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Category: War

Three genocides

Three genocides

Eyal Weizman writes: On 11 January​, at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, South Africa argued that Israel’s actions in Gaza have been ‘genocidal in character’, since ‘they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.’ Lawyers cited the killing of 23,000 Palestinians (the number is now more than 33,000), the majority of them women and children, the destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, and…

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Distraction from the Gaza genocide

Distraction from the Gaza genocide

Tariq Kenney-Shawa writes: Iran’s highly-choreographed attack achieved exactly what it intended, gaining valuable intel on Israeli, American, and regional air defense capabilities, costing Israel and its US benefactors over $1 billion in a single night, proving Israel’s dependency on the US, and further eroding Israel’s image of military invincibility. In doing so, Iran also sent a clear message that its drones and missiles could cause significantly more damage if launched without warning, while still preserving a window for de-escalation. It’s…

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Blinken is sitting on staff recommendations to sanction Israeli military units linked to killings or rapes

Blinken is sitting on staff recommendations to sanction Israeli military units linked to killings or rapes

By Brett Murphy This story was originally published by ProPublica. A special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses. But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal in the face of growing international criticism of the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza, according to current and former State Department officials. The incidents under review…

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EU foreign affairs chief: Don’t let Iran distract from Gaza crisis

EU foreign affairs chief: Don’t let Iran distract from Gaza crisis

DPA reports: Iran’s attack on Israel on Saturday mustn’t take attention away from the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the EU’s foreign affairs chief warned on Wednesday. “The latest escalation in the Middle East must not make us forget Gaza. Palestinians have the right to humanitarian aid. Israel must guarantee access & safety for aid workers,” Josep Borrell posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. EU leaders are meeting in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday ostensibly to discuss economic matters, but…

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Why Ukraine is losing the war with Russia

Why Ukraine is losing the war with Russia

Jamie Dettmer reports: Just ask a Ukrainian soldier if he still believes the West will stand by Kyiv “for as long as it takes.” That pledge rings hollow when it’s been four weeks since your artillery unit last had a shell to fire, as one serviceman complained from the front lines. It’s not just that Ukraine’s forces are running out of ammunition. Western delays over sending aid mean the country is dangerously short of something even harder to supply than…

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‘Racist by default’: AOC talks to Mehdi Hasan and Zeteo about Gaza, genocide, and media bias

‘Racist by default’: AOC talks to Mehdi Hasan and Zeteo about Gaza, genocide, and media bias

  In a launch event for Zeteo, Mehdi Hasan sits down with US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to discuss the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, the ongoing genocide in Gaza and both sides-ism in the media. — Founded by Mehdi Hasan, Zeteo has a strong bias for the truth and an unwavering belief in the media’s responsibility to the public. Unfiltered news, bold opinions.

Poll: 74% of Israelis oppose counterstrike on Iran if it harms security alliances

Poll: 74% of Israelis oppose counterstrike on Iran if it harms security alliances

The Times of Israel reports: Nearly three-quarters of the Israeli public oppose a retaliatory strike on Iran for its massive missile attack on the country if such action would harm Israel’s security alliance with its allies, according to a poll published Tuesday. The Hebrew University survey also found that over half the public believes Israel “respond[s] positively” to the military and political demands of allies. Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran overnight Saturday fired over 300 missiles and drones…

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Leaked NYT memo tells journalists to avoid words ‘genocide,’ ‘ethnic cleansing,’ and ‘occupied territory’

Leaked NYT memo tells journalists to avoid words ‘genocide,’ ‘ethnic cleansing,’ and ‘occupied territory’

The Intercept reports: The New York Times instructed journalists covering Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip to restrict the use of the terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” and to “avoid” using the phrase “occupied territory” when describing Palestinian land, according to a copy of an internal memo obtained by The Intercept. The memo also instructs reporters not to use the word Palestine “except in very rare cases” and to steer clear of the term “refugee camps” to describe areas of…

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Russian weapons help Iran harden defenses against Israeli airstrike

Russian weapons help Iran harden defenses against Israeli airstrike

The Washington Post reports: Last March, a Russian arms maker invited a delegation of Iranians to a VIP shopping tour of its weapons factories. The 17 visitors were treated to lunches and cultural shows and, on the final day, toured a plant that makes products long coveted by Tehran: advanced Russian air defense systems for shooting down enemy planes. The factory, NPP Start, in the city of Yekaterinburg, is under U.S. sanctions for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. Among its…

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Russian trolls target U.S. support for Ukraine, Kremlin documents show

Russian trolls target U.S. support for Ukraine, Kremlin documents show

The Washington Post reports: When President Biden proposed an additional $24 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine in August, Moscow spin doctors working for the Kremlin were ready to try to undermine public support for the bill, internal Kremlin documents show. In an ongoing campaign that seeks to influence congressional and other political debates to stoke anti-Ukraine sentiment, Kremlin-linked political strategists and trolls have written thousands of fabricated news articles, social media posts and comments that promote American isolationism, stir…

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How Iran attacks exposed Israel’s weakness

How Iran attacks exposed Israel’s weakness

David Hearst writes: Israel, under Netanyahu’s stewardship, has become a pariah state. Once again, Israel needed to play the victim, to sustain the myth that it is fighting for its existence. What better time for Netanyahu, the gambler, to throw the dice and attack an Iranian consulate, knowing full well what that meant? The US also knew what Netanyahu was doing, which was to try to drag America into an attack on Iran for at least the third time in…

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Babies and children hit hardest as famine tightens hold on Gaza

Babies and children hit hardest as famine tightens hold on Gaza

The Guardian reports: Even if the war in Gaza ended tomorrow, for some of the Palestinian territory’s children, it would not help. Hunger and malnutrition have already claimed an estimated 27 young lives, and for many more, it may be too late to reverse the excruciating toll that starvation takes on small, growing bodies. Nuzha Awad’s triplets, Malek, Khader and Moustafa, born two months before the war began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, did not stop crying as…

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China says Iran can ‘handle situation,’ spare Middle East turmoil

China says Iran can ‘handle situation,’ spare Middle East turmoil

Reuters reports: China said it believed Iran could “handle the situation well and spare the region further turmoil” while safeguarding its sovereignty and dignity, referring to an attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria and its retaliatory strike over the weekend. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian via a phone call on Monday that China appreciated Iran’s emphasis on not targeting regional and neighboring countries, according to the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday. Wang also said…

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Military aid to Israel cannot be unconditional

Military aid to Israel cannot be unconditional

The New York Times editorial board says: The suffering of civilians in Gaza — tens of thousands dead, many of them children; hundreds of thousands homeless, many at risk of starvation — has become more than a growing number of Americans can abide. And yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his ultranationalist allies in government have defied American calls for more restraint and humanitarian help. The United States commitment to Israel — including $3.8 billion a year in…

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U.S. tells Israel it won’t join counter-strike on Iran, urges caution

U.S. tells Israel it won’t join counter-strike on Iran, urges caution

Politico reports: President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States will not join an offensive counter-strike on Iran should Israel choose that road after Tehran attacked it this weekend, according to two people familiar with the conversation. U.S. officials, meanwhile, are urging Israelis to be measured in any response, two U.S. officials and a diplomat familiar with the issue said. The Biden administration is trying to defuse an armed confrontation that could drag the Middle…

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