‘Israel’ destroyed huge Gaza areas for crops; 90% of cattle killed: UN
Al Mayadeen | November 21, 2024
More than 90% of livestock in Gaza have perished, and around 70% of cropland has been destroyed or damaged since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, according to a UN study of satellite images.
Over half of the sheep and goat herds have been killed and more than three-quarters of the territory’s famed orchards have been destroyed or damaged, according to a September study.
Last week, Rein Paulsen, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience, stated that local food production in Gaza has been “decimated”, telling the UNSC that vehicle tracks, razing, and shelling have caused significant damage to farmland, infrastructure, wells, and other productive infrastructure, increasing the risk of famine.
Before the outset of the war last year, farms covered around 40% of Gaza, producing enough vegetables, eggs, fresh milk, poultry, and fish to supply roughly one-third of local demand. Many families owned their own olive or fruit trees.
Faraj Jarudat, who was forced to evacuate his farm in northern Gaza, said his three cows and 60 sheep had perished, either due to Israeli bombing or a shortage of feed.
According to Jarudat, friends and former neighbors who visited the site informed him that his trees and houses once stood were uprooted and destroyed by Israeli soldiers. The region near Beit Lahia, where he lived, has seen intense violence in recent weeks.
“The farm and all of our homes – my home and homes of my children – were bulldozed,” he expressed.
Ismael al-Rahal, 49, a farmer from northern Gaza, said only a few of his 65 sheep survived, explaining how he had to move them with him each time he had to flee. He explained to the UN how food prices were extremely high, forcing his family to cut back on their food to feed the sheep.
According to Paulsen, in some areas of Gaza, farmers, fishermen, and livestock owners are risking their lives to continue producing. He told the UN how “the significant levels of damage … are exacerbating the humanitarian and hunger crisis on the ground and increasing the risk of famine. Food supply across [Gaza] has sharply deteriorated while food availability is at an all-time low.”
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels, with widespread displacement and destruction, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland warned on Monday.
Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East, Wennesland sounded the alarm on the dire conditions in Gaza, particularly in the north, describing the situation as marked by a “disturbing disregard for international humanitarian law.”
“As this Council has been briefed repeatedly, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as winter begins, is catastrophic, particularly developments in the north of Gaza with a large-scale and near-total displacement of the population and widespread destruction and clearing of land, amidst what looks like a disturbing disregard for international humanitarian law,” Wennesland said.
Wennesland highlighted the difficulties faced by humanitarian agencies in Gaza, citing a dangerous operational environment and access restrictions that hinder aid efforts. He stressed the need for unrestricted access to deliver aid and emphasized the importance of a political solution to address the root causes of the violence, warning that without it, the humanitarian situation will not improve.
Abusing its veto power, the US is undoubtedly ‘humanitarian disaster creator’ in Gaza
Global Times | November 21, 2024
Once again, the US has positioned itself in opposition to the international community. On Wednesday, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. This marks the fourth time the US has used its veto power on this issue, even as the death toll in Gaza now stands at around 44,000. The draft, put forward by the Security Council’s 10 non-permanent members, demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Among the 15 members of the Security Council, the US was the sole opposing vote.
This US action once again raises the question: How many more innocent lives in Gaza must be lost to awaken Washington’s conscience? Now, nearly 44,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and the US still does not hesitate to use its veto.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced by the war, creating an unmeasurable humanitarian crisis. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the US is expected to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining global peace and stability. However, its actions – marked by the abuse of veto power – blatantly contradict global efforts to promote a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The US’ approach to the Palestine-Israel conflict has left it isolated on the international stage. Even the US media outlet The New York Times has acknowledged that this underlines Washington’s diplomatic isolation on the issue. France and the UK’s UN ambassadors have also openly expressed dissatisfaction with the US veto. Nicolas de Riviere, France’s UN representative, stated unequivocally: “There is an obvious urgency to implement an immediate and unconditional cease-fire. This is the only way to guarantee the protection of all civilians and the massive and unhindered delivery of emergency aid.”
Niu Xinchun, executive director of the China-Arab Research Institute of Ningxia University, told the Global Times that there is no doubt that the US’ unwavering support for Israel has not only caused domestic divisions but also created rifts with its allies on the international stage, leaving the US increasingly isolated in the UN.
Washington repeatedly claims to defend human rights; yet, it appears indifferent to the situation in Gaza. While the international community agrees on the need for the unconditional release of all hostages and an immediate cease-fire, the US continues to insist on preconditions for a cease-fire – even as Israel’s military operations in Gaza have long exceeded the scope of rescuing hostages. This stance effectively gives the green light to prolong the war and condone the continued killing.
The US’ repeated vetoes are not only the greatest obstacle to achieving a cease-fire but also the root cause of the dysfunction within the UN Security Council. As the world’s most authoritative international body, the Security Council is expected to speak on behalf of the global community and push for resolutions that pressure both parties to end the conflict. However, the US’ abuse of veto power has left the Council unable to act effectively. This has become a recurring issue that not only severely undermines the credibility and effectiveness of the UN, but also further erodes global confidence in the US.
In the face of death, poverty, and a profound humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the US continues to turn a blind eye to the lives of these people. In the future, when history reflects on this period, questions will inevitably arise: Where are the “human rights” and “humanitarian values” that the US so often proclaims? Is it really that “Palestinian Lives Don’t Matter”? In this tragedy, the US has not only forfeited its leadership and credibility but also plunged its international image into ruin.
Borrell’s symbolic parting gesture is mired in hypocrisy
By Ramona Wadi | MEMO | November 20, 2024
Diplomats and parting gestures are nothing new. As the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell comes close to ending his tenure, he has called for EU member states to stop political dialogue with Israel. “After a year of unheeded pleas, we cannot continue with business as usual,” said Borrell. Make that a year of doing nothing but upholding Israel’s security narrative, thus becoming complicit in genocide.
The EU is neither blameless nor naïve. Borrell’s last ditch attempt at steering EU diplomacy towards at least a veneer of abiding by international law is meaningless, especially when Israel’s atrocities are still not described as genocide by the bloc. Furthermore, proposing an import ban on illegal settlement products is hardly going to dent or end Israel’s genocidal intent and actions in Gaza.
Borrell’s stance has been weak throughout the genocide, and the end of his term as the EU’s high representative was never going to see him leaving an honourable legacy in this respect. In his blog which detailed a timeline of events and EU involvement since Israel’s genocide began (although the g-word is not mentioned once), Borrell makes the case for Israel’s security more than he does for protecting the Palestinians.
“When self-defence started looking more and more like revenge, our appeals grew louder, but we doubled down on our commitment to Israel’s security,” he wrote. The EU’s primary concern, therefore, was to protect Israel’s security narrative at the expense of Palestinians in Gaza. Borrell also described ethnic cleansing and genocide as “some of these illegal and immoral ideas”.
Predictably, the EU foreign ministers rejected Borrell’s proposal. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski declared that, “We know that there are tragic events in Gaza, huge civilian casualties, but we do not forget who started the current cycle of violence.”
Does Sikorsky remember who started the settler-colonialism in Palestine and who started the genocide, though? Clue: It wasn’t the Palestinians.
Cause and effect are clear, so let’s not forget the initial cause: the creation of the Zionist state of Israel in Palestine.
However, it was not just Sikorski who clearly believes that history began on 7 October 2023, and so uses the shortest timeframe to justify his stance; Borrell did the same. “Looking back, we need to acknowledge that the approach we have used for over a year with the Israeli government has failed,” he wrote. Look back even further, and see how many times the EU failed in terms of upholding international law, because the profits reaped by maintaining ties with Israel are too considerable to lose. Every time, Palestinians were forced to suffer the consequences of international diplomacy with Israel. And let’s not forget the EU’s obsession with maintaining the two-state paradigm’s relevance in rhetoric only.
Business as usual should never have happened. The EU knows it is dealing with a colonial enterprise and that it made human rights secondary to any deals between the bloc and Israel, despite the association agreements actually stipulating otherwise. Borrell’s weak stance is just a symbolic departure trinket, of purportedly having realised too late what was at stake.
The EU – Borrell included – prioritised pleading with Israel as its first diplomatic overture, and ongoing genocide is the result. Even if the EU foreign ministers decided to heed Borrell’s proposals of suspending dialogue and banning settlement products, neither are anywhere near being a tool to bring about an end to the genocide in which Europe and the US are complicit, and which most EU countries are still refusing to acknowledge, never mind stop.
US vetoes UNSC resolution calling for ‘unconditional, permanent’ ceasefire in Gaza
Press TV – November 20, 2024
The United States has vetoed another draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Fourteen member states voted in favor of the draft resolution on Wednesday, but it was blocked by the US, the Israeli regime’s main ally.
The resolution had been put forward by the Security Council’s 10 non-permanent members.
The resolution called for “safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance” including in the besieged northern Gaza. It denounced any attempt to starve the Palestinians.
The Palestinian delegation at the United Nations suggested the text did not go far enough.
“Gaza’s fate will haunt the world for generations to come,” Ambassador Riyad Mansour warned.
The Palestinian diplomat said the only course of action for the Security Council is to call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
Since the beginning of the Israeli campaign of death and destruction in October 7, 2023, the Security Council has struggled to speak with one voice, as the United States used its veto power multiple times.
The few resolutions that the United States did allow to pass by abstaining stopped short of calling for an unconditional and permanent ceasefire.
In March, the Council called for a temporary end to the hostilities during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but this appeal was ignored by the Tel Aviv regime.
In June, the 15-member body pledged to support a resolution that laid out a multi-stage ceasefire that ultimately went nowhere.
Some diplomats had expressed optimism that President Joe Biden might be more flexible in his few remaining weeks in power.
They hope for a repeat of December 2016, when then President Barack Obama’s second term was finishing and the Council passed a resolution calling for a halt to the Israeli settlement building in the occupied territories.
The United States refrained from using its veto then, something seen as a departure from the unqualified support for the Israeli regime.
China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong said each time the United States had exercised its veto to protect Israel, the number of people killed in Gaza had steadily risen.
“How many more people have to die before they wake up from their pretend slumber?”
“Insistence on setting a precondition for ceasefire is tantamount to giving the green light to continue the war and condoning the continued killing.”
“Shocking but not surprising”
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said, “It is shocking that the US has vetoed an effort to save the lives of Palestinians and Israelis.”
“Though perhaps we should not be surprised about it.”
EU will continue to block €19.2 billion in funds for Hungary
Remix News | November 20, 2024
In a new report from the EU Observer entitled, “Billions of EU funds to remain frozen as Hungary fails to reform,” top EU officials stated that Hungary will continue to be blocked from the €19.2 billion in EU funds owed to the country.
The outgoing European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, while speaking to the outlet, confirmed that Hungary’s funds will remain frozen. He stated that concerns about Hungary still exist because the draft texts submitted by Budapest do not address what he vaguely refers to as “conflicts of interest.”
“The current state of play of relevant developments in Hungary demonstrate that important concerns still persist,” he said.
The EU Observer report also notes that the Child Protection Act from Hungary is a factor in blocking funds. The act stops LGBT topics from being taught in public schools and blocks gender reassignment surgeries to safeguard children.
The outlet notes that on Tuesday, “a hearing at the Court of Justice in Luxembourg saw 16 member states and the European Commission confront Hungary over its anti-LGBTQ law.”
“This is a frontal and serious attack on the rule of law, and more generally on European society,” a lawyer representing the European Commission told the court, according to AFP.
As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined in a speech in January of this year, Hungary’s €20 billion would remain frozen until the country opens its borders. It was one of the clearest references to the fact that Hungary’s strict border policy, which is now increasingly mainstream in Europe, is one of the sole reasons behind the frozen money. However, other issues such as LGBT also remain at the top of the agenda for the EU.
Once the government in Poland was changed and the left-liberal Donald Tusk became prime minister, the country’s money was quickly unfrozen. The EU is now wielding EU funds as a powerful tool to attack governments Brussels deems to be political enemies.
Von der Leyen stated once Tusk came to power, that she was “impressed” by his efforts to “restore the rule of law.”
Tusk has taken over public television stations in violation of Polish law, imprisoned political opponents, and completely ignored court orders.
“Shutting Down CISA” Senator Rand Paul’s Crusade Against Online Censorship
By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | November 19, 2024
Senator Paul Rand, who is about to take over as chair of the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, has spoken in favor of shutting down the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
CISA, a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was established in 2018 to do just what its name says – but has in the meanwhile become weaponized to suppress free speech, opponents believe, citing a number of programs where CISA was involved in monitoring and flagging online posts for removal.
Senator Paul refers to the agency’s behavior – which he says included the ability to censor content and thus influence what information is available to people – as “intrusions into the First Amendment.”
“The First Amendment is important, that’s why we listed it as the First Amendment. I’d like to, at the very least, eliminate their ability to censor content online,” Paul said in a post on X.
The senator was referencing his previous statements made for Politico, when he revealed he is in favor of shuttering CISA completely, while at the same time conceding that this is “unlikely” to happen – but also promising there will be hearings, as the incoming committee starts probing this government entity “working” with social media.
According to Politico, Democrats in Congress would react “fiercely” against any attempt not only to dismantle but also to limit CISA’s powers.
CISA representatives, like senior adviser Ron Eckstein, continue to claim that the agency is merely doing its job, without ever overstepping the mandate and engaging in censorship. Quite the contrary, Eckstein told the press – according to him, CISA is in fact protecting Americans’ “freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy.”
Taking into account what has come to light regarding CISA’s activities over the past four years in particular, that is an extraordinary claim, and one Senator Paul clearly disagrees with.
Even though established under President Trump’s first administration, CISA assumed an active role around the highly contentious 2020 election, allegedly to suppress those voicing their concerns online about the legitimacy of the vote.
CISA and legacy media supporting the policies the agency is executing – or has been until now – describe this as “countering domestic disinformation,” and suggest that CISA is these days more focused on fighting back adversaries from abroad.
Rant: This Isn’t Scientific, and It Isn’t American
Truthstream Media | November 10, 2024
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Former Biden Press Sec. Psaki Demands New Laws to Curb Online “Disinformation” After Harris Loss
By Cindy Harper | Reclaim The Net | November 18, 2024
Former White House press secretary, notorious for saying that the Biden administration had been flagging social media posts for “misinformation” recently voiced concerns on the Next Question podcast with Katie Couric about the pervasive spread of “disinformation” on social media, attributing it as a significant factor in Vice President Kamala Harris’s electoral defeat to President-elect Donald Trump. Psaki called for legislative changes to enhance accountability for social media platforms.
“One of the things that’s changed even since I got involved in politics is just the rise of the percentage of people who get their information off of platforms that have no fact-checking mechanism and no accountability for having disinformation spread,” Psaki said.
During their discussion, Psaki lamented the evolution of information dissemination, noting the increasing reliance on platforms free of legacy control. She highlighted the discrepancy in standards between local TV and social media, stating, “Local TV is held to a higher standard of accountability than social media platforms in terms of accurate information on their platforms. That is crazy!”
Psaki added, “Laws have to change. I don’t even know the entire answer to it but that seems to me to be a core issue.”
Psaki didn’t mention the First Amendment.
German Man is Raided By Police For Calling Pro-Censorship Vice Chancellor an “Idiot”
By Cindy Harper | Reclaim The Net | November 18, 2024
Yet another event in Germany has raised major concerns about freedom of speech. A 64-year-old pensioner from the Bavarian town of Bamberg found himself at the center of a legal storm after he posted a meme on social media that depicted pro-censorship Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck as a “Schwachkopf Professional” or “professional idiot.” This action prompted a police raid on his home where his computer and phone were seized.
The offending image
The prosecutors statement said: “At a time that cannot currently be specified in more detail in the days or weeks before June 20, 2024, the accused published an image file using the account that shows a portrait of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck with the title ‘Schwachkopf PROFESSIONAL’, based on the advertising campaign of the Schwarzkopf company, in order to generally defame Robert Habeck and to make it more difficult for him to work as a member of the federal government.”
The raid occurred in August, early in the morning when police officers entered the home of Stefan Niehoff, waking him and his family, which includes his wife and daughter. Niehoff, who had simply shared a meme that humorously altered a beauty care brand’s logo to feature Habeck, expressed his disbelief over the raid. He likened the aggressive enforcement to tactics used during the Communist era in East Germany.
This police action stemmed from a criminal complaint filed by Habeck himself, reacting to what he considered defamation that hindered his governmental duties. German law, refined during the tenure of the former Chancellor Angela Merkel, allows public officials to pursue criminal charges against perceived slanders relating to their official roles. Violations could result in fines or up to three years in prison.
The Vice Chancellor, along with other members of the Green party, has been an active participant in utilizing this law. Reports from the news outlet Junge Freiheit indicate that Habeck’s legal team continuously monitors social media for similar offenses, having filed 805 criminal complaints to date. His colleague, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, has filed 453 such complaints.
Habeck, who wishes to become Germany’s leader, recently called for more online censorship, also calling for “the regulation of algorithms, of X or TikTok, through the application of European legal norms.”
Iranian engineer quits Google over tech giant’s collaboration with Israel amid Gaza genocide
Iranian software engineer Alireza Zakeri
Press TV – November 18, 2024
Iranian software engineer Alireza Zakeri has announced his resignation from Google over the American tech giant’s collaboration with Israel amid the regime’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed over 43,000 people in the territory since early October last year.
“I’m happy to announce that I have left Google!” he wrote in a post published on his Linkedin account on Monday, adding that “this decision reflects my values.”
“After learning about Google’s involvement in Project Nimbus, I voiced my concerns for several months. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of many employees, leadership chose to maintain its stance and dismiss our collective concerns,” he added.
Project Nimbus is reportedly a $1.2 billion deal between the Tel Aviv regime and Amazon and Google to provide artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services that are also used by the Israeli military.
“Living in a way that conflicts with your core values is incredibly challenging. Choosing to step away was not easy, but it was necessary. For anyone facing similar situations, I hope you find the courage to prioritize your principles. What good is it for man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Zakeri pointed out.
Back on May 14, hundreds of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protesters demonstrated against Google’s relationship with Israel and the regime’s army at the tech company’s annual developer conference in Mountain View.
The protesters chained themselves together near the entrance to the conference, and carried a large banner reading “Google stop fueling genocide.”
A particular point of contention for the demonstrators was Project Nimbus. The project enables Israeli cabinet ministries and other entities to transfer servers and services into cloud data centers provided within the occupied territories.
The protesters, among whom were former and current Google employees, argued that the system is being lethally deployed in the Gaza war.
“We are here to say that we cannot stand by while this company fuels this genocide and profits off of it,” former Google employee Ariel Koren told The Guardian at the protest.
“[Google] not only creates the infrastructure for the Israeli military to scale out their crimes against humanity, but these tools are being tested and trained in Palestine to be exported out to militaries around the world, who can then commit the same types of violence,” she said.
Koren added she was fired from Google for opposing Project Nimbus.
New York’s New Equal Rights Act Will Weaken Parental Rights, Critics Say
By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. | The Defender | November 12, 2024
New York voters last week approved Proposition 1, a ballot measure that adds abortion rights to the state constitution and bars discrimination based on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes.
The measure, passed with 61.9% of the vote, also protects against discrimination based on age, gender identity or sexual orientation, according to CBS News, which said, “Opponents say the vague language opens up a can of worms that could cause more harm than good.”
Indeed, some legal experts argue that instead of promoting equality, the Equal Rights Act, as the measure is officially known, enshrines discrimination and strips away parental rights.
Opponents of the amendment argue it would “open the door to men using women’s bathrooms and transgender athletes to compete on sports teams that match their gender identities” and “allow minors to get abortions without parental consent.”
New York attorney Bobbie Ann Cox campaigned against Proposition 1. She said the amendment was “unnecessary” because “anti-discrimination laws are already in place.”
Cox told The Defender :
“No new rights were endowed by Proposition 1. In fact, it is the opposite, because Proposition 1 actually restricts our rights. The language is clear: It says we (the people) are not allowed to ‘discriminate’ against the named classes, nor are our firms, corporations or organizations.
“This gives the government license to control us, our firms, corporations and organizations — because who do you think will determine what is deemed ‘discrimination’ or ‘hate speech?’ The government will.”
Michael Kane, founder of Teachers for Choice, told The Defender that Proposition 1 is state lawmakers’ response to grassroots efforts supporting medical freedom and parental rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the state needed this law because “Teachers for Choice and our coalition partners have stopped all assaults on medical freedom and parental rights in Albany for the past five years.”
Kane added:
“Because of that, a group of Democrats from New York City put forth this ‘Equal Rights Amendment’ and rolled their wishlist of legislation into it, to go straight to the New York Constitution — because they knew they couldn’t get any of these crazy pieces of legislation passed in a real democratic process.”
Cox said the amendment “will result in complete totalitarian control” over New Yorkers. “It will flip our norms upside down, and give the government license to abolish our freedoms of speech, assembly, religion, family units and so on,” she said. “It is a Trojan Horse of the most epic kind.”
Kane said that despite the many protections the amendment promises, there are “no protections in Proposition 1 for health freedom, religious freedom or parental rights.”
Instead, the amendment “can and will be used to get parents out of the picture of all medical decisions for children,” Kane said. “This is why Proposition 1 says ‘you can’t discriminate’ against anyone based on ‘age.’”
Amendment gives government ‘power to discriminate against anyone’
The measure amends Article 1, Section 11 of the New York State Constitution on the equal protection of laws, which bans discrimination on the basis of “race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
The second paragraph of the amendment adds:
“Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section.”
According to Cox, this language enshrines reverse discrimination, giving the government “the power to discriminate against anyone they want, at any time, for any reason.” She also criticized the measure’s “vague” language.
“The language of Proposition 1 is vague and extremely broad,” Cox said. “It’s unconstitutional to have overly broad laws for this very reason — the true intent cannot be known, which then leads to courts making the decisions piecemeal, which causes inconsistencies and massive confusion.”
Cox said the ballot did not provide voters with the full text of the amendment. Voters saw only a summary that described the measure as an amendment that “would protect against unequal treatment.”
Writing on Substack last month, Cox called the summary “a total sham, as it doesn’t even give the whole story.” She said the amendment “will unleash a massive tidal wave of chaos upon our citizenry, upon normalcy, and upon all that we hold dear in our society,”
She said she believes the amendment will weaken parental rights, abolish girls’ sports and single-sex spaces, legalize reverse discrimination and result in the “chilling of free speech.”
Cox said claims that the amendment protects the right to an abortion were a “lie.” She said the word “abortion” did not appear on the ballot and that the measure differs from laws passed in other states that explicitly make clear what the state’s laws are regarding abortion.
New amendment to face constitutional challenges
According to CBS News, New York joined seven other states that have “passed measures protecting abortion rights” after the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Organizations including the New York Civil Liberties Union and the League of Women Voters of New York supported the measure.
Opponents of the amendment had difficulty overcoming support from these groups and key state officials, including Attorney General Letitia James.
Cox told The Defender she has formed a task force to explore legal avenues for challenging the amendment. She said policies the new administration may introduce might facilitate legal actions challenging the amendment.
“It’ll depend on what is done by Trump’s administration and how it is done,” Cox said.
Kane said the amendment “can and will be challenged as being a violation of the federal Constitution.”
This article was originally published by The Defender — Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.
Elon Musk’s X Sues California Over Deepfake Law Seen as Threat to Free Speech
By Dan Frieth | Reclaim The Net | November 16, 2024
Elon Musk’s X has initiated legal action against the state of California, seeking to prevent the enforcement of a new statute mandating that major online platforms either remove or label deepfake election-related content, as a violation of the First Amendment, particularly for its impact on memes and satire.
We obtained a copy of the lawsuit for you here.
The legal challenge was presented in a federal court earlier this week, focusing on legislation designed to curb the influence of artificially altered videos, images, and sounds, collectively known as deepfakes. The legislation is poised to become effective on January 1.
The law in question, Assembly Bill 2655, was signed as part of California’s efforts to safeguard the integrity of the upcoming 2024 US presidential election from the risks posed by technological manipulation. Governor Gavin Newsom, having clashed with Musk following Musk’s sharing of a parody video of Vice President Kamala Harris, aims to mitigate these alleged risks.
The legislation has sparked concerns among tech giants and free speech supporters, who understand that it suppresses user engagement and stifles free discourse and satire under the guise of curbing misinformation.
X’s legal challenge raises critical questions about the boundaries of free speech in the digital age, arguing that the law violates the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects platforms from liability for user-generated content. By requiring platforms like X to preemptively label or remove content, the law, as X contends, “will inevitably result in the censorship of wide swaths of valuable political speech and commentary.”
“AB 2655 requires large online platforms like X, the platform owned by X Corp. (collectively, the ‘covered platforms’), to remove and alter (with a label) — and to create a reporting mechanism to facilitate the removal and alteration of — certain content about candidates for elective office, elections officials, and elected officials, of which the State of California disapproves and deems to be ‘materially deceptive,’” the complaint reads.
The complaint also states that “this system will inevitably result in the censorship of wide swaths of valuable political speech and commentary and will limit the type of ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open’ ‘debate on public issues’ that core First Amendment protections are designed to ensure.”
It goes on to say, “AB 2655 imposes a prior restraint on speech because it provides, pursuant to Sections 20515(b) and 20516, expedited causes of action under Section 35 of the California Code of Civil Procedure through which political speech can be enjoined before there occurs a ‘final judicial determination’ that the ‘speech is unprotected.’”
Finally, it states, “AB 2655 violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 2, of the California Constitution, both facially and as-applied to X Corp. AB 2655 imposes a prior restraint on speech that forces platforms to censor only certain election-related content of which the State of California disapproves and also directly and impermissibly interferes with the constitutionally protected content-moderation speech rights of covered social media platforms, like X.”
The implications for satire are particularly severe, as highlighted by the case of the parody Harris videos. Although Governor Newsom’s office insists that AB 2655, also known as the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, says it exempts parody and satire, the practical application of this exemption is murky at best since it was a parody video that was the impetus for Governor Newsom to push for the introduction of the law.
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Book Review
Palantir CEO Calls for Draft to Fight the Empire’s Wars
Involuntary servitude is good for business
By Kurt Nimmo | Another Day in the Empire | April 20, 2026
In 2025, Alex Karp, the CEO of government and military tech contractor Palantir, published The New York Times best-seller, The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West. The Wall Street Journal praised the book as a cri de coeur, a passionate appeal “that takes aim at the tech industry for abandoning its history of helping America and its allies,” while Wired praised the book as a “readable polemic that skewers Silicon Valley for insufficient patriotism.”
On April 18, 2026, Palantir posted twenty-two points to social media summarizing the book. In addition to taking Silicon Valley to task for insufficient patriotism, advocating a role for AI in forever war, and denouncing the “psychologization of modern politics,” the Palantir post on X declares: “National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost.”
National conscription, a form of involuntary servitude, and the wars it portends, is good for business, especially for corporations within the orbit of the Pentagon, the CIA, and the national security state. Palantir fits comfortably within this amalgamation. … continue
Blog Roll
Aletho News- Palantir CEO Calls for Draft to Fight the Empire’s Wars
- Iran War fallout: Russia and China quietly take over natural gas markets in Asia, with Qatar gone
- Hamas dismisses US-backed disarmament plan as ‘collective suicide’
- Israel’s war obsession and the urgency of Palestinian leverage
- Supply chains breaking: The hidden bottlenecks threatening to bring the global economy to a standstill
- Israel’s Expansion Means An Unraveling of Middle East Stability
- Why has Israel’s Security Doctrine begun targeting Turkey?
- US strikes vessel in Caribbean killing three, death toll reaches 180
- NATO’s Baltic Operation Aims to Curb Russian Cargo Traffic
- France’s New Nuclear Strategy to Weaken Security in Europe – Russian Foreign Ministry
- If Americans Knew
- Israel is (still) killing aid workers in Gaza
- Catholics finally splitting with Trump over Iran war and Israel
- Israel’s “Black Wednesday” Massacre Leaves Lebanese Families Giving DNA To ID Loved One’s Remains
- ‘I Felt I Was a Monster’: IDF Soldiers Talk About the ‘Moral Injury’ – and the Silence
- ‘I thought I might die’: A Palestinian mother’s account of Israeli detention
- Mom whose daughter was killed by Israeli bulldozer 23 years ago pleaded with Congress to finally stop funding
- Israeli soldier takes sledgehammer to Jesus statue in Lebanon – Daily Update
- Israel employs ‘Gaza tactics’ in Lebanon, destroying 1,000 homes per day – Daily Update
- Israel relegates another population to life in tents – Daily Update
- Senate again fails to block weapons to Israel
- No Tricks Zone
- 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
- An Inconvenient Tree: Uncovered In Alps… Europe Much Warmer Than Today 6000 Years Ago
- New Study Reports A 60% Slowdown In Greenland’s Ice Loss Rate In The Last Decade
- Low Intensity Tornado Wrecks Major Solar Farm, Creating A Potential Toxic Dump
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