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Cancelling the Journalist: The Australian ABC’s Coverage of the Israel-Gaza War

What a cowardly act it was. A national broadcaster, dedicated to what should be fearless reporting, cowed by the intemperate bellyaching of a lobby concerned about coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. The investigation by The Age newspaper was revealing in showing that the dismissal of broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf last December 20 was the nasty fruit of a campaign waged against the corporation’s management. This included its chair, Ita Buttrose, and managing director David Anderson.

The official reason for that dismissal was disturbingly ordinary. Lattouf had not, for instance, decided to become a flag-swathed bomb thrower for the Palestinian cause. She had engaged in no hostage taking campaign, nor intimidated any Israeli figure. The sacking had purportedly been made over sharing a post by Human Rights Watch about Israel that mentioned “using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza”, calling it “a war crime”. It also noted the express intention by Israeli officials to pursue this strategy. Actions are also documented: the deliberate blocking of the delivery of food, water and fuel “while wilfully obstructing the entry of aid.” The sharing by Lattouf took place following a direction not to post on “matters of controversy”.

Human Rights Watch might be accused of many things: the dolled up corporate face of human rights activism; the activist transformed into fundraising agent and boardroom gaming strategist. But to share material from the organisation on alleged abuses is hardly a daredevil act of dangerous hair-raising radicalism.

Prior to the revelations in The Age, much had been made of Lattouf’s fill-in role as a radio presenter, a stint that was to last for five shows. The Australian, true to form, had its own issue with Lattouf’s statements made on various online platforms. In December, the paper found it strange that she was appointed “despite her very public anti-Israel stance” (paywalled). She was also accused of denying the lurid interpretations put upon footage from protests outside Sydney Opera House, some of which called for gassing Jews. And she dared accused the Israeli forces of committing rape.

It was also considered odd that she discuss such matters as food and water shortages in Gaza and “an advertising campaign showing corpses reminiscent of being wrapped in Muslim burial cloths.” That “left ‘a lot of people really upset’.” If war is hell, then Lattouf was evidently not allowed to go into quite so much detail about it – at least when concerning the fate of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli war machine.

What also transpires is that the ABC managers were not merely targeting Lattouf on their own, sadistic initiative. Pressure of some measure had been exercised from outside the organisation. According to The Age, WhatsApp messages had been sent to the ABC as part of a coordinated campaign by a group called Lawyers for Israel.

The day Lattouf was sacked, Sydney property lawyer Nicky Stein buzzingly began proceedings by telling members of the group to contact the federal minister for communication asking “how Antoinette is hosting the morning ABC Sydney show.” Employing Lattouff apparently breached Clause 4 of the ABC code of practice on impartiality.

Stein cockily went on to insist that, “It’s important ABC hears from not just individuals in the community but specifically from lawyers so they feel there is an actual legal threat.” She goes on to read that a “proper” rather than “generic” response was expected “by COB [close of business] today or I would look to engage senior counsel.”

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Did such windy threats have any basis? No, according to Stein. “I know there is probably no actionable offence against the ABC but I didn’t say I would be taking one – just investigating one. I have said that they should be terminating her employment immediately.” Utterly charming, and sufficiently so to attract attention from the ABC chairperson herself, who asked for further venting of concerns.

Indeed, another member of the haranguing clique, Robert Goot, also deputy president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, could boast of information he had received that Lattouf would be “gone from morning radio from Friday” because of her anti-Israeli stance.

There has been something of a journalistic exodus from the ABC of late. Nour Haydar, an Australian journalist also of Lebanese descent, resigned expressing her concerns about the coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict at the broadcaster. There had been, for instance, the creation of a “Gaza advisory panel” at the behest of ABC News director Justin Stevens, ostensibly to improve the coverage of the conflict. “Accuracy and impartiality are core to the service we offer audiences,” Stevens explained to staff. “We must stay independent and not ‘take sides’.”

This pointless assertion can only ever be a threat because it acts as an injunction on staff and a judgment against sources that do not favour the accepted line, however credible they might be. What proves acceptable, a condition that seems to have paralysed the ABC, is to never say that Israel massacres, commits war crimes, and brings about conditions approximating to genocide. Little wonder that coverage on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice does not get top billing on in the ABC news headlines.

Palestinians and Palestinian militias, on the other hand, can always be written about as brute savages, rapists and baby slayers. Throw in fanaticism and Islam, and you have the complete package ready for transmission. Coverage in the mainstays of most Western liberal democracies of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the late Robert Fisk pointed out with pungency, repeatedly asserts these divisions.

After her signation Haydar told the Sydney Morning Herald that, “Commitment to diversity in the media cannot be skin deep. Culturally diverse staff should be respected and supported even when they challenge the status quo.” But Haydar’s argument about cultural diversity should not obscure the broader problem facing the ABC: policing the way opinions and material on war and any other divisive topic is shared. The issue goes less to cultural diversity than permitted intellectual breadth, which is distinctly narrowing at the national broadcaster.

Lattouf, for her part, is pursuing remedies through the Fair Work Commission, and seeking funding through a GoFundMe page, steered by Lauren Dubois. “We stand with Antoinette and support the rights of workers to be able to share news that expresses an opinion or reinforces a fact, without fear of retribution.”

Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, expressed his displeasure at the treatment of Lattouf for sharing HRW material, suggesting the ABC had erred. ABC’s senior management, through a statement from managing director David Anderson, preferred the route of craven denial, rejecting “any claim that it has been influenced by any external pressure, whether it be an advocacy group or lobby group, a political party, or commercial entity.” They would, wouldn’t they?

January 18, 2024 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, civil liberties, media | Leave a comment

Screams without proof: questions for NYT about shoddy ‘Hamas mass rape’ report

The public now knows that many Israeli noncombatants were killed by their country’s military on October 7. They know this largely thanks to the work of The Grayzone and other independent outlets. We were initially attacked for our work, but now Israeli media is demanding answers as well. Major legacy media organizations like yours continue to ignore serious political scandals like these while pursuing factually-challenged, shamefully unethical journalistic efforts aimed at legitimizing the Israeli government’s public relations objectives. 

Haaretz reported on January 4, “The police are having difficulty locating victims of sexual assault from the Hamas attack, or people who witnessed such attacks, and decided to appeal to the public to encourage those who have information on the matter to come forward and give testimony. Even in the few cases in which the organization collected testimony about sexual offenses committed on October 7, it failed to connect the acts with the victims who were harmed by them.”

Were you aware, as The Grayzone documented, that Landau’s previous claims of having seen beheaded babies and a fetus cut from a dead woman’s womb on October 7 have been discredited not only by the Israeli newspaper by Haaretz, but by the Biden White House, which retracted the president’s claim that he had seen photographs of beheaded babies? In fact, only one baby is recorded among those killed on October 7, which means any claim to have seen multiple dead babies must be dismissed out of hand.

MAX BLUMENTHAL AND AARON MATÉ·JANUARY 10, 2024, https://thegrayzone.com/2024/01/10/questions-nyt-hamas-rape-report/—

After dismantling a New York Times front page feature alleging “a broader pattern of gender-based violence on Oct. 7” by Hamas, The Grayzone is demanding answers of the paper for its journalistic malpractice.

The following was submitted to New York Times editors and lead author, Jeffrey Gettleman. 

The Grayzone has identified  serious issues with the credibility of key sources quoted in the New York Times’ December 28 story, “Screams Without Words: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on October 7.” Authored by Jeffrey Gettleman, Anat Schwartz, and Adam Sella, the article purports to prove “a broader pattern of gender-based violence on Oct. 7” than even Israeli authorities have been willing to allege . However, the Times report is marred by sensationalism, wild leaps of logic, and an absence of concrete evidence to support its sweeping conclusion.

The Times has come under fire from family members of Gal Abdush, the so-called “girl in the black dress” who features as Exhibit A in Gettleman and company’s attempt to demonstrate a pattern of rape by Hamas on October 7. Not only have Abdush’s sister and brother-in-law each denied that she was raped, the former has accused the Times of manipulating her family into participating by misleading them about their editorial angle. Though the family’s comments have sparked a major uproar on social media, the Times has yet to address the serious breach of journalistic integrity that its staff is accused of committing.

The Israeli police have also issued a statement since the publication of the Times’ article asserting that they themselves are unable to locate eyewitnesses of rape on October 7, or to connect the testimonies published by outlets like the Times with anything remotely resembling evidence.   

We call on the New York Times to publicly address the comments by the Abdush family accusing Times reporters of misleading them and lying about the circumstances of her death. The Times must also address the statement issued by Israel’s police subsequent to the article’s publication and explain why Gettleman and his co-authors apparently omitted it.

Further, we demand a response to our thoroughly sourced debunking of testimony by key witnesses quoted in the story, as well as the documented record of discredited claims and ethically dubious activity by those same witnesses. 

We have provided several questions for your consideration. If you are unable to furnish responses which satisfactorily address the issues we have raised about the credibility of your article, we believe it must be retracted in full.

Family of “the girl in the black dress” accuses NYT of having “invented” rape claim

Continue reading →

January 17, 2024 Posted by | Israel, media, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

‘Transported in Cages’ – Shocking Details of How Israel Treats Female Gaza Prisoners

January 5, 2024, By Fayha Shalash – Ramallah,  https://www.palestinechronicle.com/transported-in-cages-shocking-details-of-how-israel-treats-female-gaza-prisoners/

This is a difficult, but critical read. The collective hardship experienced by Gaza’s female prisoners in Israel is unprecedented even within the tragic history of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners. The Palestine Chronicle reports .. 

The names of 51 female prisoners, illegally detained by invading Israeli forces during their ground operation in Gaza, have been revealed. 

This number was announced by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Authority in a statement, without confirming whether there are other female prisoners secretly detained in Israel.

Regardless of the exact number, however, the testimonies that were collected from released prisoners reveal shocking abuse, ill-treatment and torture. 

The Palestine Chronicle spoke with Lama Khater, from Al-Khalil (Hebron), who was arrested on October 26 and released under the prisoner exchange deal between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Resistance on November 30. 

Khater was detained along with ten female prisoners from Gaza and witnessed the abuse they were subjected to.

Arbitrary Arrest

Khater said the conditions of female prisoners from Gaza were particularly difficult, starting with their kidnapping during their displacement from the northern Gaza Strip.

“They were arrested randomly, mostly from the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers detained mothers, too, who have been forced to leave their children with passers-by,” she stressed.

Khater recounted that before arriving at Damon Prison, the female detainees were left without covers, subjected to humiliating strip searches and forced to sleep on the bare floor.

When they were brought into the prisons, they were blindfolded, handcuffed, and deprived of their hijab, said Khater. 

They were reportedly placed in narrow cells in Damon Prison and not allowed to speak to the rest of the female prisoners from the occupied West Bank and Palestine 48.

“All female prisoners are subjected to great restrictions,” Khater said, “but the prisoners from Gaza were treated even worse.”

“For example, they are only allowed to shower in large groups of at least 50 women, and for not more than 15 minutes a day”.

Khater said that on December 10 and 11, five female prisoners from the Gaza Strip were taken out of Damon prison. Their current location is not yet known. 

Among the female Gazan prisoners, some are in a particularly difficult state; an 80-year-old woman who suffers from Alzheimers and a pregnant woman. Both are subjected to medical negligence.

Held in Cages

The Palestine Chronicle also spoke with Palestinian lawyer Hassan al-Abadi, who collected the testimonies of several female prisoners in Damon. 

Al-Abadi, who volunteered to visit the female prisoners, submitted his first request to the Israeli Prison Administration on November 30, but was told in response that there were no longer female prisoners in the detention facility.

A few days later, however, media reports revealed that dozens of female prisoners, from Gaza, Jerusalem and Palestine 48, were still held there.

Al-Abadi confirmed to The Palestine Chronicle that there are over 40 female prisoners from Gaza in the facility, but they are prohibited from seeing a lawyer.

“When I would visit any female prisoner from the West Bank or Jerusalem, she would tell me about the harsh conditions of detention of the prisoners from the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Al-Abadi said he was particularly disturbed by the way Israeli forces transported the female detainees from Gaza to the prisons.

According to the lawyer, they were placed in trucks carrying cages similar to those used for animal transport. 

“This detail particularly hurt me: these women have been transported in animal trucks. They have been tied, blindfolded and stripped of their head covering, as a way to humiliate them,” al-Abadi said.

Stained with Blood

The lawyer also said that when the female detainees arrived at the prison, their clothes were stained with blood. Most of them were also bleeding from their hands, as the plastic chains had been tightly tied around their wrists for days.

Upon their arrival, they were distributed into three rooms, each containing six iron beds. Most of them were reportedly forced to sleep on the floor without pillows or mattresses.

“The prisoners told me that the food is also very bad and that the Israeli guards deliberately leave it on their cells’ doors for hours, until it turns cold. The water has a rusty taste as well,” al-Abadi said.

“The female detainees from Gaza are even forbidden from talking to the rest of the prisoners and they have to communicate in secret.”

Al-Abadi shared that one of the women had to leave her four children in Gaza. The eldest was only eight years old, the youngest an infant. 

According to the testimony from other prisoners, the woman was walking on Salah Al-Din Street, fleeing from the north of the Gaza Strip, when the Israeli soldiers arrested her.

“When she learned that she would be under arrest, she immediately handed her children to a boy who was walking in the street and told him to take care of them,” al-Abadi said. 

“I learned from the other prisoners that she asked about her children every day, crying inconsolably, but nobody was updating her on their fate.”

A few days ago, however, al-Abadi was able to deliver a verbal message to this woman, that her children had eventually reached their father. “This time, she cried out of joy,” he said.

Great Concern

According to al-Abadi, these women are not only suffering due to the extremely cruel conditions of their detention but because they are constantly concerned about their families. 

They do not know the fate of their children as Israel continues to relentlessly bombard Gaza.

“They are not allowed to hear the news or follow what is happening in any way. They are isolated from the outside world and don’t know anything,” al-Abadi explained.

But there are other forms of violation carried out by Israeli authorities. Al-Abadi told us that the prison administration prevents these women from bringing along sanitary pads 

Therefore, during their period, they are forced to wash their clothes daily and wear them when they are still wet, as the prison administration does not provide them with additional clothes. They only have what they were wearing at the time of arrest.

Israel considers men and women detained in the Gaza Strip to be prisoners of war under the so-called “unlawful combatants” law. Therefore, it prevents them from having contact with lawyers and human rights institutions.

(The Palestine Chronicle)  – Fayha’ Shalash is a Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist. She graduated from Birzeit University in 2008 and she has been working as a reporter and broadcaster ever since. Her articles appeared in several online publications. She contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.

January 17, 2024 Posted by | Israel, Religion and ethics, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

New Revelations Shed More Light On Sabotage Of Iran Nuclear Program

Tuesday, 01/09/2024, Iran International Newsroom, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202401095698

The malware that disrupted Iran’s nuclear program in 2010 was delivered by a Dutch engineer working at the enrichment plant in Natanz, a Dutch daily has claimed.

For more than a decade, no one knew how the virus Stuxnet –widely believed to be an American-Israeli creation– had found its way to the control systems of Iran’s most sensitive and tightly watched nuclear facility in Natanz.

In 2019, two investigative journalists, one Dutch and one American, published a report in Yahoo News, suggesting that the virus had been released by “a mechanic working for a front company doing work at Natanz”, who in reality worked for AIVD, the Dutch intelligence agency.

At the time, the authors believed the mole to be Iranian. But the investigative report in the Dutch daily Volkskrant has named him as Erik van Sabben.

According to the report, van Sabben was married to an Iranian woman and worked in Dubai for a company that serviced Iran’s oil and gas industry. So he could have been the perfect recruit. And he was indeed recruited by AIVD in 2005 at the request of US and Israeli secret services.

The US and Israel have never acknowledged involvement in the cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear program, but most experts share the view that such a sophisticated cyberweapon could have been developed by Israel and the United States only as part of a joint sabotage campaign known as Operation Olympic Games, which is still unacknowledged.

The new report comes at a time when Iran has once more accelerated its enrichment program, turning its back on a secret deal many diplomats say the regime had made with the Biden administration in 2023 to cap the enrichment at 60-percent purity in exchange for the release of billion of dollars of its money in Iraq and South Korea.

Iran is reported to have enough highly enriched uranium to make three nuclear bombs, if enriched further during a few weeks. The UN nuclear watchdog (IAEA) has repeatedly raised concern about Iran’s enrichment levels –which experts say has no civilian justification.

In its latest report (December 2023), the IAEA stated that Iran is enriching to up to 60%, close to the roughly 90% that is required to make a nuclear weapon. One place this is being done is the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) at Natanz complex –the very same facility Stuxnet targeted almost 15 years ago.

Stuxnet is believed to have had affected the control systems at Natanz enrichment facilities, forcing a change of speed in the centrifuges’ rotor and causing breakdown.

The extent of the damage it caused is not known with certainty. It seems to have been significant enough, though, to force the nuclear authorities in Iran to halt uranium enrichment several times.

In November 2010, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then-president of Iran, confirmed for the first time that a cyberweapon had hit the country’s nuclear facilities. “They succeeded in creating problems for a limited number of our centrifuges with the software they had installed in electronic parts,” he said.

Fingers were pointed at “the Americans” and “the Israelis”, especially after two Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated. But no reasonable explanation was given as to how the malware had entered the facilities.

More than a decade later, Volkskrant has offered an explanation –but little consolation for those who, according to the new report, spent around “one billion dollars” on a malware that they hoped would set back Iran’s nuclear program, although the operation undoubtedly slowed down Iran’s efforts for a while.

January 13, 2024 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Nuclear Free Local Authorities question the Chief Constable on alleged misconduct among Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Following the December 2023 revelations in The Guardian alleging misconduct
amongst some officers of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and a ‘toxic work
culture’ amongst police and civilian staff employed at the Sellafield
nuclear complex, the Chair of the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities
wrote to the Chief Constable outlining our concerns and offering him an
‘opportunity’ to respond. The letter sent 3 January and the response of 8
January are reproduced below.

NFLA 10th Jan 2024

Click to access A402-NB288%E2%80%93Correspondence-with-the-CNC-Chief-Constable-over-Sellafield-claims-Jan-2024.pdf

January 13, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Outrage as Government admits it kept medical results on nuke test veterans a ‘state secret’ in a move Tory grandee Sir John Hayes said ‘beggars belief’

Daily Mail, By EIRIAN JANE PROSSER , 8 January 2024 |

The Government has admitted it has kept medical results of military veterans who survived British nuclear tests a state secret, prompting a furious outrage.

Blood and urine samples from servicemen, civilians and indigenous people during the Cold War are among the thousands of personal records being held in a move that Tory grandee Sir John Hayes slammed as ‘beggars belief’.

The confidential documents could reveal whether those made to witness the atomic bomb tests had radiation enter their body, which could lead to a huge payout for veterans if they can prove the health consequences. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is now facing calls for the files to be made public. Previously the Ministry of Defence denied it held the records, until the Mirror revealed a cache of 150 documents discussing blood tests last year.

Reacting to the revelation MP Sir Hayes said: ‘It beggars belief that a diagnostic medical test confirming whether or not radiation entered a person’s body, with possible long-term health consequences, is in any way a state secret.

‘Veterans and survivors of this weapons testing have a legal and moral right to know what if anything happened to their bodies as a result, and I am sure they can be disclosed to individuals without any impact on national security.’

The Mirror reported that in 2018 the Ministry of Defence denied that the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) holds any evidence that blood samples were taken at nuclear tests until it rowed back on the claim in 2023.

Freedom of Information requests by the paper revealed how both blood and urine samples were taken at test sites under a Lord Chancellor’s instruction, which is why the documents could be held from the National Achieves  

Culture minister John Whittindale admitted to Parliament the withholding of such documents is down to various factors including national security, security against possible terrorist activity and international relations. 

He also said ‘the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons or to allow a more detailed review’ are also reasons to retain the files.

The files are said to relate to three nuclear tests in Australia that took place in 1957 dubbed Operation Antler. 

One of the files, seen by the Mirror, is said to have been entitled ‘nuclear test veterans’ and were said to have first been hidden when Tony Blair came to power in 1997. 

The AWE has been asked to confirm how many other records were also hidden in similar fashion, with Labour leader Keir Starmer pledging to give veterans and their families affected their records and compensation if they take office. 

Those affected by the testing were previously asked to come forward by law firm McCue Jury & Partners, with managing partner Jason McCue stating that nuclear veterans had been ‘gaslighted by the British state’. ………………………………………………………………………………..

Nearly £21,000 has now been raised to help nuclear veterans sue the Government for ‘the toxic legacy of trauma and illness they have been left to endure’.

Servicemen were ordered to sail or crawl through the radioactive fallout to test the effects of radiation, as well as fly through mushroom clouds on sampling missions.

Many lived on testing sites for a year or more and when they returned began developing rare blood disorders and cancers, often proving fatal.

Their wives had three times the normal rate of miscarriages and their children suffered 10 times the normal rate of birth defects.

The British government carried out hundreds of explosions of atom bombs, fissile material, trigger devices and thermonuclear weapons in the US, Australia and South Pacific following the Second World War…………………….. more https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12936311/government-outrage-medical-results-nuke-text-secret.html?fbclid=IwAR284fF3V4h_LgFtbGW5W6CP_Ux9ZNHvgRtT87fif8uzKQgVrgjNIf2uIrw

January 10, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Dutch engineer spread Stuxnet in Iran nuclear plant in 2008: report

IT Wire, By Sam Varghese, 9 Jan 24

A Dutchman was responsible for infecting equipment at Iran’s Natanz nuclear plant in 2008 with the Stuxnet virus, leading to years of delay in the country’s nuclear program, a Dutch publication, Volkskrant, claims.

Erik van Sabben, who was 36 at the time, is claimed to have carried out the task after having been recruited in 2005 by the AIVD, a Dutch intelligence outfit.

A few years ago, Volksrant claimed Van Sabben had been recruited by AIVD and also another Dutch intelligence outfit, MIVD.

Stuxnet was discovered by researcher Sergey Ulasen in 2010; he joined Russian security firm Kaspersky a year later. At that time, the virus was believed to have been infiltrated into the Natanz plant through an USB drive as the lab was not connected to any external network………………………………..

Another new claim by Volksrant was that Stuxnet, which is believed to have been developed jointly by the NSA and Israel’s Unit 8200, cost more than US$1 billion to create.

Reacting to the story, Costin Raiu, long-time head of Kaspersky’s Global Research & Analysis Team who left the company last year, said: “Some interesting points from the article: Stuxnet cost more than US$1 billion to build (!).

“If true, it was brought into Natanz in a ‘water pump’, that later spread it to the network.

“The guy who did this died in 2009, so very important detail, the Stuxnet variant he brought in 2007 would be a really early one, like Stuxnet 0.5.

“IMHO, the really impactful variants were the later ones, that were seeded through five different organisations in Iran, in 2009 and 2010.”

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at security firm WithSecure, said he did not buy the claim of the US$1 billion price tag. “Millions, certainly, dozens of millions, sure. A billion? I don’t think so,” he said.  https://itwire.com/business-it-news/security/dutch-engineer-spread-stuxnet-in-iran-nuclear-plant-report.html

January 10, 2024 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Antony Blinken Is A Cold-Blooded Sociopath

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE, JAN 8, 2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken just referred to the US-sponsored assassination of yet another journalist in Gaza as a “terrible tragedy”…………………………………………………..

Blinken went on to acknowledge the scores of journalists who have been killed in Gaza, saying that this shows the need to get humanitarian aid into the enclave and achieve a lasting peace. What Blinken did not do is issue anything resembling a condemnation of Israel and the clear and demonstrable fact that it has been highly focused on the task of murdering journalists in Gaza. He just offered his deepest condolences for Dahdouh’s death, framed it as a passive “tragedy” instead of an active assassination using highly sophisticated military technology under the sponsorship and support of the United States, and moved on.

It’s hard to say who’s worse, the far-right Israelis who openly revel in the butchery they are inflicting in Gaza, or the liberal Americans who directly sponsor that butchery and then look you dead in the eye and tell you how deeply, sincerely sorry they are to hear that another person in Gaza has died in a tragic accident.

Blinken is always doing sociopathic stuff like this. Late last month he tweeted, “This has been an extraordinarily dangerous year for press around the world. Many killed, many more wounded, hundreds detained, attacked, threatened, injured — simply for doing their jobs. I am profoundly grateful to the press for getting accurate, timely information to people.”

I mean, can you believe the gall of this freak? As though his own administration wasn’t responsible for most of those killings. As though Israel has not spent the last three months directing wildly disproportionate firepower at the places it knows journalists are hiding. 

He’s standing there on top of a pile of corpses while mournfully shaking his head about their tragic unfortunate deaths.

There’s something about the job of US secretary of state that appears to require a significant level of sociopathy. From war criminal Henry Kissinger to Madeleine “We think the price was worth it” Albright to Mike “We lied, we cheated, we stole” Pompeo, the absolute worst person in any given presidential administration is very often the head of the State Department. A severe personality disorder is practically in the job description.

This is because while the secretary of state is officially the head of US diplomacy, “diplomacy” for the US empire looks a whole lot different from what it looks like for normal countries. US “diplomacy”, in practice, typically looks like going from country to country negotiating for international alignment behind wars, starvation sanctions, proxy conflicts and western-backed uprisings. In theory the State Department should be the department of peace, but in practice it’s just a subtler, sneakier military department.

Nothing epitomizes the depraved manipulations of the US empire better than Antony Blinken. There is no better representation of that empire than Tony standing there on his mountain of corpses, covered in blood, telling you how sorry he is to learn of the unfortunate accidental deaths of the people he just murdered, staring at you with his cold dead eyes, playing remarkably soulless blues guitar under the light of a bright red moon. https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/tony-blinken-is-a-cold-blooded-sociopath?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=140464817&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&utm_medium=email

January 9, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

More nuclear corruption?

Georgia joins list of states acting against best interest of ratepayers

From: Georgia Wand, Nuclear Watch South, 7 Jan 24,  https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2024/01/07/more-nuclear-corruption/

The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) and Georgia Power are facing renewed accusations of collusion and possible corruption following the recent rate increase approved by the PSC for the Vogtle units 3 and 4 nuclear expansion project. Similar to recent high-profile nuclear corruption scandals in Ohio, Illinois and South Carolina, Georgia’s utility commissioners acted against the best interests of Georgia ratepayers, rubber-stamping cost recovery for mistakes made by Georgia Power. 

Georgia Power, despite numerous warnings and opportunities to avert rate increases, secured rate base increases of $7.56 billion in cost overruns for Vogtle 3 and 4 during the December 19, 2023 hearing before the Georgia PSC. This rate increase, added to previous rate increases for Vogtle, will raise residential and small business electric rates by 26%. The full rate increase adopted by the PSC will go into effect when Vogtle 4 attains commercial operation. The December 19 PSC vote for $7.56 billion only included construction costs. Once Unit 4 enters commercial operation, Georgia Power will expand their rate base an astounding $11.1 billion to include financing costs of $3.5 billion, on which Georgia Power also profits.

Nuclear Watch South and Georgia WAND believe the SEC should investigate Georgia Public Service Commission and Georgia Power as it did for the failed Summer nuclear expansion in South Carolina and the recent bribery scandals in Ohio and Illinois. In October a Southern Company whistleblower brought the SEC to bear on the failed Kemper carbon capture coal plant being built by Southern Company’s Mississippi Power. Southern Company is also the parent of Georgia Power.

Glenn Carroll, Nuclear Watch South’s coordinator, said: “The Commission’s decision to saddle Georgia Power ratepayers with an additional $7.56 billion in costs for Vogtle Units 3 and 4 demonstrates the complete lack of meaningful regulatory oversight to protect consumer interests. From the very beginning, the PSC and Georgia Power have turned a blind eye to the construction problems and delays that have plagued this unneeded project. This level of contempt for hard working Georgians, who pay their electric bills under the assumption that they aren’t getting ripped off, is shameful and deserving of a federal investigation — similar to the investigation in Ohio that found its top utilities regulator accepting bribes from the utilities he was supposed to regulate.”

Earlier in December, former Ohio Public Utilities’ Commission (PUCO) chairman Samuel Randazzo was charged by federal prosecutors for bribery and embezzlement crimes related to the 2020 bailout (HB 6) of nuclear power plants in Ohio. Similar to the Vogtle expansion, the Ohio PUCO rubberstamped cost increases for ratepayers for (in this case existing) FirstEnergy-owned nuclear reactors, against the interests of Ohio ratepayers. Randazzo’s arrest followed the conviction of Ohio’s former statehouse speaker, Larry Householder, who was found guilty in the same corruption scheme laid forth by FirstEnergy. 

Kimberly Scott, executive director of Georgia WAND, said: “This is another unconscionable financial hit to Georgia Power customers who have been consistently burdened with rate increases from a utility that realized $17 billion in profits during the span of Vogtle construction when construction costs were underestimated and behind schedule. Georgia Power executives admitted to mistakes in the planning and execution of the new reactors, but have refused to shoulder the financial burden of these mistakes, and instead have passed the increased costs off on to customers, with the approval of PSC Commissioners. This enormous rate hike is based on a stipulated agreement between PSC staff and Georgia Power which was struck before any public hearings or presentation of any evidence. 

“There is an extensive history of corruption in the nuclear industry, most recently in Ohio where former house speaker Larry Householder was sentenced this year to 20 years in prison for racketeering related to a nuclear plant bailout. Illinois and South Carolina’s nuclear scandals resulted in numerous federal convictions. Nuclear power plants deliver enormous profits to utilities since state authorities almost always force customers to pay huge rate increases for the inevitable cost overruns. That is what happened to us in Georgia – and now it’s time for a full accounting of what happened behind closed doors.” 

Patty Durand, former president of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative and a recent candidate for the Georgia PSC, spoke as an expert witness on behalf of the Concerned Ratepayers of Georgia in the recent Plant Vogtle prudency proceeding before the Georgia PSC. She wrote in a letter to the Atlanta Journal Constitution following the Georgia PSC’s approval of the rate increase: “The Georgia Public Service Commission allows Georgia Power to receive rich profits – far higher than industry norms, which violates their mandate of regulating in the public interest. And elected commissioners voted on Tuesday to make it worse by approving the largest rate increase in state history for Plant Vogtle, the most expensive power plant ever built on earth.

“Commissioners have known for years that the costs of construction for nuclear energy was far higher than other forms of generation, yet authorized this project with no cost cap or customer protections. As predicted, Vogtle construction costs went far over budget, yet commissioners do nothing to help vulnerable populations afford utility bills. Even before these huge cost increases take effect, over 240,000 Georgia Power customers were disconnected from power last year, with most of those disconnected belonging to minority households.

“The people of Georgia deserve a state agency that protects them from monopoly overreach instead of celebrating how business friendly they are, but that’s not what we have. Meanwhile, Public Service Commission elections have been on hold for over a year due to litigation related to violations of the Voting Rights Act, and two commissioners in expired seats continue to vote.”

January 8, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

A Visit to Belmarsh Prison, Where Julian Assange Awaits His Final Appeal Against Extradition to the US

The Wikileaks founder says he fears his own imprisonment, US government surveillance, and restrictions on the group’s funding have effectively scared off potential whistleblowers.

The Nation,  CHARLES GLASS, 2 Jan 24

MP BELMARSH—It is 2:30 PM on Wednesday, December 13, when Julian Assange strides into the visitors’ area. He stands out in the column of 23 prisoners for his height—6′ 2″—and flowing white locks with trimmed beard. He squints, looking for a familiar face among the wives, sisters, sons, and fathers of the other inmates. I am waiting, as assigned, at D-3, one of about 40 sets of small coffee tables surrounded by three upholstered chairs—two blue, one red—screwed into the floor of what looks like a basketball court. We spot each other, walk forward, and embrace. It is the first time I have seen him in six years. I blurt, “You’re pale.” Through a mischievous smile I remember from past meetings, he jokes, “They call it prison pale.”

He has not been outdoors—apart from a minute when police dragged him into a paddy wagon—since he took refuge in London’s cramped Ecuadorian Embassy in June 2012. The embassy’s French windows had afforded glimpses of sky. Here at Belmarsh maximum security prison in southeast London, his abode since April 11, 2019, he has not seen the sun. Warders confine him to a cell for 23 out of every 24 hours. His single hour of recreation takes place within four walls, under supervision. His paleness is best described as deathly……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Julian and I sit down, face to face, me on the red chair, he on one of the blues. Above us, glass globes hide cameras that record the interactions between inmates and their guests.

…………………………. Julian had thought prison meant communal meals at long tables, as in the movies. Belmarsh’s warders shove the food into the cells for prisoners to eat alone. It is hard to make friends that way. He has been there longer than any other prisoner apart from an old man who had served seven years to his four and a half. There are occasional suicides, he tells me, including one the night before.

……………………………… I ask whether he still has the radio he had struggled to obtain in his first year. He did, but it was not working due to a defective plug. Regulations permit each prisoner to have a radio purchased from prison stores. The authorities, however, said no radios were available for him. When I heard about it, I sent him a radio. It was returned. I then sent him a book on how to make a radio.  That too was returned………………………………………………………………

How did he, a news addict, keep in touch? The prison allows him to read printouts of news stories, and friends write to him. With the invasions of Ukraine and Gaza, I say, now is an important time for whistleblowers to send documents to WikiLeaks. He regrets that WikiLeaks is no longer able to expose war crimes and corruption as in the past. His imprisonment and US government surveillance and restrictions on WikiLeaks’ funding wards off potential whistleblowers. He fears that other media outlets are not filling the vacuum.

Belmarsh does not offer him education programs or communal activity, like orchestra practice, sports, or publishing a prison journal, that are standard at many other prisons. The regime is punitive; although Belmarsh’s 700-odd inhabitants are on remand, awaiting trial or appeal. They are Category A prisoners, those who “pose the most threat to the public, the police or national security” and stand accused of terrorism, murder, or sexual violence.

We talk about Christmas, which is just another day in Belmarsh: no turkey, no carols, no presents. The prison is closed to visitors on Christmas Day and the day after, and the prison has informed his wife, Stella Moris, that she and their two young sons, Gabriel and Max, may not see him on Christmas Eve. He can attend Catholic Mass celebrated by the Polish chaplain, who has become a friend.

………….Apart from occasional visiting days, his days are all the same: the confined space, the loneliness, the books, the memories, the hope that his lawyers’ appeal against extradition and life imprisonment in the United States will succeed……….. https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/julian-assange-wikileaks-belmarsh-prison/

January 5, 2024 Posted by | Legal, PERSONAL STORIES, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

US officials monitored pro-Assange protests in Australia for ‘anti-US sentiment’, documents reveal

Previously classified papers detail how the US embassy in Canberra responded to WikiLeaks’ release of embassy cables in 2010 and ‘sensationalist’ local media

 Guardian Christopher Knaus, 20 Dec 23

American officials monitored pro-Assange protests in Australia for “anti-US sentiment”, warned of “increasing sympathy, particularly on the left” for the WikiLeaks founder in his home country and derided local media’s “sensationalist” reporting of the explosive 2010 cable leaks, previously classified records show.

Documents released by the US state department via freedom of information laws give new insight into how the US embassy in Canberra and its security team reacted to WikiLeaks’ release of 250,000 embassy cables in late 2010.

They show the embassy’s regional security office (RSO) monitoring and reporting on pro-WikiLeaks rallies held across Australian capital cities, feeding information to Washington via the embassy……………………………………………………………………………….

The embassy was particularly critical of Australian media’s reporting of cables that showed the US government was closely watching the rise of the then deputy prime minister, Julia Gillard……………………………………………………………………………………

The cable is the result of a lengthy, expensive FoI battle by Maurizi, supported by the Logan Foundation and her lawyers, Lauren Russell and Alia Smith. She said it provided “indisputable evidence that the U.S. diplomacy’s Regional Security Office (RSO) in Canberra was monitoring the peaceful protests in support of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks in December 2010, as WikiLeaks had just started publishing the most important cables on Australia”.

“We know that the Regional Security Office protects U.S. diplomatic facilities, personnel and information, which is a legitimate activity, at the same time, one wonders what kind of monitoring activities were devised against peaceful protesters: were they identified? Were they intercepted? Were their donations to WikiLeaks tracked?” she said. “These are important questions, considering that we now know that later on, in 2017, Julian Assange, his wife, Stella … the WikiLeaks journalists, lawyers, doctors, and even we media partners were subjected to unprecedented spying activities inside the Ecuadorian embassy.”

The Italian journalist first filed an FoI request in February 2018, but it was ignored for two years, prompting her to sue the US state department.

She has filed similar FoI requests across the world, including in Australia, which she described as “the worst jurisdiction on earth when it comes to FOIA [Freedom of Information Act]”………………………………………..

Assange’s lawyers are suing the Central Intelligence Agency over the alleged espionage at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, saying it violated their US constitutional protections for confidential discussions with Assange.

The US embassy in Australia was approached for comment.  https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/dec/20/us-officials-monitored-pro-assange-protests-in-australia-for-anti-us-sentiment-documents-reveal

January 3, 2024 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics international, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

“Forbidden news” Water Containing Radioactive Materials Spills Over atKashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.

When you go to these news sites - you get “Forbidden”

Water from the fuel pools at the top floors of the No. 7 and No. 2 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture spilled over due to strong earthquakes, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. announced Monday. No damage or leakage out of the buildings was confirmed.

No further details on damage to people or the environment were immediately available

January 3, 2024 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

‘Cover-up’ hearing Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for late January 2024.


Gordon Edwards., 29 Dec 23

There will be a most unusual public hearing by the CNSC in late  January 2024. It’s not a licensing hearing. It’s an attempt to cover up or to exonerate an act already performed by OPG without explicit approval.

The first construction licence for a commercial SMNR (Small Modular Nuclear Reactor) in Canada has been requested by OPG, who wants to build up to 4 GE-Hitachi “boiling water” reactors on the Darlington site. But there’s a glitch.

OPG used an old 2011 “site preparation licence” to prepare the site for the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor on the same property as the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, where 4 large CANDU reactors are currently being refurbished.

The old licence was granted on the basis of an Environmental Assessment Report published in 2011 by a Joint Review Panel (JRP) who had examined and approved four large candidate reactors that had very little in common with the BWRX-300.

The JRP stipulated in their report that if OPG chooses a reactor design that is “significantly different” from those that they had examined from 2009-2011, then a NEW EA should be conducted. In other words, OPG should start over again.

But OPG “jumped the gun” by using that antiquated site preparation licence without explicit approval.

Fearing that they may have violated the terms of the 2011 EA Report, by using an old site preparation licence granted for a significantly different reactor construction project, OPG is now asking the CNSC to declare that the BWRX-300 design was, in effect, already approved by the JRP back in 2011 (even though no design of that type was ever considered by the JRP).

My intervention for this upcoming hearing is entitled “DNNP: Mischief in the Making” in which I argue that the 2011 EA Report did not and could not be construed to cover the BWRX-300, and recommending the CNSC to so confirm as a matter of fact.

Accordingly, before a construction licence is considered for a BWRX-300, a new EA is required.

Here is a link to my intervention: http://www.ccnr.org/DNNP-Mischief_in_the_Making_2023.pdf

December 31, 2023 Posted by | Canada, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Former chair of Ohio utility regulator surrenders in $60 million bribery scheme linked to energy bill

PBS Newshour , Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press 27 Dec 23

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s former top utility regulator surrendered Monday in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme related to a legislative bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants that has already resulted in a 20-year prison sentence for a former state House speaker.

Sam Randazzo, former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, self-surrendered at U.S. District Court in Cincinnati after being charged in an 11-count indictment that was returned on Nov. 29, U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker’s office announced. Randazzo was scheduled for an initial court appearance later in the day.

“Today’s indictment outlines an alleged scheme in which a public regulatory official ignored the Ohio consumers he was responsible for protecting, instead taking a bribe from an energy company seeking favors,” FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers said in a statement.

Randazzo, 74, resigned in November 2020 after FBI agents searched his Columbus townhome and FirstEnergy revealed in security filings what it said were bribery payments of $4.3 million for his future help at the commission a month before Republican Gov. Mike DeWine nominated him as Ohio’s top utility regulator.

He faces one count of conspiring to commit travel act bribery and honest services wire fraud, two counts of travel act bribery, two counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of wire fraud and five counts of making illegal monetary transactions.

A message seeking comment was left for his lawyer. If convicted as charged, the defendant could face up to 20 years in prison.

Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Maureen Willis, who represents the state’s utility ratepayers, said the indictment was “an important first step to bring justice to Ohio utility consumers” — but that more is needed.

“It underscores the need for near-term reform of the PUCO selection process that led to his appointment as Chair of the PUCO,” Willis said in a statement. “OCC’s calls for reform so far have gone unanswered. Ohioans deserve better from the public officials in this state.”

The long-awaited indictment marks the latest development in what has been labeled the largest corruption case in Ohio history.

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced in June to 20 years in prison for his role in orchestrating the scheme, and lobbyist Matt Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, was sentenced to five years.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Cincinnati indicted three others on racketeering charges in July 2020. 

 Lobbyist Juan Cespedes and Jeffrey Longstreth, a top Householder political strategist, pleaded guilty in October 2020. The third person arrested, statehouse lobbyist Neil Clark, pleaded not guilty before dying by suicide in March 2021. The dark money group used to funnel FirstEnergy money, Generation Now, also pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in February 2021.

All were accused of using the $60 million in secretly funded FirstEnergy cash to get Householder’s chosen Republican candidates elected to the House in 2018 and then to help him get elected speaker in January 2019.

The money was then used to win passage of the tainted energy bill, House Bill 6, and to conduct what authorities have said was a $38 million dirty-tricks campaign to prevent a repeal referendum from reaching the ballot…………………………………….. more https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/former-chair-of-ohio-utility-regulator-surrenders-in-60-million-bribery-scheme-linked-to-energy-bill

December 31, 2023 Posted by | Legal, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Netanyahu’s Palestinian Genocide Is Also a Betrayal of the Jews

SCHEERPOST, December 21, 2023

Larry Gross offers his experience and thoughts on the growing calls of anti-Semitism against critique of Israel’s ongoing bombing of Gaza.

Apart from the death, destruction and suffering bestowed upon the Palestinian people in Gaza by the hands of the Israeli government, an ideological battle is taking place around the world, especially in the United States, where Jewish people face discrimination, prejudice and attacks on their identity by the hands of other Jews.

Former University of Pennsylvania—where former president Elizabeth Magill has just resigned because of this very issue—deputy dean Larry Gross and host Robert Scheer, “two old Jews,” as Scheer puts it, discuss the troubling, McCarthyite times that are transpiring now in the wake of the October 7th attacks and the subsequent daily bombardment of Gaza.

“It’s an attempt to silence opposition through a kind of rhetorical intimidation, and nobody should accept it. It is shameful and wrong and I would say it’s embarrassingly ignorant when the U.S. Congress votes for a resolution that defines criticism of Zionism as anti-Semitic,” Gross said.

The simple and objective realities that Jews like Gross and Scheer discuss could now be construed as anti-Semitic, despite them being Jewish. This “card,” Gross and Scheer argue, along with the “Holocaust card,” is illogical and stifles crucial dialogue. 

Gross says “it is intellectually bankrupt, morally reprehensible and politically opportunistic,” while Scheer pleads “this idea that the U.S. Congress could tell even Jewish people that if you dare criticize this political movement of Zionism that you’re anti-Semitic, this is one of the greatest distortions of thought.”

“They pull out their victim card and accuse anybody who criticizes them of anti-Semitism. And as you know, if you’re Jewish, then you’re a, what do they call it, self-hating Jew? That’s the kind of trick psychoanalysts play, which is you can’t win no matter what you say,” Gross said.

Despite their vast experience with both Judaism as a religion and Israel as a state, with Gross spending eight years growing up in Israel and Scheer reporting on the Six-Day War when it happened, their contributions to the discussion of the war on Gaza can now be labeled and disregarded, thanks to the efforts of people like Elise Stefanik against university presidents in Congress and the rest of the establishment figures who uncritically take Israeli government officials’ words as fact.

Robert Scheer …………………………………………… If you are not Jewish, they’ll tell you you’re anti-Semitic. But even if you’re Jewish, they’ll tell you you are self-hating or anti-Semitic……………………………

Larry Gross ……………………………. (Jews are) famous for debate, dispute and argument. In fact, it’s sort of built into the centuries long tradition of Judaism…………………………………  there is no uniform Jewish orthodoxy that everybody is expected to adhere to…………………………………….

…………………………….. there has been a consistent use of what might be called and has been called playing the Holocaust card that whenever the subject of Israel’s behavior externally or internally, particularly internally, comes up, the sort of importance of Israel: because Holocaust, because we need this because of the Holocaust, etc. is is played.

…………………………………And there are a number of problems with that. One of which is that at least half of the citizens of Israel come from communities and/or countries of origin that had nothing to do with the Holocaust, that were never in Europe, that were basically Middle Eastern Muslim countries…………………………………………………………………. . So Israel is not a collection of Holocaust survivors, as sometimes is implied. 

……………………………..the key point today is that, to put it bluntly and crudely, the Holocaust card doesn’t work anymore, particularly for young people.

………………………………………….. So, I think the the Israeli effort to portray itself as needing to be militant and aggressive in the way that it has been, has run out of, you know, sort of moral authority and in fact, ceded the the role of victim, no longer held by the Jews, but held by the Palestinians whose lives they are constraining and controlling in ways that very much resemble the apartheid system in South Africa.

……………………………………… if you operate on a rhetoric of victimhood, the victims that we can see today are not Jews.

…………………………………….. But yes, so 1,200, let’s say Israelis were slaughtered in an obscene war crime by Hamas fighters on October 7th. But by now, the Israelis have killed, I don’t know, upward of 15, maybe by now, 20,000. ………………………………………………

Gross You know, using the kind of carpet bombing that just a year or so ago, we were decrying, condemning Russia for using in the Ukraine, except worse. 

…………………………………………………………..just incidentally, one of the best examples, one of the biggest successes of the Israeli efforts to undermine political opposition through bogus claims of anti-Semitism is their collusion with politicians in Britain to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn. To undermine an actual leftist who was the head of the Labor Party and who was undermined by the centrist members of the Labor Party with the active support and participation and help of the Israelis in mounting bogus claims that Corbyn was anti-Semitic despite his entire record of support for causes.

………………………………………………. And incidentally, as long as we’re on the subject of, you know, sort of Israeli backstage political maneuvering, it is by now documented that Israel was supporting Hamas for years. Israel was allowing Qatar to funnel billions of dollars to Hamas. And Netanyahu is recorded on tape talking about how we support Hamas to to counter the Palestinian Authority……………………………………………………………………………

Scheer…………………………………………….  the irony here, the deep irony is that we never really came to grips with the actual Holocaust, meaning the elimination, the death, the destruction of 6 million Jews. And that was at the hands of primarily a Christian Europe. As you point out, this was not a Muslim crime and it did not happen in the Mideast. 

……………………………………………… But the terrible thing here is for those of us who come out of a secular or liberal or reformed Jewish tradition, this is a denial of the universalist human rights values. And that’s why young people are rebelling against this, because they accept that human rights are universal, whether it applies to Ukrainians or applies to anybody in the world, 

Gross ………………………………. the religious parties have always succeeded in controlling important aspects of Israeli life, public and private, in terms dictated by religion, not by secular law. 

……………………………………………….I mean, the extreme religious orthodoxies in Israel have become much more militant in a non-democratic fashion. And this is one of the reasons that the Israeli public has been protesting long before October 7th and since then but for more than a year or so since there have been demonstrations against this anti-democratic, religious parties. 

…………………………………………………………….  And what we suddenly had from ’67 on and with accelerating force was ultra orthodox Zionism, ethno-nationalist Orthodox Zionism. And they’re the ones who were pushing the eradication of the Palestinian communities on the West Bank. They care much more at the West Bank than they do about Gaza…………………… they’re engaged there in apartheid chopping up of the land and various forms of what I think could appropriately be called ethnic cleansing, trying to kick people out, to appropriate their land, to push them out on religious grounds. And incidentally, this is again, important because Israel and its allies in their P.R. are very dishonest about this…………………………………………………………………….

Scheer. ………………………………………………………….You get to blame the Palestinians. And I want to ask you, as a professor, as somebody who comes out of the university, you look at what’s going on now, people are afraid to speak up. That’s my experience……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gross. ……………………………………………….  the incredible failures of Netanyahu’s government has been this unleashed calamity in Gaza. They are making Gaza unlivable on purpose. In the delusion, illusory notion that somehow all of those Palestinians will leave and go somewhere else…………………………………….

Scheer. ……………………………  I think that’s an important point on which to end and it goes back to the universalism of Jewish values of an oppressed people. The Palestinians are the Jews of the modern world, that probably can get you fired. ………………………………………………….. more https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/21/netanyahus-palestinian-genocide-is-also-a-betrayal-of-the-jews/

December 24, 2023 Posted by | Israel, Religion and ethics, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

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