Anti-war activist visited by police after posting embarrassing AOC video
By MAX BLUMENTHAL · The Grayzone · APRIL 9, 2021
An anti-war activist said he was visited by California Highway Patrol officers after posting video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s bumbling comments on Israel-Palestine. The action was initiated by a call to US Capitol Police.
As he waited for a food delivery at his home in Los Angeles on April 8, Ryan Wentz, an anti-war activist and producer for the online viral program, Soapbox, heard two men calling his name from over his front gate. When he approached, he realized they were not delivery drivers, but police officers flashing badges of the California Highway Patrol.
The cops informed Wentz that they had received a call from the Capitol Police, the federal law enforcement agency tasked with protecting the US Congress, about a tweet he had sent that allegedly threatened Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Wentz told The Grayzone, “The officers said, ‘We got a warning about a sitting member of Congress. And it was because of your tweet, which tagged them in it.’ And then they just wouldn’t back down from this accusation that I threatened to kill her.”
The California Highway Patrol indicated on Twitter that it had acted on a call from Capitol Police. The Grayzone has contacted the office of Ocasio-Cortez, known popularly as AOC, and will update this article when more information is available.
Whether or not AOC’s office was responsible for falsely informing Capitol Police of an online threat by Wentz, the Democratic congresswoman has demonstrated a pattern of spurious claims of violence against her critics, and of resorting to heavy-handed methods to suppress them. Any move by AOC to wield law enforcement against online detractors would be especially ironic given her status as a vehement advocate for defunding the police and ending mass incarceration.
Whoever called the police on Wentz furnished law enforcement with a patently false allegation, as he has never threatened violence against any member of Congress. In the tweet that triggered the police action, Wentz merely posted video of AOC delivering a vapid and embarrassingly convoluted answer to a question about resolving the crisis in Israel-Palestine. Describing her answer as “incredibly underwhelming,” he let the congresswoman’s cringeworthy commentary speak for itself.
Asked by Michael S. Miller of the New York Jewish Community Relations Council about actions that could be taken to support movements towards peace between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians, AOC responded as follows:
Earlier just now you and I were talking about the what and the how. And I think that when we talk about peace, centering people’s humanity, protecting people’s rights – it’s not just about the what and the end goal which actually gets a lot of focus, but I actually think it’s much more about the how, and the way we are coming together, and how we interpret that what, and how we act in, you know, the actions we take to get to that what. So what this really is about is a question more than anything else about process. And we really need to make sure that we are valuing a process where all parties are respected and have, you know, a lot of equal opportunity to really make sure we are negotiating in good faith, etcetera. That being said, you know, I think there’s just this one central issue of settlements, because if the what – if the what has been decided on as two state, then the action of settlements, it’s not the how to get to that what. And so, you know, I think that’s a central thing that, you know, we center. And that we value Jewish and rather, we value Israeli, uh, uh, uh, we value the safety and human rights of Israelis, we value the safety and human rights of Palestinians, in that process that is similar, and that is on equal footing. And so all of that is extremely important in that process.
The video that Wentz tweeted of AOC’s long-winded dodge of a fundamental question about resolving the Israeli occupation of Palestine prompted a flood of online mockery and contempt, mostly from leftist Twitter users. Many derided AOC as a careerist who had abandoned progressive causes like Palestinian liberation in order to curry favor with Democratic Party power brokers, while others ridiculed her meaningless word salad.
Within hours of the online pile-on, someone reported Wentz to the Capitol Police for tweeting the video that embarrassed AOC. Because Wentz does not provide any information about his personal identity in his public Twitter profile, the social media giant appeared to have provided his private details to federal law enforcement.
“Another weird thing is usually I would get a report [from Twitter],” Wentz said, “because I’ve gotten my tweets reported before. But I didn’t get any notification about this.”
AOC’s staff has previously appealed to certain authorities to punish online critics. On February 4, 2021, her campaign sent a mass email to supporters asking them to “scan your social media to find posts with misleading information” about the congresswoman, and “use the built-in report feature to flag them for moderators.”
Team AOC issued its appeal for supporters to police social media in response to right-wing mockery of a dramatic livestream in which AOC suggested that the mob which stormed the Capitol building on January 6 nearly assassinated her.
“I just hear these yells of ‘WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS SHE?’” she recounted in the livestream. “This was the moment where I thought everything was over. I thought I was going to die.”
Her eyes welling with tears, AOC continued, “I felt that if this was the journey my life was taking, I felt that things were going to be okay, and that I had fulfilled my purpose.”
However, the source of the yells which had terrified AOC turned out to be a Capitol Police officer who had been dispatched to protect her. Further, the congresswoman’s office was located in the Cannon House Office Building, which had not been penetrated by any rioters on January 6 and was located a block away from the melee.
Right-wing activists responded to AOC’s claims by launching a viral hashtag likening her to Jussie Smollet, the actor who faked an attack on himself. After attempting to challenge her critics directly, AOC delegated her staff to dispatch its army of supporters to report critics en masse to Twitter and Facebook censors.
Weeks earlier, online podcaster Jimmy Dore had initiated a “Force The Vote” campaign to pressure AOC and fellow members of the progressive congressional “Squad” to withhold their votes for Rep. Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House until Pelosi agreed to bring a bill for Medicare for All to the floor for a vote.
In response to incendiary criticism from Dore for her refusal to buck centrist party leadership, AOC declared, “That’s not tone, that’s violence.”
AOC’s record of characterizing harsh criticism as violent abuse, and turning to online censors to suppress it, raises questions about whether her team was responsible for siccing the police on an anti-war activist.
According to Wentz, the police officers that visited him asked if he had any violent intent behind his tweet, then left. “If this was like a purely intimidation thing,” he reflected, “then I guess it did its job. It’s not comforting to be on the receiving end of that. But at the same time, they’re not going to shut the left up.”
Wentz added, “We are told that AOC is a member of the left, but if she really was involved in this [call to the Capitol Police] – and that’s how the left treats the left – then I want no part of that. I don’t want this fake adversarial movement that just entrenches the horrible deeds that we’re living under now.”
Hamas welcomes Turkish-Egyptian detente
Ismail Haneyya
Palestine Information Center – April 1, 2021
ISTANBUL – Head of Hamas’s political bureau Ismail Haneyya has welcomed the Turkish-Egyptian rapprochement, expressing confidence that any cooperation between Ankara and Cairo will be in the interest of the Palestinian people and their national cause.
Haneyya made the remarks in an interview conducted by Anadolu Agency after he visited its headquarters in Istanbul.
“We welcome the Turkish-Egyptian rapprochement, and we believe that more understandings between them and between Arab and Islamic countries will have a positive impact on us in Palestine as well as on the Arab countries,” the Hamas political chief said.
“There are historically known central states in the region that play strategic roles, such as Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia, so any understanding and rapprochement between them will be in the interests of the peoples in the region and the Palestinian cause,” he added.
As for the upcoming Palestinian elections, Haneyya affirmed that his Movement is committed to forming a national consensus government even if it scored a victory in the legislative elections slated for next May.
“Hamas is participating in the elections on the basis of partnership and not with the aim of defeating others. It does not want to dominate the Palestinian political system,” he underlined.
He described the upcoming elections as an important opportunity to improve the current Palestinian conditions and end 15 years of national division.
Iran, China to sign cooperation document
IRNA – March 27, 2021
Tehran – Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday night that Iran and China would sign the 25-year Cooperation document on Saturday.
Speaking to IRIB TV Channel 1, Khatibzadeh said that China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting Iran on the verge of the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries and the document would be signed in this trip.
The Chinese Foreign Minister, who arrived in Tehran Friday night, is also going to have meetings with a number of Iranian authorities, according to the Spokesman.
He also said that the cooperation document was discussed in 2015, when the Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Iran, to lead bilateral ties to a comprehensive and strategic level.
“Relations between Iran and China are multi-layered, deep and having different dimension and this necessitates them to be included in a document. Therefore, the document has been exchanged between the two states for several times and it will eventually be signed on Saturday by Foreign Ministers,” Khatibzadeh went on to say.
The document has a comprehensive road-map, said the diplomat, adding that the economic dimension, as the main axis of the document, includes cooperation in different areas, as well as Iran’s participation in One Road, One Belt initiative and special focus on the private sector in both countries.
“No comprehensive strategic participation is established unless the exact cultural, popular and media basis is formed. This has been addressed in the cultural part of the document,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman said, adding “We expect the document to serve as a road-map for Iran-China relations in the next 25 years.”
Irish Doctor Suspended for Refusing to Vaccinate Patients With Experimental COVID Jab
21st Century Wire | March 23, 2021
An Irish GP who describes himself as a ‘conscientious objector’ has been suspended by the country’s medical licensing body for refusing to vaccinate his patients with the new experimental COVID-19 jab.
Dr. Waters told The Irish Times, “My problem primarily is that I don’t think the pathogenicity of Covid is sufficiently severe to A) cause lockdowns or B) use a messenger RNA [vaccine],” expressing concern his over the unproven safety record of the new vaccines.
The government agency is threatening to target any doctor which they deem to be spreading ‘misinformation’ or not following the government’s ever-changing and arbitrary guidelines relating to the ‘global pandemic’ or its mass vaccination campaign.
Irish Post reports…
Last month, we reported on Kildare GP Dr Gerard Waters of the Whitehorn Clinic in Celbridge, who faced backlash after admitting he would not be vaccinating his patients and also does not refer anyone for Covid-19 tests even if they are exhibiting symptoms.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Liveline in February, Dr Waters said he was a ‘conscientious objector’ and said he disagreed with how quickly the vaccines had been developed and how it had been handled by authorities.
He went on to say that he would have no issue if his patients went on to receive the vaccine from somewhere else, but he would not put anything in his patient’s arms that he would not put in his own.
Now Dr Waters has been suspended by the Medical Council after they made an application to the High Court under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, The Irish Times reports.
Pro-Palestine activist stands trial after leading boycott against Israeli pharmaceutical company
Pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement march in Marseille, southern France. (Photo via Twitter)
Press TV – March 22, 2021
French activist Olivia Zemor has gone on trial in Lyon after making an online appeal in 2016 for a boycott of Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva company.
She appeared in court on March 16 over publishing a call by Collectif Palestine 69 on EuroPalestine website, urging readers to boycott Teva, the largest Israeli pharmaceutical corporation by market value.
Zemor, an active advocate of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, was sued for “defamation” by Teva after she accused the company of complicity in apartheid and occupation.
In comments to French newspaper Le Courrier de l’Atlas, she said, “Through its financial contribution to Israel, this pharmaceutical giant contributes to the financing of military operations in Gaza and to the development of colonization in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in defiance of the rights of the Palestinian people and of international resolutions.”
Therefore, she added, it is necessary to call for the company’s boycott.
Pro-Palestine activist Olivia Zemor is going on trial in France after leading a boycott campaign against Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva pic.twitter.com/ENtpjlLG2I
However, Frédéric Jeannin, lawyer for the pharmaceutical company, denied the accusation, claiming that “Teva is not involved in a geopolitical, ethnic or religious conflict, and these actions hamper its economic activity.”
On the day of Zemor’s trial, activists gathered outside the courtroom to condemn the French government’s attempts to silence criticism of Israel and those who speak out against the oppression of Palestinians.
They argue that the European Court of Human Rights last year affirmed the right to boycott Israel and that this ruling invalidates the French prosecution of Zemor, who is the president of the EuroPalestine solidarity group.
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti is accused of “a blatant violation of the decision” by distributing a circular to prosecutors urging them to take action against activists supporting the BDS campaign.
Teva, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of generic drugs, provides millions of pounds in tax revenue to the Israeli regime and its military.
The company is accused of “joining hands with the French state to aggressively seek to shut down and silence international voices of conscience for exposing corporate complicity and profiteering from the Israeli occupation regime.”
People have been asked to show solidarity with Zemor by writing to French embassies and consulates and holding protests outside them.
Palestinians have for decades called on civil campaigns against Israel, organized under the BDS umbrella.
The BDS movement was initiated in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, unions, as well as cultural and rights groups, including all major political parties, trade and academic unions that were pushing for “various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law.”
Thousands of volunteers worldwide have since then joined the nonviolent campaign, which calls for people and groups across the world to cut economic, cultural and academic ties to Tel Aviv, to help promote the Palestinian cause.
Israel claims that the movement is a strategic threat and accuses it of anti-Semitism – a claim that activists firmly deny, calling it an attempt to discredit them.
The BDS, which adheres to peaceful resistance, intends to exert pressure on the Israeli regime to adhere to international law and human rights by lobbying various states, institutions and individuals to understand its oppression of Palestinians and take action as a result.
Template Letter To Schools: Parent Rights On COVID Vaccines
By John O’Sullivan | Principia Scientific | March 7, 2021
Lately, we have been inundated by requests from worried parents for our help over US state authorities making demands for the vaccination of their children before return to schools after ‘lockdown.’ In that regard, we provide the template letter below, for those who are concerned over the dangers from unproven COVID19 vaccines.
Please feel free to add and amend the following to fit your personal circumstances. However, please be aware the following is not a substitute for legal advice from a qualified attorney, which will vary due to differing state laws and factual circumstances.*
Dear ________
This letter is NOT a refusal of vaccination. In this matter I am what is legally defined as ‘vaccine hesitant.’ This is my formal request to you to honor my right as a parent to have informed consent before agreeing to proceed to the next step in permitting my child to be vaccinated.
My consent must be obtained before starting any treatment or physical investigation and this includes the administration of all vaccines.
My giving of any consent is viewed as a process, not a one-off event. Consent obtained before the occasion upon which a child is brought for immunization is only an agreement for the child to be included in the immunization program and does not mean that consent is in place for each future immunization.
Consent should still be sought on the occasion of each immunization visit.
If my child is being excluded from their place of formal education dependent on their submission to your vaccination policy I understand this may be unlawful. If so, I reserve the right to take legal action against any authority or person who so engages in such action.
There are THREE key legal points to be made:
- Vaccination against COVID19 is NOT a legal requirement, merely a recommendation among various authorities;
- No vaccine for COVID19 has passed any rigorous official safety tests, including approved FDA laboratory testing with guinea pigs;
- No vaccination program may be mandated IF ALTERNATIVE EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS ARE AVAILABLE.
All parents and patients should be fully informed about the known or suspected risks and benefits of preventive and therapeutic procedures, including vaccination. In the case of vaccination, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly recommends – and federal law mandates – that this discussion include the provision of the Vaccine Information Statements (VISs).
Best Practice Requirements
All parents (or guardians) shall have the opportunity to ask questions about their concerns regarding recommended childhood immunizations, and maintaining a supportive relationship with the family are all part of a good risk management strategy.
KNOWLEDGE OF ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES & DISEASE PREVENTION
I have validated the following scientific information to my satisfaction from qualified professional (shown below) and challenge you to refute them before gaining my consent:
Merck Scraps Vaccine, Says Better To Catch COVID Virus & Recover:
https://principia-scientific.com/merck-scraps-vaccine-says-better-to-catch-covid-virus-recover/
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons endorses the use of a combination of HCQ, zinc + Z-pac as treatment and prophylactic for COVID19, thus obviating any need to be vaccinated:
https://aapsonline.org/judicial/aaps-v-fda-hcq-6-2-2020.pdf
The BMJ: COVID19 Is Murder By Misinformation. The highly respected British medical science journal speaks out against harsh government measures that are based on false science and insists “knowledgeable and conscientious researchers” have had their dissenting findings “disregarded, censored or vilified.”
https://principia-scientific.com/the-bmj-covid19-is-murder-by-misinformation/
US Senate Hearing Testimony Backs HCQ+Zinc To Treat COVID-19
https://principia-scientific.com/us-senate-hearing-testimony-backs-hcqzinc-to-treat-covid-19/
Ivermectin – Miracle Drug Against COVID-19
https://principia-scientific.com/ivermectin-miracle-drug-against-covid-19/
Lysine therapy interrupts the replication of viruses, including COVID-19 coronavirus:
A natural cure for COVID-19 is widely available and affordable and confirmed by a team of virologists who have spent a lifetime studying the underlying causes of viral infections.
Writing in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases another research team based in New York and Texas reports that arginine depletion is a strategy to quell both coronaviruses and other herpes family viruses.
In 2016 researchers documented that lysine impairs the growth of coronaviruses in a lab dish.
The Bio-Virus Research team are not loners nor out on a scientific limb. A report, published in the Journal of Antivirals & Antiretrovirals, is what prompted to the current discovery that was put into clinical practice in the Dominican Republic.
The above-cited evidence is merely a snapshot of the growing body of verifiable scientific proofs to show that my child (nor any child) not only does not need any ‘vaccine’ to be safe from COVID19 harm, but proves there are safer, proven and more acceptable measures I can take to be a responsible parent and protect my child during this ‘pandemic.’
I know that I may readdress this issue with my child’s doctor or nurse at any time and that I may change my mind and accept/reuse vaccination for my child in the future.
On this issue, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) tells us:
“Whether parents place their children at substantial risk of serious harm by refusing immunization will depend on several factors, including the probability of contracting the disease if unimmunized and the morbidity and mortality associated with infection. The results of such an analysis will also vary depending on the prevalence of disease in the community in which the child resides or the areas in which the child is likely to travel. The balance between the risks and benefits to a given individual favors immunization most strongly when rates of immunization in the community are low and disease prevalence is high.” [1]
Upon your satisfactory reply to the above, you may be provided with my consent, given voluntarily and freely.
But consent will only be given after you have provided me ALL relevant information held by government authorities including my state and federal agencies, such as the CDC.
In the event you evade answering, or negligently fail to fully clarify any reply with scientific literature, you may be liable to legal remedy for a breach of statutory of duty of care to our family.
AAP Policy**
The current AAP Clinical Report, Countering Vaccine Hesitancy, provides information about addressing parental concerns about vaccination.AAP GUIDANCE TO HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Health care professionals and parents are bound by the duty to seek medical benefit for and minimize harm to children in their care. When faced with the decision to immunize a child, the welfare of the child should be the primary focus.
If you are a licensed medical professional then you must address three important and distinct issues around COVID19 vaccine hesistancy/refusal.
First, you must reasonably determine whether my choice to provide my child with an alternative, non-vaccination therapy (such as HCQ, Remdisver) risks harming them sufficiently to constitute actionable neglect and be reported to state child protective services agencies;
Second, you should assess all reasonable situations in which a parental decision to withhold immunization from a child puts other individuals at risk of harm sufficient to justify public health intervention;
Third, you have a duty of care to make a full, open and honest response to a parent who refuses or ‘hesitates’ over immunizations for his or her child. [2]
I hereby formally request you to provide me with a written reply with an agreement to a discussion with me, as the parent, before signing any forms concerning the consent to vaccination of my child.
In this matter, the AAP tells us:
“In those situations, physicians may need to tolerate decisions they disagree with if those decisions are not likely to be harmful to the child. “ [3]
In view of the above, unless and until my vaccine hesitancy is fully and properly addressed by a qualified medical authorities I WITHHOLD MY CONSENT ON VACCINATING MY CHILD.
Sincerely,
Note to parents intending to use this template:
*This template not a substitute for legal advice from a qualified attorney, which will vary due to differing state laws and factual circumstances, which will impact the outcome.
** This template was drafted based on current AAP Policy, Responding to Parental Refusals of Immunization of Children.
While this template may be modified to reflect the particular circumstances of a patient, family, or medical practice, users may wish to obtain advice from a qualified attorney.
[1] https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/5/1428.full
[2] https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/5/1428.full
[3] Buchanan AE, Brock DW. Deciding for Others: The Ethics of Surrogate Decision Making. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 1990 Google Scholar
About John O’Sullivan John is CEO and co-founder (with Dr Tim Ball) of Principia Scientific International (PSI). John is a seasoned science writer and legal analyst who assisted Dr Ball in defeating world leading climate expert, Michael ‘hockey stick’ Mann in the ‘science trial of the century‘. O’Sullivan is credited as the visionary who formed the original ‘Slayers’ group of scientists in 2010 who then collaborated in creating the world’s first full-volume debunk of the greenhouse gas theory plus their new follow-up book.
Samidoun: We will not be silenced by Israel’s “terrorist” designation
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network | February 28, 2021
In response to Israeli Defense Minister and war criminal Benny Gantz’s designation of Samidoun as a “terrorist organization”, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network affirms that we will continue to organize and mobilize internationally in defense of Palestinian rights and liberation. This is the latest manifestation of a smear campaign that is intended to silence international support for the Palestinian people and especially the nearly 5,000 Palestinians jailed by the Israeli occupation. This is an attack on the Palestinian prisoners’ movement as well as the right of Palestinians in exile and diaspora to organize. We affirm that we will not be silenced or deterred by Israel’s smear campaigns.
The Israeli allegations are replete with false, misleading and careless allegations, beginning with listing an incorrect date for the founding of Samidoun (we actually mark our 10-year anniversary this year, in 2021, as is easily learned from our website). Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat has expressed his support for Samidoun’s work on multiple occasions, and we are proud to share his writings and thoughts. However, Israel’s complete disregard for facts once again comes into play here: Khaled Barakat is not now, nor has he ever been, a director or “chief coordinator” of Samidoun.
We are a grassroots organization with no paid full-time staff and that does not fundraise for any organization except for sustaining our advocacy campaigns. We have chapters in the US, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Brazil, Greece and occupied Palestine, and a network of member organizations including the Collectif Palestine Vaincra in France. This is a blatant attempt to disrupt and undermine this growing mobilization of support for Palestine around the world.
We conduct our work openly, visibly and publicly, as is visible at our website, samidoun.net, and we are proud to call for the freedom of Palestinian political prisoners like Ahmad Sa’adat, Khalida Jarrar, and thousands of Palestinians of diverse political backgrounds. The entire Israeli campaign is based on a complete disregard for facts and reality.
In fact, most of the listed points appear to come directly from right-wing propaganda organization NGO Monitor, which aims to shield Israel from international accountability for war crimes by smearing human rights defenders in Palestine and around the world./ NGO Monitor’s “baseless claims and factual inaccuracies” are a long-standing feature of their defense of Israeli apartheid, extrajudicial killings, land confiscation, arbitrary detention, military occupation, siege and colonialism.
Samidoun is an independent international, Arab and Palestinian organization that mobilizes for the liberation of nearly 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. We advocate for the boycott of Israel, and we uphold the right of Palestinians to resist occupation, apartheid and oppression, and the right of all Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands. We stand for a free Palestine, from the river to the sea.
It is for these reasons and these reasons alone that Israel’s Defense Ministry, engaged in daily war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people under occupation, is attacking Samidoun’s work. This is a further attempt to use repression and threats against the Palestinian people and their international allies as a campaign activity for Benny Gantz’s party in the Israeli elections. This is also an attempt to divert attention from the serious problem facing hundreds of Zionist officials – including Gantz himself – who are afraid from the next steps of the investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its last announcement on 5 February 2021 affirming that it has the authority to investigate war crimes in the Palestinian occupied territories.
Further, it is no surprise that this public announcement comes only days after 300 international organizations have joined in a collective campaign to free Palestinian student prisoners.
In fact, this should not be conceived of as an attack on Samidoun alone: instead, it comes hand in hand with a series of smear campaigns directed at Palestinian human rights defenders and those who uphold Palestinian rights around the world — and the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people themselves. The same designation has been levied against a number of international organizations engaged in public advocacy for Palestinian rights and freedom. This attack is an attempt to isolate the Palestinian prisoners, not only behind bars, but from their international base of support and solidarity. It is further an attempt to silence support for the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people, targeting opposition to imperialist wars, the Oslo process and the ongoing colonization of Palestine.
We are among many activists and organizations who have been attacked by Israel — many of whom have paid a much higher price, including those Palestinians, Arabs and internationalists who have been jailed, tortured and assassinated by Israel. Always, the goal is the same: an attempt to undermine the growing international support for the Palestinian people and their just cause.
Almost every organization, movement and even individual activist that stands for Palestinian freedom is targeted by the Israeli occupation and its leading war criminals for harassment, threats and attempts to mobilize state power to suppress an anti-colonial, anti-racist movement for justice and liberation. We are proud to stand with all of those who face such smear campaigns and repressive attacks — by intensifying our work and coming together to confront Israeli apartheid, occupation, war crimes and colonization, and organizing for the liberation of Palestine.
We invite activists and organizations to join the Samidoun Network and build together with us. Contact us at samidoun@samidoun.net.
The Hague court sides with activists, tells Dutch government to IMMEDIATELY lift ‘illegitimate’ curfew
RT | February 16, 2021
The Dutch government has been told by the court to reverse its coronavirus pandemic curfew after The Hague ruled there was no legal basis for it and called it an infringement on people’s rights.
In a statement, The Hague declared that the government’s use of the Extraordinary Powers of Civil Authority Act – an emergency act which allows the state to bypass the legislative process to impose a curfew in “very urgent and exceptional circumstance” – was not justified in this case during the Covid-19 crisis.
“The Preliminary Relief Judge ruled that the introduction of the curfew did not involve the special urgency required to be able to make use of the [act],” the Hague continued, noting that the government had had time to discuss such a curfew beforehand, before ruling that “the use of this law to impose curfew is not legitimate.”
“The curfew is a far-reaching violation of the right to freedom of movement and privacy and (indirectly) limits, among other things, the right to freedom of assembly and demonstration.”
The country’s Justice Ministry says it is now studying the ruling.
After the Dutch government imposed the curfew on January 23, citizens were legally required to stay home between the hours of 9pm and 4:30am unless they had a valid excuse, and they were warned that they could face fines if they refused to do so.
Valid excuses to go outside during the curfew included emergencies, essential work, to seek medical assistance, and to walk a dog on a lead.
The Hague’s decision was made after a group known as the Virus Truth Foundation filed a lawsuit arguing that the curfew was an infringement on human rights and the Dutch constitution.
The Netherlands experienced several nights of rioting over the curfew, which resulted in burnt cars, looted business, clashes with police, and hundreds of arrests.
The New Normal requires a NEW Response
By Catte Black | OffGuardian | February 12, 2021
Recently a prominent Covid-skeptic on Twitter announced their willingness to start a political party or “movement” to oppose lockdowns.
Several people expressed support.
I understand the good intention behind this idea, but we at OffGuardian consider it a major misdirection of energy – and we said so.
We got a flurry of replies from Marxists and socialists telling us people need to ‘organise’ if the New Normal is to be defeated.
Well, yes, I agree. But what does ‘organise’ mean in an age of fake ‘consensus’, rigged elections and pseudo-Left fascism?
Does it mean creating yet another ‘political party’ with rules, hierarchies and leaders?
Does it mean paying lip service to the senile, corrupt old system of representative ‘democracy’ that we KNOW is fixed and a fundamental lie?
I don’t think so.
I think the New Normal requires a New Response.
This isn’t 2003 and the anti-war protests. This isn’t 1984 and the miners’ strike. This struggle is actually potentially far more winnable. Because it isn’t about trying to force a change of action on remote beings who don’t give a damn and won’t listen. It’s about reaching ordinary people. Our friends, family, community.
What we are facing is not just a new level of tyranny, but a new kind of tyranny. One that requires more than passive obedience or inaction from people in order to preserve their status quo.
The New Normal demands people do things to positively reinforce that Normal, not simply passively consent. People are being asked to make fundamental changes to their daily lives and proactively DO things that inconvenience, impoverish or endanger them and their loved ones. They are being asked to wear masks, remain inside, refuse contact, close stores, all as individual acts of faith in the truth and reality of the narrative.
This means it’s not principally the PTB who are enforcing this narrative – it’s individual people. It’s everyone who is seen to be believing the story. It’s every man, woman and child wearing a mask or social distancing, or closing their business.
We are not merely bystanders to this event, we are required to be active participants. And that potentially gives us a lot more power. Because we can simply say no.
And if people really knew the truth they would say no – out of simple self preservation – the same instinct currently being exploited to get their co-operation.
This is why a bid to organise hierarchical resistance misses the point, and aims at the wrong target.
The fourth Industrial revolution is supposed to be in part about data – information. Those with the information will control the world.
Think about that.
If information is key to them maybe it should be to us. I think we need to see the war against the New Normal as an information war.
The Great Reset merchants are selling conformity through lies. We need to counter them with the truth. Which will, indeed, “set you free.”
We, all of us, everyone reading this, need to start sharing information as if it was ammunition.
Reblog it, print it out and distribute it. Leave it in leaflets, send it in letters or emails, tell people about it by word of mouth.
If only one person in a hundred listens to you, it’s still a step.
But the information needs to be simple and true. Here are the 4 basic facts-
- the ‘virus’ has a blurry definition and has a survival rate of over 99% – no more deadly than some recent flu strains
- the PCR tests DON’T work and are a fraud.
- The reported ‘deaths’ are often people dying of other things and having ‘covid’ added to their CoD based on the test that doesn’t work or on financial incentive.
- The vaccine is NOT a vaccine. It’s experimental gene manipulation which will need decades of testing over generations before it can really be pronounced safe.
Don’t let these basic truths be diluted with irrelevant chatter about bio weapons or ‘miracle cures’. Don’t think you can be more effective if you cut the truth with a few commonly believed lies.
Don’t be tempted to meet the lie halfway. Don’t say ‘sure the pandemic was real and the virus IS scary, but it’s all over now’.
No. Tell the truth. Tell it to at least one person you know every day, and help to set them free.
Tell people how powerful they are. That this sick farce of political/corporate narrative now more than ever needs their endorsement for it to mean anything, and if they simply decline to endorse and walk away eventually the farce will be playing to an empty theatre.
We need INFORMATIONAL organization laterally – getting info out about the ‘pandemic’, about legal rights, about how to get away from total dependence on the system.
Encourage people to form their own groups and spread this info. Organic, loose – hard to monitor and pin down, hard to infiltrate because there will be no hierarchy.
Tell people they don’t need to wait for self-appointed leaders to give them direction. They can be their own change. Starting now.
Take their slogans – ‘strength in unity’ and make it mean something in your own life.
Remember ‘they’ are weak in numbers but strong in cohesion, and they have taken our strength in numbers and used it against us – like a martial arts ninja.
They try to break us apart with internal divisions, setting black against white, male against female, “Right” against “Left”.
The old politics and its terminologies are meaningless in the face of this latest coup against humanity. It’s not a matter of Left v Right any more. It’s a simple division between those who believe in human freedom and those who want humanity enslaved.
The only way to fight this New Normal is to create another one. Where people rediscover independence of thought and genuine collectivism of action.
With thanks to Vanessa Beeley for her input and suggestions
Iraq’s Muqtada Al-Sadr warns of looming normalisation with Israel
MEMO | February 11, 2021
Leader of the Iraqi Sadrist Movement and prominent Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr said yesterday that his movement will not allow normalisation between Iraq and Israel, even if the price is “blood”.
“Normalisation is at the door, and the parliament must prevent this. We will not allow normalisation at all, even if it costs us blood,” Al-Sadr told reporters in the southern city of Najaf.
Al-Sadr did not provide further details, however, in January a new movement named October 25 was formed under the leadership of Secretary-General Talal Hariri who called to have good relations with Israel.
The Iraqi government, led by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, has not issued a clear position on the movement’s demand.
Iraq does not officially recognise Israel, and there are no relations between the two sides.
In October 2017, the Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution prohibiting raising the Israeli flag and punishing violators with imprisonment.
Last year, the UAE, Bahrain , Sudan and Morocco signed normalisation deals with Israel. At the time of the first announcements, Iraq declared that its laws prohibited it from normalising relations with the occupation state.
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Former minister blasts pro-Israel lobby over ‘disgusting interference’ in British politics
MEMO | April 9, 2021
Former Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan has accused pro-Israel lobbyists of “the most disgusting interference” in British politics, and of negatively influencing the country’s foreign policy in the Middle East. The veteran politician has also claimed that Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) went “ballistic” and blocked him from taking on a new post covering the region’s affairs.
Duncan, a former Conservative MP and government minister, makes the sensational claims in his newly published memoir, In The Thick of It: The private diaries of a minister (published by William Collins, 2021). Speaking to journalist Michael Crick about his book for the MailPlus website, the 64 year-old blasted CFI and its undue influence in British politics.
Conservative Friends of Israel, he said, had injected a “Netanyahu-type view of Israeli politics into our foreign policy,” referring to Israel’s right-wing prime minister. He claimed that it had applied pressure on Theresa May’s government to prevent him becoming Middle East minister at the Foreign Office.
In his book, Duncan claims that his new role was agreed until the then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson alerted him to the fact that CFI “are going ballistic”. He insists that he was blocked from taking the post because he believes in the rights of the Palestinians. … continue
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