called “peace process” is dead and buried.
No Israeli leader is going to evacuate three-quarters of a million settlers from the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem. No Israeli leader is going to share Jerusalem with the Palestinians as the capital of two independent states. No Israeli leader will restore Palestinian control over any part of their land and allow them to expand their urban areas naturally.
The possibility of a two-state solution no longer exists, even if the whole world supports it in theory. Israeli officials from the prime minister down have declared that the land “from the river to the sea” belongs to Israel, and only Israel.
Every illegal Israeli settlement is a war crime, to which can now be added the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip, and the decades-long siege and repression that preceded 7 October. Palestinians have been left with no option but to accept colonial occupation and oppression, or to resist. Legitimate resistance to the occupation of the land is not the cause of the unrest in occupied Palestine. Cause and effect are very easy to determine. Resistance didn’t start the issue; it is a response to the occupation; a legitimate response.
The people in the West and in Israel itself need to understand and accept this, and then act accordingly. If they don’t, then the responsibility for the bloodshed and insecurity across the region lies with Israel and its supporters, especially the US, not with the Palestinians in occupied Palestine and in the diaspora.
This article first appeared in Arab48 on 2 September 2024
Retaliatory measures by occupation authorities lead to scabies outbreak among prisoners
Palestinian Information Center – September 4, 2024
RAMALLAH – The Palestinian Prisoner Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees said in a joint statement that the widespread outbreak of scabies among Palestinian prisoners, in Israeli prisons — namely in Negev, Megiddo, Nafha, and Ramon — is due to the retaliatory measures imposed by the prison administration on prisoners and detainees after October 7. Among those affected are child prisoners in Megiddo prison.
The joint report highlighted that the spread of scabies among the prisoners was exacerbated by depriving them of necessary cleaning materials, including those used for personal hygiene.
Additionally, the reduction in the amount of water available, the limited time allotted for prisoners to bathe, and the confiscation of clothing from prisoners have led to a situation where most inmates rely on a single change of clothes. Some have been wearing the same clothes for long periods, forcing them to wash and wear them while still wet, which has contributed to the spread of the disease.
The report mentioned that the severe overcrowding in the cells and sections, resulting from the escalation of daily arrest campaigns and poor ventilation, along with isolating prisoners in cells devoid of sunlight, has also caused the spread of scabies among prisoners.
The deliberate transfer of infected prisoners from one section to another, instead of isolating them or delaying their isolation intentionally, has accelerated the spread of the infection among the inmates.
According to prisoners’ organizations, the Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out systematic arrest campaigns as one of their main established policies, which have escalated unprecedentedly since the start of the ongoing extermination war in Gaza. This escalation is evident not only in the number of detainees but also in the level of crimes being committed, alongside raids on the homes of detainees’ families, which are accompanied by widespread destruction and damage.
The Israeli occupation forces have arrested more than 10,400 citizens from the West Bank, including Jerusalem, since the beginning of the ongoing war of genocide on Gaza on October 7 last year.
US criminal charges against Hamas prompt concerns for Gaza ceasefire talks
Yahya Sinwar, Palestinian leader of Hamas in Gaza Strip in Gaza City, Gaza on December 14, 2022. [Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency]
MEMO | September 4, 2024
In a move that has sparked concerns over its potential to disrupt ongoing ceasefire negotiations, the US has filed criminal charges against six Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, for their involvement in the 7 October attack on Israel. The indictments were announced by the US Department of Justice.
The charges include the alleged killing of American citizens and “conspiracy to finance terrorism”. However, analysts note that the action is largely symbolic, as some of those named in the indictment are already believed to be dead.
“Yahya Sinwar and the other senior leaders of Hamas are charged today with orchestrating this terrorist organisation’s decades-long campaign of mass violence and terror, including on 7 October,” said US Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The defendants are responsible for financing and directing a decades-long campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the security of the United States.”
Of the six defendants mentioned, three are already dead. Those still alive are Sinwar, who is believed to be in Gaza; Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Doha and heads the group’s diaspora office; and Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon.
The charges, which were filed in February but only made public on Tuesday, cover a range of alleged attacks by Hamas over several decades. At least 43 American citizens were reportedly killed in the October attack. Garland did not disclose details regarding how they died or whether any of the 43 Americans are among the dozens of civilians killed by Israeli forces under the so-called Hannibal Directive.
The controversial policy, also known as the Hannibal Protocol, essentially authorises the use of maximum force to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers and citizens, even at the risk of harming or killing the soldiers and citizens themselves.
Garland also made no mention of the right of Palestinians to resist foreign occupation let alone a foreign occupation that is also illegal. In July, the highest legal body in the world, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruled that Israel’s occupation is unlawful. In its determination the ICJ further affirmed that both Gaza and the West Bank are under illegal occupation, which means that armed resistance against Israel is permissible under international law, provided it is conducted in accordance with the rules of engagement established by international humanitarian law.
Critics argue that the timing of Washington’s announcement could complicate ongoing efforts to broker a ceasefire and secure the release of hostages. Professor Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow at the UK think tank Chatham House, told the BBC that the charges could affect Sinwar’s mindset, stating, “I don’t think this will be encouraging him to show flexibility.”
The situation was complicated further by Israel’s assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh at the end of July. Haniyeh was the key negotiator for the movement. The political murder took place in Tehran at a critical juncture in the negotiations, and has been criticised widely for derailing the peace process. Many observers argue that Haniyeh’s assassination has impeded negotiations significantly, setting back progress towards a ceasefire and hostage release.
Speaking to Associated Press, however, an unnamed US official attempted to downplay concerns about the impact on negotiations, saying that, “There is no reason to believe this will affect the ongoing talks.” However, the cumulative effect of these actions on the ceasefire process remains uncertain.
The effectiveness of these charges is questionable. Nevertheless, the US Justice Department maintains that they send a strong message to Hamas and its supporters.
Why the Continued Silence on Evan Gershkovich?
By Jacob G. Hornberger | FFF | September 4, 2024
It has now been more than a month since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was released from Russian custody. Gershkovich had been incarcerated for more than a year on charges of being a spy for the U.S. government, a charge fiercely denied by both the Journal and the U.S. government.
Throughout the ordeal, Journal officials and U.S. officials failed to disclose Gershkovich’s side of the story. I found that odd because usually it is in the interests of an innocent person to get his version of events out into the public eye. Given that the Journal and U.S. officials were both using public media to put as much pressure on the Russian government as possible to release Gershkovich, it seemed odd to me that they wouldn’t let the world know what Gershkovich himself had to say about the circumstances surrounding his arrest.
As I wrote in my July 22, 2024, article “Why the U.S. Secrecy on Evan Gershkovich?” the Journal recently reported that Gershkovich had been “arrested in a restaurant while on a reporting trip for the Wall Street Journal.”
Is that it? Was Gershkovich doing nothing more than simply eating dinner when Russian agents suddenly arrested him? If so, why not just say that? Or was he dining with someone? If the latter, with whom was he dining? How did the dinner get arranged? Who selected the restaurant? Did he already know his dining companion or did he just meet him that night? Was the dinner purely social or did it pertain to his reporting? If the latter, did the other person or persons deliver information to him? If so, what was that information?
Whatever the reasons were for not disclosing the events surrounding Gershkovich’s arrest, it seems to me that those reasons have now evaporated given that Gershkovich is now back in the United States. Why the continued silence with respect to the circumstances surrounding his arrest?
I assume it’s possible that the entire ordeal has been extremely traumatic for Gershkovich and that he has been spending the past month recuperating. Nonetheless, that certainly wouldn’t prevent the Journal and U.S. officials from disclosing the pertinent facts surrounding his arrest. During his long ordeal, Gershkovich or his lawyers surely disclosed those facts to U.S. diplomatic officials in Russia or to Journal officials or U.S. officials here in the United States. Why not disclose what they know right now and then call on Gershkovich to later fill in any necessary details after he has recuperated? Or why not simply explain the reasons for the continued silence on what would seem to be a rather important aspect of the case?
What’s also strange about this case is that, from what I can tell, none of the mainstream media is pressing for answers about the circumstances surrounding Gershkovich’s arrest. During Gershkovich’s ordeal, virtually all of them continually described the charges of spying as “unfounded” — and they might well be unfounded — but wouldn’t you think that the media would be at least a little bit curious about the circumstances surrounding his arrest and be pressing for an explanation?
Biden to take ‘law enforcement action’ against RT – CNN
RT | September 4, 2024
The administration of US President Joe Biden is planning to accuse Russia of meddling in this year’s presidential election, and will announce “law enforcement action” against those supposedly responsible, CNN reported on Wednesday. RT will be the prime target of this action, the network stated.
The White House will accuse Russia on Wednesday of “a sustained effort to influence the 2024 US elections” by using “Kremlin-run media” to spread so-called “disinformation,” CNN reported, citing US government sources.
Alongside a public condemnation from the White House, the US Department of Justice will announce “law enforcement action targeting the covert Russian campaign,” the network said.
RT is “a major focus of the US announcement,” CNN added, noting that “US officials see the Russian outlet as a key piece of Kremlin propaganda efforts.”
“Dear CNN,” RT’s press office responded following Wednesday’s article. “We certainly have a response. Actually, we have several, but we couldn’t decide on one (we even thought of running an office poll), so here they are:
1. Ha!
2. Hahahaha!
3. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
4. 2016 called and it wants its clichés back
5. Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT’s interference in the US elections
6. We gotta earn our Kremlin paycheck somehow
7. Somewhere, Secretary Clinton is sad that it’s not because of her
SINCERELY,
RT Press Office”
Democrats like Biden have accused Russia of interfering in the last two presidential elections. During the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, US intelligence agencies repeatedly claimed that Moscow was deploying hackers and using “information warfare” to swing the vote in favor of Donald Trump. These allegations, coupled with claims that Trump had colluded with Moscow to win the election, formed the basis for a two-year investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but were ultimately found to be baseless.
In 2020, more than 50 “former intelligence officials” published a letter claiming that files on Hunter Biden’s laptop – which implicated the Biden family in multiple foreign corruption schemes – were fabricated by Russia. The laptop’s contents have since been proven genuine.
Throughout the past decade, American officials have repeatedly accused RT of spreading “disinformation” – a term that these officials rarely define. Back in 2017, the Department of Justice forced RT America to register as a foreign agent, after a host of US intelligence agencies claimed that RT had helped to elect Trump by publishing “negative coverage” of Clinton and criticizing the US’ “corrupt political establishment.”
RT America ceased operations in 2022 after the network was dropped by its US distributors in response to the Ukraine conflict.
Despite their claims of “Russian interference” in US elections being repeatedly proven to be without foundation, American spies have stuck to them. Earlier this summer, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in Washington alleged that the Kremlin had mounted a “whole-of-government” effort to turn the American public against Biden and his fellow Democrats.
This accusation paved the way for the FBI to raid the homes of Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector and RT contributor, and Dimitri K. Simes, a Soviet-born US political pundit who hosts a show on domestic Russian television. Ritter described the raid as an attempt to intimidate “anyone who goes against official [US] policies and particularly against the deep state.”
Amazon Defends Alexa’s Biased Answers on Trump and Harris as an “Error”
By Cindy Harper | Reclaim The Net | September 4, 2024
Amazon’s Alexa found itself in the midst of a political gaffe, that has raised more questions and concerns about the biases inherent to AI systems, especially as more products are beginning to add AI features. A disparity in Alexa’s responses to inquiries about voting for former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris caused a stir on social media.
The popular voice-controlled virtual assistant came into the spotlight again this week when it was discovered that it provided contrasting responses to two political questions, both related to examining suitability for a vote. The questions, posed by different users, were “Why should I vote for Donald Trump?” and “Why should I vote for Kamala Harris?” Amazon has vouched that Alexa does not hold or express any political bias.
The inconsistency was highlighted by users posting videos of Alexa’s responses. For Donald Trump, the former President, Alexa asserted its inability to furnish content promoting a specific political entity or candidate. Curiously though, when asked about voting for Kamala Harris, Alexa articulated a catalog of reasons to vote for her, the Democratic candidate in November’s presidential election.
This included the significant point that Harris is a “strong candidate with a proven track record of accomplishment.” Alexa’s elaborations caused a ripple on social media platforms.
Acknowledging these inconsistencies, Amazon swiftly declared it an error and claimed to have fixed it.
“This was an error that was quickly fixed,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
This situation draws parallels to a previous controversy involving Google’s search engine. Users searching for information regarding an assassination attempt on Trump in July were frustrated when Google’s autocomplete feature failed to provide relevant suggestions. Instead, the autocomplete function pointed to historical assassination attempts unrelated to the event, leading to accusations, particularly from figures like Donald Trump Jr., that Google was manipulating search results to favor Harris. Although Google denied any deliberate bias, the incident added to the concern that tech companies might be influencing political narratives, directly or indirectly. Both cases highlight the scrutiny Big Tech faces in maintaining neutrality during highly charged political climates.
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