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Israel revokes Jerusalem Residency Rights Of Imprisoned Palestinian-French Lawyer

IMEMC | DECEMBER 1, 2022

On Wednesday, the Israeli Prison Authority informed imprisoned Palestinian-French lawyer, held under Administrative Detention without charges or trial, that it revoked his Jerusalem ID card and stripped him of all residency rights in occupied Jerusalem, and will be deporting him to France upon his release.

The Israeli occupation imposed a three-month Administrative Detention order against the imprisoned lawyer, Salah Hammouri, 37, and renewed the order in June 2022, then renewed it again in September 2022.

Hammouri, a lawyer and a field researcher with the Ad-Dameer Prisoner Support And Human Rights Association, spent more than eight years in Israeli prisons, starting when he was abducted in 2001 and was sentenced to five months in prison.

In 2004 he spent four months under arbitrary Administrative Detention orders without charges, then was abducted again in the year 2005 and was imprisoned for seven years, and then in the year 2017, he was abducted yet another time and spent 13 months under Administrative Detention orders, and upon his release, he received an order barring him from entering the rest of the West Bank for two years.

On June 6, 2022, Salah received another three-month Administrative Detention order just hours before his scheduled release after being imprisoned for three months under a similar order.

The decision to revoke his residency was made in October of last year, 2021, after accusing him of “breeching loyalty to the state” for his human rights and legal work in defending Palestinian political prisoners.

Salah was born to a Palestinian father from Jerusalem where he grew up and lived, and his mother is a French national.

Several years earlier, Israel deported his French wife to her country after detaining her at the airport in Tel Aviv for three days when she returned to Jerusalem. Salah and his wife have two children.

Palestinians born in occupied Jerusalem are only granted “residency” status and not citizenship of Israel despite Israel’s constant claims of “unified Jerusalem as its capital.” Children born to Jewish parent/s in any part of the world are entitled to become citizens of Israel.

December 1, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | 2 Comments

Russian Foreign Ministry: No Evidence That Tehran Wants to Develop Nuclear Weapons

Samizdat – 30.11.2022

MOSCOW – There is no evidence that Tehran intends to develop nuclear weapons, reviewing its participation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Vladimir Yermakov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department, said in an interview with Sputnik.

“Iran has been and remains a conscientious participant in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The conclusion of the JCPOA in 2015 helped to finally and irrevocably remove all the questions that the [International Atomic Energy Agency] had to Tehran at that time.”

“After that, for several years Iran remained the most verified state among agency members. No deviations from its obligations were identified,” Yermakov said. “There is no evidence that would indicate Tehran’s intention to ever reconsider its participation in the NPT and start developing a nuclear explosive device.”

Yermakov’s remarks come as the US undertakes joint military drills with Israel, complete with fighter jet simulations on strikes against Iran’s nuclear program infrastructure. Earlier announcements detailed the drills would be held in the Mediterranean Sea starting November 29, and lasting through December 1.

At the time, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz stressed that the drills were needed in order for Israel to “prepare” its service members for any “possibility.”

Days before the drills kicked off, US media reported that Tehran was inching toward achieving a weapons-grade enrichment, paving the way for Iran to acquire the technology to assemble nuclear weapons.

However, it’s worth noting that Iran has repeatedly indicated it has no intention to create nuclear arms; in fact, Iranian leadership imposed a fatwa in 2003 on the production or usage of any form of nuclear weapons.

Tension between Iran, Israel and the US has remained high for years. Under the Trump administration, however, escalations were at near-boiling after the US withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, reimposed past sanctions and continued on a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.

Talks to restore the agreement under the Biden White House have remained stalled for months. Iran earlier dispatched a “constructive” response to Washington’s proposals but was ultimately shut down by administration officials who deemed the messages “not constructive.”

November 30, 2022 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , , , , | 2 Comments

Israel calls on world leaders to oppose ICJ opinion on occupation

The Cradle | November 29, 2022

On 29 November, acting Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid sent a letter to more than 50 world leaders, demanding them to oppose a Palestinian bid at the United Nations regarding an advisory position of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

“This resolution is the result of a concerted effort to single out Israel, discredit our legitimate security concerns, and delegitimize our very existence,” Lapid said in the letter.

Among the recipients were the heads of government of the United Kingdom, France, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Latvia, Georgia, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, and Vietnam.

With a majority of 98 votes in favor and 17 against, a committee of the UN General Assembly approved a resolution on 11 November requesting the ICJ to “urgently” issue a stance on the effects of Israel’s illegal occupation and colonization of Palestinian territories, The New Arab reported.

In the coming weeks, the resolution has to be voted on for a second time by the plenary of the General Assembly.

The acting Prime Minister stated that this resolution resulted from a “biased campaign” by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and its Commission of Inquiry, which have repeatedly denounced human rights abuses against the Palestinians.

According to Lapid, the “status of the disputed territory must be subject to direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”

However, Israel has illegally expanded its territory since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and built settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem for over 700,000 settlers, clearly violating international law.

On 13 November, Israeli authorities announced their plans to construct 9,000 new illegal settlement units over the ruins of Palestine’s Jerusalem International Airport.

The settlement plan was initially submitted for discussion last year by the Israeli-run Jerusalem Municipality but then halted due to pressure from EU member states and several rights groups; however, the plan has been revived and is under review by the municipality.

On 8 November, the ‘Elad’ settlement association in occupied East Jerusalem received roughly $7.9 million to support illegal settlements in the Palestinian town of Silwan.

November 30, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , | 10 Comments

‘Deliberate ambiguity’: Israel’s nuclear weapons are greatest threat to Middle East

By Ramzy Baroud | MEMO | November 28, 2022

As western countries are floating the theory that Russia could escalate its conflict with Ukraine to a nuclear war, many western governments continue to turn a blind eye to Israel’s own nuclear weapons capabilities. Luckily, many countries around the world do not subscribe to this endemic western hypocrisy.

‘The Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction’ was held between November 14-18, with the sole purpose of creating new standards of accountability that, as should have always been the case, be applied equally to all Middle Eastern countries.

The debate regarding nuclear weapons in the Middle East could not possibly be any more pertinent or urgent. International observers rightly note that the period following the Russia-Ukraine war is likely to accelerate the quest for nuclear weapons throughout the world. Considering the seemingly perpetual state of conflict in the Middle East, the region is likely to witness nuclear rivalry as well.

For years, Arab and other countries attempted to raise the issue that accountability regarding the development and acquisition of nuclear weapons cannot be confined to states that are perceived to be enemies of Israel and the West.

The latest of these efforts was a United Nations resolution that called on Israel to dispose of its nuclear weapons, and to place its nuclear facilities under the monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Resolution number A/C.1/77/L.2, which was drafted by Egypt with the support of other Arab countries, passed with an initial vote of 152-5. Unsurprisingly, among the five countries that voted against the draft were the United States, Canada and, of course, Israel itself.

US and Canadian blind support of Tel Aviv notwithstanding, what compels Washington and Ottawa to vote against a draft entitled: “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East”? Keeping in mind the successive right-wing extremist governments that have ruled over Israel for many years, Washington must understand that the risk of using nuclear weapons under the guise of fending off an ‘existential threat’ is a real possibility.

Since its inception, Israel has resorted to, and utilised the phrase ‘existential threat’ countless times. Various Arab governments, later Iran and even individual Palestinian resistance movements were accused of endangering Israel’s very existence. Even the non-violent Palestinian civil society-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement was accused by then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015 of being an existential threat to Israel. Netanyahu claimed that the boycott movement was “not connected to our actions; it is connected to our very existence.”

This should worry everyone, not just in the Middle East, but the whole world. A country with such hyped sensitivity about imagined ‘existential threats’ should not be allowed to acquire the kind of weapons that could destroy the entire Middle East, several times over.

Some may argue that Israel’s nuclear arsenal was intrinsically linked to real fears resulting from its historical conflict with the Arabs. However, this is not the case. As soon as Israel finalised its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their historic homeland, and long before any serious Arab or Palestinian resistance was carried out in response, Israel was already on the lookout for nuclear weapons.

As early as 1949, the Israeli army had found uranium deposits in the Negev Desert, leading to the establishment, in 1952, of the very secretive Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC).

In 1955, the US government sold Israel a nuclear research reactor.  But that was not enough. Eager to become a full nuclear power, Tel Aviv resorted to Paris in 1957. The latter became a major partner in Israel’s sinister nuclear activities when it helped the Israeli government construct a clandestine nuclear reactor near Dimona in the Negev Desert.

The father of the Israeli nuclear program at the time was none other than Shimon Peres who, ironically, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. The Dimona Nuclear Reactor is now named ‘Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Centre-Negev’.

With no international monitoring whatsoever, thus with zero legal accountability, Israel’s nuclear quest continues until this day. In 1963, Israel purchased 100 tons of uranium ore from Argentina, and it is strongly believed that, during the October 1973 Israel-Arab war, Israel “came close to making a nuclear preemptive strike”, according to Richard Sale, writing in United Press International (UPI).

Currently, Israel is believed to have “enough fissionable material to fabricate 60-300 nuclear weapons,” according to former US Army Officer, Edwin S. Cochran.

Estimates vary, but the facts about Israel’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) are hardly contested. Israel itself practices what is known as ‘deliberate ambiguity’, as to send a message to its enemies of its lethal power, without revealing anything that may hold it accountable to international inspection.

What we know about Israel’s nuclear weapons has been made possible partly because of the bravery of a former Israeli nuclear technician, Mordechai Vanunu, a whistleblower who was held in solitary confinement for a decade due to his courage in exposing Israel’s darkest secrets.

Still, Israel refuses to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), endorsed by 191 countries.

Israeli leaders adhere to what is known as the ‘Begin Doctrine’, in reference to Menachem Begin, the rightwing Israeli Prime Minister who invaded Lebanon in 1982, resulting in the killing of thousands. The doctrine is formulated around the idea that, while Israel gives itself the right to own nuclear weapons, its enemies in the Middle East must not. This belief continues to direct Israeli actions to this day.

The US support for Israel is not confined to ensuring the latter has ‘military edge’ over its neighbours in terms of traditional weapons, but to also ensure Israel remains the region’s only superpower, even if that entails escaping international accountability for the development of WMDs.

The collective efforts by Arab and other countries at the UNGA to create a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons are welcomed initiatives. It behoves everyone, Washington included, to join the rest of the world in finally forcing Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a first but critical step towards long-delayed accountability.

November 30, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism, Timeless or most popular | , | 2 Comments

Israeli officials slam director over ‘propaganda’ claim

RT | November 29, 2022

Israeli officials tore into their countryman, filmmaker Nadav Lapid, after he condemned popular Indian film The Kashmir Files as “propaganda” and “vulgar” before an audience at the International Film Festival of India in Goa. Lapid had been invited to lead the jury of the festival, which is funded by the government and counts many politicians and other VIPs among its attendees.

“We were all disturbed and shocked by the 15th film, The Kashmir Files, that felt to us like a propaganda, vulgar movie inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival,” Lapid said during the closing ceremony. The film dramatizes the flight of Hindus from Kashmir in the 1990s amid an armed Muslim uprising, and has galvanized Islamophobic sentiment in the country.

“You should be ashamed,” Ambassador Naor Gilon chided Lapid via tweet on Tuesday, accusing the filmmaker of abusing “the trust, respect, and warm hospitality [the International Film Festival of India] have bestowed upon” him.

“It’s insensitive and presumptuous to speak about historic events before deeply studying them and which are an open wound in India because many of those involved are still around and still paying a price,” Gilon continued, suggesting that by publicly casting aspersions on The Kashmir Files’ version of history, Lapid was encouraging Indians to question the Holocaust.

Former ambassador to India Danny Carmon agreed, calling for Lapid to “apologize for the personal comments on historical facts without sensitivity and without knowing what he is talking about.” Consul General of Israel to Midwest India Kobbi Shoshani was quick to reassure local media that Lapid’s words were “not the opinion or the attitude of the government of Israel,” declaring “we completely don’t accept such speeches.”

While Lapid clarified he meant his comment as an artistic rather than personal criticism – “I feel totally comfortable to share openly these feelings here with you on stage since the spirit of the festival can truly accept also a critical discussion, which is essential for art and for life,” he said – that did little to blunt the attacks that came his way, from Indians as well as Israelis.

Lapid was denounced as “a Hindu-hating bigot who whitewashes ethnic cleansing” and as “not less than a Nazi enabler” by Abhinav Prakash, head of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha youth movement, while Aditya Raj Kaul, executive editor of the TV9 network, questioned whether the filmmaker would “call Holocaust a propaganda [sic]” or say the same about Holocaust films Schindler’s List and The Pianist.

November 30, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Film Review, Progressive Hypocrite | , , , | 1 Comment

Russia, China slam Israel’s ‘disproportionate use of force’ against Palestinians

Press TV – November 29, 2022

Russia and China have strongly denounced Israeli regime’s excessive use of force against Palestinians amid heightened tensions in the occupied territories.

Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy slammed Israel’i regime’s “disproportionate use of force” in the occupied Palestinian territories.

He also warned that the regime’s “unilateral steps”, including expansion of settlements, seizure of Palestinian property, demolition of Palestinian-owned housings, arbitrary arrests, violation of the status quo of al-Quds’ holy sites continue to create “irreversible facts on the ground”.

Polyanskiy further noted that Israeli regime’s “arbitrary illegitimate actions reach beyond the limits of West Bank and Gaza and affect the neighboring Arab states, whose sovereignty was violated on numerous occasions”, referring to Israeli strikes against Syria and Lebanon.

The envoy also slammed Washington, Tel Aviv’s staunch ally, for repeatedly blocking UN Security Council resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The Palestinian problem is … being driven out of the international agenda by the United States, who blocked the efforts of the Quartet of international intermediaries for the Middle East and precluded adoption of any meaningful decisions by the Security Council,” he asserted.

Speaking at the same meeting, China’s Ambassador to the UN envoy, Zhang Jun, also expressed his country “deep concern” about the deteriorating security situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Referring to 2022 being the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005, Zhang said Beijing condemns “all indiscriminate attacks on civilians, deplores the grave violations against children, opposes the excessive use of force by security forces”, and called for holding the perpetrators accountable.

The ambassador also referred to dire humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel to lift its 15-year blockade on the coastal enclave.

“We call on Israel to ease restrictions on the movement of people and humanitarian, reconstruction materials into and out of the Gaza Strip, to lift the blockade on Gaza as soon as possible, and to effectively create conditions for the development of Palestinian communities in the West Bank,” said Zhang.

He also called for an end to Israeli settlement activities that he said is a roadblock in so-called two-state solution to the conflict.

“The continued expansion of settlement activities that encroach on the Palestinian land, swallow up Palestinian resources and violate Palestine’s right to self-determination have made a contiguous, independent and sovereign state of Palestine even more elusive,” he said.

“China urges Israel to cease all settlement activities and return to the right track of the two-state solution.”

Zhang urged the UNSC to “support the Palestinian people in restoring and exercising their inalienable rights”, saying “On issues concerning the future and fate of the Palestinian people, no one has the right to veto.”

Israeli forces have recently been conducting overnight raids and killings in the northern occupied West Bank, mainly in the cities of Jenin and Nablus, where new groups of Palestinian resistance fighters have been formed.

November 30, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | 2 Comments

“Jewish Power” Exists — Genocidally — in Israel

Head of the Jewish Power Party Itamar Ben-Gvir
BY KEVIN BARRETT • UNZ REVIEW • NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Dave Chappelle recently joked that there are “two words in the English language that you should never say together in sequence. And those words are ‘the’ and ‘Jews.’”

But that isn’t the only banned two-word sequence. Another is “Jewish power.” As the Israeli-born musician-philosopher Gilad Atzmon says, “Jewish power is the power to suppress discussion on Jewish power.” So when Kanye West tried to talk about Jewish power, powerful Jews united to destroy him—as if that would somehow prove that Jewish power doesn’t exist.

Jewish power in North America and Europe mainly stems from the disproportionate presence of Jews in powerful positions in media, politics, and finance—a phenomenon best explained by such traditional Jewish values as education, ambition, and ethnic nepotism.* But nobody is allowed to mention nepotism. As Chappelle said, “If they’re black it’s a gang. If they’re Italian it’s a mob. If they’re Jewish it’s a coincidence and you should neeever speak about it.”

But there is one place where Jewish Power is openly discussed: Occupied Palestine. The new kingmaker in Israel is Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right Jewish Power Party. Ben-Gvir’s party secured 14 Knesset seats in the November elections, making it the third-largest party in Israel and the intimate partner of Benyamin Netanyahu in his return to the Prime Minister’s office.

In so-called Israel, Jewish Power means genocide. The Jewish Power party openly yearns for the extermination/expulsion of all non-Jews from historic Palestine. And though that position is not materially different from the unspoken policy of all of Zionism’s leaders since the beginning of the 20th century, Ben-Gvir and his party are now saying it in public—and working to hasten the advent of the “final solution to the Palestinian problem.” As Jewish Power continues to expand its influence, the slow-motion genocide of Palestine threatens to speed up exponentially.

Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben-Gvir clearly wants to kill every Arab he can get his bloody little Zionist hands on. Ben-Gvir practically worships the Zionist terrorist Baruch Goldstein, who murdered 29 praying Palestinian Muslims and wounded another 125 in the 1994 Hebron massacre. The Jewish Power leader actually hung a portrait of Goldstein in his living room, where it remained for years until his political advisors told him to take it down.

Paradoxically, Israel’s transformation into an admittedly genocidal entity could make its genocide of Palestine more difficult.

The Zionists have gotten away with their slow motion genocide of the Palestinians by posing as victims. Now that they are proudly proclaiming themselves genocide perpetrators, the occupiers of Palestine are alienating most of the world, including their Western supporters. Even the liberal and moderate Jews who constitute a significant element of Jewish power in the West are starting to waver—and younger Western Jews are beginning to turn away from Zionism entirely.**

Tellingly, one of the most fanatically pro-Zionist Jews in the American Establishment, Thomas Friedman, now says “The Israel We Knew Is Gone.” The previous Israel that Friedman “knew” was the one that practiced deniable genocide, and Friedman was one of the leading genocide deniers. Now that the Zionist genocide of Palestine is no longer deniable, Friedman is out of a job, and he isn’t happy about it.

Friedman cites US Senator Bob Menendez, who says the triumph of Jewish Power in Israel will “seriously erode bipartisan support in Washington.” How much erosion actually occurs remains to be seen. In 2015, during the height of Netanyahu’s feud with then-president Obama, the Israeli PM drew 28 standing ovations in a 47 minute speech to the US Congress—the most abject display of treasonous sycophancy in the history of the Republic. If he returns to Washington next year as head of an openly genocidal government, will Netanyahu only get a standing ovation every five minutes instead of every two minutes? Will a few dozen of the more than 500 congress-traitors remain seated and offer only tepid applause? That might hurt Bibi’s feelings. But it won’t erect any significant obstacles to the acceleration of Zionist ethnic cleansing.

In the past, Israel’s outrageous behavior, including its repeated attacks on the United States and murders of Americans, has been covered up by the Jewish-dominated mainstream media, America’s heavily Jewish-funded politicians, and, when necessary, Jewish-dominated organized crime groups working in sync with Israeli intelligence agencies and their American assets.*** Israel launched terrorist attacks against American targets in Egypt, murdered the Kennedys, slaughtered 34 sailors and wounded 174 in its attack on the USS Liberty, and was probably the primary force behind the September 11, 2001 false flag that killed nearly 3,000 people and tricked the US into launching a two-decade war on Israel’s enemies. Israeli forces have murdered Americans including Rachel Corrie and Shireen Abu Akleh without eliciting any meaningful protests from the US government or the Jewish-power-dominated mainstream media. Since Israel has literally gotten away with murder so many times, it seems unlikely that the US would ever stop Netanyahu and Jewish Power from accelerating the genocide of Palestine.

So who will stop the genocide? The Palestinians themselves, together with their regional and global supporters. The Axis of Resistance, consisting of Islamic Iran and its allies, has developed the military and political strength to deter the Netanyahu-Jewish Power axis of genocide. First consider the military equation. If genocidal Zionist extremists were to attempt the sudden large-scale murder and expulsion of Palestinians, the combined power of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, backed by the ever-expanding rocket reach of Hezbollah and the newly hypersonic-rocket-equipped Iranian military, has the power to resist at each step up the escalation ladder. That means that Israel’s regional nuclear monopoly has been effectively neutralized by the Axis of Resistance, which has achieved a Mutual Assured Destruction style balance of power by non-nuclear means—namely through its immense fleets of rockets with conventional warheads, including the new hypersonic missiles, that are sufficiently advanced and numerous to ensure that the Zionists’ leaky Iron Dome defense could not prevent Israel from being reduced to rubble if it came to an all-out-exchange.

Under the umbrella of its military deterrent, the Axis of Resistance will likely enjoy an ever-improving geopolitical balance of forces for the foreseeable future. Iran’s mending fences with Hezbollah, joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), cementing its de facto alliances with Russia and China, and dialing down tensions with Saudi Arabia should combine to benefit the Palestinian resistance against the newly-elected ultra-genocidal Zionists in Tel Aviv. (It is hard to imagine Saudi Arabia and the other Zionist-friendly Arab regimes actively assisting Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir in any “final solution to the Palestinian problem” scenario, especially now that the Saudis seem to be declaring their independence from the Zionist-infested US empire.)

The world, if not the dying US empire, is already displaying disgust with the almost-daily murders of young Palestinians by the proudly genocidal new regime. Citizens of various nations have been visibly shunning Israelis at the World Cup in Doha; countless videos show Israeli reporters being disgustedly rebuffed by World Cup attendees. Japanese, Brazilians, Qataris, and others have made it clear that the genocidal Zionist entity is not welcome in the community of nations. The triumph of Jewish Power in Tel Aviv seems to be sparking widespread revulsion against Zionism that may evolve into a de facto boycott of all things Israeli by an ever-increasing segment of the world’s population.

So the ever-more-brazen, ever-more-fanatical Zionist project, whose end goal has always been the extermination of the Palestinians and the replacement of Palestine by “Israel,” is digging its own grave. The harder it works to destroy Palestine, the greater the forces that arise against it. As the Qur’an states, “They plot and Allah plots, and Allah is the best of planners.”

Will the collapse of the psychopathic avatar of Jewish power in Palestine stimulate Jews to meditate, repent, return to God, and use what power they may possess for good rather than evil? One can only say insha’Allah. And Allah knows best.

*For illuminating discussions of Jewish ethnic nepotism, see Philip Weiss’s “Do Jews Dominate in American Media? And So What If We Do?” and the second half of Ron Unz’s “Challenging Racial Discrimination at Harvard.”

**The presence of justice-seeking Jews in powerful positions shows that Jewish power can have positive as well as negative repercussions, as illustrated by the disproportionate Jewish presence in the civil rights struggle and opposition to the Vietnam war during the 1960s. But of course it is only the negative aspects of Jewish power that we are not supposed to talk about.

**Whitney Webb’s One Nation Under Blackmail: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime That Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein traces the history of the secret government of the United States, which is dominated by Israel-loyal denizens of the overlapping worlds of intelligence and organized crime.

Video Link

November 29, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | 1 Comment

Netanyahu hands control of police ministry to supremacist Ben Gvir

The anti-Arab Religious Zionist party will also be in charge of the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank

Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir, who heads the Religious Zionism party is held back during a special session on 13 June, 2021. (Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP – Getty Images)
The Cradle | November 25, 2022

Israel’s Likud party, led by Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, on 25 November reached its first coalition deal with the Jewish supremacist ‘Religious Zionist’ (Otzma Yehudit) party.

As per the agreement, anti-Arab zealot Itamar Ben Gvir will serve in the newly created role of National Security Minister – an expanded public security minister role – and will have a seat in the security cabinet.

“We took a big step tonight toward a full coalition agreement, toward forming a fully, fully right-wing government … I am happy that the agreement on the ministries that Otzma Yehudit will receive will allow us to realize our election promises,” Ben Gvir said in a statement.

While Likud and the Religious Zionist party have so far only signed an annex to a coalition deal, the agreement will also give Ben Gvir’s extremist group control of the ‘Development of the Negev, Galilee, and National Fortitude Ministry;’ the role of deputy minister in the Ministry of Economy; chairmanship of the Knesset’s Public Security Committee; and rotating chairmanship of the Special Committee for the Israeli Citizens’ Fund (which oversees state revenue from gas drilling).

The ‘Negev and Galilee Ministry’ will specifically be responsible for regulating the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Moreover, Ben Gvir’s freshly minted National Security Ministry will also be handed control over the West Bank Border Police, while a new “expanded southern law” will be implemented that will permit Israeli troops to shoot Palestinians “caught stealing weapons from military bases.”

During this month’s elections, the Religious Zionist party helped Netanyahu secure a commanding 64-seat majority in the Knesset.

The far-right party has on previous occasions called for the formal annexation of the entire occupied West Bank – in violation of international law – as well as the seizure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem to place it under Jewish ownership.

Ben Gvir himself has led several violent incursions into the Muslim holy site under police protection and has overseen the expulsion of Palestinian worshippers.

Weeks before the election, Ben Gvir made headlines for pulling a gun on Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, urging settlers to shoot at the locals.

He is also an outspoken proponent of creating a “deportation law”  that would target anyone who is “disloyal” to the State of Israel.

Earlier this month, Israeli media reported Ben Gvir asked for tougher conditions for Palestinian prisoners, as well as unfettered access for settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque, during early coalition talks with Likud.

On top of this, just this week, the firebrand lawmaker called for the resumption of targeted assassinations of Palestinians in the wake of a bomb attack in occupied Jerusalem.

November 25, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Reneging on Abraham Accords, Netanyahu authorises ‘soft annexation’ of West Bank

MEMO | November 24, 2022

Israel’s designate Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been accused of breaking his agreement with Arab countries that normalised relations with the Occupation State during the current coalition negotiations. The Likud leader is reported to have agreed to move the civil administration in the West Bank from Israeli Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of Finance to appease far-right member of the Knesset, Bezalel Smotrich.

Religious Zionism will be handed the civil administration portfolio, according to Haaretz. The Ministry is hugely significant for Palestinians, as it oversees coordination of Israel’s activity in the Occupied West Bank. The agreement was reached as part of the ongoing coalition talks between Netanyahu’s Likud and Religious Zionism, which stalled once more after the parties failed to reach agreement on several other key issues.

Though details of the talks are yet to be disclosed, Likud is said to have acceded to Religious Zionism’s demand for some of the powers of the civil administration, which is under the Defence Ministry. The deal will mean that Smotrich, who is an advocate of Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, will be handed power in approving Palestinian construction plans and settlement construction in Area C. Decisions around illegal outposts, illegal construction and work permits for Palestinians falls under the remit of the administration.

The biggest prize for Religious Zionism, which became the third largest party with 14 Knesset seats, is to seize control over affairs in the Occupied West Bank. Although past Israeli governments showed reluctance to annex the territory completely over concerns around backlash from the international community, Religious Zionism has no such fear.

Officials in Religious Zionism claimed, Wednesday, that the Party acceded to Netanyahu’s requests to forgo the defence portfolio in exchange for the Finance Ministry. The condition for the agreement is that the responsibility for settlements and the civil administration is transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of Finance. Under International law, the West Bank is occupied, which means that the military of the occupying power oversees the territory.

Netanyahu has been accused of reneging on his deal with the Arab States by agreeing to the transfer of the civil administration. “Moving the civil administration in the West Bank from Israeli Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of Finance will be a ‘soft annexation’ of the WB & violation of the commitment Netanyahu gave the US & UAE to suspend his annexation plan,” said Israeli journalist, Barak Ravid on Twitter. “It could harm the Israel-UAE peace treaty,” Ravid added, referring to 2020 normalisation deal.

Referred to as the “Abraham Accords,” the UAE hailed the deal as victory for the two-state solution. Abu Dhabi defended its decision to normalise relations with the Occupation State by insisting that it had prevented Israel from annexing the West Bank, a threat which Netanyahu, who was the Prime Minister at the time, had issued.

It is not clear what steps the UAE will take in response. UAE Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed (ABZ) raised his concerns over Religious Zionism becoming part of a coalition with Netanyahu, during a recent visit to Israel.

November 25, 2022 Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , , | 2 Comments

Israel to expand regional activities with US army

The Cradle | November 25, 2022

On 24 November, the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Aviv Kochavi, announced a significant expansion of joint activities with the US army in the region, indicating that Israel would work at a faster pace against the “positioning” of the Iranian government in the Middle East, according to Al-Arabiya news.

“To enhance our capabilities in the face of the challenges in the region, joint activity with CENTCOM will be significantly expanded in the near future. At the same time, the IDF will continue to act at an accelerated pace against the Iranian regime’s entrenchment in the region,” he said.

Kochavi returned from the United States on 24 November and met with US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, with whom he discussed strengthening cooperation between the two military forces, according to Al-Arabiya.

The White House announced that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Aviv Kochavi in ​​Washington and discussed several issues during the meeting.

National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement on 21 November that Sullivan “affirmed the US administration’s firm support for Israel’s security, and the two sides exchanged views on a broad range of regional security issues of mutual interest.”

“Sullivan affirmed US President Joe Biden’s commitment to ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon,” she added.

Meanwhile, The Times of Israel reported that Kochavi told US military officials that the two countries should accelerate what he described as “offensive operations plans” against Iran.

On 19 November, US Forces Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Michael Erik Kurilla announced in Bahrain that a US task force will deploy more than 100 unmanned vessels by 2023 to “help ensure maritime security” in the Gulf region’s strategic waters, according to Mehr News Agency.

“By this time next year, Task Force 59 will bring together a fleet of over 100 unmanned surface and subsurface vessels operating together, communicating together, and providing maritime domain awareness,” Kurilla announced during the annual Manama dialogue conference.

The Pentagon has also been collaborating with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other nations in West Asia over the past eight months to create a network of unmanned drones to counter Iran in the Persian Gulf.

November 25, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism | , , , | 2 Comments

US concessions to Palestine always work in Israel’s favour

Joe Biden and Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, West Bank on July 15, 2022. [Palestinian Presidency – Anadolu Agency]
By Ramona Wadi | MEMO | November 24, 2022

Further proof of US President Joe Biden reneging on his electoral promises with regard to Palestine is the ongoing refusal to reopen the US Consulate in occupied Jerusalem for use by Palestinians, and opting instead for creating a new role of Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs, which has been given to Hady Amr. Amr served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, and is known mostly for insisting that Israel devises ways to strengthen the Palestinian Authority; for Israel’s benefit, of course.

Equally clear is that PA Leader Mahmoud Abbas is acquiescing to US demands, despite his lamentations that the Biden administration is also employing the waiting tactic, which has stalled Palestinians’ political trajectory for decades. The PA’s delight at Biden’s election win was just a brief interlude; it soon became clear that his predecessor Donald Trump’s legacy would not be rescinded, apart from the US decision to allocate some financial support for Palestinian humanitarian needs.

According to Axios quoting an unnamed US State Department official, “The Washington-based Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs will engage closely with the Palestinians and their leadership and, together with Ambassador [Thomas] Nides and his team, continue to engage with Israel on Palestinian-related issues.”

While Israeli media is describing the move as an upgrade of US-Palestinian relations, diplomatic engagement between the US and the PA remains one that prioritises colonial collaboration, given that despite promises to bring the US back to the fold of international consensus regarding the two-state compromise, Washington remains tied to Trump’s political legacy. The international community has also aligned itself with the Abraham Accords, since the plans mirror mainstream engagement with Israel. The PA, on the other hand, simply bleats its opposition and backs down before accepting concessions in return for its subjugation.

Amr will be working under Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs who, last September, stated that improving economic conditions in the occupied West Bank was crucial to “sustain improvement in security conditions.” Israel’s security, that is. Diplomatic relations with the PA, as far as the US is concerned, are only valid as long as it means that security coordination will remain “sacred”, as Abbas puts it. Outside of the security coordination parameters, the PA is a main player that only exists as an entity that fails to take political steps against Israel’s colonial expansion.

The US has stated repeatedly its purported commitment to reopen its consulate in Jerusalem, yet appointing Amr as special representative is another indication that the Palestinian request will go unheeded for the time being. Hence the creation of a role that purportedly champions Palestinian affairs and diplomatic relations with Washington. Yet another “concession” to Palestine that works in Israel’s favour.

Former US Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations, and former Ambassador to Israel, Martyn Indyk described the US move as “a signal to the Palestinians of their importance”. Yet, the US does things differently with Israel. It doesn’t offer concessions to Israel; it offers military, financial and economic support, while Palestinians remain tethered to a humanitarian project that only serves Israel’s expansionist plans and interests. Importance does not necessarily have a positive connotation. In this case, the Palestinians’ “importance” is not directed towards their political rights, but the means through which Israel and the US can further their diplomatic engagement behind a facade that generates less criticism and fewer allegations of American bias towards the colonial-occupation state.

November 24, 2022 Posted by | Corruption, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | Leave a comment

Israel pushes US on military action against Iran

RT | November 23, 2022

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi has called on the United States to develop new “operational plans” to take on the Iranian military, urging top US defense and intelligence officials to “accelerate” joint efforts to counter the Islamic Republic.

Kochavi held a series of meetings with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and CIA Director William Burns, the IDF said in a press release on Tuesday, noting that he discussed the “Iranian threat” with each of the officials he spoke with since landing in the US on Sunday morning.

“We are at a critical point in time which requires the acceleration of the operational plans and the cooperation against Iran and its proxies in the region,” Kochavi said after the meetings. “On the one hand, Iran is under many economic, military and internal pressures, and on the other hand continues to advance the nuclear project.”

During his sit-down with General Milley, the two officials discussed “strengthening cooperation between the [US and Israeli] armies against threats in the region, chief among them the Iranian nuclear threat,” according to the IDF. Sullivan, too, said the White House would carry out its pledge to “prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

While Israel has offered little evidence supporting the existence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, officials have claimed for decades that Tehran is on the cusp of developing its own bomb. The Islamic Republic has denied any plans to build nuclear weapons – with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issuing a fatwa (religious decree) against all weapons of mass destruction in 2003 – and passed numerous inspections by the UN’s nuclear watchdog under a major deal signed with world powers in 2015.

However, after Washington unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal under President Donald Trump, Tehran has steadily scaled back its compliance, boosting its enrichment of uranium and building new advanced centrifuges while demanding an end to US sanctions. Iran has nonetheless insisted that such steps do not indicate it is seeking a nuclear weapon, despite continued allegations from the United States and Israel.

November 22, 2022 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , | 31 Comments

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