Dozens killed in latest Israeli bombing of Gaza Mosque
The Cradle | November 16, 2023
At least 50 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured on 15 November after the Israeli army targeted a mosque in the besieged Gaza Strip, WAFA news agency reports.
The attack on the Sabra neighborhood was conducted during a congressional prayer when the mosque was full of Palestinian worshippers.
Israel has conducted similar attacks on places of worship since its inception; in this war alone, multiple Mosques and churches have been leveled, including ones dating back centuries.
On 20 October, the Israeli army destroyed the Grand Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia, dating back to the 7th century; it was one of the largest mosques in Palestine.
Hours before the Al-Omari bombing, the Israeli army targeted and destroyed the Church of Saint Porphyrios in Gaza, the third oldest church in the world.
“We condemn this unconscionable attack on a sacred compound and call upon the world community to enforce protections in Gaza for sanctuaries of refuge, including hospitals, schools, and houses of worship,” World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Jerry Pillay said in response to the bombing of the 1,400-year-old structure.
“Our prayers go out for healing to all those wounded, along with our condolences to Patriarch Theophilos II and all our Greek Orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ,” Pillay added.
Outside of Gaza, Israel launched an airstrike against the Al-Ansar mosque in Jenin refugee camp, West Bank, on 22 October.
An Israeli statement justifying the Al-Ansar Mosque attack said it was a“joint operation between the army and the Shin Bet” and that the strike targeted an “underground terrorist route.”
This has been a line used by Israel to justify their attacks on not only multiple places of worship but also civilian residences and hospitals.
As of 15 November, 11,470 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, of whom are 4,707 children, 3,155 women, and 686 elderly.
Haniyeh family home in refugee camp bombed by Israel
MEMO | November 16, 2023
The family home of the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, has been bombed by Israel, local media have reported. His home is in the overcrowded Al-Shati refugee camp, where he grew up.
Military sources claimed that the house was being used as infrastructure for Hamas, and a meeting place for the movement’s members and senior officials. Haniyeh has stayed outside the Gaza Strip since 2019, when the former Palestinian Authority prime minister was elected to head the political bureau. He is currently based in Qatar.
The Israeli occupation continues its ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip for the 41st day, with the support of the US, as its aircraft bomb the vicinity of hospitals, residential buildings, tower blocks and the homes of Palestinian civilians, destroying them over the heads of their residents. It also continues to prevent the entry of water, food and fuel, all of which has led to the death toll rising to 11,500 martyrs, including more than 8,000 children and women, with 29,000 wounded.
Hamas rebuts Israeli claim about finding weapons at Al-Shifa Hospital
Palestine Information Center – November 16, 2023
GAZA – The Hamas Movement has belied the Israeli occupation army’s claim that it found weapons and military equipment in the Shifa Medical Complex, describing it as “part of its lies and cheap propaganda that aim to justify its crimes against the health sector in Gaza.”
“These claims are part of the silly propaganda that was spread by the occupation after it stormed the Rantisi Children’s Hospital. They put weapons in the place and then make up a weak story that no longer deceives anyone,” Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We have repeated more than once and for two weeks our call on the UN and international organizations to form an international committee to visit the hospitals and check on their conditions to expose the occupation’s lies and false claims because we are aware of the size of its fabrications and deception that aim to cover up its crimes against children, women and defenseless civilians,” the Movement added.
UN issues Gaza water warning
RT | November 15, 2023
At least 70% of Gaza will be without access to drinking water by the end of Wdnesday, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned. The agency blamed Israel’s fuel blockade for the crisis, which has resulted in the collapse of water infrastructure in the enclave.
The 23,000 liters of fuel Israel has allowed to the UNRWA on Wednesday can only be used “to transport the little aid coming via Egypt,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement. The agency needs around 160,000 liters a day for “basic humanitarian operations,” such as maintaining the water facilities, he added.
“Key services, including water desalination plants, sewage treatments, and hospitals have ceased to operate,” Lazzarini said. “It is appalling that fuel continues to be used as a weapon of war.”
Supplying just the trucks will lead to more loss of life, Lazzarini said, calling on Israel to “immediately authorize the delivery of the needed amount of fuel as is required under international humanitarian law.”
Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza after the October 7 incursion by Hamas, which killed an estimated 1,200 people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy the Palestinian group, launching air and artillery strikes against the enclave and sending ground troops earlier this month.
Lazzarini has also appealed for a ceasefire, noting that over 60 UNRWA installations in the enclave have been hit – most of them in the south of Gaza, which Israel said would be “safe” for civilians.
The government in West Jerusalem has adamantly rejected any ceasefire, or fuel deliveries to Gaza. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared “Diesel = weapon” on Wednesday, while Transportation Minister Miri Regev wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “fuel for UNRWA is fuel for Hamas.”
UNRWA was established in 1949 to provide humanitarian aid and protection to palestinian refugees “pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.” It operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
Belize severs diplomatic relations with Israel
MEMO | November 15, 2023
The Central American state of Belize announced the severing of its diplomatic relations with Israel due to Tel Aviv’s continued attacks on the Gaza Strip.
The Belize government said in a statement published on its website that the decision was taken because Israel did not accept calls for a ceasefire and prevented the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
It added: “Despite our requests, Israel has not stopped its violations of international humanitarian law nor allowed relief workers to alleviate the suffering of millions of Gazans.”
As a result, it continued, the government is withdrawing the accreditation of Israel’s ambassador to Belize and withdrawing “its request for accreditation of Mr. Jonathan Enav as Belize’s Honorary Consul” to Israel.
“All activities conducted by the Israeli Honorary Consulate in Belize and the appointment of the Honorary Consul are suspended.”
It concluded that it “renews its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, unimpeded access to humanitarian supplies into Gaza and the release of all hostages.”
This comes after South Africa, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Jordan recalled their ambassadors from the occupation state over its war crimes in Gaza.
US public support for Israel shrinks: Poll
The Cradle | November 15, 2023
Public support in the US for Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip has dwindled significantly, with only a third of US citizens saying Washington should continue to support Tel Aviv, according to a new poll carried out by Reuters.
“Most [US citizens] think Israel should call a ceasefire to a conflict that has ballooned into a humanitarian crisis,” the outlet writes.
According to the poll – which closed on 14 November – 32 percent of respondents said Washington should support Israel in the war with Gaza. This was a marked drop from 41 percent who said the US should support Israel in a Reuters poll conducted in mid-October.
The poll indicates that those who believe “the US should be a neutral mediator” rose to 39 percent from 27 percent last month.
“Four percent of respondents in the poll said the US should support Palestinians and 15 percent said the US shouldn’t be involved at all, both similar readings to a month ago.”
Western countries have witnessed a significant shift in public opinion recently, as evidenced by massive protests that have taken place across many cities.
In the US, tens of thousands have flocked to the streets of numerous cities, including Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and many others. Those marching rejected Israel’s disproportionate response to the 7 October operation by the Gaza resistance and demanded an immediate ceasefire.
On 11 November, around 300,000 people marched through central London, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The brutality of Israel’s response to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood has shocked the world. The killing of over 11,300 – more than half of which are women and children – as well as open calls by Israel for ethnic cleansing and mass displacement, have been labeled a genocide by numerous international organizations and UN experts.
Condemnation of Israel’s actions is also growing within the US government.
An internal State Department dissent memo alleges that Israel is committing “war crimes” in Gaza and that President Biden is “spreading disinformation” and showing “disregard for Palestinian lives,” according to a copy of the memo obtained by Axios.
The five-page memo was transmitted to the State Department’s policy office on 3 November. It was signed by 100 State Department and USAID employees urging senior US officials to reassess their policy toward Israel and demand a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel settlers destroy drinking water network, trees in southern Hebron
MEMO | November 15, 2023
Israeli settlers, with the protection of occupation forces, yesterday destroyed water networks in Khirbet Al-Tha’la and released their sheep into the lands of the residents in Khirbet Qawawis in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, a Palestinian official who specialises in settlement activity said.
The coordinator of the Popular and National Committees Against the Wall and Settlements in southern Hebron, Rateb Al-Jabour, added that settlers from the illegal settlements of Mitzpeh Yair and Avigayil released their sheep to graze on the farmers’ fields and destroyed their trees in Khirbet Qawawis. They also destroyed the fences and barbed wire surrounding the land.
Furthermore, they destroyed more than 20 almond trees owned by the residents Jabreen Musa Al-Na’ameneh and the sons of Ismael Salman Al-Na’ameneh.
Israeli soldiers also raided the village of Beit Amra, west of the town of Yatta, south of Hebron, and searched the homes of several residents belonging to the Da’is and Rashid families, and tampered with their contents.
He said residents confronted the settlers who were attempting to pave a settlement road near a settlement late on Monday night.
Al-Shifa Hospital under Israeli control, turned into center for ‘detention and torture’
The Cradle | November 15, 2023
Gaza’s largest medical complex, Al-Shifa Hospital, fell under the control of the Israeli army on 15 November following an overnight raid that saw dozens of troops storm the hospital based on Israeli and US intelligence that alleged the complex houses a “Hamas command center.”
“Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Al-Shifa and tunnels underneath them, to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday night, in comments that preceded the brutal raid on the besieged medical complex.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh made similar comments before the raid, claiming that Washington obtained “newly declassified intelligence” showing Gaza resistance factions use hospitals as a “way to conceal and support their military operations and hold hostages.”
Neither US official provided evidence to back their claims, citing simply a “variety” of intelligence sourcing to back up the assertion.
“Since last night, it’s been a nightmare that cannot be imagined […] Before storming the compound, they targeted all the floors, the generators, the communications unit, and now we can have no contact with the outside world,” Palestinian journalist Jihad Abu Shanab, who is inside the Al-Shifa compound, told Al-Jazeera on Wednesday morning.
“[The Israelis] have told everyone to go up a floor, then go to a lower floor for investigation, and then they are forced to be interrogated, and they have seen a lot of humiliation,” he added.
The Qatari news agency also cites sources saying “about 30 people [were] taken outside of the building, stripped of their clothes. They are in the courtyard of the hospital, blindfolded, surrounded by three tanks. There is one tank right at the front of the emergency department targeting any moving object inside these buildings.”
Sources add that the Israeli tanks surrounding the hospital “blew up a warehouse of medicines and medical devices.”
According to a statement by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Israel has turned Al-Shifa Hospital into a center for “detention and torture.” The monitor also expressed concerns that patients, medical staff, and refugees will be executed as sporadic gunfire continues inside the complex.
“Israeli allegations about the use of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex for military purposes do not need all these long hours of searching and raiding. Therefore, there are concerns that the army may be creating an artificial scene for a new play,” Rami Abdu, the Chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said on Wednesday.
Staff inside the hospital report that the Israeli army has continued its attacks against the hospital, bombing several sections while live fire can be heard inside the complex.
“Israeli drones are shooting anything moving inside the hospital,” the head of the orthopedics department told Al-Alam Radio.
Videos shared online showed medical staff and volunteers transferring babies from one ward in Al-Shifa to another to protect them from the Israeli raid.
According to Israeli media, the invading troops discovered “weapons and Hamas assets” inside the hospital. Nonetheless, Tel Aviv claims there is “no indication” of Israeli captives held inside the complex, as they previously claimed.
“We hold the occupation [Israel] and President Biden wholly responsible for the assault on Al-Shifa medical complex,” Hamas said in a statement early on Wednesday.
“The adoption by the White House and the Pentagon of the occupation’s false claim that the resistance is using Al-Shifa medical complex for military ends has given the green light to the occupation to commit more massacres against civilians,” the statement added.
Israel kills elderly Palestinian after using him in propaganda about ‘safe corridor’
Israeli army soldier talking to Bashir Hajji, a 79-year-old resident of Gaza City [@MariamBarghouti/X]
MEMO | November 15, 2023
The Israeli army killed an elderly Palestinian after using him in a propaganda campaign promoting its “safe corridor” in Gaza, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has revealed. The organisation expressed its “outrage” on its website about Israel’s use of the man in an attempt to cover up its horrific crimes against displaced Palestinians fleeing Israeli violence in the northern Gaza Strip.
“The Israeli army released a photo of one of its soldiers talking to Bashir Hajji, a 79-year-old resident of Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighbourhood, as he travelled on Salah Al-Din Road, the main route to the southern Gaza Valley,” explained the organisation. “The soldier appears to be helping and protecting displaced Palestinian civilians.”
However, the elderly man’s granddaughter, Hala Hajji, told the Euro-Med Monitor team that her grandfather was “brutally executed while crossing the ‘safe corridor’ when members of the Israeli army deliberately shot him in the head and back.” She also confirmed that he is in the photo that was put out by Israel, “exposing the army’s dangerous practice of flagrantly fabricating stories.”
Euro-Med Monitor pointed out that it has documented dozens of cases of the Israeli army executing displaced Palestinians and, in some cases, bombing them. Those displaced were attempting to flee to the south of Wadi Gaza at the Israeli army’s request.
The organisation renewed its calls for the “UN and the International Criminal Court to open an urgent independent investigation into the crimes to which displaced Palestinians have been and are still being subjected to hold those who ordered such crimes accountable; and to achieve justice for the victims.”
Euro-Med Monitor is a non-profit human rights organisation. Seventy per cent of its staff and volunteers are victims of human rights violations. According to its website, it “advocates for the human rights of all persons across Europe and the MENA region, particularly those who live under occupation, in the throes of war or political unrest and/or have been displaced due to persecution or armed conflict.”
Tel Aviv Refuses Western Requests to Allow Aid Into Gaza Through Israel
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | November 14, 2023
Officials in Tel Aviv have denied requests from some Western nations to bring aid into Gaza through an Israeli crossing. Israel has allowed a small amount of aid to enter Gaza via Egypt. The aid making it into the besieged enclave is only a tiny portion of what is required to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
Tel Aviv requires the trucks to pass inspection at the Israel-Egypt border before proceeding into Gaza through the Rafah crossing. In recent days, aid that flows into Gaza through Egypt has slowed because of a backup inside of Israel.
Western countries have asked Tel Aviv to allow aid to pass from Israel through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint. According to Haaretz, Tel Aviv has rejected the proposal because it does not want to take any responsibility for the Palestinians in Gaza who have been displaced by the Israeli military operations. “Israel opposes the idea,” the outlet reports. “Despite the pressure applied by the Western countries, Israeli sources say that Jerusalem objects because it wants to renounce any responsibility for civilian matters in the Gaza Strip.”
Haaretz explained that the Israeli refusal is creating some anger in Western countries. “If they’re going to check the goods at Kerem Shalom anyway, the most logical thing is to bring the goods in through there,” a Western diplomat told the Israeli outlet. “We understand Israel’s position, but there is an attempt to avert a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. If there are thousands more dead there, or heaven forbid an epidemic breaks out, the world will blame Israel. It’s in your interest to streamline the aid.”
After the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, Israel imposed a complete siege of Gaza. The next day, Tel Aviv launched a massive military operation in Gaza that has decimated the small enclave’s infrastructure. A small number of aid trucks have entered Gaza, but aid groups have described the amount of aid as severely insufficient.
Since imposing the siege, Israel has not allowed any fuel into Gaza. On Tuesday, Axios reported speaking with Israeli and US officials who say some fuel will be allowed into the strip this week.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini explained the situation inside Gaza was becoming increasingly desperate. “We have heavily rationed the use of fuel and accessed pre-existing, limited amounts stored in a depot inside the Gaza Strip through close coordination with Israeli Authorities. The depot is now empty,” he added. “It is unbelievable that humanitarian agencies have to beg for fuel and operate on life support. Since the beginning of the war, fuel has been used as a weapon of war, and this should stop immediately.”
The Biden administration has tried to focus on the aid it is providing to Palestinians amid a flurry of criticisms for supporting the Israeli military operation in Gaza that has killed at least 4,600 children in just five weeks.
Israel: What We Are Doing in Gaza, We Can Do in Beirut
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | November 14, 2023
The Israeli Defense Minister threatened to launch a war in Lebanon that would resemble the military operations in Gaza. Israeli forces have waged a brutal assault and blockade of the enclave. Tel Aviv’s bombing has killed over 11,000 Palestinian civilians, including 4,000 children. The White House is concerned that if Israel goes to war in Lebanon, it will provoke a wider conflict involving the US.
On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said, “What we are doing in Gaza, we can do in Beirut.” After Tel Aviv began military operations in Gaza last month, Hezbollah and the Israeli military began exchanging fire along the border. Scores of people have been killed, including soldiers and civilians on each side. An Israeli strike caused the death of a Lebanese journalist.
Gallant’s threat to model operations in Lebanon after those in Gaza is concerning due to the brutality of the Israeli operations. At least 11,000 people have already been killed, with thousands more believed dead under the rubble. Israeli forces have also laid siege to hospitals and bombed other shelters housing displaced Palestinians.
Tel Aviv has caused a massive humanitarian catastrophe for the 2.3 million residents of the strip. Israel cut fuel, water, food, and medical aid to the enclave. Tel Aviv has refused requests from Western nations to bring aid directly from Israel into Gaza. Tel Aviv is enforcing a tedious inspection regime of all aid trucks entering Gaza through the Egyptian crossing, causing delays.
Several Israeli officials have boasted that the operations in Gaza amount to an ethnic cleansing campagin. Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter said, “It is first and almost an operational event. We have a huge number of fighters of our own that have to operate in a densely populated area. We need to reduce the number of residents.” He continued, “This is going to result in some sort of Nakba. [This is] a Gaza Nakba 2023, that’s how it’ll end.”
In Washington, officials are concerned that Tel Aviv will drag the US into a conflict in Lebanon. Axios reported Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “expressed concern” to Gallant about fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border. The White House requested Austin relay the message due to “growing anxiety” that Israel’s military action is exacerbating tensions on the border.
While the Biden administration has expressed concerns about some of Tel Aviv’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon, Washington is refusing to condition any of the military support it provides to Israel on a reduction of civilian casualties or deescalation.
Report: Israel killed 3,100 school students, 130 teachers in Gaza
MEMO | November 14, 2023
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said as many as 3,141 Palestinian students have been killed by Israel in the besieged Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank since 7 October, along with 130 teachers and administrators.
In a statement, the PCBS said 3,117 Palestinian students were killed in the Gaza Strip between 7 October and 11 November while 24 students were killed in the West Bank. A further 4,863 have been injured during this period; 4,613 of them in the Gaza Strip and 250 in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli occupation forces have also arrested 67 students, all of them from the West Bank, during that period.
As many as 403 teachers and administrators were wounded by the Israeli raids on the besieged Gaza Strip while more than 40 teachers and administrators were arrested in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli warplanes have purposefully targeted 239 government schools in the Gaza Strip with air strikes, causing severe destruction to 45 schools while 50 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA) have been attacked. In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army has attacked 27 government schools, the PCBS report found.
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From the Archives
Mutually Assured Delusion (MAD)
By Judith Curry | Climate Etc. | November 5, 2013
Groupthink: A pattern of thought charaterized by self-deception, forced manufacture of consent, and conformity to group values and ethics.
Groupthink: Collective Delusions in Organizations and Markets, by Roland Benabou, published in the Review of Economic Studies. Benabou also has a talk (ppt slides) on this subject.
First, a definition of groupthink (from the ppt slides):
Janis (1972)’s eight symptoms [of groupthink]:
- illusion of invulnerability
- collective rationalization
- belief in inherent morality
- stereotyped views of out-groups
- direct pressure on dissenters
- self-censorship
- illusion of unanimity
- self-appointed mind guards
Sound like any groups that we know? … continue
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