November 23, 2024
Israel, America pursued fraudulent scenarios of peace and ceasefire in war on Gaza
By Dr. Mahboob Khawaja, PhD
Editor’s Note:
In this essay Dr. Khawaja takes a step further the US’ role in Israel’s war against Hamas. Namely, the US has actively and knowingly colluded with Israel in the decimation of Palestinians. I can’t step that far, but I do think that the US has consistently prioritized Israel in all situations, protected it at the UN with its veto votes on the Security Council, and provided both military and financial aid to Israel. In any other situation, one might think that Israel is an American colony, but the relationship is darker than that. Israel is the hand inside the US glove in the Middle East. It is more than an ally and less than a proxy. It is more of a quid pro quo relationship where the US protects and supports Israel, and Israel protects US interests in the Middle East.
Throughout various administrations on both sides, the US has tried to avoid meddling in Israeli politics. There have been sporadic attempts of various sincerity to negotiate a two-state solution. However, that has never reached a point of parity between Israel and Palestine. The one incident that proves the intense priorities of support of Israel was when Jimmy Carter wrote supportively for a Palestinian state in his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. This effectively got him kicked out of the Living Presidents Club. He was not invited to the White House nor Democratic conventions for decades. So not only does the prioritization of Israel Stand, no one is supposed to talk about it and certainly not challenge it.
In this current environment, it was strategically important enough to bet control of the Presidency on it, and with that the continued existence of the US as a democratic nation. It is well known that Trump will continue the Israel-first policy and not blink at genocide. Biden has repeatedly sent Blinken to come up with a peace deal. Biden has repeatedly spoken with Netanyahu to get at least a ceasefire. I have watched Biden talk about Netanyahu’s actions, and there is a sick look in his eyes. I think because he truly wants a ceasefire for Israel to allow humanitarian aid (at an adequate level) into Gaza, but whatever that US pact to support Israel, Biden is an institutionalist and will honor that commitment.
With all that, it is clear that without a significant change, Palestinian needs will be a distant second in US actions regardless of the brutality of the Israeli strategy. Whether intentional or not, the outcome is the same and that is damned sad.
Warmongers Defy Truth, Peace, and Human Values
At today’s UNSC meeting on Gaza, the US once again used the veto power to reject the majority-supported resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza. Ironically, since May, US Secretary Blinken has propagated a “ceasefire” plan orchestrated by Israel, not so. But it was simply to buy time and space to continuously bomb the already obliterated strip of Gaza and to put a finishing answer to the freedom of Palestine. The US-Israel war has broader strategic objectives to conquer the Arab world and make Israel a mini superpower of the Middle East. The oil-exporting Arab leaders and people live in a fantasy of their imagination – a fallacy of truth-telling. The US appears to be a collaborator in the alleged crimes against humanity and genocide across Gaza. Nothing new comes up except the Arab-Muslim leaders (if there are any) were complicit in these crimes as they allowed it to happen – they watched as spectators the massacres, bombing of places of worship, and hospitals, planned starvation of the civilians in Gaza, yet continued their relationships with Israel as a new normal against the interest of their masses.
The US and Israel are moving around all quagmires and forging them to ensure the continued killing of the people of Gaza under the false pretext of terrorism and allowing new settlements by settlers to strengthen Israeli command over the West Bank and to destroy Gaza forever. All monsters of history claimed good intentions and righteous ambitions but inflicted horrors, deaths, and destruction on fellow human beings to achieve individualistic ambitions of power and glory.
Israel and America’s Planned Conquest of the Arab World is Happening
Gaza and the West Bank are obliterated by Israeli insanity after over one year of continued war and bombardments of civilian infrastructures. The Arab-Muslim leaders had no mind, wisdom, and courage to challenge Israel for its planned onslaught of Palestinian masses. They profess friendship with Netanyahu against Israeli animosity. The Arab leaders appear morally, intellectually, and politically bankrupt as scum floating on a torrent of naive puppets and discredited leaders. The American-Israeli collaborative war on Gaza and its immediate consequences made the Western world and all of its institutions shamefully redundant and void in the 21st-century global norms of civility, human rights, freedom, justice, and safety of civilians- whereas crimes against humanity are captured in obscure impulses and indecision and deliberate inaction by the UN Security Council. The war theater has moved to Lebanon, Syria, and soon to other Arab states. The coming of President-elect Trump would unfold many more catastrophic and insidious crimes across the Middle East. Is the global community heading towards unthinkable man-made disasters as no international law, no humanitarian value, or Geneva Conventions apply to Israel and the US for accountability?
Those Bombing the Earth are not Normal Humans but Enemies of Mankind and Peace
Israel so far, has dropped more than 90,000 tons of bombs on Gaza – three times more insane than what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War 2. Perhaps, the Israeli and American leaders do not believe in life and death and accountability to God for all of their actions. The Earth is not the property of the US or Israel but the Divine hub of human life, survival, and a trust; those bombing and destroying it are mentally sick and defy the Divine Truth of the Torah, Bible, and Quran. Ironically, the US and Israeli leaders do not appear to believe in life and death and the fullest accountability by God. The Earth is living and spins at 1670 km per hour and orbits the Sun at 107,000 km per hour. Imagine, if this spinning fails, what consequences could occur to the living beings on Earth? Think again, about the average distance of the Earth from the Moon is 93 million miles -the distance of the Moon from Earth is currently 384,821 km equivalent to 0.002572 Astronomical Units. Earth is a “trust” to mankind for its existence, sustenance of life, survival, progress and future-making. The Earth exists and floats without any pillars in a capsule by the Will of God, so, ”Fear God Who created life and death.” Is human intelligence still intact to understand this reality? Wherever there is trust, there is accountability. All human beings are accountable for their behavior and actions. ( The Quran: 22: 66):
It is God Who gave you life
Will cause you to die
And will again give you Life;
Truly man (human being) is a most ungrateful creature!
And killing of innocent people is prohibited in the Ten Commandments (Torah):
‘Thou shalt not kill’ (Exod. 20:13; also Deut. 5:17). Jewish law views the shedding of innocent blood very seriously, and lists murder as one of three sins (along with idolatry and sexual immorality), that fall under the category of yehareg ve’al ya’avor – meaning “One should let himself be killed rather than violate it.
“Phase One of Israel’s genocidal campaign on Gaza has ended. Phase Two has begun. It will result in even higher levels of death and destruction” reports Chris Hedges (Israel Reopens the Gaza Slaughterhouse” Chris Hedges Report: 12/05/23):
The Western news media ignored humanitarian coverage of Israeli ‘genocidal’ acts against the masses in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Every day, several thousand Israeli citizens protest in Tel Aviv and demand an end to the war on Gaza and the safe return of hostages. If Israel is not stopped, soon the leading Arab states could fly Israeli-American flags for a change. The Israeli-American denial of crimes against humanity, ”genocide” in Gaza, and forcible expulsion of 2.4 million represent a ferocious conception of right and wrong and how irrational the leadership tends to be in real-world affairs. Political cynicism is endemic and Western leaders appear mentally and morally lost without any sense of accountability to the informed global community seeking an end to the war and peace in the Middle East. What a shame, what a disgrace to the Arab-Muslim countries and so-called leaders having armies, resources, and opportunities to defend the Gaza people’s freedom, rights, dignity, and sustainable future. Yet they all turned out to be inept puppets of the US and Israel. Please see: “Israel Lost the War and America Betrayed Humanity in Gaza.”
Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and is the author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Germany, 12/2019.
Al Mayadeen – November 23, 2024
No Hezbollah leaders targeted in Beirut strike
Al Mayadeen's correspondent confirms that the brutal aggression on al-Basta in Beirut, which targeted sleeping families and children, was not an assassination attempt.
The rumors regarding the targeting and assassination of a Resistance leader in the latest aggression on the capital Beirut have been confirmed to be false, Al Mayadeen's correspondent asserted, citing trusted sources.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority had claimed that Israeli warplanes had carried out the assassination of a senior Hezbollah leader in the area of al-Basta in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, while Israeli channels alleged that Hezbollah leaders and others were targeted in the aggression.
However, member of Parliament Amin Sherry confirmed that no Hezbollah member was present in the building, further noting that this would be the eighth attack on Beirut and stressing that no military target was struck in any of these assaults.
An Israeli airstrike in the early morning hours of Saturday targeted an 8-story residential building in the Basta area of Beirut, completely destroying it. Al Mayadeen's correspondent described the attack as a massacre, noting that surrounding buildings also sustained significant damage.
The explosions from the strike were heard across a wide area, with reports indicating that the sound reached as far as Mount Lebanon and even Saida. The blast was reportedly extremely loud, reverberating throughout Beirut.
It was also reported that the targeted area had not been warned in advance, and many residents were buried under the rubble while they slept.
16 martyrs were reported in the massacre in a still ongoing toll, as many remain missing under the rubble, and others critically injured.
Al Mayadeen – November 23, 2024
Al-Qassam Brigades announce death of Israeli captive
Spokesperson Abu Obaida confirmed the death of the captive by Israeli bombardment, and issued a stern warning to the Israeli leadership regarding the fate of other captives.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced the death of an Israeli captive held in northern Gaza.
Spokesperson Abu Obeida confirmed the captive's death on Saturday by Israeli bombardment, and issued a stern warning to the Israeli leadership regarding the fate of other captives amid the relentless aggression.
"The enemy must prepare to face the dilemma of the disappearance of the dead prisoners' bodies," Abu Obeida stated, attributing the incident to the extensive destruction caused by Israeli aggression and the martyrdom of Palestinian captors.
Abu Obeida further revealed that communication had recently been reestablished with Al-Qassam fighters assigned to protect the captives, revealing that one female captive was killed in an area under heavy Zionist aggression, while another captive remains in imminent danger.
"After the restoration of the communication that had been cut off for weeks with the fighters tasked with guarding the enemy's prisoners, it turned out that one of the enemy's female prisoners was killed in an area that is under a Zionist aggression in the northern Gaza Strip, while the danger still threatens the life of another (female) prisoner who was with her," Abu Obeida said.
'Netanyahu bears responsibility'
Responsibility for the fate of captives was placed squarely on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his regime. Abu Obeida held the Israeli leadership accountable for exacerbating the suffering of the captives by refusing to engage in negotiations.
"War criminal Netanyahu, his government, and commanders of his army bear full responsibility for the lives of their prisoners, and they are the ones who insist on continuing to cause their suffering and death," the spokesman said.
Following the announcement, the Al-Qassam Brigades released two photos of a body, accompanied by a caption declaring, "A new victim of Netanyahu and Halevi... time is running out."
Hamas Reaffirms Stance on Prisoner Exchange
Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya reaffirmed on Wednesday that "there will be no prisoner exchange without an end to the war" on Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials have accused Netanyahu of "stalling on the prisoner issue and seeking to maintain a military presence in Gaza," amid growing demands from the families of captives and officials to negotiate a deal to secure their release.
Critics accuse Netanyahu of delaying negotiations to prolong "Israel's" military presence in Gaza, a claim fueling public outcry from Israelis and officials.
Netanyahu's military strategy has been repeatedly criticized by families of captives, who demand immediate action to secure their loved ones.
Abu Obeida’s warning from September also resurfaced, where he cautioned that attempts to retrieve captives through military force would result in their return "inside coffins."
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-qassam-brigades-announce-death-of-israeli-captive
Al Mayadeen – November 23, 2024
Day 414 of genocide in Gaza: 44,176 martyrs, 104,473 injuries
On the 414th day of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation military intensifies its attacks on the northern and central regions of the Strip, including an attack on the Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Israel continues its war of genocide against the Gaza Strip, now ongoing for the 414th day, with the Gaza Health Ministry announcing that over the past 48 hours, the Israeli military committed seven massacres, resulting in 120 martyrs and 205 injuries, with many victims still trapped under rubble or out of reach due to Israeli bombardment.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation has killed 44,176 Palestinians and injured 104,473 others, the ministry confirmed Saturday in its daily report.
On Saturday morning, Gaza's Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal reported that 19 people, including children, were killed, and over 40 others injured in Israeli raids and heavy artillery bombardments that struck various areas of the Palestinian territory at dawn.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that two people were killed in an Israeli bombardment on the al-Manshiya neighborhood in the town of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, in addition to an Israeli raid targeting al-Quds Street in Jabalia al-Balad, north of the Strip.
In the center, the eastern areas of the al-Bureij and al-Maghazi refugee camps were targeted by Israeli artillery shelling, along with the al-Zaytoun and al-Sabra neighborhoods in southern Gaza City. These attacks occurred alongside gunfire from occupation vehicles.
IOF disrupt electricity, oxygen, and water in Kamal Adwan Hospital
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces continue to target Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, where two people were killed and several others injured when Israeli aircraft struck a group of civilians at the hospital’s northern entrance.
In this context, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, described the situation as “a tragic day added to the series of relentless bombings on the hospital.” He explained, “Yesterday (Friday), from the afternoon until midnight, the hospital’s reception and emergency department entrance was directly targeted multiple times.”
He explained that the bombing also targeted "the hospital gates, courtyards, and electricity generators, resulting in 12 injuries, including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff."
The hospital director noted that the bombing caused "a disruption of the electrical generator, as well as the oxygen and water networks, instilling terror and fear among the injured, sick children, and women in the hospital."
He said that the hospital currently has "86 injuries, eight cases in intensive care, and 13 children receiving treatment in the children's department."
Abu Safiya explained that the hospital had begun recording cases of malnutrition in the children's department, calling on the world to "urgently intervene to bring in surgical medical delegations, medical supplies, and ambulances."
He also called for "international protection" for the healthcare system and personnel in the north, emphasizing the need to "preserve the lives of patients and the wounded who require continuous humanitarian care, even with limited resources."
Journalist martyrs in the Gaza Strip to 189
In a related context, the Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip reported that the number of journalist martyrs had risen to 189 since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
The number rose following the killing of Wael Ibrahim Abu Qafa, a journalist and lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Media at the Islamic University.
The Media Office strongly condemned the Israeli occupation's targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists, holding it fully accountable for this heinous crime.
It urged the international community, global organizations, and those involved in journalism to hold the occupation accountable, prosecute it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and apply pressure to halt the genocide and the targeted killings and assassinations of Palestinian journalists.
Al Mayadeen – November 23, 2024
Trump opposes Israeli 'annexation' of West Bank: Republican sources
The anonymous statements come after heightened speculation in recent weeks about Trump's nominations of pro-"Israel" officials in his future cabinet who support West Bank "annexation".
Republican Party sources have revealed that President-elect Donald Trump is opposed to "Israel's" ambitions to "annex" the occupied West Bank.
According to the Israeli site Ynet News, a top Republican Senator close to the President-elect has stated that "Trump will not approve the annexation" of the West Bank.
The incoming president believes that such a step would be "a mistake for Israel" and would harm the occupation's international position, which has already been seriously harmed by the war on Gaza for over a year now.
Trump is also apparently concerned that any official "annexation" will further disrupt and derail efforts to achieve normalization between "Israel" and Saudi Arabia, which is a key priority for the incoming Trump administration, with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham working particularly hard on that goal.
The anonymous statements come after heightened speculation in recent weeks about Trump's nominations of pro-"Israel" officials in his future cabinet who support "West Bank annexation".
US sanctions companies that build settlements in occupied West Bank
On Monday, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on three Israeli private companies involved in constructing settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
According to Axios, this move marks a significant expansion of US sanctions against illegal settlement activities. It is the first time sanctions have been placed on private construction firms that facilitate illegal settlement expansion
That said, the Israeli settler lobby, along with the Netanyahu government, is now urging President-elect Trump to overturn President Bidenﾒs executive order addressing settler violence and to lift all sanctions implemented over the past ten months.
Reversing these sanctions could serve as one of Trump's initial foreign policy actions.
It is worth mentioning that rightwing Israeli settlers and extremist Zionists have expressed enthusiastic support for nominations in Trump's incoming administration, seeing it as an unprecedented chance to expand the Israeli presence in the occupied territories and effectively end any possibility of a Palestinian state, The Guardian reported Sunday.
Trump's nomination of pro-settlement officials is viewed by some as a "dream team" that could significantly reshape the region, with many activists calling it a "unique and special opportunity" for "Israel".
Al Mayadeen – November 23, 2024
ICC warrants are binding, EU cannot pick and choose: Borrell
All EU member states have signed the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding statute, and some EU governments have stated they will complete their obligations under the legislation if necessary,
Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Saturday that nations cannot choose whether or not to carry out arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC issued on Thursday arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former Security Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of "crimes against humanity and war crimes," compelling the ICC's 124 member states to detain Netanyahu and Gallant should they enter their territory.
The warrants come as the death toll from the Israeli genocidal war against the Gaza Strip surpassed 43,985 martyrs over 412 days.
All EU member states have signed the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding statute, and some EU governments have stated they will complete their obligations under the legislation if necessary, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has encouraged Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him that he would face no dangers if so.
During a visit to Cyprus for an Israeli workshop, Borell stated that EU states "are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional,"
Those same commitments were imposed on countries desiring to join the EU, he noted, telling Reuters "It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don't fulfill."
According to an official statement, the office of Netanyahu dismissed the ICC decision to issue arrest warrants against him and his former Security Minister, labeling the move as "anti-Semitic".
Visibly frustrated by the overuse of the "antisemitism," accusation, Borrell expressed that "Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government, they are accused of antisemitism."
He explained he had the "right to criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That's enough."
ICC warrants expose 'Israel' and US defenders : WashPo
According to Ishaan Tharoor, the US reactions to the recent ICC arrest warrants signify a humiliating moment for "Israel" as many nations like the Netherlands, France, and Canada vowed to abide by international law.ﾠ
Tharoor wrote in The Washington Post on Friday that Benjamin Netanyahu may have to think twice before making an emergency stop in nations that would arrest him, something Andrew Miller, a former US State Department official calls "partial reverse of normalization."
Rather than Israeli officials freely traveling to other nations, they are now unable to visit countries " that haveﾠrecognized Israel for decades," Miller notes
The ICC's pursuit of Vladimir Putin has received backing from the Biden administration and several Republican senators, with Senator Lindsey Graham supporting the court's activities as a critical, evidence-based step toward international justice "that will stand the test of history."
In a brazen double standard, Graham recently described the court as "a dangerous joke," and "irresponsible" for issuing a warrant for Netanyahu, calling for the US to sanction the body, Tharoor writes.
Middle East Monitor – November 23, 2024
U.S. Senator Threatens to Invade Netherlands over ICC Warrants against Israel’s Netanyahu
US Senator, Tom Cotton, has threatened military action against the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, invoking a controversial US law known as “The Hague Invasion Act”.
In an inflammatory statement on social media, Cotton, who is funded by the notorious The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), declared: “The ICC is a kangaroo court and Karim Khan is a deranged fanatic. Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these outlaw warrants. Let me give them all a friendly reminder: the American law on the ICC is known as The Hague Invasion Act for a reason. Think about it.”
The American Service-Members’ Protection Act, nicknamed “The Hague Invasion Act”, was passed in 2002 to shield US personnel and allies from ICC prosecution. The law authorises the US President to use “all means necessary and appropriate” – including military force – to free any American or allied personnel detained by the ICC in The Hague.
Cotton’s threat comes after ICC pre-trial judges issued arrest warrants yesterday for Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of using starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity including murder, persecution and other inhumane acts in Gaza. The Court determined there were “reasonable grounds” that Israel’s siege and assault on Gaza “created conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population”.
The Biden administration swiftly rejected the ICC’s decision, with White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, expressing “deep concern”. US politicians from both major parties have condemned the Court’s ruling, with Senator Lindsey Graham, an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, calling for sanctions against ICC officials.
ICC member states including France, UK and Canada have indicated that Netanyahu would be arrested if he entered their country. “If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC” said Emily Thornberry, Labour Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
https://www.juancole.com/2024/11/threatens-netherlands-netanyahu.html
World Socialist Web Site – November 22, 2024
US threats against the International Criminal Court and the normalization of genocide
By Andre Damon
On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) formally issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The action is a testament to the criminality of the war of extermination waged by Israel against the people of Gaza with the support of the US and other imperialist powers. While the official death toll is at least 42,000, there are estimates as high as 186,000 (in The Lancet last July) and even higher. More than 90 percent of the pre-invasion population of Gaza has been internally displaced. The entire population has been subjected to severe shortages of food and water, and the majority of houses, schools, hospitals and universities have been either damaged or destroyed.
The court charged Netanyahu and Gallant with “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare” and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
The ruling vindicates the mass protests carried out by millions all over the world against the Gaza genocide, which the imperialist governments have falsely denounced as being motivated by antisemitism.
Netanyahu’s guilt is imperialism’s guilt. The entire American political establishment, from the Biden administration and the Democratic Party to the Republican Party and the incoming Trump administration, has supported the genocide and has united in condemning the ICC decision.
In a statement on Thursday, Senator Tom Cotton made threats to wage war against countries or even assassinate leaders who cooperate with the ICC case, while fellow Republican Lindsey Graham has led a bipartisan group of senators pushing for the US to sanction the International Criminal Court. The White House expressed its openness to calls for sanctioning the ICC.
President Joe Biden responded to the warrants with an open endorsement of Israel’s war against the population of Gaza, declaring, “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
There is, in fact, no equivalence. The Palestinians are an oppressed people who have been subjected to decades of occupation at the hands of Israel, confined to open-air prisons and denied the most basic democratic rights. Israel is a massively armed state financed by imperialism, carrying out a genocide against a population it illegally occupies.
American officials are well aware that the charges brought by the ICC do not only condemn Israel. It is a well established legal principle that those who finance, direct and authorize a crime are culpable in its commission.
To the extent that US officials have bothered to give rationalizations for their attack on the ICC’s case against Netanyahu, it has been to declare, in the words of White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, that the “ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter.”
This is a fraud. The International Court of Justice ruled definitively this year that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is illegal, and the International Criminal Court likewise ruled that it has standing to bring charges against Israeli leaders for crimes committed in Palestine.
The Gaza genocide is part of a global eruption of imperialist war, centrally targeting Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, aimed at the total subjugation of the former colonial world to the imperialist powers. The lead essay in the latest edition of Foreign Affairs asserts:
An era of limited war has ended; an age of comprehensive conflict has begun. Indeed, what the world is witnessing today is akin to what theorists in the past have called “total war,” in which combatants draw on vast resources, mobilize their societies, prioritize warfare over all other state activities, attack a broad variety of targets, and reshape their economies and those of other countries.
To declare that this new era of global warfare allows countries to “attack a broad variety of targets” is a colloquial way of saying that international law is being suspended, and civilians, hospitals and humanitarian organizations are all targets. The “Israeli model” is to be the standard for waging war in the future by the imperialist powers.
The vicious response by the US to the ICC’s charging of Netanyahu takes place just days after Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer authorized the launching of NATO long-range missiles deep inside Russia, despite threats from Russia to retaliate to attacks on its territory with the use of nuclear weapons.
The sponsorship by the imperialist powers of the Gaza genocide is a warning: They are prepared to accept the deaths of countless numbers of people, both those of their adversaries and of their own citizens, to achieve their geopolitical aims. The damage that tens of thousands of Israeli bombings have done over more than a year—equivalent to two Hiroshima-sized nuclear bombs—can be done in an instant with a modern nuclear weapon.
In asserting that it will not enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant, the German government declared, “It is a consequence of German history that we share unique relations and great responsibility with Israel.” The Telegraph translated this statement more colloquially by declaring, “Germany won’t arrest Netanyahu ‘because of its Nazi history.’”
This is true, but not in the way the Telegraph means it. Israel is waging, although at a smaller scale, the type of “war of extermination” waged by Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union. This method of war will more and more become the norm in the global wars waged by the imperialist powers.
In its 2024 New Year’s statement, the WSWS Editorial Board made the following warning:
All the “red lines” that demarcate civilization from barbarism are being effaced. The motto of capitalist governments is: “Nothing that is criminal is alien to us.” Nuclear war is being “normalized”; genocide is being “normalized”; pandemics and the deliberate culling of the infirm and elderly have been “normalized”; unfathomable levels of wealth concentration and social inequality have been “normalized”; the suppression of democracy and the resort to authoritarianism and fascism are being “normalized.”
The crimes of Nazi Germany, condemned as aberrations by capitalist governments of the past, are being more and more accepted as the model in the conduct of imperialist foreign policy.
In their response to the ICC’s charges against Netanyahu, the imperialist powers have made clear that they intend to continue funding and arming the Gaza genocide and shield its persecutors from accountability. It has made clear that the fight to end the genocide is necessarily a fight to abolish imperialism, and that this requires the development of a mass movement in the working class.
Palestine Information Center – November 23, 2024
ICC Warrants Mean Israel is at Lowest Point in Its History
Palestine Information Center
The world and Israeli press see the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant as a major setback for Israel, a dramatic political and legal escalation with much repercussion and leading to its isolation as an occupying state with the imposition of restrictions on the travel of its officials to dozens of countries and weakening its international position.
In a historic precedent, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants, Thursday, against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Galant on charges of war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
The arrest warrants focused on the committal of the war crime of genocide, including starving an entire people and preventing them from accessing their right to the necessities of life.
Political storm
The ICC decision sparked an international political storm. While many EU countries confirmed their commitment to implementing the court’s order, attention turned to Israel and how it would deal with the decision, which many consider a slap in the face whose consequences unimaginable, even if the US administration rejects it on the grounds that the ICC does not have jurisdiction in this matter.
Netanyahu, who is in deep crisis and famous for his rhetorics, found no better way than to describe the decision but as a new “Dreyfus trial,” likening himself to the French Jewish officer who was tried in 1894 because he was Jewish. His description was a prelude to considering the ICC decision anti-Semitic, hostile to Jews and a dark day for the history of civilized peoples.
Months ago, Netanyahu described the request of the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to issue arrest warrants as “ridiculous and false… and a distortion of reality,” while stressing “Israel’s right to defend itself” against barbarism and obscurantism, and those who seek to eliminate it.
A Haaretz article sees the issuing of ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant as reflecting the lowest point of the Jewish state in its battle for legitimacy and international support.
According to the article, Israelis who felt supported by many world countries after Operation Aqsa Flood on 7 October, 2023, “wake up today, 13 months later, to find their country isolated, condemned and accused of committing war crimes.”
Dramatic escalation
The British Financial Times described the ICC decision as a dramatic escalation in legal proceedings against Israel over its war on Gaza, noting it is the first decision of its kind against Western-backed Israeli officials.
According to the newspaper, the decision will reinforce the feeling Israel is experiencing increasing international isolation due to its behavior in the war on Gaza.
Le Monde however, stated that it is the United States who would now face isolation after using its veto power against a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
According to the French daily, negotiators expected the Biden administration to review its current position before the arrival of the strongly pro-Israel Donald Trump administration.
Potential implications
The New York Times highlighted three possible repercussions of the ICC arrest warrants, the first of which is world diplomatic isolation, especially among the ICC signatory countries and which may hinder diplomatic relations and military cooperation between Israel and many countries.
The New York-based newspaper believes the arrest warrants will put Israeli leaders back under the international legal microscope, making their travel outside Israel risky, in addition to weakening the Israeli position, adding the warrants increases international criticism of Israeli military operations, and weakens the support it receives from its allies, especially in Europe.
But the New York Times also quotes international law expert Philippe Sands as saying there are legal restrictions facing the International Criminal Court in implementing arrest warrants, “but the decision carries strong symbolism that reflects a change in the international position towards Israel,” noting the signatory countries are obligated to arrest “wanted persons if they enter their territory. This is a clear legal obligation.”
However, the newspaper’s adoption of precedents such as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to signatory countries without arresting him raises questions about the court’s ability to enforce its decisions in practice.
Embargo on arms supplies to Israel
An Israeli military analyst believes that the two international arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant open the door to imposing an arms embargo on the occupying state of Israel.
Amos Harel, an analyst in Haaretz, points out the ICC decision “could give a strong boost to the complaints and criminal investigations against IDF soldiers and commanders that are being conducted in many countries.”
Harel points out to the many implications of the decision, including the possibility of Netanyahu and Galant being arrested in more than 120 member states of the ICC if they reach them, adding the decision could create an opportunity for an arms embargo by additional Western countries, which have so far been content with “more moderate” measures against Israel.
“This will give a strong boost to the many complaints and criminal investigations against Israeli soldiers and leaders taking place in many countries. It also serves as a reminder that there is another axis for criminal investigation, which is the events taking place in the West Bank, with a focus on settlements,” he added.
The warrants will also put pressure on lower-ranking Israeli officials as they can be brought into war crimes cases in national courts of individual countries they travel to.
“It sort of gives a stamp of quality to Israel’s isolation. This is not a protest at Columbia University. This is not a bunch of hooligans fighting each other on the streets of Amsterdam. This is the ICC,” said Alon Pinkas, a former senior Israeli diplomat.
This article was translated, edited by Dr Marwan Asmar from the Palestine Information Center and reprinted on www.crossfirearabia.com.
https://countercurrents.org/2024/11/icc-warrants-mean-israel-is-at-lowest-point-in-its-history/
Countercurrent – November 23, 2024
Yemen Appears to Have the Upper Hand in Its Conflict With the United States
by Vijay Prashad
On November 14, 2023, a month into Israel’s genocidal attack on the Palestinians in Gaza, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, one of the leaders of Ansar Allah and of the government of Yemen, delivered a speech that was broadcast on Al-Masirah television. “Our eyes are open to constant monitoring and searching for any Israeli ship,” he said. “The enemy relies on camouflage in its movement in the Red Sea, especially in Bab al-Mandab, and [does] not dare to raise Israeli flags on its ships.” The Bab al-Mandab, the Gate of Grief, is the 14-nautical-mile wide waterway between Djibouti and Yemen. What is interesting is that, by United Nations treaty, a country claims 12 nautical miles as its territorial limit; this means a large part of the waters are within Yemen’s jurisdicti
on.
Five days later, Yemeni commandos flew in a helicopter over Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship that is registered in the Bahamas and is operated by the Japanese NYK shipping line but that is partially owned by Abraham Ungar (one of Israel’s richest men). The ship continues to be held within Yemen’s territorial waters in the port of Saleef, with its 25 crew members as hostages in Al-Hudaydah governorate. This assault on Galaxy Leader, and then on several other Israeli-owned vessels, halted the traffic of goods to the Port of Eliat, which sits at the end of the Gulf of Aqaba. Squeezed between Egypt and Jordan, this port, which is the only non-Mediterranean Sea access for Israel, no longer has the level of cargo ships that it had before October 2023 and the private operator of the port has said it is almost bankrupt. Over the course of the past year, the port has been hit by drone and missile strikes emanating from Bahrain, Iraq, and Yemen.
U.S. Strikes Are Not Working
Yemen’s government said that it would desist from any attack if Israel stopped its genocidal war against the Palestinians. Since the Israeli attack continues, Yemen’s attacks have also continued. These Yemeni attacks have provoked massive assaults on Yemen’s already fragile infrastructure—including an Israeli attack on Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah in July and punctual missile attacks by the United States. When U. S. President Joe Biden was asked if the U. S. airstrikes and missile strikes on Yemen were working, he answered bluntly: “When you say ‘working,’ are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.” In other words, Yemen’s government—erroneously called the Houthis after the Zaydi tradition of Islam followed by a quarter of the Yemeni population—is not going to cease its attacks on Israel just because the U.S. and the Israelis have been hitting their country. Yemeni opposition to the Israeli genocide exceeds the Zaydi community, the Ansar Allah movement, and the Yemeni government. Even Tawakkol Karman, who received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2011 and is a critic of the Yemeni government, has been vocal in her criticism of Israel.
Biden’s admission that the U.S. missile strikes will not stop Yemen from its attacks has been accurate. Yemen faced a murderous bombardment from Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2023, with the Saudis destroying large parts of the infrastructure in Yemen. And yet, the Yemenis have maintained the ability to strike Israeli targets. In October 2024, the United States military deployed B-2 Spirit bombers to hit what the Pentagon called, “five underground targets.” It was not clear if these weapons depots were destroyed, but it does show the increasing desperation of the U.S. and Israel to stop the Yemeni attacks. The names of the U.S. missions (Operation Prosperity Guardian and Operation Poseidon Archer) sound impressive. They are backed by a roster of carrier strike groups to protect Israel and to hit Yemen as well as groups that attempt to deter Israel’s genocide. There are at least 40,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East and at any given time at least one carrier strike group with aircraft carriers and destroyers. According to the U.S. Navy, there are two destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea (USS Bulkeley and USS Arleigh Burke) and two in the Red Sea (USS Cole and USS Jason Dunham), with Carrier Strike Group 8, anchored by the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, en route to the Mediterranean as USS Abraham Lincoln goes off to the Pacific Ocean. There is a considerable amount of U.S. firepower in the area around Israel.
A Political Solution
Biden has not been the only person to say that the U.S. attacks on Yemen have failed. U. S. Vice Admiral George Wikoff, who leads Operation Prosperity Guardian, addressed an audience in Washington, D.C. from his headquarters in Bahrain in August. Wikoff said that the United States cannot “find a centralized center of gravity” for the Yemenis, which means that it cannot apply “a classic deterrence policy.” If the United States cannot strike fear into the leadership of the Yemeni government, then it cannot halt the Yemeni attacks on Israeli shipping or infrastructure. “We have certainly degraded their capability,” Wikoff said referring to the drones and missiles shot down by the U.S. weapons. Wikoff did not mention that each of the Yemeni missiles and drones cost about $2,000, while the U.S. missiles used to shoot them down cost $2 million. In the end, the Yemenis might be the ones degrading the U.S. military (the Wall Street Journal reported in October that the U.S. is running low on air-defense missiles, and the same paper reported in June that the U.S. had spent $1 billion on its war on Yemen since October 2023). Like Biden, Wikoff reflected: “Have we stopped them? No.” In an interesting aside, Wikoff said, “The solution is not going to come at the end of a weapon system.”
As far as the Yemeni government is concerned, the only solution will come when Israel ceases its genocide. But even a ceasefire might not be sufficient. In early November, the United Nations official Louise Wateridge posted a video on X of the desolation in northern Gaza, and then wrote, “An entire society now a graveyard.” The ability of the Yemeni government to cease shipping to Israel and to pin down the United States off its coast might embolden it to continue with this if Israel continues its illegal policies of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid. Both Wikoff and Biden agree that the U.S. policy has not worked, and Wikoff even said that the solution is not going to be through military force. It will have to be political.
Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter
Myopic Pakistan Cricket Selectors
By Syed Rifaquat Ali
The Pakistan cricket team is currently on a tour of Zimbabwe to play three ODIs and three T20s, the first ODI starting on November 24 in Bulawayo.
News has trickled in that Babar Azam, one of the most exciting and elegant batsmen in the world, has been dropped from the playing X1 for the opening game and is replacedby Ghulam Kamran who scored a century on debut against England.
I wish it is a fake news as Pakistanis are great masters in putting out fake news like the Indians. Aqib Javed, the Chief selector, does not have the vision to see the class and potential in a cricketer. In this context, Javed is a tyro, though as a player he was outstanding in his heyday.
Babar Azam is Babar Azam, no matter his slew of failures in International matches. Javed aught to know that gold is gold, no matter how grubby it may look. It is just like dropping Virat Kohli from the Indian team on the pretext of his failures.
Great players do fail off and on, and it should not be taken as a yardstick to axe them. Babar Azam has scored thirty one centuries in International matches, not to speak of domestic first class matches. And yet the PCB selectors cannot assess his class and potential. Are they myopic?
Pakistan will be hosting the ICC Champions Trophy next year in February. And taking such bizarre decisions at this point of time is foolish and Pakistan may later relent. In fact, this is the time that Babar Azam aught to get more matches so that he regains form before the Champions Trophy.
Dropping him at this crucial stage will only demoralise him beyond comprehension. As in politics, Pakistan Cricket too is plagued by politics and groups.
The PCB Chairman, Mohsin Naqvi is himself a politician, Interior minister in Shehbaz Sharif government and cannot foresee such bizarre decisions since he is not a cricketer.
Pakistan selectors have never been circumspect to distinguish between right and wrong. They are a bunch of arrogant people who can humiliate any top notch cricketer however great they may be. And Pakistan Cricket continues to suffer. To stop this malaise, the Federal Government must step in to appoint any legendary cricketer, such as Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis or someone else who holds a high reputation in the world.
Syed Rifaquat Ali is JoA correspondent in Sydney
