Conscience of humanity shaken by targeting of civilians in Gaza: Pakistani envoy
Press TV | October 18, 2023
The Israeli regime’s “deliberate, indiscriminate and disproportionate” targeting of civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip goes against all norms of civility and violates international law, says Pakistani ambassador to Tehran.
In an interview with the Press TV website on Tuesday, hours before an Israeli air raid on a Gaza hospital killed more than 700 Palestinians, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu said the “conscience of humanity has been shaken” by the unrelenting massacre of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
“The conscience of humanity has been shaken by watching innocent civilians, children, older people, pregnant woman being killed; buildings being razed to ground; water and electricity being cut off; massive blockades; and the use of massive ammunition by the Israeli military forces,” he stated.
“That is why people are showing solidarity with the Palestinians, who are symbolizing their struggle for justice, all over the world.”
Demonstrations have been held worldwide in recent days in solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine amid the new wave of Israeli genocidal bombardment of the besieged coastal strip.
One of the biggest demonstrations was held in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, where tens of thousands took to the streets following a call given by a local political party with the support of trade unions.
Tipu said the “sense of righteousness is deeply ingrained in the minds” of the people in Pakistan.
“We stand for those principles that are morally justified and right rather than the ones propagated for political and hegemonic ambitions. Pakistanis also believe in the equal application of international law and norms rather than using one set of laws for one country and another set of laws for another country,” he remarked in a conversation with the Press TV website.
“We can’t have double standards and false moral equivalences to justify unjustifiable and illegitimate positions,” the Pakistani envoy hastened to add.
The death toll in the Israeli aerial bombardment in the Gaza Strip has risen to 3,000, including at least 700 children, with tens of thousands of others displaced after the Israeli evacuation orders.
The Pakistani ambassador said massive pro-Palestine demonstrations must be seen in the context of years of forced and illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and repressive policies against its people.
“Our cause resonates with the cause of the hapless Palestinians who are facing unspeakable brutality and massive use of force on the civilians as well as an overwhelming use of military might over its innocent people,” he asserted.
Tipu also “appreciated” the role of the Iranian leadership in “standing up for the oppressed people of Palestine and making resolute efforts to halt and reverse the conflict in Gaza consistent with international norms.”
“The great Iranian leadership has also unambiguously urged for a just resolution of this historic injustice,” he remarked, adding that the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Iran had a phone conversation on Monday in which they “discussed this grave situation” in Palestine.
On Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar’s statement on Saturday that the Israeli aggression in the Gaza strip should be seen in the context of years of illegal Israeli occupation, the Pakistani envoy said he “clearly and unambiguously outlined Pakistan’s position on this crisis.”
He also dismissed any speculation about Pakistan mulling normalization with the Israeli regime.
“Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Jalil Abbas Jilani has categorically articulated that “there is absolutely no move to recognize Israel. Our position is very clear. We take decisions based on our interests and the interests of the Palestinians,” he told the Press TV website.
“I must emphasize that Pakistan is a sovereign country, with enormous capabilities, and would always take decisions of vital importance independently.”
He hastened to note that Islamabad “wishes to seek a just resolution” of the issue of Palestine so that “regional peace, development, and growth can take place and a sense of equity and justice prevails.”
Biden whitewashes Israel’s slaughter of Gazans during Netanyahu meeting
(Photo Credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
The Cradle | October 18, 2023
US President Joe Biden landed in Israel on the morning of 18 October and held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just hours after the Israeli army massacred hundreds of civilians in Gaza during an airstrike on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. Based on what I’ve seen, it appears it was done by the other team, and not you,” Biden told Netanyahu, promoting the Israeli narrative that the hospital was demolished by an “errant rocket strike” from a resistance faction.
Biden did not provide any evidence to support his assessment and followed up his comment: “There are a lot of people out there who are not sure.”
“Israel has a value set like the United States does and other democracies, and they’re looking to see what we’re going to do. I am looking forward to having a thorough discussion about where everyone goes from here,” the US president added.
For his part, Netanyahu said the “civilized world must unite to defeat Hamas.” The forces of civilization will prevail for our sake, for your sake…and for the sake of peace and security,” he added.
The two western leaders did not answer any questions from the press. Biden is set to meet with the Israeli war cabinet to “seek a sense of Israel’s plans and objectives in the days and weeks ahead,” a White House official highlighted on Tuesday.
The US president also expected to meet with the Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian heads of state in Amman, but Jordan canceled the summit at the last minute following the massacre committed at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
“There is no point in doing anything at this time other than stopping this war. There is no benefit to anyone in holding a summit at this time,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.
“This was the most advertised crime in history. It was a massacre by appointment. The Israeli government has been openly saying it was going to target hospitals for the last week, and the world just stood by and did nothing,” Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta, who was working in Al-Ahli Arab Hospital when Israel attacked it, told Al Jazeera.
Palestinian media reported that the hospital housed over a thousand people. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said women, children, medical staff, and “internally displaced people seeking safe shelter” were all killed during the attack.
At least 500 bodies have been identified so far, all of them civilians.
As Biden throws his full support behind Israel, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 3,300. The besieged enclave has also lost all access to drinking water, food, fuel, and electricity as Israel is blocking humanitarian aid deliveries.
His first trip to Israel this year comes as the Pentagon has deployed multiple warships and thousands of troops to Israeli waters in anticipation of a regional war. Resistance factions in the region called for a “day of rage” against the US and Israel on Wednesday.
Who’s to blame for the massacre at Gaza’s Baptist Hospital?
MEMO | October 18, 2023
Since Al-Ahli Baptist Church was struck yesterday evening and over 500 people were killed, social media has been abuzz with claims of who carried out this war crime. For Palestinians and reporters with knowledge of Israel’s rules of law – or lack there of – the answer was obvious; Israel hit the hospital. While officials in Tel Aviv first acknowledged the strike as an Israeli attack, they then backtracked and blamed the Palestinian resistance. However reporters covering the ongoing assault on Gaza and the resistance’s rocket fire into Israel have made it clear; the resistance’s rockets cause damage, they have been known to kill people, but they are not powerful enough to cause the amount of death and destruction caused by this one strike.
Looking through social media after the strike, a number of facts were clear to see. If Israel didn’t bomb the Gaza Baptist Hospital, why did the occupation army warn the Gaza Baptist Hospital to evacuate the premises before the bombing occurred?
Israel claims it didn’t hit the hospital, claiming a rocket being shot by Islamic Jihad misfired and caused the damage. To “prove” this, occupation forces have used a video which aired an hour before the strike – at 18:59 local time – when the strike took place around 19:50.
Israel’s newly appointed Digital Spokesperson Hananya Naftali then admitted that occupation forces bombed the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital. The post has since been deleted.
Israel also deleted a video posted as “evidence” that the Palestinian resistance struck the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Western media prepared the world for the strike. With the BBC posting a question ‘Does Hamas build tunnels under hospitals and schools?’ a day earlier, in a manner that almost justifies Israel’s targeting of innocent civilians receiving treatment.
While the reporting of events following the massacre simply claimed that an “Israeli air strike killed hundreds of people at a Gaza hospital”, without condemnation of the obvious violations of international law and the possible war crimes once again committed by the occupation and it’s forces.
500 people killed, 600 wounded in Israeli airstrike on Gaza hospital
Palestine Information Center – October 17, 2023
GAZA – More than 500 people were killed and 600 others injured in an Israeli direct attack on the Al-Ahli Arab National Hospital in Gaza, Palestinian health ministry said on Tuesday evening.
According to the PIC reporter, the airstrike targeted thousands of displaced people who took refuge in the hospital’s courtyards after their houses were destroyed in the ongoing Israeli aggression.
The Hamas Movement considered the Israeli massacre at Al-Ahli Hospital a crime of genocide.
“The horrifying massacre carried out by the Zionist occupation in the Arab National Hospital in the Gaza Strip, during which hundreds of people and patients were killed, the majority of whom were displaced families, children, and women, is a crime of genocide that once again exposes the true face of this enemy and its fascist government and its terrorism, as well as the American and Western support for this criminal entity.”
The Movement called on the international community and the Arab and Islamic countries to assume their responsibility and intervene immediately to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression for 11 days.
West ‘stomps’ on Russian-drafted resolution for Gaza ceasefire
The Cradle | October 17, 2023
A Russian-drafted resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass at the UN Security Council (UNSC) on 16 October.
China, Russia, Gabon, Mozambique, and the UAE voted in favor of the resolution, while the US, UK, France, and Japan voted against it. Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Malta, and Switzerland all abstained from voting.
The text of the resolution called for an immediate humanitarian truce, the release of prisoners, access to aid, and the safe evacuation of civilians.
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, condemned the UNSC failure to pass the resolution and slammed the “selfish intention of the western bloc,” which he said “basically stomped” on international calls for de-escalation and an end to violence.
He added that the resolution was needed to respond to the “unprecedented exacerbation” of the calamity inside the Gaza Strip, where Israel has continued to bomb 2.2 million Palestinians trapped inside and prevent the entry of humanitarian aid.
Washington’s representative, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, denounced the resolution for failing to condemn “Hamas terrorism.”
“By failing to condemn Hamas, Russia is giving cover to a terrorist group that brutalizes innocent civilians. It is outrageous, hypocritical, and indefensible. We cannot allow this Council to unfairly shift the blame to Israel and excuse Hamas for its decades of cruelty,” she said.
The failed resolution came the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone calls with the presidents of Iran, Syria, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The Israeli side was in particular informed of the essential points of telephone correspondences that took place today with the leaders of Palestine, Egypt, Iran, and Syria,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Close to 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and about 10,000 wounded due to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
The Rafah crossing with Egypt, the only entry for humanitarian aid to Gaza, has remained shut despite multiple reports of an agreement between Egypt and Israel, which Tel Aviv has denied.
“The process of opening the crossing is a joint Palestinian-Egyptian process, subject to clear working mechanisms, and requires prior coordination, which has not happened until now [due to] lack of coordination, in addition to the intense bombing to which the crossing was subjected by the Israeli occupation forces,” Salama Marouf, director of the media office of the Hamas-led government in Gaza, said on Tuesday.
Israel has bombed the aid route several times over the past few days, including on 16 August.
Any talk of truce “comes in the context of the psychological warfare waged by the Israeli occupation,” Marouf added.
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Clash of Civilization, Iran Part II
By Jamal Kanj – Intifada-Palestine.com – January 14, 2011
Israel’s survival kit is: perpetuate conflict, insecurity to rationalize collective hate and finally playing victim.
Devoid of conflict, Israel implodes internally; without hate, Zionism loses its justification; and playing eternal victim to continue blackmailing the West. Absence of this holy trinity, Israel ceases to exist.
From its inception, the house of Zion has mastered exploiting adversarial powers to advance Israel’s cause. For instance, their influence over the Democratic Party in the US began with President Truman’s bid for 2nd term election in 1948.
Responding to strong opposition from Secretary of State General George Marshall and Department experts urging against recognition of Israel, President Truman replied: “I’m sorry gentlemen but I have to answer to hundreds of thousands [Jewish voters] who are anxious for the success of Zionism. I do not have hundreds of thousands of [voting] Arabs among my constituents”
Zionists influence over liberal American politics was matched with the doctrinal school of Conservative theoreticians aligning the Republican Party’s platform with Israel’s objectives. The Neoconservative Zionists, coined Zioncons, invented the “Clash of Civilization” concept to fight Israel’s wars. … continue
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