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AIPAC’s massive spending in US elections exposed in new report

Al Mayadeen | October 25, 2024

The Intercept published on Friday an investigation into the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) unprecedented spending strategy in US congressional elections.

This investigation reveals that AIPAC, a historically influential pro-“Israel” lobby, has transformed its tactics from traditional behind-the-scenes lobbying to direct financial involvement in political campaigns.

Ahead of the 2024 cycle, AIPAC announced plans to spend an astonishing $100 million to shape the congressional landscape, making it one of the most influential spenders in US elections.

According to The Intercept’s findings, AIPAC’s newly formed political action committees have injected millions of dollars into over 80% of congressional races in 2024, targeting both Republican and Democratic candidates.

The group’s total involvement includes over $17 million for Republicans and $28 million for Democrats, thus ensuring that pro-“Israel” voices dominate both sides of the aisle.

In the lead-up to the 2022 midterms, AIPAC’s spending marked a new chapter for the organization, which had previously steered clear of direct campaign contributions in favor of issue-based lobbying.

Now, AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has fueled independent expenditures to the tune of $41.9 million, strategically deploying funds through high-impact ads and get-out-the-vote efforts.

While AIPAC has supported candidates across party lines, it has also poured millions into defeating progressive candidates who are critical of US-“Israel” relations, particularly within the Democratic Party.

For instance, AIPAC directed $11.7 million to one race in Missouri against Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), a prominent critic, making it one of the most expensive campaigns AIPAC has backed. This financial reach indicates AIPAC’s evolving strategy of reshaping the electoral landscape to stifle critiques of “Israel.”

The PAC has concentrated resources on high-stakes races like those of Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), leading to some of the most expensive Democratic primaries in recent history.

Together, AIPAC’s funds for these high-profile races exceeded $30 million, intensifying its campaign against progressive members of Congress. In a notable victory, AIPAC-backed candidates prevailed over several progressive incumbents who had called for greater scrutiny of US aid to “Israel.”

The Intercept’s investigation further highlights how AIPAC has also partnered with other pro-“Israel” groups, like the Democratic Majority for Israel, and is backed by prominent billionaire donors, some of whom have previously supported former President Donald Trump.

In one example of the far-reaching impact, AIPAC spent $5.1 million against a single congressional candidate in California — a considerable investment, particularly as “Israel” was barely a topic in the race.

The piece concludes that AIPAC’s recent involvement could reshape not only future congressional races but also the larger discourse on US policy in the Middle East, sparking further debate over the role of big money in American politics and the growing influence of special interest groups in shaping foreign policy.

“AIPAC — like every other corporate super PAC — represents the most broken parts of our campaign finance system that gives a handful of billionaires a vehicle to advance their interests at the expense of millions of everyday people,” Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Democrats, which has recruited and backed candidates against AIPAC, told The Intercept.

“If we want to stop rising costs, protect our communities, and prevent another endless war abroad then we need to take big money out of politics once and for all.”

October 25, 2024 Posted by | Corruption, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , | Leave a comment

“Israel” Is Top Suspect in Turkish Terror Attack

By Kevin Barrett with extensive translated quotes from Al-Jazeera Arabic | October 24, 2024

Who was behind Wednesday’s terrorist attack on Turkey’s leading aerospace company? According to reports, at least five people were killed, and 22 others wounded, when two terrorists attacked the facility with explosives and gunfire before being “neutralized.”

First clue: Turkish president Erdogan “was holding talks in Russia with Vladimir Putin at the time of the attack.” That suggests that one or more members of the “collective West”—in other words, the Zionist-occupied US empire—probably orchestrated the attack as a rebuke or warning to Turkey and Erdogan. And by targeting Turkey’s leading aerospace facility, someone was presumably sending a message of disapproval regarding activities related to that facility: “We know what you’re up to, so don’t even think about it.”

The attack was not only timed to coincide with Erdogan’s meeting with Putin, but also came during the apparent lead-up to an Israeli attack on Iran that is expected to ignite a major regional war. The Turkish government, like its close ally Qatar, is a major supporter of Hamas, whose leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh have been martyred by the Zionists, kindling even stronger global support for the resistance group. At the same time, Israel exercises covert influence in Turkey due to its penetration of the deep state and armed forces with Donmeh (satanic Jewish) traitors.

Israel, which has probably conducted more terror attacks (against both allies and enemies) than all of the world’s other 190+ nations put together, is obviously the leading suspect in the Ankara slaughter. Everyone familiar with the region knows this, but most only say so with hints and whispers for fear of being next on the Zionist terror target list. And though Al-Jazeera English has ignored the elephant in the room, Al-Jazeera Arabic has published an interesting analysis by Saeed al-Haj that discretely echoes the consensus of regional experts. Highlights:

The terrorist attack on the Aerospace Industries Company in Ankara came at a sensitive time in Turkish domestic politics, as well as regional developments, especially the possibility of expanding the “Israeli” aggression in the region, which carries many implications and refers to political, military and security messages to Ankara from several parties.

… the Turkish president has been talking for weeks about the need to “strengthen the internal front” to protect Turkey from external dangers that have begun to threaten it with “Israel’s expansionist policies in the region”, as he put it, and the increasing possibility of a regional war according to Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

… The attack targeted the largest aircraft manufacturing company in Turkey, owned by the Turkish Armed Forces and the government, which is working on developing the first domestically-made fighter jet, in addition to other projects.

… We recall Erdogan’s statement about the necessity of Turkey strengthening itself in the field of defense industries “so that Israel cannot do what it is doing now,” recalling his country’s military contribution to both Libya and the South Caucasus, and the possibility of repeating this in Palestine, a statement to which the occupation’s foreign minister responded by threatening Erdogan with “the fate of Saddam Hussein.”

This external dimension is also reinforced by the timing of the attack, which coincided with the Turkish president’s participation in the BRICS summit in Kazan, which many view as an economic bloc competing with or alternative to the G7, as it includes countries such as Russia, China and India, which Ankara recently announced its quest for membership. It is important to note the similarity between the name of the city hosting the summit (Kazan) and the Ankara suburb where the targeted company is located (Kazan), regardless of the degree of deliberateness or coincidence in that. (Emphasis mine -KB).

Because Turkey’s pursuit of BRICS membership, in addition to membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, comes in the context of unstable relations with the West, in light of the stagnation of EU accession negotiations and US sanctions due to the Russian S-400 defense system deal and Washington’s procrastination in completing arms export deals (recently F-16 fighters), Turkish-Western tension over the war on Gaza, and Turkey’s apprehension about the role of Greece and Cyprus in any scenario of this kind, this revives the debate about “Ankara changing its direction from the West to the East.

Publicly, Erdogan has blamed the Kurdish separatist terror group PKK and ordered his air force to bomb PKK sites in Syria and Iraq in response to the terror attack. But what most Americans don’t realize is that Turkey is bombing US-Israeli proxies! The PKK-linked Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), directly controlled by the Washington-Tel Aviv axis, controls a quarter of Syria, including its most agriculturally productive and oil-rich regions. Likewise the YPG in Iraq is a Zio-American mercenary force. Both “Kurdish” Israeli-American occupations ship oil to Israel against the wishes of the governments and peoples of Iraq and Syria, and reap massive profits that rightly belong to the legitimate Syrian and Iraqi governments (both of which have ordered US occupation forces to leave).

So Turkey just bombed an American-Israeli occupation army, killing 12 people in Syria and a still-unknown number in Iraq. It is not known whether the Turkish bombings targeting the occupiers of Syria and Iraq killed any of the American or Zionist occupiers.

Conclusion: The likely US-Israeli attack on the Turkish aerospace facility, and the Turkish retaliation against US-Israeli proxies in Iraq and Syria, suggests that when Israel ignites a massive regional war by attacking Iran, Turkey will side with Iran (and Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and indeed the people of the region). But whether it will do so boldly and openly, or in a more subtle and covert manner, remains to be seen.

October 24, 2024 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, War Crimes, Wars for Israel | , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli bombing kills, wounds dozens in Gaza refugee center massacre

Al Mayadeen | October 24, 2024

The Israeli occupation’s indiscriminate and violent bombardment of Gaza continues, with 17 Palestinians, including 9 children, killed Thursday after airstrikes targeted the Martyrs of Nuseirat School in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, an Al Mayadeen correspondent reported.

The school was sheltering displaced civilians fleeing the Israeli onslaught on the besieged Strip. The attack also left 52 others injured, many critically.

In another incident, Israeli artillery bombarded the eastern part of al-Bureij refugee camp, also located in central Gaza. In northern Gaza, the Israeli occupation forces intensified their attacks on civilians, including airstrikes on the al-Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, and refugee tents at Abu Hussein School in Jabalia refugee camp.

These intensive attacks come amid a 19-day-long siege on northern Gaza, further devastating the population deprived of basic necessities, such as food and medicine.

Israeli drone fires missile on Civil Defense team

The Palestinian Civil Defense reported that its teams were targeted on Wednesday in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, as part of what they described as an Israeli campaign to forcibly displace residents and block humanitarian aid.

“Yesterday evening, we were surprised by Israeli drone activity in the area, warning our teams and medical staff to immediately abandon their vehicles and proceed to the Indonesian Hospital, where Israeli forces are stationed, and access is only allowed after inspection,” the Directorate of Civil Defense said in a statement.

As the crews attempted to evacuate, an Israeli drone fired a missile directly at them, wounding three personnel. The only fire truck available to serve the northern region was also hit by artillery shells, completely destroying it and rendering firefighting efforts impossible in the area. The Directorate of Civil Defense announced that its operations in northern Gaza had been halted entirely.

Meanwhile, in southern Gaza, several civilians were injured when an Israeli airstrike targeted a motorcycle in the al-Tanour area, east of Rafah. In another strike, three Palestinians were killed and others were wounded when Israeli forces bombed a house in the Ma’an area, east of Khan Younis.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s daily report, Israeli forces committed four massacres against families in Gaza within the last 24 hours, resulting in 55 martyrs and 132 injuries arriving at hospitals.

The Israeli occupation forces have been relentlessly bombarding Gaza for over a year, an ongoing aggression has killed 42,847 Palestinians and wounded 100,544 others, mostly women and children, with thousands still missing under the rubble.

IOF besiege Jabalia for the 20th consecutive day 

Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in northern Gaza reported that occupation forces opened fire from helicopters on the Jabalia camp, resulting in injuries among several civilians in the area. Meanwhile, Israeli artillery and drones targeted the streets of the Beit Lahia project.

According to our correspondent, displaced individuals were also injured in Jabalia al-Nazla due to an Israeli bombardment that targeted them.

The occupation forces continued their raids on homes in the northern Gaza Strip, targeting them with machine guns, artillery, and drone strikes. They also attacked shelters while blocking the entry of humanitarian aid, forcing families to flee the area.

Following the famine in the northern Gaza Strip, our correspondent reported a similar situation in the central and southern regions, highlighting the ongoing Israeli blockade and the depletion of all goods, including flour.

IOF prevent Civil Sefense from working

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Civil Defense announced a complete suspension of its services in northern Gaza, highlighting that Israeli occupation forces detained five of its members in the Sheikh Zayed area and abducted them to an unknown location. Additionally, the occupation has detained at least 200 Palestinians from Jabalia camp.

The Civil Defense stated that its operations had completely halted in the northern governorate due to the disastrous situation, leaving citizens in the North without any humanitarian services.

In this context, the Civil Defense announced that its crews were directly targeted on Wednesday in the Beit Lahia Project area. This attack is seen as part of an Israeli strategy to empty northern areas from citizens and to obstruct all efforts to secure humanitarian or medical assistance.

Israeli drones were hovering over the area where Civil Defense and medical services teams were stationed in the Beit Lahia Project, demanding that they vacate their vehicles immediately and proceed to the Indonesian Hospital. The occupation army is stationed there and only allows passage after thorough inspection and search.

The statement noted that as the crews attempted to evacuate the area, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile directly at them, injuring three members with various wounds. Additionally, the only fire truck providing services in the northern areas was targeted with artillery shells.

October 24, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

UN rapporteur: Incitement against six journalists in Gaza sounds like a death sentence

Gaza correspondent Enes al-Sharif, who is targeted by Israeli Army Spokesperson Avichay Adraee, reports in Gaza City, Gaza on August 13, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency]
Palestinian Information Center – October 24, 2024

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, has condemned the Israeli occupation army’s direct incitement against six Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

Albanese said in a statement on Thursday that Israel’s declaration that six Al-Jazeera journalists are members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad “sounds like a death sentence.”

“These six Palestinians are among the last journalists surviving Israel’s onslaught in Gaza,” the UN rapporteur added.

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) claimed on Wednesday that the six journalists working for Al-Jazeera in Gaza Strip are “terrorists” affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The accused journalists are Anas Al-Sharif, Alaa Salama, Hussam Shabat, Ashraf Al-Sarraj, Ismail Abu Omar, and Talal Al-Urouqi. Most of them have already been targeted and attacked by the IOF over the past months.

For its part, Al-Jazeera confirmed that the Israeli accusations are “fabricated” and “part of a broader pattern of hostility” against the channel, stressing that “these allegations represent a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in Gaza to hide the harsh reality of the brutal war going on in the besieged Strip.”

October 24, 2024 Posted by | Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , | Leave a comment

Israel attacks al-Mayadeen’s office in Beirut

Press TV – October 23, 2024

The Israeli regime has carried out an airstrike against the office of Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network in the country’s capital Beirut.

The attack struck the building in the city’s Jnah neighborhood on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding five others, including a child, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

The network said it had fortunately evacuated the building last October after the regime notably escalated its deadly attacks against Lebanon.

Reacting to the attack, al-Mayadeen denounced the regime for targeting a well-known media outlet, but stressed that it would continue to report the truth amid the escalation.

Mahmoud al-Mardawi, a senior official with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, also condemned the atrocity, hailing the network’s “pioneering work in revealing the truth.”

“Al-Mayadeen, which dismantles the narrative of Zionist sympathizers, is a fighter channel in confronting the enemy, which seeks to cover up the truth and present misleading narratives,” he added.

The Palestinian resistance Mujahideen Movement also condemend the attack, considering it to be “part of the systematic Zionist campaign targeting honorable free media outlets.”

The attack “is clear evidence that the channel is on the right path, and it stands as a badge of honor and pride for this resistance channel,” it noed.

“Despite the unlimited support the Zionist narrative receives from Western media machinery, the enemy has failed to suppress or obscure the voice and image of truth.”

As part of its campaign against the outspoken network, the regime ordered suspension of its operations in the occupied Palestinian territories last November, identifying it as a “threat to Israel’s security.”

In August, the regime renewed the ban and ordered confiscation of the network’s equipment and blocking of its websites.

Since October 7 last year, when it launched a genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and intensified its deadly aggression on Lebanon, the regime has been pursuing a policy of blocking media coverage that could expose its atrocities.

Ever since, it has killed more than 170 journalists in the coastal sliver and Lebanon, including al-Mayadeen correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Me’mari.

The duo were killed in an Israeli bombing moments after completing a live broadcast in southern Lebanon.

Last month, the network also announced the death of its journalist Hadi al-Sayyed in an Israeli airstrike that had targeted his home in southern Lebanon.

In January, the Committee to Protect Journalists, a human rights and press freedom group, said the war on Gaza “is more deadly to journalists than any previous war.”

It said the brutal military onslaught had, until that month, “damaged or destroyed an estimated 48 media facilities” in the coastal sliver.

Reporters Without Borders has also denounced the regime for intentionally targeting Palestinian and Lebanese journalists.

October 24, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Bolivia denies Israel accusations of hosting Iran, Hezbollah bases

MEMO | October 23, 2024

Bolivia has denied accusations that it is hosting Iranian and Hezbollah bases within its borders, urging South American nations not to fall for such allegations and become divided.

In a virtual press conference on Monday, Israel’s Ambassador to Costa Rica, Mijal Gur Aryeh, stated that there are “other countries in the region that have Iranian and Hezbollah bases, particularly Venezuela and Bolivia”, without providing evidence or specific details on such an allegation.

Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry yesterday denied those accusations, however, saying in a statement that “Bolivia is a pacifist state that promotes the culture of peace, which is why it has constitutionally assumed the prohibition of installing foreign military bases in its territory.”

Calling Aryeh’s words “irresponsible, unfounded, and self-serving”, the Ministry called on other South American countries “not to fall into these provocations that seek to affect the relations of brotherhood between states and peoples of the region.”

It asserted that the Ambassador’s comments ”seek to generate confrontation between Latin American states, governments and peoples, against the objective outlined in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) of consolidating Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace”.

October 24, 2024 Posted by | Deception, Islamophobia | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brave IDF soldier explains he had no choice but to shoot terrifying toddler

What would you do in that sort of danger?

By Laura and Normal Island News | October 21, 2024

Alarming footage has emerged of an orphaned Palestinian girl, about seven years old, carrying her injured sister over her shoulder for two kilometres. The barefoot girl was trying to get her sister to one of the Hamas strongholds that are sometimes referred to as “hospitals”.

Worryingly, the girls were escorted to the nearest hospital, however, there is a reasonable chance Israel will bomb it again. It’s one of the great failures of this conflict that some hospitals in Gaza have not been fully destroyed. It leaves open the risk that injured toddlers could get their bullet wounds treated and grow up to throw stones at tanks.

An IDF spokesperson confirmed one of Israel’s brave soldiers shot the toddler in self-defence after fearing for his life. He kindly explained that none of this would be happening if the girls had simply released the hostages. If anyone kicks up a fuss online, simply type “RELEASE THE HOSTAGES” to show you have the moral high ground. If this doesn’t work, politely explain there are no innocents in Gaza.

Clearly, these children don’t have the resilience of the IDF soldiers who are taken off the battlefield by bee stings, or the US college students who feel unsafe whenever someone suggests genocide is wrong. If those girls spent a day in the shoes of a Zionist college student, they would know what fear is like.

Everyone knows Palestinians are cowardly by nature because they hide from Israel’s bombs and say things like “Please stop killing us”. Disturbingly, some genocide objectors get traction on social media, leaving Israel with no choice but to assassinate them. Thank god Musk and Zuckerberg always hand over that location data.

Israel has every right to target civilians, as Matthew Miller has made perfectly clear. However, Israel doesn’t kill every civilian and this proves this can’t be genocide.

In a generous act of mercy, Israel has decided to let some of the people in Jabalia refugee camp live because exterminating them was proving controversial.

After cutting off food and water for weeks, demolishing buildings with families inside, leading blindfolded men towards mass graves, and sniping children in the leg then blowing them up with their rescuers, Israel had attracted a baffling amount of criticism.

I’m told there were so many casualties that hospitals were running out of shrouds for the dead, therefore, Israel gave Palestinians the option of being ethnically cleansed instead of exterminated.

Israel sensibly decided that any civilian unwilling or unable to evacuate is fair game. It attacked those who followed evacuation orders too, but this is fine because it allowed them to evacuate. What Israel did when they evacuated is an entirely separate matter. I’m sure it will be fine when they explain this at the International Criminal Court.

October 24, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

Leaked report finds Israel targeting UN troops in Lebanon, injured several with white phosphorus

The Cradle | October 23, 2024

Israel’s military has attacked UNIFIL troops deployed on the Lebanon–Israel border a dozen times, including possibly with white phosphorus, the Financial Times (FT) reported on 22 October.

According to a confidential report prepared by a country contributing troops to the UN mission, Israeli forces forcibly entered a clearly marked UN base and are suspected of using the incendiary chemical white phosphorus, injuring 15 UN soldiers.

Israeli forces began targeting UN troops shortly after launching ground operations across the border into Lebanon on 1 October.

UNIFIL has called the attacks “deliberate” and a “flagrant violation of international law.”

UN troops, which come from 50 separate countries, have rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that they evacuate their border posts to clear the way for current Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.

Israel hopes to establish a so-called security zone and push Hezbollah fighters some 30 kilometers away from the border to positions behind the Litani River.

The confidential report viewed by FT includes photographs documenting the extent of the damage done to bunkers that shelter UN troops, perimeter walls, and observation towers at several bases.

On Sunday, an Israeli bulldozer deliberately demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position in Marwahin.

On 10 October, two UN troops were injured when an Israeli Merkava tank opened fire and struck an observation tower at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura on the Lebanese coast. The same day, Israeli forces fired at a UN bunker sheltering Italian troops in Labbouneh.

The report says the Israeli military first surveilled the area with drones and destroyed the bunker’s cameras before attacking.

Israeli forces also fired several munitions, which landed near a base and emitted “smoke of suspected white phosphorus” into it.

The FT notes that Israel has used white phosphorus in Lebanon throughout the past year. Its use is unlawful in populated areas under international law.

UN troops were deployed to the Lebanon–Israel border following Israel’s first invasion of Lebanon in 1978. Repeated invasion attempts were made in 1982, 2006, and 2024.

Israeli troops occupied large areas of southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000 before armed resistance by Hezbollah forced them to withdraw.

October 23, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

The Hidden Motives Behind Hochstein’s Lebanon Visit and the Strategic Bet on the Resistance

By Zoulfikar Daher | Al-Manar | October 23, 2024

The first visit of US envoy Amos Hochstein to Beirut since the outbreak of Israel’s large-scale aggression against Lebanon came approximately three weeks after the Israeli enemy expanded its operations across southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, and even the southern suburbs of Beirut and the capital itself.

Prior to his visit, speculation arose about its true purpose: Was Hochstein bringing concrete solutions, or was he simply testing the waters and assessing the political landscape? Some questioned whether he was delivering Israeli demands aimed at pressuring Lebanon into submission. Did this move stem from American initiative alone, or was it coordinated with “Israel” as part of its efforts to impose terms? Alternatively, could it signal Israel’s realization that the conflict with the resistance is proving more difficult than anticipated, given the losses it has suffered along the Lebanese-Palestinian border?

There is a view that the Israeli enemy, recognizing the challenge posed by the resistance, is attempting to de-escalate while still hoping to extract some benefit from its tactical strikes. However, these strikes have done little to alter the situation. The resistance remains steadfast, its retaliation capabilities growing and reaching deeper into Israeli territory, while its capacity to manage the conflict remains strong.

Fearing that Israel’s “achievements” on the ground might slip away, the US administration appears to have dispatched Hochstein to reopen negotiations. The strategy follows a familiar pattern: escalate demands to the maximum in hopes of gaining concessions, all while threatening continued aggression.

Simultaneously, Israeli attacks intensified in various areas, particularly in the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahiyeh). The timing of these escalations, paired with Hochstein’s visit, was no coincidence. “Israel” aimed to showcase its destructive capabilities, resorting to psychological warfare by targeting buildings associated with the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, although these were largely unoccupied. This was intended to send a message to the Lebanese leadership receiving the American envoy. The strikes continued the following night, extending to Al-Awzai and areas near Beirut’s governmental hospital. But the question remains: Can these aggressive moves impose Israel’s conditions on Lebanon?

Hochstein reportedly presented amendments to UN Resolution 1701, which included:

• Expanding the role of international forces and allowing them to operate without restrictions.
• Pushing the resistance several kilometers north of the Litani River, with some reports suggesting as far as the Owali River near Sidon.
• Assigning oversight of the resolution’s implementation to US, British, or German forces.
• Granting “Israel” unrestricted access to Lebanese airspace for supervision.

These terms essentially aim to hand “Israel” significant control, leaving Lebanon, its army, people, and resistance with little ability to defend national sovereignty. Some media and political voices have described this proposal as nothing less than a “surrender document.”

However, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to Resolution 1701, with no amendments. He emphasized that this is the final opportunity for the US to intervene diplomatically and halt the war. Berri made clear that Lebanon stands united on Resolution 1701, and that “Israel” must respect it. He anticipated that Hochstein would push Israel’s maximum demands but remained confident that nothing could be imposed on Lebanon. “Israel” has failed to achieve its objectives on the battlefield, and it will not succeed through diplomacy either.

Hochstein’s visit, it seems, was primarily a test of Lebanon’s resolve—an attempt to gauge whether the country, particularly the resistance, might offer concessions under pressure. But Lebanon’s leadership, backed by its steadfast resistance, will not yield. Neither the US, nor the Zionist entity, nor their allies can force Lebanon into submission.

Contrary to some perceptions, “Israel” is not in a position of strength. Those following the situation behind the scenes of Hochstein’s visit might believe “Israel” can impose its will, but the facts tell a different story. For over three weeks, it has faced setbacks along the border with Lebanon, failing to make significant gains or take control of any Lebanese towns. These developments underscore that the US-Israeli pressure campaign is shallow and ineffective against the united front of Lebanon, its resistance, and its people.

Ultimately, the outcome of this conflict will be decided on the battlefield, where the resistance, as emphasized by its leader, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah (may he rest in peace), continues to hold the upper hand. The realities on the ground, both day and night, will shape the political and diplomatic consequences, not the other way around. The battlefield will determine the fate of this war, and indeed, the future of the entire region.

October 23, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Iran’s Bomb Is Real — And It’s Here

For months now, the world has focused on the danger of nuclear war between the United States and Russia. But Iran and Israel could beat them to it.

By Scott Ritter | Consortium News | October 20, 2024

The outbreak of conflict between Iran and Israel appears to have changed Iran’s stance against possessing a nuclear weapon as Israel is poised to strike after Teheran’s retaliation with two major attacks of drones and ballistic and cruise missiles.

Iran has issued at least three statements through official channels since April that has opened the door to the possibility of religious edicts against Iran acquiring nuclear weapons being rescinded.

The circumstances which Iran has said must exist to justify this reversal appear to have now been met.

No mere threats, these statements issued by Teheran should be viewed as declaratory policy indicating Iran has already made the decision to obtain a nuclear weapon; that the means to do so are already in place and that this decision can be implemented in a matter of days once the final political order is given.

The religious fatwa against possessing nuclear weapons was issued in October 2003 by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It reads:

“We believe that adding to nuclear weapons and other types of weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical weapons and biological weapons, are a serious threat to humanity… [w]e consider the use of these weapons to be haram (forbidden), and the effort to protect mankind from this great disaster is everyone’s duty.”

However, the Shia faith holds that fatwas are not inherently permanent, and Islamic jurists can reinterpret the scripture in accord with the needs of time.

Shortly after Iran launched Operation True Promise against Israel in April, Ahmad Haghtalab, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander responsible for the security for Iran’s nuclear sites, declared:

“If [Israel] wants to exploit the threat of attacking our country’s nuclear centers as a tool to put pressure on Iran, it is possible and conceivable to revise the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear doctrine and policies to deviate from previously declared considerations.”

In May, Kamal Kharrazi, a former foreign minister who advises the Supreme Leader, declared: “We [Iran] have no decision to build a nuclear bomb, but should Iran’s existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine.”

And earlier this month Iranian lawmakers called for a review of Iran’s defense doctrine to consider adopting nuclear weapons as the risk of escalation with Israel continues to grow. The legislators noted that the Supreme Leader can reconsider the fatwa against nuclear weapons on the grounds that the circumstances have changed.

These statements, seen together, constitute a form of declaratory policy which, given the sources involved, imply that a political decision has already been made to build a nuclear bomb once the national security criterion has been met.

Has the Capability

Iran has for some time now possessed the ability to manufacture and weaponize nuclear explosive devices. Using highly enriched uranium, Iran could construct in a matter of days a simple gun-type weapon that could be used in a ballistic missile warhead.

In June Iran informed the IAEA that it was installing some 1,400 advanced centrifuges at its Fordow facility. Based upon calculations derived from Iran’s on-hand stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium hexaflouride (the feedstock used in centrifuge-based enrichment), Iran could produce enough highly enriched uranium (i.e., above 90 percent) to manufacture 3-5 uranium-based weapons in days.

All that is needed is the political will to do so. It appears that Iran has crossed this threshold, meaning that the calculus behind any Israeli and/or U.S. attack on Iran has been forever changed.

Iran has made no bones about this new reality. In February, the former chief of the Atomic Energy Organization, Ali-Akbar Salehi, stated that Iran has crossed “all the scientific and technological nuclear thresholds” to build a nuclear bomb, noting that Iran had accumulated all the necessary components for a nuclear weapon, minus the highly enriched uranium.

Two weeks later, Javad Karimi Ghodousi, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, declared that if the supreme leader “issues permission, we would be a week away from testing the first [nuclear bomb]“, later adding that Iran “needs half a day or maximum a week to build a nuclear warhead.”

A simple gun-type nuclear weapon would not need to be tested — the “Little Boy“ device dropped on Hiroshima by the U.S. on Aug. 6, 1945 was a gun-type device that was deemed so reliable that it could be used operationally without any prior testing.

Iran would need between 75 and 120 pounds of highly enriched uranium per gun-type device (the more sophisticated the design, the less material would be needed). Regardless, the payload of the Fatah-1 solid-fueled hypersonic missile, which was used in the Oct. 1 attack on Israel, is some 900 pounds—more than enough capacity to carry a gun-type uranium weapon.

Given the fact that the ballistic missile shield covering Israel was unable to intercept the Fatah-1 missile, if Iran were to build, deploy, and employ a nuclear-armed Fatah-1 missile against Israel, there is a near 100 percent certainty that it would hit its target.

Iran would need 3-5 nuclear weapons of this type to completely destroy Israel’s ability to function as a modern industrial nation.

Consequences of Pulling Out of Iran Nuclear Deal

This situation came about after President Donald Trump in 2017 withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — the JCPOA, better known as the Iran nuclear deal. The driving factor behind the negotiation of the JCPOA, which took place under President Barack Obama, was to shut down Iran’s pathway to a nuclear weapon. As Obama said,

“Put simply, under this deal, there is a permanent prohibition on Iran ever having a nuclear weapons program and a permanent inspections regime that goes beyond any previous inspection regime in Iran. This deal provides the IAEA the means to make sure Iran isn’t doing so, both through JCPOA-specific verification tools, some of which last up to 25 years, and through the Additional Protocol that lasts indefinitely. In addition, Iran made commitments in this deal that include prohibitions on key research and development activities that it would need to design and construct a nuclear weapon. Those commitments have no end date.”

Early on in his administration, in June 2021, after Trump had already pulled the U.S. out of the deal, President Joe Biden declared that Iran would “never get a nuclear weapon on my watch.”

The director of U.S. National Intelligence said in a statement released Oct. 11 that, “We assess that the Supreme Leader has not made a decision to resume the nuclear weapons program that Iran suspended in 2003.”

In the aftermath of Trump’s precipitous decision to withdraw from the JCPOA, Iran took actions which underscored that it no longer felt constrained by any JCPOA limits.

Iran has expanded its nuclear program by installing advanced centrifuge cascades used to enrich uranium and scaled back International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring of its nuclear program. In short, Iran has positioned itself to produce a nuclear weapon on short order.

While the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) currently believes that the Supreme Leader has not made the political decision to do so, an assessment published in July contains a telling omission from past assessments of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

The February 2024 ODNI assessment noted that, “Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities necessary to produce a testable nuclear device.”

However, this statement went missing from the July 2024 assessment, a clear indication that the U.S. intelligence community, due in large part to the reduction in IAEA inspection activity, lacks the insight into critical technical aspects of Iran’s nuclear-related industries.

Senator Lindsey Graham, after reading the classified version of the July 2024 ODNI report on Iran, said he was “very worried” that “Iran will in the coming weeks or months possess a nuclear weapon.”

What Confronts the US & Israel

This is the situation confronting Israel and the United States as they decide on an Israeli retaliation against Iran for the Oct. 1 missile attack.

Iran has indicated that any attack against its nuclear or oil and gas production capabilities would be viewed as existential in nature. That could trigger the reversal of the fatwa and the deployment of nuclear weapons within days of such a decision being made.

President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that he knows when and where Israel will strike but refused to say. Leaked U.S. intelligence documents in recent days showed the limits of U.S. knowledge of exactly what Israel plans to do. 

The United States and nuclear-power Israel have long said that a nuclear-armed Iran was a red line which could not be crossed without severe consequences, namely massive military intervention designed to destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

That line has been crossed — Iran is a de facto nuclear power, even if it hasn’t taken the final steps to complete the construction of a nuclear bomb.

The consequences of attacking Iran could prove fatal to the attackers and possibly the whole region.

October 23, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , | Leave a comment

Joe Biden Allowed His Friend Bibi to Destroy His Presidency and Legacy

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | October 22, 2024

In 2020, amid lockdowns, Joe Biden prevailed in the election, running his campaign from his home. Biden was clearly experiencing significant cognitive decline, so the American people were presented with a carefully choreographed message that a vote for Biden was a return to normalcy.

Since Donald Trump descended the golden escalator, Americans have been subject to a non-stop barrage from establishment media and politicians wailing that we are in an existential battle for our country’s soul. We were told Russia hacked the election, Trump was Hitler, Democracy was on the ballot, and the sitting president was bowing to dictators around the world.

But Biden would save us: no more inflammatory rhetoric, no more prosecutions of the political opposition, and a more stable world.

While Biden was never going to return the US to a normal country in a normal time, he had the potential to significantly de-escalate America’s foreign entanglements. However, during his time in the Oval Office, 46 has done the opposite, starting wars and undermining international norms.

Upon taking office, Biden had two easy foreign policy victories he could have secured. Firstly, the current White House could have followed Trump’s deal with the Taliban and exited Afghanistan in a coordinated manner during May 2021.

Rather, the White House mishandled the situation, first by pushing back the exit from Afghanistan until September, the height of the Afghan fighting season. By then, the US-built government in Kabul had collapsed. This chaos culminated in an ISIS-K bombing at the Kabul airport that killed hundreds of desperate Afghans and 13 US soldiers.

Botching Iran Talks

The other easy win for the new president was returning to the Iran Nuclear Deal. Negotiated during the Barack Obama administration, the deal implemented additional safeguards on Iran’s civilian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Tehran was entirely in compliance with the deal in May of 2018 when Trump unilaterally pulled out of the agreement at Tel Aviv’s behest. Washington then placed crippling sanctions on Iran aimed at cutting the Islamic Republic’s oil output to a minimum.

Upon taking office, Biden could have easily negotiated with the moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to return to the deal and lift the sanctions. But, the Biden team was determined to demand Tehran agree to a “longer and stronger” agreement, and at the same time, looked the other way as Israel began attacking Iranian shipping and nuclear facilities.

Over the following two years, US and Iranian officials would engage in several rounds of indirect talks while Israel continued to attack Iranian shipping and conducted assassinations and other sabotage inside Iran. Under those conditions, a deal was never reached, and talks were abandoned last year.

Pushing Tehran from the table and the crippling economic sanctions on Iran had an important impact on Biden’s Ukraine policy.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Washington and its NATO partners engaged in a two-front strategy to use Ukrainian soldiers to bleed and “weaken” Russian invaders. The first was providing billions in weapons, training, and intelligence. The second was launching an economic war to cripple and isolate the Russian economy and bring the Kremlin’s war machine to a halt.

However, as the Iran Nuclear Deal is what ostensibly tied Tehran to Western economies, once the war broke out, the Islamic Republic saw no downside in strengthening its ties with Moscow. Additionally, as is the case with Iran, Russia’s main export is energy. The law of supply and demand says it would have been easier to push the Russian supply off the market if the US was not attempting to simultaneously remove the Iranian oil supply.

Genocide, War, Annexation

After a few years out of power, Netanyahu returned to his post as Prime Minister of Israel, leading a far-right-wing government in late 2022. That government included two extremist settlers in key positions who made clear a top priority was the annexation of the West Bank.

That government ushered in a brutal regime for the Palestinians, with 2023 killings in the West Bank before October 7 reaching a multi-year high.

Still, when Hamas broke the Israeli siege of Gaza on October 7, the White House pretended that Israel had been a normal democracy, not a declared Jewish state with apartheid oppression directed at the native Arab population.

The White House was a key amplifier of the atrocity propaganda put out by Tel Aviv following the Hamas attack. This gave Israel an unlimited blank check for killing in Gaza.

Netanyahu has cashed in that check for $23 billion in military aid from the US, Washington’s protection from UN resolutions at the Security Council, and the killings of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, thousands of Lebanese civilians, and hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank.

The killing has intentionally targeted civilians and civilian targets such as hospitals, schools, shelters, and aid convoys. After each Israeli war crime, the US State Department acts as an Israeli PR firm and insists the world must blame Hamas, not Israel.

What Happened to International Law?

So now President Biden has spent the final year of his presidency providing arms to Netanyahu so his government can commit war crimes every day. This is the same president who has insisted to every American that we must send nearly $200 billion to Ukraine to defend international law.

If Russia was wrong to invade Ukraine, why can Israel invade Lebanon?

If Russia is violating international law to extend its border, why is Israel allowed to continue settlement expansion in the West Bank?

If Russia was wrong to detain American journalists in Russia, why has Israel been allowed to kill at least 170 Palestinian journalists, including Shireen Abu Akleh, an American citizen?

If Russia is wrong to attack civilian targets in Ukraine, why has Israel been allowed to destroy nearly every hospital, school, and shelter in Gaza?

One could go on at some length citing the myriad hypocrisies intrinsic to Biden’s murderous foreign policy. When it comes to starving the people of Gaza, assassinations in Iran, bombing diplomatic facilities in Syria, and attacking UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon, it’s clear that Netanyahu wipes his ass with the international “rules-based order” that Joe Biden claims to love so much on a daily basis.

Currently, Americans care more about domestic issues, but history will evaluate Biden by his elective and catastrophic wars. The x-rays of Israeli bullets lodged into the brains of Palestine’s pre-teen children will define the legacy of Biden and his good pal Bibi during the coming decades.

October 23, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Progressive Hypocrite | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The real victim of genocide is the man who crushed people with bulldozers

Thank you to CNN for explaining

Laura and Normal Island News | October 22, 2024

The genocide in Gaza has posed a moral dilemma for people like myself: the sensibles. As Israel carpet-bombed Gaza into oblivion, our problem was how the hell do we convince the public to support this bloodshed? Well, all I can say is thank god for CNN!

For the benefit of those who think Normal Island News is the only news outlet in existence (an easy mistake), let me explain CNN is considered one of the more sensible American news outlets because it’s not Fox News. Therefore, CNN was the perfect platform to divert your sympathies towards the only people who matter: Zionists.

CNN published one of the most moving pieces of journalism I’ve ever read, a report that will truly echo through the ages. It told the harrowing story of a brave Israeli soldier whose job it was to… crush Palestinians to death with a bulldozer. Heartbreakingly, crushing people to death later made the soldier feel sad. This proves he is the real victim of the genocide. What do you mean, I’m “doing the meme”?

While Eliran Mizrahi was on active duty, he always maintained a brave face, which included smiling on camera as he drove a gigantic child crusher. He explained he destroyed more than 5,000 homes and ran people over in their hundreds, whether they were dead or alive, but it was okay because “there are no civilians in Gaza”. He sensitively referred to the “terrorists” he crushed to death as “meat” and later told the Israeli knesset “everything squirts out”.

Mizrahi appeared in videos on social media, gloating about his war crimes, but his family would like you to know it’s unfair to talk about the incriminating evidence. It was clearly the fault of Iranian troll farms that Mizrahi posted this stuff to TikTok for clicks.

Do-gooders might argue Mizrahi was insensitive and the best approach is to pretend to care about Palestinians. Thankfully, Mizrahi softened his approach and claimed he was nice to the civilians he previously said don’t exist. He even claimed he shared food and water with them because he’s that nice. He explained he did everything he could to minimise civilians. I, for one, totally believe this story.

Ironically, referring to Palestinian civilians as “meat” must have had an impact on Mizrahi, because he later found it hard to eat meat and became a vegetarian. A starving toddler drinking from puddles in Jabalia has no idea of his torment. This is why it’s so important we show you real suffering.

We in the mainstream media don’t bother to name Palestinian victims of bombs that mysteriously fall from the sky, but we will fucking well give you the life story of any IDF soldier who feels self-pity.

Israeli soldiers are feeling so confused, some of them don’t want to be drafted for a second round of genocide. That little orphan girl who carried her injured sister for two kilometres cannot comprehend what the poor things are dealing with.

Mizrahi heartbreakingly explained only the soldiers with him in Gaza could understand what he was going through. Not the largest cohort of child amputees in human history. Not the fathers who watched their wives and children be melted in their hospital beds. Not the civilians without food, water or medicine. There are no cvilians in Gaza, remember, just meat…

No wonder this war is taking a toll on Israeli society. Israelis have been so impacted by genocide that a whopping 6% think it should stop due to “the great cost in human life.”

Poor Zionists are cowering in their warm beds in their intact houses, worried the world might be upset with them for destroying an entire country and planning to colonise it. Not even the iron dome can protect them from this level of pain.

It is at this point I must bring you to the most agonising part of this story, so please take a moment to brace yourself…

Haunted by the screams of children from the rubble of the buildings he bulldozed, Mizrahi tragically took his life. I understand he’d posted so much evidence of his war crimes on TikTok that an ICC arrest warrant was inevitable.

I’m sure you will agree this one life is worth so much more than the 42,000 Palestinians Israel has blown up and the countless more they’ve indirectly exterminated.

What makes us westerners better than Middle Eastern savages is that we respect the human lives that matter. As Sir Keir Starmer so eloquently explained, it’s wrong to mourn men like Sinwar because they kill civilians, but it’s right to mourn men like Mizrahi because they kill civilians.

We should now spend weeks focusing on this tragedy and overlook that Israel has started doing the same shit in Lebanon that it’s done in Gaza. We must, as a matter of urgency, address PTSD in the genocidal military, and we must remember that Palestinians are not entitled to PTSD. Thankfully, an IDF psychologist is on the case.

The psychologist explained he tries to “normalise” genocide by reminding Israeli soldiers about October 7th and telling them to “remember their values”. This way they feel less guilty about turning civilians into tomato puree. As you can see, Israel is learning all the right lessons here. No wonder they’ve already started doing this all over again in Lebanon.

October 23, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

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