West ‘playing with fire’ – Moscow
RT | May 18, 2024
The West only risks further escalation by arming and encouraging Kiev to strike Russian territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
The warning comes as Ukrainian strikes against Russian cities intensify on the backdrop of Kiev losing ground in the Kharkov Region.
“The profile of the American and British handlers of the [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky regime is clearly visible behind these barbaric attacks,” Zakharova told reporters. “They are not only providing longer-range missiles and heavy weapons, but are giving a green light to their use against Russia.”
“Once again, we would like to unequivocally warn Washington, London, Brussels and other Western capitals, as well as Kiev, which is under their control, that they are playing with fire. Russia will not leave such encroachments on its territory unanswered,” the spokeswoman stressed.
On Thursday and Friday, the Ukrainian troops launched a combined assault on Crimea, Krasnodar and other Russian regions using UAVs and naval drones. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, more than 100 drones were intercepted mid-air, while six unmanned boats were destroyed by the Black Sea Fleet.
During its briefing on Friday, the MOD added that over the course of the week Russian troops had intercepted dozens of US-made ATACMS missiles, as well as nearly 200 rockets, including projectiles fired from US-made HIMARS and Czech-made Vampire launchers. The Hammer guided bombs delivered by France, the Storm Shadow cruise missiles made by the UK, and nearly 330 UAVs were also used in the attacks, it said.
A total of 19 civilians were killed in Russia’s Belgorod region on May 12 alone, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. On Friday, Gladkov wrote on Telegram that a Ukrainian drone hit a civilian car, killing a mother and her four-year-old daughter.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated that the shelling of residential areas is pushing Moscow to create a buffer zone along the border with Ukraine. “If this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone. This is what we are doing,” he said during his trip to China.
Last month, the New York Times cited senior Pentagon officials as saying that the US had allowed Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles against targets in Crimea. British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed to journalists on Tuesday that London allows Kiev to strike Crimea with UK-supplied weapons.
The largely Russian-speaking peninsula voted in 2014 to leave Ukraine and join Russia following the Western-backed coup in Kiev that took place earlier that year.
Over 600 mosques destroyed in Israeli onslaught on Gaza since Oct. 7
Press TV – May 18, 2024
The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Gaza Strip says Israeli military forces have fully destroyed or damaged hundreds of mosques in the besieged coastal territory ever since the Tel Aviv regime started its bloody onslaught in early October last year.
The ministry announced in a statement that the total number of mosques completely destroyed in the current conflict stands at 604, while another 200 have been partially destroyed.
The statement said Israeli troops have also desecrated at least 60 cemeteries during their ground invasion of Gaza, and used bulldozers to dig up graves and steal the bodies of more than 1,000 people.
It said 15 buildings belonging to the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs were destroyed during the Israeli aggression, among them the headquarters of the ministry, the main office of the Holy Quran Radio in Gaza City, the Endowment Management office in Khan Younis, and a repository for documents and manuscripts.
The statement said that 91 employees of the ministry have been killed in the Israeli attacks.
Israel launched its onslaught against the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship, after Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm, against the usurping entity on October 7 last year.
At least 35,386 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, according to the latest health ministry update in Gaza on Saturday. More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced during the war as well.
US university president placed on leave for accepting demands of Palestine supporters
MEMO | May 17, 2024
Sonoma State University’s President, Mike Lee, has been placed on administrative leave for announcing an agreement with pro-Palestinian activists to pursue an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and divestment strategies.
California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia said yesterday that Mike Lee was put on leave for accepting the demands of protesting students without obtaining “proper approvals.”
She added in a statement published on the website of the University of California, to which Sonoma University is affiliated: “For now, because of this insubordination and consequences it has brought upon the system, President Lee has been placed on administrative leave.”
This decision is considered the harshest disciplinary action imposed on the president of any of the US universities that have witnessed anti-war protests.
Since April, US, Canadian, British, French and Indian universities have witnessed protests rejecting the Israeli war on Gaza and demanding university administrations stop their academic cooperation with Israeli academic institutions.
Protesters also demand that their universities withdraw their investments from companies that support the occupation of Palestinian territories and arm the Israeli army.
In New York riot police were sent into campuses to disperse protesters and remove encampments set up in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Belgium’s Ghent university severs ties with 3 Israel institutions
MEMO | May 17, 2024
Belgium’s University of Ghent (UGent) is severing ties with three Israeli educational or research institutions which it says no longer align with UGent’s human rights policy, Reuters reports its rector saying.
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Ghent have been demonstrating against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and have been occupying parts of the university since early this month.
The university’s rector, Rik Van de Walle, said in a statement that ties were being cut with Holon Institute of Technology, MIGAL Galilee Research Institute and the Volcani Centre, which carries out agricultural research.
“We currently assess these three partners as (very) problematic according to the Ghent University human rights test, in contrast to the positive evaluation we gave these partners at the start of our collaboration,” Van de Walle said.
Partnerships with MIGAL Galilee Research Institute and the Volcani Centre “were no longer desirable” due to their affiliation with Israeli ministries, an investigation by the University of Ghent found, and collaboration with the Holon Institute “was problematic” because it provided material support to the army for actions in Gaza.
A spokesperson for the university said the move would affect four projects.
The three Israeli institutions did not immediately comment.
The protesters told Belgian broadcaster VRT they welcomed the decision but regarded it as only a first step. They said they would continue their occupation of parts of the university “until UGent breaks its ties with all Israeli institutions”.
The actions mirror those of students in the United States and elsewhere in Europe, calling for an immediate permanent ceasefire and for schools to cut financial ties with companies they say are profiting from what they regard as the oppression of Palestinians.
Meet Benjamin Netanyahu, Unconvicted War Criminal
Corbett | May 14, 2024
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
The International Criminal Court is supposedly mulling war crimes charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other high-ranking Israeli political and military officials. But what reason could they possibly have for charging Netanyahu with war crimes? Uncover all the dirt on the unindicted war criminal presiding over Israel’s crimes against humanity in this important edition of The Corbett Report podcast.
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DOCUMENTATION
| Israel lashes out at possible ICC warrants as “outrage of historic proportions” | |
| Time Reference: | 00:23 |
| Bibi: My Story | |
| Time Reference: | 04:16 |
| The Resistible Rise of Benjamin Netanyahu | |
| Time Reference: | 04:36 |
| Can the ICC Actually Arrest Netanyahu? | |
| Time Reference: | 05:26 |
| Agnellis, Rothschilds close in on Economist | |
| Time Reference: | 09:05 |
| Could the International Criminal Court indict Binyamin Netanyahu? | |
| Time Reference: | 09:09 |
| US Working To Prevent ICC Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu | |
| Time Reference: | 10:24 |
| Victor’s Justice: The Truth About the International Criminal Court | |
| Time Reference: | 11:49 |
| Episode 261 – International Law? | |
| Time Reference: | 12:06 |
| Who Is Benjamin Netanyahu? | |
| Time Reference: | 13:34 |
| The Rise of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu | NowThis World | |
| Time Reference: | 13:44 |
| Netanyahu at War (full documentary) | FRONTLINE | |
| Time Reference: | 14:05 |
| From Soldier to Statesman : Biography of Benjamin Netanyahu | |
| Time Reference: | 14:22 |
| Bibi in the gas mask (CNN January 18, 1991) | |
| Time Reference: | 17:20 |
| Likud’s Late Grandfather | |
| Time Reference: | 19:39 |
| 1946 King David Hotel Bombing | |
| Time Reference: | 21:08 |
| PM Netanyahu’s Remarks at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center Event Marking Israel’s 70th Anniversary | |
| Time Reference: | 24:04 |
| Zionism’s Terrorist Heritage | |
| Time Reference: | 24:55 |
| Corbett Report Radio 214 – Israel’s Nuclear Smuggling with Grant F. Smith | |
| Time Reference: | 28:23 |
| Bibi’s bribery case | |
| Time Reference: | 32:00 |
| What is the latest on Netanyahu’s corruption trial? | |
| Time Reference: | 32:04 |
| Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East | |
| Time Reference: | 34:26 |
| Israeli Perspective on Conflict with Iraq | |
| Time Reference: | 37:11 |
| False Flags: The Secret History of Al Qaeda | |
| Time Reference: | 40:17 |
| Sept. 11 Was Good For Israel – Benjamin Netanyahu | |
| Time Reference: | 43:04 |
| Israel PM Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu Address to United Nations Sept 27, 2012 | |
| Time Reference: | 44:50 |
| Watch Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s full speech to Congress | |
| Time Reference: | 45:17 |
| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives statement on Iran Nuclear Deal | |
| Time Reference: | 46:03 |
| Israel – Prime Minister Addresses United Nations General Debate, 78th Session | |
| Time Reference: | 46:40 |
| Israel election 2019: Netanyahu vows to annex West Bank settlements | DW News | |
| Time Reference: | 47:58 |
| West Bank settler expansion: a year on the frontline | |
| Time Reference: | 48:28 |
| Inside Israeli Apartheid | |
| Time Reference: | 49:45 |
| ‘Absolute Apartheid’: Israeli general joins chorus of voices condemning persecution of Palestinians | |
| Time Reference: | 50:18 |
| ‘That sounds like ethnic cleansing’: CNN questions lead figure in Israel’s settler movement | |
| Time Reference: | 50:54 |
| Israeli Settlers Are Terrorizing Palestinians In Record Numbers | |
| Time Reference: | 51:42 |
| Palestine Remix – Israeli Brutality Caught on Tape | |
| Time Reference: | 52:37 |
| Statement by PM Netanyahu Regarding Operation Protective Edge | |
| Time Reference: | 54:59 |
| ‘Operation Protective Edge’ is underway in Israel | |
| Time Reference: | 55:36 |
| Gaza Conflict Takes Heavy Toll on Palestinian Children | |
| Time Reference: | 56:22 |
| Gaza conflict: Israel & Hamas face allegations of war crimes – BBC News | |
| Time Reference: | 56:49 |
| U.N. Human Rights Official Accuses Israel, Hama Of War Crimes | |
| Time Reference: | 57:22 |
| Gaza: Israel strike kills four boys on beach | Channel 4 News | |
| Time Reference: | 57:42 |
| Israhell and the Hannibal Directive – #NewWorldNextWeek | |
| Time Reference: | 58:52 |
| ‘Cold-blooded massacre’: Israeli forces kill over 104 aid seekers in Gaza | |
| Time Reference: | 59:53 |
| Israeli government under fire after airstrike kills aid workers | |
| Time Reference: | 1:00:10 |
| Israel likely violated international humanitarian law in Gaza war, U.S. report says | |
| Time Reference: | 01:00:34 |
| Children in Gaza dying from “malnutrition and disease, Blinken set to meet Arab leaders in Cairo | |
| Time Reference: | 01:01:03 |
Spain turns away ship carrying arms to occupied territories
Press TV | May 16, 2024
Spain has turned away a ship carrying arms to the occupied territories amid the Israeli regime’s ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares announced the development on Thursday.
“This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port,” he told reporters in Brussels.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente identified the vessel as Marianne Danica, which had requested permission to berth at the southeastern Spanish port of Cartagena on May 21.
The country’s El Pais newspaper, meanwhile, reported that the Danish-flagged ship was carrying 27 tons of explosive material from Madras in India to the port of Haifa in the occupied territories.
‘Consistent policy’
Adding to his remarks, Albares said, “This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports.”
“The foreign ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason. The Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace,” he noted.
The remarks came as the Israeli regime presses on with the war that it launched against Gaza on October 7 last year following a retaliatory operation by the coastal sliver’s resistance movements.
The overall death toll from the brutal military onslaught has reached 35,272 people, most of them women and children. Some 79,205 others have also been wounded.
The figures exclude the tens of thousands of dead, who are believed to be buried in the bombed-out ruins of buildings.
Spain has been one of Europe’s most critical voices about the war.
It halted arms sales to the Tel Aviv regime after the latter launched the aggression.
The country has also been working to rally other European capitals behind the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state.
USAID whistleblowers accuse Biden of ‘direct complicity’ in Gaza famine
The Cradle | May 16, 2024
Current and former officials from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department say the White House has ignored months of internal warnings about the spread of famine in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to an in-depth investigation by the Independent.
“I believe the US to be complicit in creating the conditions for famine. Not only has our response been woefully inadequate, but we’re actively responsible in large part for it,” a USAID employee told the British daily.
Internal documents reviewed by the Independent show that staffers have repeatedly warned USAID administrator Samantha Power and other senior leaders about the intensifying crisis in Gaza “often to no avail.”
“What was surprising to me, and deeply disappointing, was the fact that we were hearing nothing about imminent famine in Gaza,” a USAID staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, is quoted as saying.
According to the investigation, at least 19 internal dissent memos have been sent since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza by USAID staff, with one of the most recent ones chastising the White House for its “failure to uphold international humanitarian principles and to adhere to its mandate to save lives.”
In an internal dissent cable leaked to HuffPost in early April, officials warned that “the threshold to support a famine determination has likely already been crossed” and that the level of hunger and malnutrition in Gaza was “unprecedented in modern history.”
“Having worked in the administration during the Afghan withdrawal and also the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so many efforts were spearheaded and led, and normal procedures were bypassed given the urgent humanitarian situation. [In Gaza], however, it has been a totally different ballgame. There are systemic issues with how we issue Palestinian cases,” a homeland security official told Responsible Statecraft earlier this week.
“Any kind of initiative to expedite help for Palestinians has been blocked or quelled or slowed down dramatically in a way that I’ve never seen before … As the months dragged on, it became evident that the dissent channels that the State Department likes to tout are about placating staff more than actually listening to those with deep regional and policy expertise and making changes,” the 15-year federal employee added.
Furthermore, the USAID whistleblowers who spoke with the Independent described Washington’s public proclamations of doing all it can to stop the spread of hunger as “very disingenuous.”
“I don’t believe that the President of the United States – Israel’s most important ally and benefactor – has so little leverage that he can’t force them to take meaningful steps to really allow in the amount of aid that is necessary to save lives. It feels like there was no real effort to force Israel’s hands in terms of ensuring greater access to humanitarian assistance,” the US officials say.
Jan Egeland, the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian organization with dozens of aid workers operating in Gaza, told the British daily that there is a “double standard” from the White House when it comes to Israel.
“The administration could have [pressed Israel to cease its aid restrictions] through the application of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits assistance to countries restricting US-funded humanitarian assistance; it could have done so through the withholding of arms shipments; it could have done so by supporting resolutions at the UN calling on Israel to stop restricting humanitarian assistance,” Egeland says, stressing that Washington’s “diplomatic impotence has been astounding.”
Dozens of Palestinians – most of them children – have died from starvation as hundreds of thousands are living under conditions of “full-blown famine” in the north of the enclave.
Despite the critical situation, the Israeli army has routinely blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Moreover, mobs of Israeli settlers regularly attack the small trickle of aid deliveries headed for the strip, destroying the food and attacking truck drivers.
On 16 May, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it ran out of stock in southern Rafah and had suspended food aid distributions there since 11 May. As conditions worse, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Thursday it had anchored a floating pier off the coast of Gaza that will allegedly allow for limited aid deliveries.
Speaking to the Independent, Jeremy Konyndyk, a former high-ranking USAID official, described Washington’s plan as a “major policy failure.”
“When the US government has to use tactics that it otherwise used to circumvent the Soviets in Berlin and circumvent ISIS in Syria and Iraq, that should prompt some really hard questions about the state of US policy,” he said.
Australia jails whistleblowers for telling the truth
By Maryanne Demasi, PhD and Magdalene L. D’Silva, BA/LLB, LLM, MA | May 15, 2024
On May 14, 2024, David McBride, a 60-year-old former military lawyer, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison with a non-parole period of 27 months, for ultimately blowing the whistle on alleged war crimes committed by other Australian soldiers in 2013.
McBride initially tried to raise his concerns internally with the Australian Defence Force (ADF), but became unsatisfied with the process, so he set up a website and uploaded a trove of secret documents.
Former military lawyer David McBride
When ADF officials found the website containing classified material, they wrote to McBride reminding him of his duty not to disclose it, prompting him to take it down. No action was taken against McBride for his website leak and the Court noted in sentencing that those leaks gave rise to very little risk.
It was only after McBride leaked the material to ABC journalists who aired them in the ‘Afghan Files’ story alleging Australian soldiers did ‘kill people unnecessarily’ that McBride was arrested, interviewed and charged.
Federal police raided the ABC’s Sydney headquarters in 2019, searching for evidence of a leak, but decided against charging the journalists.
In 2023, McBride pleaded guilty to several charges, including stealing secret classified military documents and leaking them to journalists. However McBride couldn’t rely on those documents in his legal defence when the Australian government stopped them from being adduced as evidence on national security grounds.
McBride argued there was a “culture of cover-up” at the command level of the Australian Army. While most soldiers acted ethically, he said some were needlessly investigated and others were protected after allegedly, “put(ting) a gun to someone’s head and blow(ing) their head away” even if they were unarmed or handcuffed.
McBride says he felt a moral obligation to bring these issues to light, believing the Australian public deserved to know the truth about their country’s military actions.
The years-long legal battle which has now landed McBride in prison, has sparked acrimonious debates about the need for an independent Whistleblower Protection Authority in Australia, and the media’s vital role in making powerful institutions accountable.
Human rights whistleblower lawyers said McBride’s punishment sends a chilling message to potential whistleblowers. They contend the Australian government should protect those who expose wrongdoing, not punish them.
Critics argued, however, that McBride was entitled and self-interested. Prosecutors suggested McBride had abandoned the internal investigation he initiated without waiting for the result, violated his signed confidentiality acknowledgments as a military lawyer, and compromised the lives of soldiers and their families while potentially harming Australia’s national security and international relations.
The Brereton Inquiry, commenced by the ADF before McBride’s whistleblowing leaks, found credible information that Australian Special Forces had unlawfully killed people in Afghanistan.
It also appears no harm has been demonstrated because of McBride’s actions, though the ACT Supreme Court said in sentencing, that potential harm to Australia’s defence personnel, their families, Australia’s national security and international relations, still exists.
In sentencing McBride, ACT Supreme Court Justice David Mossop said that while he was a person of good character strongly devoted to duty, from his time in Afghanistan he was unable to accept that his opinions about the ADF may be incorrect.
Justice Mossop considered McBride knew he was committing a criminal offence when disclosing the information but hoped he would have a (public interest) defence. McBride had legal duties and constraints as a soldier and lawyer serving the Army, but no specific duty to disclose the secret information to outsiders when there were other legitimate ways he could have raised his concerns.
ACT Supreme Court Justice David Mossop
Justice Mossop also said McBride had no remorse and still believed he did the right thing, so he sentenced McBride to prison to deter him from disclosing anymore military information and to deter other people ‘with strong opinions’ who are also under a legal duty not to disclose information, from doing so.
McBride abandoned his defence of a higher duty to act in the public interest even if it involves disobeying orders, when the Court ruled this out. Yet he remained defiant, justifying his actions saying, “I served my country. I stand tall and I believe I did my duty and I see this as a beginning to a better Australia.”
In the lead up to his sentencing, he added “So long as people believe I stood up for what I believed in, I can go to jail with my head held high.”
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie was outraged by McBride’s prison sentence, saying that governments “hate people shining a light on official misconduct.”
He added, “They consistently want to punish the whistleblower, and they consistently want to send a signal to would be whistleblowers to shut up, to not break ranks, to not cause problems for governments.”
AAP: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie
Daniela Gavshon, Australian Director of Human Rights Watch, said McBride’s sentencing shows that Australia’s whistleblowing laws need exemptions in the public interest.
“It is a stain on Australia’s reputation that some of its soldiers have been accused of war crimes in Afghanistan, and yet the first person convicted in relation to these crimes is a whistleblower not the abusers,” Gavshon said in a statement.
Many regard whistleblowing as morally courageous, especially when done in the public interest, as McBride claimed he did. But whistleblowing is a dangerous endeavour in Australia because of the significant legal and personal risks.
Compared to the US, where whistleblower protections are considered more robust, McBride’s case demonstrates the protracted and costly legal battles faced by whistleblowers in Australia, when up against institutions with unlimited resources.
It’s now feared McBride’s prosecution and sentencing will deter other whistleblowers from disclosing information because Australia’s laws arguably do not protect whistleblowers like McBride, who try internal reporting channels first but then find them inadequate.
While there must be a balance between national security concerns and the public’s right to know about the actions of their government and military, McBride’s case means other Australians thinking about whistleblowing, risk imprisonment too, especially where there is low trust in internal reporting channels and no alternative external reporting channel.
Australia’s Government has already announced plans to bolster public whistleblowing protections. But that won’t help McBride whose imprisonment highlights the urgent need for clear guidance and protection when disclosing information to prevent more serious harms, and the vital need for a free press if and when internal whistleblowing channels, fail.
Prior to being imprisoned, McBride recorded the following video:
Harvard agrees to discuss divestment from ‘Israel’ following protests
Al Mayadeen | May 15, 2024
After Harvard agreed to discuss student concerns on the university’s endowment concerning “Israel”, protesters against the Israeli war on Gaza took down their tents in the university yard on May 14.
Harvard oversees the biggest academic endowment in the world, amounting to around $50 billion, and invests part of it in funds and companies, some of which are linked to “Israel”.
In a statement on Instagram, the student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP coalition) said that after surviving beyond the student move-out, the encampment has come to an end, however, “the struggle for Palestinian liberation goes on.”
They added that they built the “Liberated Zone in Harvard Yard as a model of the world we want to see: one that proudly affirms Palestinian liberation rather than elimination.”
The students highlighted how every day they sustained their encampment, their organizing capacity was strengthened, adding that they forced the “question of Palestine on an institution that has historically refused it.”
HOOP: Harvard turned Yard into ‘surveillance state’
HOOP went on to describe how Harvard attempted to quietly “choke” them out from closing its gates to the public, to even turning Harvard Yard into a “surveillance state.”
According to the students, a pre-condition of the decamping is that the administration would take back student suspensions, adding that it has also offered them meetings regarding disclosure and divestment with members of the Harvard Management Company, alongside talks about the launch of a Center for Palestine Studies at Harvard.
HOOP emphasized that they are “under no illusions,” as they know that these meetings are not divestment wins but are rather attempts to “pacify” them from full disclosure and divestment, however, that will not work.
They ended their statement by saying “Harvard beware: the Liberated Zone is everywhere.”
Harvard University Interim President Alan Garber agreed to meet with the students and answer their questions.
Protests in support of Gaza are ongoing
The director of Al Mayadeen‘s office in Geneva reported that student protests at Swiss universities are still taking place in support of Gaza and condemnation of Israeli crimes.
In addition, Herald Square in New York City has witnessed a massive demonstration in support of Palestine.
Harvard Law student gov. urged university to divest from ‘Israel’
The Harvard Law School (HLS) Student Government passed a resolution on March 29 urging the university to completely divest from any organization that supports the Israeli war on Gaza.
The measure urged the Harvard Management Company (HMC), which manages the school’s $50 billion endowment, “to divest completely from weapons manufacturers, firms, academic programs, corporations, and all other institutions that aid the ongoing occupation of Palestine and the genocide of Palestinians.”
The HLS Student Government alludes to Harvard’s commitment of nearly $200 million in businesses linked to the Israeli occupation military and illegal settlements in Palestine, similar to HMC’s prior divestment from South African apartheid and the tobacco industry in 1990.
The resolution’s author, Swap Agrawal, expressed that some Palestinian students at the school have “lost dozens of family members in the ongoing genocide,” noting that students reported feeling strongly that it was “necessary to put pressure on things to change.”
He added that students are deeply concerned that money held in trust may be funding this genocide, emphasizing that the resolution was affected by the International Court of Justice’s statement in January, which found it “plausible” that “Israel” had violated the Genocide Convention.
After the resolution vote, which had 12 supporters, four opponents, and three abstentions, two board members resigned, stating that they did so because they “strongly disagree” with it.
Ukraine desperate to receive more Western aid
By Lucas Leiroz | May 15, 2024
The Kiev regime still appears not to have understood its proxy role in the war with Russia. The country’s officials continue to demand constant assistance from the West, as if supporting Ukraine were an “obligation” of Western states. Now, the Ukrainians even want “unrestricted aid”, demanding from their partners that the costs of the war be included in the permanent expenses of NATO countries.
In a recent statement, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrey Yermak, one of the officials closest to Vladimir Zelensky, demanded from all Western countries, in addition to increased financial aid, unlimited access to their war arsenals and frozen Russian funds. His words were spoken during the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, where pro-Ukrainian organizations, led by the NGO “Alliance of Democracies”, met to discuss cooperation projects with Kiev.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen himself, former secretary general of NATO, participated in the event, supporting Yermak’s demands. Both officials signed a joint document at the summit endorsing the systematic increase in support for Kiev. Other relevant former authorities also participated in the event, such as Boris Johson, Sanna Marin and Hillary Clinton. The massive attendance of former officers shows that current Western politicians are not paying too much attention to the event, which is a consequence of the growing lack of interest in continuing to support Ukraine after so many military losses.
Yermak also commented on what he expects Western aid to look like from now on. According to him, at least 0.25% of the GDP of each NATO country must be sent to Kiev. Some countries have already spent much more than this percentage of their GDP on Ukraine, but what Yermak wants is for these expenses to become permanent, creating a kind of “obligation” on the part of Western countries towards Kiev. Latvia, for example, has already promised to continue spending more than 0.25% of its GDP on the war for at least the next three years. Yermak praises this initiative and calls on other European countries to act in the same way.
Furthermore, he emphasized the need for Kiev to receive at least 300 million dollars from Russian assets frozen in the West. According to Yermak, investing in the Ukrainian military is the correct way to use this money as it would be possible to try to reverse the damage caused by the so-called “Russian invasion”. The request reveals how Ukraine and the West are jointly desperate to establish new military assistance plans. Unable to spend more of their own funds, Western countries have frozen Russian assets so they have something to send to Ukraine – and, for its part, Kiev is in a rush to receive those funds as soon as possible, fearing that its “partners” will use the money for other priorities in their countries and abandon Ukraine.
Yermak and Rasmussen particularly emphasized the “need” to lift any restrictions on arms shipments to Ukraine. For them, it is unacceptable that some NATO countries continue to limit what can be sent to the Ukrainian battlefield. Furthermore, they called for restrictions on arms use to be revoked as well – which, in practice, means public authorization for the Ukrainian armed forces to kill civilians with NATO weapons.
The warmongers who attended the summit also called on NATO authorities to organize a conference in Washington with Ukrainian participation. The objective would be to establish a “clear timeline” for Kiev’s accession to the alliance, as well as new assistance goals in the current war. As a result, the summit’s participants tried in vain to put pressure for the neo-Nazi regime to enter the bloc, even though NATO had already indicated its intention to keep Ukraine as a mere proxy.
In fact, all the requests made at the summit seem impossible to fulfill. Yermak practically called for Ukraine to become a permanent state concern for Western countries. This may work in countries engaged in anti-Russian paranoia, such as the Baltics, but it is absolutely unfeasible for the military alliance as a whole. Western countries are simply exhausting their resources, leaving them unable to maintain constant support, which is why it will not be possible, even if there is a desire, to maintain a significant portion of the national GDP restricted to the war.
The summit seems to have brought together the most desperate sectors among Western and Ukrainian warmongers. Faced with the inevitable decline in support for Kiev, pro-war activists want to reestablish the anti-Russian agenda and prevent any possibility of peace.
Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram.
Israel Stopping All Aid To Gaza, Journalist Tells Sputnik
By Ian DeMartino – Sputnik – 13.05.2024
Last week, Israel seized the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, the only entry point into Gaza not controlled by Israel and where the largest amount of aid was entering the Gaza Strip. Israel has halted all shipments entering through the Rafah border crossings and the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, citing nearby fighting.
Israel has completely stopped all aid shipments going into Gaza, Lebanon-based journalist and geopolitical analyst Leila Hatoum told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Monday.
“They control the whole area and… they have shut down all border crossings. Nothing has entered Rafah or Gaza for the past eight days. Israelis have shut down all borders,” Hatoum explained, citing her sources on the ground in Gaza.
“Nothing has entered Gaza, not even water, flour, medicine, children’s needs, baby formula, hygienic products. Nothing. Nothing whatsoever,” she emphasized.
On Monday, videos emerged on social media showing Israeli citizens destroying aid intended for Gaza on trucks waiting to cross the Tarqumiya checkpoint. There doesn’t appear to be any police presence attempting to stop the looters in the videos. According to media reports, four individuals were arrested at the scene.
“The aid that the State of Israel transfers goes directly into the hands of Hamas,” the organization that organized the blockade, Order 9, said in a statement.
It was only the latest in a string of videos showing Israelis sabotaging aid trucks on their way to Gaza, another video released late last month showed Israelis destroying bags of flour, again without visible police resistance.
Israelis destroying the flour that was meant to feed starving people in Gaza.
Also on Monday, Israeli forces opened fire on an officially marked UN vehicle, killing one UN employee and injuring another. Later in the day, according to Israeli Rights group HaMoked, a group of young Israelis set fire to the perimeter of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) headquarters in East Jerusalem. It was the second incident of arson at the headquarters this week.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres called for an investigation and condemned the attack on the UN vehicle. As of May 1, at least 182 UNRWA employees have been killed in Gaza.
At least 370,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah ahead of Israel’s promised ground war and continued bombardment of the last remaining refuge in Gaza, but many complain that there is no safe place to go.
“Every single place in Gaza, across [the] north all the way down to the south, is being bombarded by the Israelis,” Hatoum relayed. “Back in January and February we were warning that famine is going to hit north Gaza, people will die of starvation and nobody believed us, and then we started seeing people dying of starvation – children first and then others.”
At least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, though that number is presumed to be a low-count as thousands of bodies are believed to remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
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Argentina’s Javier Milei sells out his country for Israel
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Book Review
The Greatest Threat to World Peace? A Review of Daniele Ganser’s ‘USA: The Ruthless Empire’
Review by Marilyn Langlois | November 10, 2023
If you regard the United States as perhaps flawed but overall a force for good in the world . . .
If you scoff at the notion that the US, a republic founded on principles of freedom and democracy, has morphed into a world empire, perpetrating assassinations, coups d’état, acts of terror and illegal warfare . . .
If you want to promote peace but haven’t yet explored deceptive events that precipitate US warmongering . . .
. . . here is a volume that will clear the air and paint an honest picture of the significant, not-so-rosy impact US foreign policy and actions have had in the world around us.
USA: The Ruthless Empire, by Swiss historian and peace researcher Daniele Ganser, is the newly published English language translation of his book Imperium USA, originally written in German and published in 2020. Here is a summary of key points — including some lesser-known ones — along with remedies for a more peaceful future, that are covered in the book. … continue
Blog Roll
Aletho News- Argentina’s Javier Milei sells out his country for Israel
- Putting Nukes in Finland Won’t Make Country Safer, Finnish Politician Cautions
- Ukrainian drone strike kills worker at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant
- What the West Hides About Soviet Role in De-Colonization
- Villains of Judea: Douglas Feith
- US pension fund invests hundreds of millions in weapons firms supplying Israel
- US bill to grant Americans serving in Israeli army same rights as US troops
- What a president, a movie star, a congressman, and a cell phone all dared to say
- ‘An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership’: Merz
- Pakistan Throws Open Its Gates for Iran’s Transit Trade to Third Countries
- If Americans Knew
- Palestinians in Gaza Want to Rebuild Food Systems. Israel Isn’t Letting Them.
- Under Trump, Green Card Seekers Face New Scrutiny for Views on Israel
- Sheep Theft Sent Shockwaves Through a Palestinian Village. Then, a 12-year-old Boy Was Shot Dead
- Trump alum helps Israel mount AI influence campaign
- Dispatches From Catastrophe
- Despite Denials, AIPAC Is Now Funding Campaign of Ala Stanford In Philadelphia
- Israel’s neighbors are irate about its treatment of religious sites
- Israel escalates in Gaza: killing, torture, hunger – Daily Update
- Six Months into Gaza Ceasefire, Setting the Record Straight About Aid
- ‘Silent suffering’: Why children in Gaza are losing their ability to speak
- No Tricks Zone
- New Study: Extreme Heat Records, Heatwaves, Extreme Cold Records Declining Across US Since 1899
- It’s The Cold, Stupid! Cold 20 Times More Lethal Than Heat, Multiple Studies Show
- European Institute For Climate And Energy: “Climate Debate is Seldom About Science”
- New Study: The Climate May Be 5 Times More Sensitive To Solar Forcing Than Commonly Assumed
- EV Industry Reached $70 Billion In Losses In 2024 Due To Delusional Green Ideologies
- Reality Check: Maldives Have Actually Grown In Size Or Remained Stable Over Recent Decades
- Abrupt Climate Change Also Occurred NATURALLY In The Past …25 Times During Last Ice Age
- Cave Discovery Reveals Today’s Desert Climates Were Recently Far Warmer, Wetter, Teeming With Life
- German Expert: Heat Dome Led To Record Temps In Western USA…Warmer In 1934, 1936
- New Study: No Linear Warming Or Glacier Retreat Along Northern Antarctic Peninsula Since 1980s
Aletho News 