15,000 Rabbis convene at New York's Nassau Memorial Coliseum for a Torah Jewry Against Zionism convention.
Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro of True Torah Jews, gives a brief introduction of the convention's main subject - The Incompatibility of Judaism and Zionism.
And now, to top it all off, we have this statement below on Twitter. Oops....now Israel has to bomb the hell out of southern Gaza. These people are evil, criminally insane and determined to exterminate every Palestinian. When do War Crimes trials begin?!?! Where are the voices of global 'leaders'?
See it here
"The centre is really in Khan Younis, not al-Shifa Hospital.”
Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert told Euronews that the underground command centre of Hamas is located in Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, not at al-Shifa hospital in the north of the stripFree Palestine! Stop genocide of Gaza and all of Palestine! NOW!
Bruce
Why are olives significant to Palestinians?
How do the Israeli government and settlers restrict and sabotage Palestinian farmers ' harvest?
Jewish protestors on Capitol Hill last night being shoved around by Capitol Police. They were chanting "not in our name" and calling for a ceasefire while blocking the entrance of the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington DC.
Being held inside was a Democrat and Republican event and the elected officials were taken into the basement for 'protection'.
Both parties in DC are feeling the heat as the majority of people across the US support a ceasefire.
Polls are revealing that a strong majority of Americans (68 percent) agree that Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate.
Most the the door blockers were wearing shirts identifying themselves as Jewish Voices for Peace. It is interesting that the corporate media calls these people 'antisemitic protesters'.
This is the last thing the Jewish Lobby in Washington wants to see getting spread. It's bad enough that people all over the world are marching in support of Palestine - but now Jews in the US in large numbers are demanding ceasefire and an end to the occupation. They must be forcefully discouraged.
The Jewish Lobby (including AIPAC) fears that the genocide currently being committed by Israel (with US, UK, EU support) in Palestine could interrupt their long-established control of the government in Washington. They are working overtime to intimidate elected officials to stay in line or else they will be outed in the 2024 elections.
Congressional staffers recently held a news conference and reported that their bosses were ignoring the huge volume of phone calls from their constituents. This indicates the depths that so-called 'democracy' has fallen in the USA.
We hear daily people saying they can't vote for either party in 2024. Fortunately there will be some alternative choices on many voting ballots across the nation.
This current episode of war crimes in Palestine makes it clear that the US government is complicit in these ugly deeds and must also be removed from power just like those now running the government in Tel Aviv.
Nothing less is acceptable. Those dying each day in Gaza and the West Bank deserve our utmost efforts in their memory.
Bruce
Israel’s military deleted a post on X suggesting ambulances and hospitals are “terrorist infrastructure” and “legitimate military targets”.
It claimed ambulances and hospitals were used by Hamas for its fighters and its military operations. “This is against international law and turns them into legitimate military targets,” the army wrote.
Diana Buttu, lawyer and former legal adviser for the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said Israel has in the past made similar allegations but never proved them. “But even if it tries to do that, we have to bear in mind what Israel is trying to do is commit genocide against Palestinians and it has to be stopped now,” she said.
The Middle East is witnessing a Western naval build-up that hasn't been seen there for decades: aircraft carriers, destroyers, missile cruisers, amphibious assault ships, a nuclear-powered submarine, and many more.
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| Freiberg, Germany |
By Luke Brooks-Shesler (Mainer who is living in Germany for next year)
Greetings from Germany! Here is my second peace missive from Freiburg Germany. We have had many peace protests since my first peace missive, but I wanted to share with you my impressions from the Tri-National Peace Protest, October 21, 2023 in Weil am Rhein, Germany on October 21, 2023. At the bottom of this post I have also included a few words about our peace march through Freiburg on Saturday, November 11, 2023.
Tri-National Peace Protest, October 21, 2023
Originally scheduled as a march through Germany, France and Switzerland, the tri-national peace protest on October 21, 2023 became a gathering of 400 protestors fenced off within a small park in Weil am Rhein, Germany. There was no march through France, Germany and Switzerland. Fearing national unrest related to the Israel – Palestine conflict, Switzerland outlawed the peace protest. France declared a state of emergency and revoked permission for the protest in France, citing a recent knife attack said to be related to the Israel – Palestine conflict. The German mayor of Weil am Rhein said that he could not think of any reason why he should cancel the protest, so we were still able to hold the protest in Germany. Numerous protestors suspected that France and Switzerland used the Israel – Palestine conflict as a pretext for banning the protest.
When I arrived at the protest, two members of Die Linke, a left-leaning German political party, carried large red signs that read “National Socialism does not belong in Germany” (Der Nationalsozialismus gehoert nicht zu Deutschland) and “If Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) is the answer, then how dumb was the question” (Wenn AfD die Antwort ist – wie dumm war dann die Frage). AfD is an up-and-coming German political party that opposes the war in Ukraine, argues that immigration should be curtailed drastically, and supports free speech. Many in Germany consider the AfD to be a far-right political party. In July, a German court ruled that the AfD could be a threat to democracy and the party was put under official government surveillance.
At the beginning of the protest, a Swiss group, called Freunde der Trychler (“Friends of the Cowbell Ringers”), paraded into the park bearing enormous cowbells on wooden stocks across their shoulders that made a deafening cowbell sound.
Shortly after 2pm, the official start of the peace protest, approximately 30 or 40 mostly black-clad people, many of whom wore pandemic-style face-masks, gathered across the street behind a line of police in riot gear. One of the protestors told me that these were Antifa. Approximately 50 police officers, maybe more, separated Antifa and the peace protestors on opposite sides of the street. The police officers near Antifa side wore their riot helmets. Antifa occasionally scuffled with them. The police officers on the peace protest side of the street stood casually with their helmets in their hands and their backs to the peace protestors, and chatted amongst themselves as their colleagues on the other side of the street wrangled with Antifa.
Most of the Antifa members appeared to be in their 20s, although people who appeared to be in their 30s, 40s and 50s mingled with them. The peace protestors were mostly white-haired people over 50. The juxtaposition of older, white-haired peace protestors being heckled by black-clad, masked 20-somethings was jarring. In the 1960s, the college-age generation protested against the Vietnam War. These days, the college-age youth protest in favor of the governments that support the war in Ukraine.
The peace protestors held signs that said:
I found it a bit uncanny that Antifa arrived seemingly out of nowhere at the start of the peace protest and then dissolved just as suddenly right before the end of the peace protest. A protestor told me that they believe that Antifa is paid by the government to disrupt protests against the government.
On Saturday, November 11, 2023, approximately 75 people participated in a peace march, which is the largest protest that I have seen in Freiburg since I arrived here in August. The peace protest included people who opposed the government restrictions during covid and who are skeptical of the covid vaccines’ efficacy and safety. We marched through Freiburg’s old city center. During our protest we crossed paths with a pro-Palestine protest of approximately 30 people.
The banner in Freiburg reads: Enough! We are one human family. Peace Negotiations Now!
Why does the US government support Israel no matter what? Hint: it has to do with imperialism.
BT’s Kei Pritsker explains the crucial role Israel plays in US domination of the Middle East and geopolitics.
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Years ago while living in Gainesville, Florida a group of us activists organized a speaking event with four black women. One of them was former Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA).
McKinney told us a very important story.
When she was first elected in 1992 from the Atlanta area, a delegation from AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) came to her office and demanded she sign a pledge to always support Israel. She refused. AIPAC told McKinney that they would take her out in the next election if she didn't sign.
Despite serving in Congress for 10 years she was eventually defeated by efforts from AIPAC. After sitting out one term she ran again in 2004 but was defeated a second time in 2006. Her opponent again had strong support from AIPAC.
McKinney told us that another black congressman from Alabama had suffered the same targeting from AIPAC and was defeated for re-election after he had also refused to sign the pledge. Most members of Congress eagerly sign the pledge of support for Israel because they fear being run out of Congress. Plus big campaign donations from Zionist lobby groups and the weapons industry come to those who do what they have been told.
So it should be clear to us all that the Israeli lobby has undue influence in Congress considering that Jewish people are only around 2.2% of the entire population. In comparison, black people in the US make up about just over 14% of entire US population.
With this over-sized influence in Congress, via AIPAC and other such organizations, Israel is usually able to be the listed annually as the #1 recipient of military aid from Washington.
Until this stranglehold on Congress is broken we can't expect that the Palestinians (Syrian, Lebanese or other Arab neighbors of Israel) will ever be allowed to live in peace.
Bruce
PS It should also be remembered that many Christian evangelical fundamentalists are also generally huge supporters of Israel thus helping to ensure that the Zionists have their way in Washington.
The refugee agency for Palestinians has said that aid work is at a breaking point as the Israeli siege cuts off access to fuel.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has said that it will be forced to suspend aid work in the Gaza Strip within 48 hours, as an Israeli siege strains access to much-needed fuel.
In a social media post on Monday, Thomas White, the Gaza chief for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that fuel has not been allowed into Gaza for more than a month, as humanitarian conditions reach critical levels.
“The humanitarian operation in Gaza will grind to a halt in the next 48 hours as no fuel is allowed to enter Gaza,” White wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
As Israel continues to hammer Gaza with air strikes amid a ground offensive on the territory, a siege cutting off access to food, electricity, and fuel has overwhelmed organisations trying to assist those displaced and wounded by the fighting.
Palestinian authorities have said that Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 11,240 people, including more than 4,600 children, since fighting began on October 7 when the Palestinian armed group Hamas carried out an attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
The UN said on Monday that 101 of their aid workers in Gaza have been killed since the beginning of the fighting.
In Gaza, where the health system is being stretched to the breaking point, the collapse of medical and communications services has stymied casualty updates since November 10.
Palestinian doctors have pleaded that hospitals are running out of fuel, leaving them unable to save patients, including newborn children in incubators, as electricity generators stop working.
Israeli forces have closed in around al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, with medical workers and at least 650 patients trapped inside. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said that 32 patients died in the last three days due to a shortage of power.
Israel says the hospital sits atop a complex of tunnels used by Hamas, an accusation the group denies.
“The tanks are in front of the hospital. We are under full blockade. It’s a totally civilian area. Only hospital facility, hospital patients, doctors and other civilians stay in the hospital. Someone should stop this,” Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati, a surgeon, told the news outlet Reuters.
He added that Israel had bombed water tanks, water wells, and water pumps for the hospital and that those remaining were “barely surviving”.
Officials have also warned that the conditions created by the bombing and the siege could lead to the outbreak of disease, with access to clean water severely restricted.
“This morning two of our main water distribution contractors ceased working – they simply ran out of fuel – which will deny 200,000 people potable water,” White said.
Mansour Shouman, a displaced Palestinian who fled northern Gaza and sought refuge at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, told Al Jazeera that the conditions at the site were “primitive”.
“Let’s leave aside the food and the water, electricity, fuel. There is no safety, there is no security,” he said. “We were told, ‘Go to the south, you’ll be safe there.’ However, every day I’m hearing more ambulances come to the hospital. I’m seeing more people take their loved ones to the graveyard.”
Jill Stein running again for prez as Green Party candidate.
Cornel West can't get his campaign on track - too many strange indecisive changes going on.
RFK Jr. turned out to be a two-faced dud. His Zionist rants are over the top crazy.
Democrats will be just more of the same. It's a Zionist controlled, war-making party that gives no damn at all for the working class and poor.
Repubs ain't no better.
Stein is someone I trust emphatically. I've voted for her twice already in the past and will do so again.
When Cornel West declared to run for the Green Party, Jill signed on as his campaign manager. Then he pulled out to run as an Independent. But he is now becoming increasingly irrelevant as he is unlikely to get on most state ballots.
At that point Jill said she had to jump back in. She knows how to do it on a shoe string and does not shave the edges as many others do.
I'll be sending a check.
Bruce
“I would be involved myself in violent resistance if I were a citizen of Palestine”
An interview conducted with the former US Marine Kenneth O’Keefe in 2010 resurfaced on social media amid Israel’s Gaza onslaught.
The US Marine had affirmed his support for Palestinian resistance.
Mary Beth, a friend and I joined this protest yesterday.
Infants at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza are facing dehydration due to a shortage of breast milk alternatives.
Why is Israel getting away with these crimes against humanity?
Protesters in over 300 cities protested in unison against pro-Israel corporations and institutions in a global day of action.
BT’s Kei Pritsker tracked the different protests in NYC and around the world.
The US, along with its client states in the Pacific, is gearing up for war with China. The accelerated arming of Taiwan, South Korea, Japan/Okinawa, Philippines, Guam, and Australia is setting the stage for an existential catastrophe for all of humanity. It is a heyday for the war profiteers and a nightmare in the making for the rest of us.
In this webinar, K.J. Noh will analyze how, why, and with what effect these war preparations are taking place. Spoiler alert: the root cause is US imperialism.
K.J. Noh is a political analyst, educator and journalist focusing on the geopolitics and political economy of the Asia-Pacific. He has written for Dissident Voice, Black Agenda Report, Asia Times, Counterpunch, LA Progressive, MR Online, and People’s Daily. He also does frequent commentary and analysis on various news programs, including The Critical Hour, By Any Means Necessary. and Breakthrough News. He recently co-authored a study on the military transmission of infectious diseases and its implications for Covid transmission.
~ See another interview with KJ by Bruce Gagnon here
Clare Dale, the brave Irish MEP (Member European Parliament) dares to speak truth to the world.
She takes on the lies told by the European Union's Ursula von der Leyen's misrepresentation of Zionist Israel and the current war on Palestine.
