Palestine’s days of glory
By lecridespeuples | Resistance News Unfiltered | November 25, 2023
Just two months ago, no one could have predicted the earthquake of October 7, which was by no means a massacre perpetrated by Hamas, but a spectacular military operation that decimated the Gaza Brigade in less than 3 hours.
And after the deluge of iron and fire that fell on the besieged Palestinian people, in a real war of extermination waged by the fanatical, distraught and desperate Netanyahu government, eager to wash away Israel’s defeat in blood, the hideous face of the temporary usurping entity was revealed to the world: its insatiable morbid thirst, its open contempt for the most elementary morality and the rule of law displayed with the medieval blockade on drinking water, foodstuffs, electricity and fuel, its deliberate targeting of hospitals, women and children killed by the thousands, down to premature babies asphyxiated by the dozens as a result of their incubators being shut down, all part of an assumed plan to render the territory of Gaza uninhabitable and deport over two million Palestinians to the Sinai desert. Faced with such an apocalyptic scenario, who could have imagined that Hamas would be able to bring the enemy to heel in less than two months?
The prisoner exchange agreement that has just been signed is no more and no less than what Hamas proposed from the outset: a partial exchange (men for men, women for women and children for children), or a total exchange (all Palestinian prisoners for all Israeli prisoners). The people of Gaza, subjected to a savage assault unprecedented in modern history, pushed to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of biblical proportions, abandoned by all (with the notable exception of the Axis of Resistance, in particular Hezbollah, Yemen and the Iraqi resistance), held firm and stayed the course despite unimaginable suffering. Once again, it was Israel, “more fragile than a spider’s web” in Nasrallah’s famous words at the Liberation of southern Lebanon in 2000, that had to bend, bogged down in the sands of Gaza in the face of heroic urban guerrilla warfare, as it failed from achieving the slightest military feat: rockets have continued to reach Tel Aviv and beyond, no area of Gaza is safe for the occupying forces bled dry by constant attacks that have killed and wounded hundreds of soldiers (official Israeli casualty figures are only a fraction of the reality), no leading (or even second-tier) Resistance cadres have been killed, and the populations of Gaza evacuated to the south are returning en masse to the north, braving every danger.
This is a truly historic achievement. The tiny Gaza Strip forced the occupier to yield in less than 50 days, whereas it took two years for a prisoner exchange to be concluded between Israel and Hezbollah in 2008, and more than 5 years for Hamas to release Gilad Shalit in 2011, in exchange for more than 1,000 prisoners (including Yahya Sinwar, the current Hamas leader in Gaza).
Israel’s humiliation could not be greater. And it’s not just Netanyahu, but the whole entity: government, army and society, which are closer than ever to collapse. Zionist leaders promised never to agree to a ceasefire before they annihilate Hamas, but now they’re giving in to al-Qassam’s every whim. And, the icing on the cake, the Israeli prisoners were not being held in southern Gaza, but in the north, shelled, occupied and raked by the occupier, who was chasing the mirage of liberating its citizens by force, coercion and mass terrorism.
Since 1948, the massacres perpetrated by Israel have aimed to drive the Palestinian people to despair, division and renunciation, but they have only served to push them ever more resolutely onto the path of armed resistance. Hamas once again demonstrated the validity of this choice on October 7, and the unity of the Palestinian people and their cause despite geographical and political separation, by overexposing Gaza to come to the aid of Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel’s disproportionate reaction, motivated by rage, the quest for revenge and the will to impose collective punishment on the Palestinians in order to break them and set them against the Resistance, failed miserably and even led to the opposite result: far beyond Palestine, the monstrosity of the occupying army convinced more people than ever of the impossibility of peaceful coexistence. This prisoner exchange, snatched up in record time, will only strengthen the conviction of the Palestinian and Arab-Muslim peoples that the armed struggle is the only possible path to Liberation, and increase its appeal, strength and power tenfold.
The scenes of jubilation in Palestine, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, celebrating the release of Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel, will be remembered as one of the greatest days of triumph for Palestinian resistance. Only a people of indomitable character, truly a legendary people, could wrest such a victory from the occupier. In its impotent rage, Israel increased the number of raids on the homes of the families of the prisoners who were about to be released, banning the festivities and confiscating pastries and sweets, even threatening the freed children with recapture if they took part in any public gathering, but it was an effort as pitiful as it was futile. The Palestinian people are indomitable, and no threat could prevent them from celebrating this resounding victory of David over Goliath.
As for the freed Israelis, in view of the public relations disaster caused by 83-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz’s statements following her release by Hamas on humanitarian grounds, in which she praised the humanity of her captors whom she had gratefully shaken hands with, the only “festivities” planned are interrogation by the Shin Bet and a ban on speaking to the media, except to make statements pre-written by the Israeli propaganda machine. While this will be a great relief for the families of the freed captives, it is a day of mourning for Israel.
One question remains: did the release of a few hundred, or even all, of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners (for already, this outcome seems inescapable) justify all these sacrifices? More than 20,000 dead, half of them women and children, Dantean destruction, untold suffering, and a veritable programmed annihilation of the Gaza Strip? The answer lies first and foremost with the Palestinian people. And there is no doubt about it. Yes, a thousand times yes.
When a Palestinian asked Hanane Barghouti, who had just been released, what message she had for the children of Gaza, and in particular for the thousands of them killed by Israeli bombardment, she replied: “O children of Gaza, we will meet again in paradise. We will meet again in paradise. And this victory is yours.“
This has been the message of the people of Gaza since October 7. There are countless videos of men, women and children emerging from the rubble, the sole survivors of their families, finding themselves alone in the world and deprived of everything, and pledging again their loyalty to the Resistance. Even as they embrace the lifeless bodies of their children, Palestinians cry out that “As long as the Resistance is well, all is well.”
The scale of the massacres and suffering inflicted on the people of Gaza is beyond comprehension; but their patience, resilience and unwavering attachment to their cause are even greater. As Khader Adnan, the martyred prisoner who repeatedly defeated the occupation from within the gaols through his hunger strikes, put it,
“Some fight for their daily bread, but others fight for something nobler, namely our freedom, dignity and honor. Dignity can’t be bought, it can’t be sold, but it can be snatched by force, by empty stomachs. They want to break our dignity and yours, but we defend our honor and yours. Why are we abandoning Hisham [Abu Hawash, a Palestinian prisoner who spent 141 days on hunger strike before winning his case]? Who are we abandoning him to? To which dogs among the settlers? To [Naftali] Bennett? To [Benny] Gantz? When their bestiality is well known? Have we lost all dignity to let the occupation trample us like this? Have we lost all honor? Have we lost all our trump cards, to the point of letting the occupier kill our dignity by killing Hisham?”
Indeed, it’s not just a question of freeing prisoners: beyond this imperative ethical, humanitarian and national duty, it’s a question of reaffirming the dignity of an entire people, and reminding the world that its struggle is sacred and will only cease with martyrdom or victory. For rather than wait for illusory help from the international community or the Arab League, rather than let themselves be killed slowly and disappear in silence, the Palestinian people listened to Khader Adnan’s exhortations and preferred to take matters into their own hands to acquire their freedom, whatever the price.
At the end, it’s the struggle for the liberation of ALL Palestine that’s at stake. This prisoner-exchange agreement is a major milestone in this process, and has shattered all of Netanyahu’s illusions: while he dreamed of definitively liquidating the Palestinian cause, he will probably go down in history as the main gravedigger of the usurping entity.
The colonial anachronism that is Israel, created at a time when the old empires were collapsing, will not disappear without violence, because any struggle for decolonization and liberation requires immense sacrifices. In the eyes of the Palestinians, none will ever be too great for Al-Quds (Jerusalem), the Al-Aqsa mosque and the land of Palestine. Not to mention their priceless dignity.
Through their unrivalled courage, unyielding determination and heroic resistance, the Palestinian people have not only wrested their rights and dignity from Israel: they have commanded the respect and even admiration of the entire world, and put their struggle back at the forefront of international issues.
This dazzling victory is only a prelude to others, far more spectacular.
Microsoft’s ‘Democracy Forward’ Initiative Aims to Manipulate Our Society
Plans to To ‘Shape Information Ecosystem’, ‘Integrate Into Election Software’, ‘Provide Election Security’, and much more.
BY IGOR CHUDOV | NOVEMBER 24, 2023
Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates, is a software firm that developed and owns monopoly rights to the famous Windows operating system.
My readers might be surprised to learn that Microsoft’s interests go far beyond the computer software market and involve inserting itself into every aspect of many civil societies’ decision-making. Its plans affect the most essential parts of our collective, democratic decision-making in ways that raise multiple questions.
Take a look at its “Democracy Forward” initiative.
Microsoft is actively doing the following (direct quotes below):
- Deeply involves itself with elections in various countries, emphasizing what it calls “election integrity”.
- Provides software called ElectionGuard to be integrated with all election software systems to be used along with vote counting.
- Preserves and supports journalism (that aligns with Microsoft’s goals) and helps with pre-publication review (!).
- Helps local publications create business models for sustainable journalism, thus sponsoring journalism.
- Partners with NewsGuard, a “trust” service ranking news sources based on highly biased fact-checks.
All of the above efforts are highly partisan and quite peculiar.
Microsoft aims to control discourse and elections in many ways, allowing it to steer our decision-making process to benefit Microsoft or its leadership. Let’s consider their activities a bit more closely:
Microsoft aims to “support trustworthy news sources,” leaving the selection of outfits to be supported mainly to itself.
Working directly in five communities across the country, Microsoft, in partnership with community foundations and other organizations, is providing new tools, technology, and capacity to explore hybrid business models for sustainable journalism to journalists and newsrooms.
I am sure that newsrooms and journalists, generously supported by Microsoft, will gladly provide Microsoft-friendly sustainable journalism.
Microsoft also wants to vet content provenance to filter the content journalists would report. As it proudly explains further, it works on filtering all content, using AI to decide what is or is not trustworthy and, therefore, should not be reported on:
Some 93% of these campaigns included the creation of original content, 86% amplified pre-existing content and 74% distorted objectively verifiable facts. Recent reports also show that disinformation has been distributed about the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to deaths and hospitalizations of people seeking supposed cures that are actually dangerous.
Our readers are very familiar with Covid-19 fact-checking and news-vetting, which never allowed even a bit of criticism of Covid vaccines.
Microsoft is intent on embedding itself into the election process. Many webpages linked by the “Democracy Forward” initiative describe multi-pronged efforts to “help manage elections”.
First of all, Microsoft wants to be in the vote-counting and vote-ascertainment business:
ElectionGuard is a free open-source software developer toolkit (SDK) that, when integrated into a voting system, provides voters and the public with reassurance that votes were counted accurately.
Microsoft hopes that ElectionGuard will be part of every electronic voting system. It wants to track votes.
Microsoft’s plans for election involvement are massive. It also wants to manage cyber security of every election:
Today, we are announcing several steps our Defending Democracy program is taking to help our democratic processes become more resilient in light of all these threats. First, starting today, we’re expanding our Defending Democracy Program to include a new service, Election Security Advisors, which will give political campaigns and election officials hands-on help securing their systems and recovering from cyberattacks.
Microsoft also wants to host election officials, giving it unprecedented access to the daily activities of elections offices:
Second, we are expanding our AccountGuard threat notification service to cover the offices of U.S. election officials and the U.S. Congress as many are working remotely.
Microsoft also wants to host all campaigns, like the Kennedy for President campaign. (I hope RFK sees through this and hosts elsewhere)
Third, we are extending Microsoft 365 for Campaigns to state-level campaigns and parties. And, finally, we are publishing our public policy recommendations for securing elections, including ways to secure them while confronting the COVID-19 public health crisis.
It is very nice how Microsoft wants to manage both cyber security as well as vote counting. Is that a safe idea, though? Shouldn’t these functions be separated?
Microsoft sponsors and supports NewsGuard.
NewsGuard, an expansive initiative to vet news sources and dismiss “untrustworthy” news media, claims to be non-partisan but, in reality, is anything but. As this article explains, it bases its decisions on fact-checks by highly partisan fact-checkers.
NewsGuard, not surprisingly, has always been deferential to all interests of Microsoft’s founder, Bill Gates, such as climate change, vaccines, and so on.
We have a commercial, public company (Microsoft) that is in the business of selling software and business cloud services.
For some reason, that firm is showing strange interest in inserting itself into the most intimate parts of the democratic process. It seeks to subvert decision-making procedures that our democracies rely on, such as the selection of news outlets to be trusted, vetting of news stories, and sponsorships of journalists.
Microsoft wants to both manage election security as well as be involved in vote counting. This creates unique risks and concerns that we need to understand better.
I do not believe that in a good democratic system, we can allow one big company to be so deeply embedded in the fabric of our social process, essentially allowing it to control our news sources, our thinking, security of elections, and vote counting.
Israel lobby’s war on students won’t end pro-Palestine activism
By Yves Engler | November 24, 2023
The Israel lobby’s contempt for student democracy is striking. In their bid to defend apartheid and genocide they are willing to sue, fabricate, blackmail and more.
Recently, McGill students voted for the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine. In the largest referendum turnout in Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) history, 78.7% of undergraduates called on the university administration to denounce Israel’s “genocidal bombing campaign” against Gaza. The resolution also called on McGill to sever ties with “any corporations, institutions or individuals complicit in genocide, settler-colonialism, apartheid, or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.”
Before the election was completed the genocide lobby had already demanded the student’s vote be ignored. Simultaneously, they pressed McGill’s administration to condemn the resolution and demand SSMU jettison the results. If the student society ratified the results, the administration announced that it would terminate its Memorandum of Agreement with SSMU, which regulates fees, use of name and other matters between the university and student union.
The day after the voting results were announced, but before SSMU had a chance to ratify the resolution, B’nai B’rith brought a legal case to the Quebec Superior Court against it. An unnamed student claimed the resolution was discriminatory and the judge agreed to consider the case. As such, SSMU is restricted from ratifying or implementing the policy until after March 24 when the court will adjudicate the matter. Backed by a well-resourced outside organization, a single individual has been allowed to suppress the overwhelming will of students.
The Israel lobby followed a similar playbook 18 months ago when 71% of McGill undergraduates supported a Palestine Solidarity Policy, which called for boycotting “corporations and institutions complicit in settler-colonial apartheid against Palestinians.”
Before students voted on the Palestine Solidarity Policy Israel activists sought an injunction from SSMU’s Judicial Board to block the vote. After the policy was supported the administration, under Zionist lobby group pressure, threatened to terminate its Memorandum of Agreement with SSMU. This led SSMU’s unelected judicial board to reject the constitutionality of the Palestine Solidarity Policy.
Not satisfied with their undemocratic victory, B’nai Brith backed a lawsuit against SSMU, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) and McGill’s administration. The Jewish advocacy organization sponsored Jonathan Fried’s bid to have the provincial court block McGill students from being able to collectively take action in support of Palestinian rights. A New York transplant, Fried sought to have Québec’s Superior Court prevent McGill students from exercising their democratic rights in the hopes it would protect a violent, colonial, system in the Middle East.
When the Palestine Solidarity policy passed in March 2022 its opponents highlighted the fact that only 17% of eligible voters cast ballots. But participation more than doubled in the recent referendum — with the proportion of students supporting Palestine increasing — yet the suppression continues.
What’s taking place at McGill’s is egregious but Israel lobby groups have pursued similar policies at other universities. They’ve recently launched lawsuits against Concordia, Queen’s, Toronto Metropolitan, University of British Columbia and York for purported “antisemitism”. They’ve also pushed university administrators to condemn student groups and succeeded in having them reprimand or dismiss medical and nursing students as well as university chaplains and sexual assault centre staff for opposing genocide. At the University of British Columbia, the Jewish Zionist group Hillel was recently caught creating falsely attributed stickers in a bid to discredit the Social Justice Centre opposition to genocide.
An important part of the apartheid lobby’s power within universities is that administrations are obsessed with fundraising and Jewish Zionists donate large sums. Israel lobby activists constantly raise the specter of withdrawing funds from universities that don’t clampdown on students. On November 10 Liberal MP Anthony Hausefather “encouraged donors to contact” Concordia’s administration to pressure them to suppress Palestine solidarity. Ten days earlier he “demanded that university administrators crack down on antisemitism on campus or lose funding.”
Suing, seeking to intimidate students and labeling opposition to genocide “antisemitism” is a tacit admission that you can’t make the case for Israel. Unable to win the argument, the apartheid lobby increasingly relies on smears and legal action. But anti-democratic maneuvers can only stunt Palestine solidarity for so long. It can’t hide the fact that Israel has lost control of the narrative with the younger generation.
Over 90% of pro-Palestinian content deleted since Oct. 7 on social media following Israel’s request
The New Arab | November 22, 2023
Social networking sites, mostly Meta-owned, have deleted thousands of pro-Palestinian posts since the outbreak of Israel’s brutal war in Gaza, in response to Tel Aviv’s request to do so.
The Israeli Attorney General’s Office has sent approximately 9,500 requests since October 7 to Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram – as well as the video-sharing app TikTok, to remove content related to Israel’s brutal war in Gaza, according to a recent report published by Forbes.
As a result, around 94 percent of that content has been deleted, digital researcher Mona Shttayeh said in an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher, citing the report.
The number of requests to delete such content has increased since the report’s publication, she said.
Shtayyeh said that it is “impossible” to comprehend the magnitude of the large number of Israeli requests to restrict Palestinian content, adding that the number of demands has increased tenfold since Israel’s onslaught on the besieged strip, which has killed over 14,000 Palestinians began.
Last month, Instagram had deleted and later reinstated the Eye on Palestine account, which has been a source of on-the-ground images and videos in Gaza.
Prior to the war, pro-Palestinian content already experienced censorship, restrictions and shadow-banning. In 2021, Facebook was accused by activists for censoring Palestine-related posts on its platform on Israel’s military assault in Gaza and protests against forced expulsions of Sheikh Jarrah families in the same year. The social networking giant was then investigated, and found guilty of violating Palestinian human rights in documenting Israeli atrocities.
Last year, in 2022, prominent Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid said she was shadow-banned when attempting to post Palestinian content relating to the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Instagram Stories feature.
Shttayeh also stressed that incitement and hate speech against Palestinians on social media also increased as Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian censorship online could witness a significant increase following the Knesset’s approval of a draft law banning the consumption of terrorist publications earlier this month.
Digital advocacy group 7amleh told The New Arab in a press release that the bill could pave the way for “the preemptive criminalisation” of people who have neither committed nor planned any crime. The draft law could also increase the Israeli authorities’ surveillance of Arab Palestinian citizens while infringing on their rights to privacy, freedom of expression and the right to access information.
There have been several cases of Palestinian citizens of Israel being arrested for sharing pro-Palestinian content on social media, including singer Dalal Abu Amneh who wrote “there is no victor but God”, in support of Gaza.
UN Experts Voice Alarm Over Attacks on Critics of Israeli Policies in Palestine
Sputnik – 23.11.2023
Western journalists, athletes and students who criticize Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories or share pro-Palestinian views face censorship, threats and discrimination, the UN special experts said in a fresh report, published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
“Journalists and media outlets in Israel and Western countries reporting critically about Israeli policies and operations in the occupied territories or expressing pro-Palestinian views have been the target of threats, intimidation, discrimination and retaliation, which have increased the risk of self-censorship, undermining the diversity and plurality of news that is essential for press freedom and the right of the public to be informed,” the report out Thursday read.
At least one media outlet in Israel has reportedly been threatened with closure for allegedly being “biased” toward Palestine, while pro-Palestinian content is being disproportionately and wrongfully removed by social media platforms, the experts said.
“The experts raised concerns about suspensions and expulsions of students from universities, dismissal of academics, calls for their deportation, threats to dissolve student unions and associations, and restrictions on campus meetings to express solidarity with the suffering civilians in Gaza and denounce the ongoing Israeli military response,” the report added.
In some universities, students have been blacklisted for supporting “terrorism” and threatened with diminished prospects in their future careers, according to the report.
Certain athletes, “particularly in Europe,” have been suspended from their teams and competitions after posting their opinions on the situation in the Gaza Strip on social media, while others have been threatened with suspension, termination of contracts and even deportation, the experts said.
Calls to an end to the violence in the Gaza Strip and to humanitarian ceasefire, as well as criticism of Israeli government’s policies and actions, have often “misleadingly equated with support for terrorism or anti-Semitism,” the experts said.
The document was signed by four UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights, including UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule.
On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing around 1,200 people and abducting over 200 others in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel.
On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion inside the Gaza Strip with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,200 people in Israel and over 14,800 in the Gaza Strip.
Democrats Ignore The First Amendment With Censorship Demand Letter To X
By Christina Maas | Reclaim The Net | November 23, 2023
A group of over 25 Democratic members of Congress have raised allegations against X, once again ignoring the First Amendment and calling for online censorship.
They assert that the company is both allowing and profiting from the dissemination of false and violent content, particularly regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
On Tuesday, these lawmakers, including notable figures such as Reps. Dan Goldman, Jamie Raskin, Jerry Nadler, Bennie Thompson, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff, addressed a letter to Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, and Elon Musk, its owner.
We obtained a copy of the pressure letter for you here.
They expressed concern over X’s alleged negligence in enforcing its policies against the spread of misleading information and content promoting violence, hate, and terrorism.
The letter specifically points out the drastic reduction in X’s content moderation staff over the past year, suggesting that the company has deliberately allowed and even benefited from the illegal circulation of terrorist propaganda. This conduct, according to the legislators, is completely inappropriate for a platform as globally influential as X.
Further, the letter highlights reports from the Tech Transparency Project and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
“We are demanding that you uphold your public commitments and enforce your policies. Accordingly, no later than December 1, 2023, we request that you provide all forms of written communications, including email, text messages, other messaging services, or X direct messages, relating to content moderation for any posts or accounts associated with, related to, or connected to Hamas,” the letter states.
The lawmakers underscore that X Premium, a subscription service offering features like prioritized ranking in conversations and searches, might be indirectly facilitating the profit from the spread of such content. They note that X gains financially from subscription fees and ad revenue generated from these accounts.
Elon Musk recently declared that all X revenue from ads and subscriptions on content regarding the conflict will be donated to charities in the impacted region.
Additionally, the letter accuses X of profiting from subscribers who spread false and misleading narratives about the Israel-Hamas war.
Further, this month, Representatives Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, introduced a bill aimed at countering the uptick of alleged false information disseminated on TikTok and other online platforms amid the recent Israel-Hamas conflict.
Gottheimer clarified during a media briefing, “This legislation will require social media companies to release detailed reports of violations to their terms and services and how they’re addressing these violations, which includes using their platforms for terrorist purposes… It also requires the intelligence community to provide a threat assessment about what’s happening on social media.”
The proposed law, titled the Stopping Terrorists Online Presence and Holding Accountable Tech Entities Act or the Stop Hate Act, incorporates a $5 million daily penalty for any social media enterprise non-compliant with the proposed bill’s conditions. The act is vocally supported by the ADL.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed similar legislation in 2022, only to have a judge denounce it as a violation of the First Amendment.
Harvard Law Review bans article on Israeli genocide in Gaza
MEMO | November 23, 2023
The prestigious Harvard Law Review (HLR) has made the extraordinary decision to ban publication of an article examining the legal framework surrounding Israel’s ongoing Nakba against Palestinians, particularly in Gaza.
Authored by Palestinian human rights lawyer Rabea Eghbariah, who is currently completing his doctoral studies at Harvard Law School, the piece had cleared editorial review and was nearing publication when HLR’s president intervened.
In an email quoted by the Intercept’s recent investigation, Editor Tascha Shahriari-Parsa revealed the president blocked publication over concerns that “editors who might oppose or be offended by the piece” may face harassment by pro-Israel groups.
On Saturday, following several days of debate and a nearly six-hour meeting, the HLS’ full editorial body came together to vote on whether to publish the article, reported the Nation. A subsequent vote rejected the article, with 63 per cent of HLR editors voting against its right to be heard. While no reason was given, the facts speak for themselves – honest discourse about Palestinian suffering remains taboo.
In a joint statement, 25 HLR editors expressed alarm that fear of public intimidation now governs editorial decisions at the university that promises to pursue truth and protect academic freedom.
“At a time when the Law Review was facing a public intimidation and harassment campaign, the journal’s leadership intervened to stop publication,” they wrote. “The body of editors—none of whom are Palestinian—voted to sustain that decision. We are unaware of any other solicited piece that has been revoked by the Law Review in this way.”
The Nation has published the article Harvard Law Review refused to run in full. The article argues that the horrific violence and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza should be recognised as genocide. It states that there is credible evidence that Israel intends to destroy the Palestinian people in whole or in part, meeting the UN definition of genocide.
The author cites numerous statements by Israeli officials, as well as the material conditions imposed on Palestinians, to demonstrate genocidal intent and outcome. He asserts that the blockade of Gaza and mass killing of civilians could plausibly constitute genocide under international law.
Additionally, the article condemns the refusal of Western institutions, including prominent legal scholars and journals, to acknowledge the reality of genocide due to selective application of international law. It states that Palestinian lives are devalued and their innocence denied within a colonial structure.
The author argues the Nakba, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 as well as the ongoing system of oppression, serves to erase Palestinians politically and physically. The article concludes that just as concepts like genocide and apartheid were codified in international law post-WWII, the Palestinian experience of genocide equally deserves recognition in order to end the crimes against them.
How the Democratic Party Faked an American Insurrection
By Robert Bridge | Strategic Culture Foundation | November 23, 2023
Last week, more than 40,000 hours of Jan. 6 Capitol Police security footage was released in the public domain that once and for all blew a hole in the pro-Trump ‘violent insurrection’ narrative so dear to the Democrats.
The one question on countless Americans’ minds following the release of the damning videos was: will all those men and women recently locked away as political prisoners for dozens of decades get another day in court? Indeed, January 6 may have been a lot of things to many people, but another Boston Tea Party it most definitely was not.
Social media was alight over the weekend showing one benign scene after another of the ‘insurrectionists’ casually strolling through the Capitol Building premises, exchanging pleasantries with the on-duty police officers, even giving each other fist-bumps.
The revelations of the true nature of the event came to light as newly appointed House Speaker Mike Johnson released the security footage, which came as a political manna from heaven for former president Donald Trump and other members of the Republican Party.
“Truth and transparency are critical,” Johnson said in a prepared statement. “This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials.”
Democrats, however, who have milked the ‘insurrectionist’ narrative for everything it is worth, predictably chafed at the release, calling it a ‘risk to national security.’
“It is unconscionable that one of Speaker Johnson’s first official acts as steward of the institution is to endanger his colleagues, staff, visitors, and our country by allowing virtually unfettered access to sensitive Capitol security footage,” said New York Democrat Rep. Joseph Morelle, who sits on the Committee on House Administration. “That he is doing so over the strenuous objections of the security professionals within the Capitol Police is outrageous. This is not transparency; this is dangerous and irresponsible.”
For almost two years, Democrats, who managed to cherry-pick the most suggestive scenes of the footage, portrayed January 6th as everything from another September 11 to a second Pear Harbor.
Last year, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), the photogenic member of the Democrat’s radical progressive wing, was shown visibly upset after having to “relive” the events of the Capitol riot.
“I am so angry. Having to relive that footage,” she sobbed, rubbing her forehead. “I know it’s not just me. This is everyone.”
“These attacks killed people, traumatized people and for any of you right-winger Trump loyalists, he sent his own people to jail, and promised his own people that he would pardon them.”
The inconvenient truth, however, is that only one person was killed on the day of the Capitol riot – unarmed Air Force veteran and avid Trump supporter, Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a police officer.
Now, Republicans are demanding justice be served and that the incarcerated protesters be immediately set free.
“And just like that the J6 Committee’s violent insurrection narrative has crumbled,” said conservative commentator Charlie Kirk over X (formerly Twitter). “The Capitol Police facilitated the protesters passage through the building…the vast majority of J6ers should be immediately released.”
However, with the Democrats still in control of Washington, D.C., together with the FBI, the Justice Department and other administrative offices, the Republicans will have to wait until November 4th – and possibly longer if they lose their White House bid – before any real justice is meted out.
Meanwhile, federal officials have said there is no evidence that law enforcement officials helped coordinate the attacks.
“If you are asking whether the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or agents the answer is emphatically no,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) during a House Committee hearing. Higgins was questioning Wray about two Greyhound buses he said dropped off FBI agents dressed as Trump supporters at the Capitol on January 6, referring to the vehicles as “ghost buses.”
Whatever the case may be, the fresh revelations were a silver lining in a shitstorm that has been following Donald Trump, who hopes to win back the White House next November despite multiple legal woes.
“Congratulations to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for having the Courage and Fortitude to release all of the J6 Tapes, which will explicitly reveal what really happened on January 6th!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday.
Ukraine will not recognize rights of Russian citizens
By Lucas Leiroz | November 23, 2023
Apparently, not even with the catastrophic military results and serious consequences of the conflict, Ukraine is willing to change the way it treats ethnic Russian citizens. In a recent statement, a top Ukrainian politician made it clear that there will be no recognition of the rights of the Russian population in Ukraine. In practice, this is an admission that Kiev will continue to practice genocide against Russian speakers, further legitimizing Moscow’s military actions.
In an interview with Ukrainian state TV on November 20, Ruslan Stefanchuk, head of the country’s parliament, stated that there will be no concessions from Ukraine regarding the rights of Russian citizens. Stefanchuk claims that there are no ethnic minorities in Ukraine, which is why there should be no protection to Russians and other groups. Furthermore, he clearly states that the Russian population on Ukrainian territory can be legitimately persecuted now, as they are supporting Moscow’s military measures.
“There are no Russian ethnic minorities in Ukraine as of now and there can be none (…) If a people do not show respect but commit aggression against Ukraine, their rights should be infringed upon in this field”, he told journalists.
More than that, Stefanchuk said that Kiev has reached a “consensus” with its European partners on this topic. According to him, there is a common “understanding” between Ukraine and Europe regarding the non-existence of Russian minorities in the country. If this information is confirmed, the situation will become even more serious, as European leaders will be openly supporting the anti-Russian genocide practiced by the neo-Nazi regime.
Until now, despite the unlimited support of most European states for Ukraine, the institutional stance on minorities’ rights has been ambiguous. This year, Ukraine was requested to improve its ethnic policies, recognizing local minorities. The measure is a prerequisite in the process of joining the European Union, which was demanded by Kiev. In this sense, the Venice Commission asked Ukrainians to make some reforms, allowing, for example, the official use of other languages in regions with a non-Ukrainian majority.
As expected, Kiev never complied with European requests and continued its supremacist policy towards other peoples. Despite really wanting to enter the EU, the neo-Nazi regime is ideologically linked to the racist mentality and will not change this until the effects of the 2014 coup are completely reversed. In the same sense, the Europeans never vetoed the Ukrainian membership project because, despite publicly defending “democratic values”, they are geopolitically aligned with NATO’s proxies.
It is important to emphasize that Stefanchuk clearly lies when he says there are no non-Ukrainian ethnicities in the country. There are regions of Ukraine with a Russian majority, as well as significant Hungarian, Polish, Moldovan and other populations. All non-Ukrainian people have suffered racism to some degree since the neo-Nazi Junta came to power in Kiev. Undoubtedly, the people most affected are Russians, as Russophobia is a vital part of Ukrainian ultranationalist ideology. Since 2014, Russians have been massacred in a brutal process of ethnic cleansing, which resulted in Moscow’s decision to launch a special military operation to protect its people.
However, non-Russian people are also persecuted in Ukraine. One of the greatest evidences of this is the case of the Transcarpathia’s Hungarians. Kiev has persecuted the local people in recent years, closing Hungarian schools and reducing the population’s civil rights. As the conflict escalated, something even more brutal began to be done, as the regime launched a campaign of forced recruitment of ethnic Hungarians, sending them en masse to the front lines, while Ukrainians were kept as much as possible in the rear.
In fact, the Ukrainian reality is an example of what happens when xenophobic and ultranationalist groups are placed in power to serve selfish geopolitical interests. NATO strengthened Ukrainian neo-Nazism to carry out a prolonged war plan against Russia, consciously using racism and ethnic hatred as tools against Moscow. Now, even in the face of imminent military defeat, Ukrainian non-Nazis continue to insist on their racist mentality, which shows how long the conflict will take to end.
Without a voluntary willingness on the part of Kiev to abandon its neo-Nazi ideology, the Russians have no alternative but to continue fighting. The Russian population needs to be protected by Moscow by all possible means. If Kiev does not want to cooperate in reaching a diplomatic consensus, then Russian military efforts will continue.
Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.
You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram.
New World Dis-Order on CHD TV
Corbett • 11/21/2023
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
James Corbett and Dr. Meryl Nass return to “Good Morning CHD” to chronicle the latest Oct. 30 draft of the WHO Pandemic Treaty — now pegged the pandemic ‘agreement’. As the clock counts down until the May 2024 World Health Assembly, the time has come for free and sovereign individuals of the world to reclaim their sovereignty, and fast. James and Meryl elucidate what a “complete reimagination” of the world’s power structure looks like, walking us through the game plan of the opponent’s multi-angled attack to bring about their “New World Dis-Order,” and provide us with inspirational solutions to fight back. Learn their strategies and get a grasp of the bigger picture in this episode of “Good Morning CHD.”
SHOW NOTES:
The Corbett Report – Open Source Intelligence News
Oct 30. Latest WHO “Agreement”
Conference Of The Parties (COP) | UNFCCC
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – Twitter
Missouri V. Holland 252 U.S. 416 (1920) Justia US Supreme Court Center
United States V. Belmont 301 U.S. 324 (1937) Justia US Supreme Court Center
United States V. Pink 315 U.S. 203 (1942) Justia US Supreme Court Center
“The Great Taking”: How They Can Own It All
Sen. Ron Johnson, Advocates Brief On WHO’s Transformation ‘From Health Advisor To Dictator’
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Larry Johnson: U.S. Desperation Grows as Iran Is Winning
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From the Archives
A low-fat, high-carb diet has been the largest public health experiment in history. It’s past time for a rethink.
By Malcolm Kendrick | RT | November 25, 2020
New research suggests that four billion people globally will be overweight in 2050. This trend can be traced back to the ‘low-fat, high-carb’ guidelines first issued in the 70s, and should prompt a major U-turn on dietary advice.
A recent report from the Potsdam Institute predicts that by 2050 there will be four billion overweight people in the world, with one-and-a-half billion of them obese. This is not entirely surprising. The world has been getting fatter for years, and things do not seem to be slowing down.
Why is this happening? … continue
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