Headlines:
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 20, 2024
Hezbollah Leader Says Israel Has Crossed “All Red Lines” as Israel Escalates War with Lebanon
Sep 20, 2024
Israeli military jets bombarded southern Lebanon Thursday, while Hezbollah struck sites in northern Israel, after mass walkie-talkie and pager explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday killed at least 37 people in Lebanon and injured thousands of others in what is widely believed to be a coordinated attack by Israel. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel of crossing “all red lines” as he addressed the week’s attacks in televised remarks.
Hassan Nasrallah: “War crimes or a declaration of war — you can call it anything, and it deserves those words. … Undoubtedly, we have been subjected to a major attack in terms of security and humanitarian aspects, unprecedented in the history of resistance in Lebanon. … We say to the enemy’s government, army and society that the Lebanese front will not stop before the aggression on Gaza stops.”
Despite the widely condemned attacks on Lebanon, Israel is doubling down on its intent to expand its war on Lebanon. This is Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Yoav Gallant: “Over the past several days, we have held a series of important discussions. This is a new phase of the war. It includes opportunities but also significant risks. Hezbollah feels it is being persecuted, and the sequence of military and defense actions will continue.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has postponed a trip to Israel early next week amid the mounting tensions. The Associated Press reports Yoav Gallant warned Austin ahead of the attacks this week that Israel was launching a military operation in Lebanon, but did not give any more details.
Video Shows Israeli Soldiers Pushing Bodies of Palestinians They Killed Off West Bank Roof
Sep 20, 2024
Deadly Israeli raids are continuing in the occupied West Bank, including in Jenin and Qabatiya, where a video has been circulating showing Israeli soldiers pushing dead bodies off a roof after a raid that killed at least five Palestinians. The desecration of corpses is considered a war crime, but Palestinians say the Israeli military frequently violates the deceased bodies of its victims. During the Qabatiya raid, Israeli forces also opened fire on a group of journalists filming the events. This is an eyewitness.
Zakaria Zakarneh: “Israeli special forces, fully equipped, raided and surrounded the area. They started shooting grenades and missiles. They struck young men at our place on the rooftop as they were trying to escape the trap.”
U.N. Panel Accuses Israel of Unprecedented Violations of Children’s Rights in War on Palestine
Sep 20, 2024
Israeli attacks on Gaza have also continued with deaths reported over the past day in Gaza City, Jabaliya, Nuseirat and Beit Hanoun. The official death toll in Gaza since October 7 has topped 41,000 with over 95,000 wounded, though the true toll is certainly much higher.
A U.N. committee on Thursday accused Israel of engaging in unprecedented violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child over the past 11 months.
Ann Skelton: “More children have died in this war than men or women. That is massive. And I think when we think about it and we know that under international humanitarian law, that Israel admits it is bound by, killing of civilian targets on this scale is unacceptable in international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well. And children are always civilians.”
Here in the U.S., three Democratic lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill that would restore emergency funding to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, after the U.S. suspended its contributions in January and later passed a bill barring any further funding of UNRWA until March of next year.
Students Across U.S. Continue to Protest Universities’ Complicity in War on Gaza
Sep 20, 2024
Resistance to Israel’s U.S.-backed war on Gaza continues on college campuses as the new school year gets underway with more protests and calls to divest from Israel. On Wednesday, Cornell students shut down a career fair featuring weapons manufacturers supplying Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Meanwhile, a chapter of the activist group Students for Justice in Palestine is suing the University of Maryland in College Park after the school canceled an October 7 Gaza vigil.
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“Declaration of War”: Hezbollah Girds for Israeli Invasion of Lebanon After Mobile Device Attacks
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 20, 2024
Right after we broadcast, Israel carried out “targeted strikes” in Beirut as it appears to be preparing for a ground invasion of southern Lebanon as an expansion of its war on Gaza.
Following deadly Israeli attacks that blew up walkie-talkies and pagers across Lebanon this week, killing at least 37 people and wounding around 3,000, Israeli officials have pledged to ramp up their campaign against Hezbollah. Hezbollah characterized the devastating pager explosions as a “declaration of war.” In Beirut, we hear from journalist Rania Abouzeid about the aftereffects of the attack and the prospects of war on the Lebanese front. “There is certainly a sense of heightened anxiety as people wonder what else, what other devices in their vicinity, may explode,” she says.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Lebanon, where reports suggest Israel appears to be linking its southern Lebanon border to Gaza. As we broadcast, the Associated Press is reporting Hezbollah has launched 140 rockets into northern Israel in what is said is retaliation for Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.
This comes as Al Jazeera reports Israel’s reserve forces commander said earlier today, quote, “It is time for Lebanon to suffer as well, … the power plants, bridges, airports and seaports as well,” unquote. Al Jazeera has also reported on videos from Israeli government media sources that show Israel’s minefields on Lebanon’s border are being cleared to, quote, “make way for what most likely will be a movement of ground forces into southern Lebanon.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday Israel will keep up military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
YOAV GALLANT: [translated] Our goal is to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes. As time goes by, Hezbollah will pay an increasing price.
AMY GOODMAN: This all comes after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah denounced the deadly Israeli attacks that blew up walkie-talkies and pagers across Lebanon Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 37 people, including children, and wounding thousands more. As Nasrallah delivered a televised address Thursday, sonic booms from Israeli warplanes shook Beirut.
HASSAN NASRALLAH: [translated] We say to the enemy’s government, army and society that the Lebanese front will not stop before the aggression on Gaza stops. We have been saying this for 11 months now. It might sound repetitive now, but these words come after these two big blows, after all these martyrs, all these wounds, all this pain. I say clearly, whatever the sacrifices, whatever the consequences, whatever the possibilities, whatever the horizon to which the region heads, the resistance in Lebanon will not stop supporting the people of Gaza and the West Bank, who are oppressed in that Holy Land.
AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, the World Health Organization says the explosions in booby-trapped pagers and radios in Lebanon seriously disrupted Lebanon’s health sector. The WHO’s representative in Lebanon said a hundred hospitals were involved in responding to the crisis.
DR. ABDINASIR ABUBAKAR: You know, what happened for the last two days actually was an unprecedented incident, the explosion of different gadgets. And it’s been used not the normal explosion material. It’s been used a different. So, it’s sometimes — it’s very difficult actually to know exactly the short-term and the long-term impact of this substance that’s been used for the explosions. But I think the experts, and as well as in collaboration also with WHO now, we are trying to study more exactly what happened, how it happened, what kind of material is being used and how it’s affecting the people that have already been wounded, which is over 3,000 people. And also, 37 people have died so far.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Beirut, Lebanon, where we’re joined by Rania Abouzeid, Lebanese Australian journalist and author, who is based there.
Welcome to Democracy Now! First off, as you join us from Beirut, where there has been this wave of attacks, people are concerned about a second wave of explosions involving electronic devices. At this point, the figures are something like 3,500 people injured; 37, including children, are dead. Talk about the response on the ground, Rania.
RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, there’s certainly a sense of heightened anxiety as people wonder what else, what other devices in their vicinity, may explode. They wonder if anything that they’re holding in their hands or that might be in their homes could be weaponized, turned into an improvised explosive device to maim and kill either them or the people around them.
There is also anger about the attacks, the fact that people — you know, they didn’t target combatants in a battlefield, but, rather, people going about their everyday lives. These devices exploded in supermarkets. They exploded as people were driving their cars. They exploded in people’s homes.
The hospitals, as you mentioned in that report, were overwhelmed. More than a hundred hospitals rallied to try and help the thousands of wounded, as well as some of the dead that were coming into the hospitals.
So, it’s a — there’s also been an escalation on the southern Lebanese front with northern Israel. Overnight, there were more than 50 Israeli attacks on southern Lebanese villages. And as you mentioned in your report, more than a hundred Hezbollah rockets have been fired across the border today.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what Nasrallah said yesterday?
RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, it was a very wide-ranging speech. Part of it was he looked at these attacks and he said, “Let’s consider what Israel’s aims were in this attack.” And he pointed out three things. He said the first was to try and separate the Lebanese front from Gaza. And he said that won’t happen until the war in Gaza ends. The second was to splinter and to pressure Hezbollah’s support base to say, “Enough. We have had enough of this.” That aim also has failed. On the contrary, we have seen people who are wounded in the hospitals saying that this is a sacrifice that they are prepared to make. The third thing was to disrupt Hezbollah’s communications infrastructure. And Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that that didn’t happen.
He also turned to these growing Israeli calls for a ground invasion of Lebanon or to widen the war in Lebanon away from the southern Lebanese border region, but to engulf the whole country. And he said at one point that Hezbollah welcomes a ground invasion. It prefers to target Israeli soldiers on its home turf rather than in northern Israel. And he said that if Israeli soldiers cross that border, they will find themselves in hell. And he also said at one point they will also face, quote, “hundreds of those who were wounded in Tuesday and Wednesday’s attacks.”
AMY GOODMAN: So, what about the response to the reports from Reuters and The New York Times and other places that it was Israeli agents who were reportedly responsible, but wouldn’t quite say — accurate to say rigging devices, manufacturing these devices, not clear, debate over where exactly they were manufactured, but possibly a Budapest, Hungary-based company was involved? Your response to this and the U.N. Secretary-General Guterres saying that — decrying the use of everyday electronics as a weapon of war?
RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, there’s — speculation is rife about exactly how these devices exploded and at what point did they — were explosives placed in them, were they remotely hacked. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah yesterday in his speech said that Hezbollah has set up a number of committees to investigate this and that it would, you know, soon release the results.
As for the use, you know, turning everyday objects into IEDs, basically, there was a press release recently, just moments ago, before we went on air, where U.N. experts said that it was a terrifying violation of international law, that you can’t booby-trap devices that civilians might use or that may be in the vicinity of civilians. So, it is a, to use Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s word again, “unprecedented” tactic and one that is very grave, because it also — it didn’t — it attacked so many different people. It wasn’t an attack, a mass attack, on people in the same location, but it was in at least three places across Lebanon: in south Lebanon, in the Beqaa Valley and in Beirut.
AMY GOODMAN: As Guterres decries the weaponization of civilian objects, can you talk about, on the ground, in the hospitals, the kind of injuries that these hospitals, that are overwhelmed, are dealing with? Word is that somewhere over 3,500 people were injured.
RANIA ABOUZEID: Yes, and we have seen — on Lebanese TV, we have seen trauma surgeons break down and cry as they describe some of the cases that they are dealing with. Injuries are predominantly to the eyes, to the face, to the torso and to the hands. We have heard surgeons say that in the same operation, there are sometimes three or four specialists who are trying to save some of these wounded people. Each one is focused on a particular body part. So they are really quite, quite devastating injuries. Some of them — there was a trauma surgeon this morning who was talking about how some of these wounded people might need multiple surgeries over a very extended period of time.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to turn to the Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh speaking Thursday.
SABRINA SINGH: Yesterday, Secretary Austin spoke by phone with his Israeli counterpart, Minister of Defense Gallant, to review regional security developments and reiterate unwavering U.S. support for Israel in the face of threats from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran’s other regional partners. The secretary emphasized the U.S. commitment to deterring regional adversaries, deescalating tensions across the region, and reaffirmed the priority of reaching a ceasefire deal that will bring home hostages held by Hamas, and an enduring diplomatic resolution to the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border that will allow civilians on both sides to return home.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the U.S. response so far to these explosions in Lebanon? Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, was in Paris. He cautioned against any further escalations that would make a Gaza ceasefire deal even more challenging, though it looks like that has fallen apart, Rania.
RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, I can’t speak to what the U.S. is — to the U.S.’s point of view, but I can certainly tell you that over here, people very intimately link this Israeli offensive with the U.S. People point out the double standards in terms of international law. They also point out how, you know, Blinken and other U.S. officials talk about deescalating the conflict, while continuing to arm Israel, not only in Gaza, but also, of course, with regard to its offensive here in Lebanon. So, you know, the mask has fallen on the doublespeak that is coming out of Washington.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the formation of Hezbollah, what its political aspirations are, and its relationship to the Lebanese government?
RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, it is part of the Lebanese government. Hezbollah has more than a dozen parliamentarians. It also has Cabinet ministers. And it has had people in government for many, many years. It has a political wing. It has a military wing. And it also runs a lot of charities and schools and hospitals. It formed in 1982 as a resistance group in response to Israel’s occupation, invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon. And it maintains its arms because part of Lebanon remains Israeli-occupied and has been for decades.
AMY GOODMAN: And what you see happening now with the Israeli government, the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying the war is widening, the reports of troops being used, Israeli troops being moved to the north from Gaza?
RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, that’s the big question. That’s the question that is on the minds of many Lebanese: What happens next? Will there be a ground invasion? Will there be airstrikes? We heard the Israeli official point out targets. He mentioned the airport. He mentioned the port, Beirut’s port. These are all civilian infrastructure. And let’s not forget that in 2006 war with Israel, the airport was hit on day one. Beirut airport was hit on day one, rendering it unusable. So, the idea that Israel would broaden its war not just to target Hezbollah, but to target Lebanese civilian infrastructure, is a very — is a grave concern over here.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to turn to your New Yorker piece. You said, “Earlier this summer, I met with a Hezbollah military strategist in a small village in southern Lebanon, a few kilometres from the Israeli border. At one point during our off-the-record conversation, his pager beeped. He decrypted the message using a neatly folded piece of laminated paper. I hadn’t seen a sheet like that since the 2006 war with Israel, when another Hezbollah militant in another southern Lebanese village pulled one out of his pocket to relay a coded message over a walkie-talkie. The group has long used various low-tech methods, including pagers, as part of its strategy to avoid Israeli tracking and surveillance of cell phones. It also has its own landline network.” Take it from there, Rania.
RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, I mean, I’ll just go back to the 2006 incident. Not only did the — I saw two fighters in a southern Lebanese village, and they were using the walkie-talkies and this laminated piece of paper. But they told me about how they use coded messages. One man said, “If I tell my friend to meet me under the tree where he met his fiancée, I understand it, he understands it, but even if a message like that is intercepted by the Israelis, they will not understand it.” This is the advantage that Hezbollah has on its home turf. These are local men fighting in their villages. They are fighting in their towns. The are fighting in territory that they are very intimately familiar with. And they’re a very disciplined, very highly trained, very motivated fighting force.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about the sonic booms that you’re hearing and how that affects the Lebanese population?
RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, they’re terrifying, first of all. It’s just — you don’t know if it’s a sonic boom, and you wait to hear if there’s an explosion that follows the noise. Now, this is also — you know, let’s not forget that Beirut has long been terrorized by Israeli overflights by Israeli warplanes. All of these things, incidentally, are violations of sovereignty and acts of war. Every year, the United Nations tallies up these violations and presents a report about them. They’re usually in the hundreds, sometimes in the thousands, these cross-border violations.
So, they’re not a new development per se. But given the heightened tensions, they are certainly a terrifying sound to hear in the middle of the day, because you just don’t know if this is the opening salvo of an expanded war or if it is just the boom itself and not followed by an explosion.
AMY GOODMAN: Are people afraid to use pagers, walkie-talkies, even their cellphones?
RANIA ABOUZEID: Beyond that, people are wondering if perhaps — you know, there were reports that people were disconnecting the lithium batteries in their homes from the solar panels to provide electricity. People were wondering what other devices might explode, what electronics in their home might explode. Some people were telling each other not to use cellphones, but to go back to landlines to communicate. So, they’re really — you know, this is psychologically — it’s broken something, because this is a new sort of development, when an everyday object can be weaponized and it can be weaponized en masse.
AMY GOODMAN: Rania Abouzeid, we thank you for being with us, Lebanese Australian journalist and author based in Beirut.
RANIA ABOUZEID: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: We will link to your article in The New Yorker magazine, “Explosions Across Lebanon.”
RANIA ABOUZEID: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: Next up, weeks out from the U.S. election, the Uncommitted National Movement has announced it’s not going to endorse Kamala Harris, even as they say they oppose President Trump and that voting for a third party a mistake. We’ll speak with the co-founder of the movement. Stay with us.
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No Endorsement: Uncommitted Mvmt. Won’t Back Harris, Trump or Third Party as U.S. Keeps Arming Israel
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 20, 2024
The U.S. presidential election is just 45 days away, and for antiwar voters, the policy differences between the two leading candidates are vanishingly thin. As the Biden-Harris administration continues to supply billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, the Uncommitted National Movement, which for months has attempted to steer the Democratic Party toward a more critical stance on Israel, has announced it is not endorsing Kamala Harris. Neither does the organization recommend casting a third-party vote, citing the risk of splitting the two-party vote and ushering in a second term for Donald Trump. “We were not met in good faith with our policy demands,” says the Uncommitted National Movement’s co-founder Lexis Zeidan about its attempts to parley with the Harris campaign. Zeidan says the organization will continue to pressure Democrats from within and outside of the party. “What we’re asking is not outrageous.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.
We’re just 45 days away from the U.S. election. As the Biden administration continues to supply billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, demands for a U.S. arms embargo to Israel remain a key issue among antiwar voters, who say they feel ignored by both major political parties. Now the Uncommitted National Movement, which pressured by the Democratic Party — or, pressured the Democratic Party to shift its policy towards Israel and to end the war on Gaza, has announced it will not endorse Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, saying her campaign failed to accept the movement’s demands, which also include meeting with Palestinian American families who have had many of their relatives killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
With less than two months to go until the election, Harris has repeatedly defended the Biden administration’s support of Israel amidst its relentless war on Gaza. During an interview on Tuesday with the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia, Vice President Harris was questioned on the issues by reporter Tonya Mosley of WHYY Radio.
TONYA MOSLEY: You’ve called for a ceasefire-hostage deal and a two-state solution as an end to the war for many months now. And while you’ve expressed support for Israel to defend itself, a two-state solution and a ceasefire are at odds with what Benjamin Netanyahu has said is their right to defense. If it matters, as you say, how Israel defends itself, where do you see the line between aggression and defense, and our power as Israel’s ally to do something?
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: OK, a lot to unpack in what you just said. So, let’s start with this. I absolutely believe that this war has to end, and it has to end as soon as possible. And the way that will be achieved is by getting a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done. And we are working around the clock to achieve that end. Stepping back, October 7, 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered — and actually, and some Americans, by the way, in that number, slaughtered, young people who were attending a concert. Women were horribly raped. And yes, so I have said Israel has a right to defend itself. We would. And —
TONYA MOSLEY: But, Madam Vice President —
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: But, no.
TONYA MOSLEY: — I think my ask —
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: But let me finish.
TONYA MOSLEY: — is the difference —
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: But, no, no. Let me finish.
TONYA MOSLEY: — between aggression and defense here.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: No, but it’s important to put it in context, which is what I’m doing, and I’ll get to that. And so, how it does so matters. And far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed, women and children. We have seen with horror the images coming out of Gaza. And we have to take that seriously.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Vice President Kamala Harris being questioned Tuesday by reporter Tonya Mosley as part of a panel of journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists event in Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Thursday Jewish voters will be to blame if he loses November’s election. Trump stood in front of an Israeli flag as he spoke at the Israeli-American Council national summit. He also used the term “Palestinian” as a pejorative to describe Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and New York Democrat, and claimed if Kamala Harris wins in November, Israel would cease to exist.
DONALD TRUMP: The Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss if I’m at 40%. If I’m at 40, think of it. That means 60% of voting for Kamala, who in particular is a bad Democrat. The Democrats are bad to Israel, very bad. … I mean, Chuck Schumer is a Palestinian. … But if we don’t win this election, Israel, in my opinion, within a period of two to three years, will cease to exist. It’s going to be wiped out. It’s what’s going to happen.
AMY GOODMAN: Trump previously referred to President Biden as a, quote, “very bad Palestinian,” unquote, in their only presidential debate in June.
This all comes as the Teamsters union has said it’s not endorsing a presidential candidate for the first time since 1996. The union, which endorsed Biden in 2020, says neither candidate have enough support from their 1.3 million-strong membership.
For more on the election and the “uncommitted” movement’s announcement it will not endorse Kamala Harris, we go to Detroit — actually, we go to Michigan, where we’re joined by Lexis Zeidan, co-founder and co-chair of the Uncommitted National Movement.
Welcome to Democracy Now! Can you explain the statement that you put out yesterday, Lexis?
LEXIS ZEIDAN: Yeah. Hi, Amy. Thank you so much for having me on the show.
As many know, Uncommitted put out a statement yesterday where we announced we will not be endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. And in that same statement, we had announced that we are vehemently opposing Donald Trump and that we do not recommend a third-party vote.
And to put it into a little bit of context, we have been working for months, where we, you know, started in Michigan, 1.5 million voter contacts, mobilized over 101,000 people to go to the polls and vote uncommitted as a protest vote against Biden and the administration and their ongoing support for Israel as it relates to the occupation and killing of Palestinians.
And what we offered to VP Harris is that if Vice President Kamala Harris is able to do two things — either change policy as it relates to current U.S. policy that backs bombs, or simply does the thing of ensuring and upholding current international and human rights laws as it relates to the way that Israel is violating war crimes — that we would do — that we would repeat what we did in Michigan to mobilize our base to go to the polls and vote for her come November. It was the offer we put on the table that was declined by Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign team.
And so, because we were not met in good faith, we had to make the decision to not be able to endorse her. And to be clear, an endorsement is an opportunity for us to do the same thing that we did in Michigan: mobilize our voters. An endorsement means that we are offering something and doing something. And because we were not met in good faith with our policy demands, it is something that we cannot do.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain each position — not endorsing Kamala Harris, telling people not to support President Trump or a third-party candidate.
LEXIS ZEIDAN: Yeah, great question. I think I’ll lead with, we have to be very clear, is that there’s two options come November at the top of the ticket. It’s going to be Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump. So, keeping that context in mind, we had to make a decision of what that means to grow the power that we’ve already built within our antiwar organizing movement. And so, for us, and like I said, an endorsement is meaning that we will mobilize voters to go to the polls and vote for VP Harris. That has to come with policy change. And no policy change came, so it’s a decision we had to make to not endorse her.
Donald Trump, we have to be very clear, is a direct threat to our society, our civil liberties here and Palestinians back home. As he has mentioned, he plans to annex the West Bank. As he has mentioned, that he plans to criminalize organizations here in our own country who are fighting for Palestinian human rights.
And then, to the third point of not recommending a third-party vote, we know that, unfortunately, a third-party vote is not viable in this broken electoral system. And so, inadvertently, a third-party vote would support a Donald Trump victory.
And so, knowing all this context, we believe that our power lies within our movement, that our power lies within our people, that our power lies in continuing to grow the antiwar organizing movement that we have, to truly pressure the Democratic coalition or the Democratic administration to change policy as it relates to its current U.S. policy of backing bombs.
AMY GOODMAN: Speaking of third parties, this month, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, published a follow-up poll that shows Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein ahead of Kamala Harris among Muslim voters in the key swing states of Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin. So, can you talk about the significance of what this means of not endorsing Kamala Harris?
LEXIS ZEIDAN: Yeah. I mean, I think we have to recognize that a lot of people, especially people within the Arab and Muslim community — you know, as VP Harris put it in her speech, we’ve got to put things into context. And the context here is that these communities are communities that are suffering. They are communities that are grieving. And the idea of people going and asking them who you are voting for come November — we’ve said this repeatedly — is like asking them that question at a funeral. And so, we have to keep in context how people are grieving, feeling emotionally, the very same people who came out in 2020 and mobilized very well for Biden, who feels very betrayed by this administration.
And so, we believe, as a movement, that it’s our responsibility to do three things right in this very moment, is, one, educate voters across the country, including Arab and Muslim voters, provide them with voter education on the dangers of Donald Trump; two, recognize that the genocide is still happening, that we cannot wait ’til January to shift policy, and that we have to continue to pressure the Biden-Harris administration to change policy immediately to save as many Palestinian lives as possible; and the third thing is to continue to grow our antiwar organizing power with Democratic coalitions across the country. We have to recognize that our power has impacted elected officials speaking up for Palestine, as well, from school board members all the way up to congressional leaders that are talking openly about why we need to change our U.S. foreign policy as it relates to backing bombs.
And so, these people that are talking about voting Jill Stein and third party are people who are suffering. And we believe it is our job to continue to do the organizing work that we have to do ahead of November to educate our voters about what’s at stake come November and how we have to grow our organizing power to see long-term policy change to lead to a liberated and a free Palestine.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, your response to Senator Bernie Sanders preparing a joint resolution of disapproval against the planned $20 billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel? He spoke from the Senate floor Wednesday.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Netanyahu’s policies have trampled on international law, made life unlivable in Gaza and created one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history. … The simple fact is that we must end our complicity in Israel’s illegal and indiscriminate military campaign, which has caused mass civilian death and suffering.”
AMY GOODMAN: We have 30 seconds, Lexis. Your response?
LEXIS ZEIDAN: Yeah, I mean, he highlighted it perfectly, is that we are aiding and abetting in indiscriminately killing civilians. And it goes to the point of what we’ve been explaining in this movement and what we’ve been trying to get VP Harris and the administration to move on, a sentiment that actually resonates the majority of Democrats, 77% of Democrats, 61% of Americans, that oppose weapons aids to Israel. When we look at our international law and our U.S. law as it relates to violation of war crimes, this is something that we should not be funding.
So, what we’re asking is not outrageous. We’re making a very simple request to follow international law and do what’s right and create an opportunity to deescalate what’s happening in the region and to really make sure that we’re valuing Palestinian lives as much as any other lives.
AMY GOODMAN: Lexis Zeidan, I want to thank you for being with us, co-founder and co-chair of the Uncommitted National Movement, speaking to us from Detroit, Michigan.
U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
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Headlines:
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 23, 2024
Massive Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill Over 180 People, Injure 700+
Sep 23, 2024
Al Jazeera is reporting Israel has killed more than 182 people in Lebanon so far today in a wave of extensive airstrikes hitting more than 300 targets. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports the dead include children, women and paramedics. More than 700 people have been wounded.
Earlier today, Israel instructed residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes if they live near any site used by Hezbollah. Israel sent text messages and made phone calls to tens of thousands of people in what Lebanese officials decried as a form of “psychological warfare.” Israel also hacked into Lebanese radio stations.
On Friday, Israel killed at least 45 people in a massive airstrike on a densely populated residential neighborhood of Beirut. The dead include 16 members of Hezbollah, including two senior commanders, Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi. Lebanon’s Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh condemned the Israeli attacks.
Ali Hamieh: “The Israeli enemy, with all its continued crimes, with the excuse of pursuing Hezbollah, has targeted a residential compound. It has committed a massacre to a residential building, against unarmed children, women at their homes. … The Israeli enemy is taking the region to war.”
Hezbollah responded to Friday’s attack by firing a barrage of rockets into Israel targeting an air base and weapons factories.
Ex-CIA Director: Israel’s Deadly Pager Attacks in Lebanon Was Act of “Terrorism”
Sep 23, 2024
Former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has accused Israel of committing an act of terrorism by rigging thousands of walkie-talkies and pagers that exploded in a coordinated attack last week that killed at least 37 people and injured thousands in Lebanon. Panetta spoke to CBS News.
Leon Panetta: “I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism. This has gone right into the supply chain. Right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: What the hell is next?”
Israeli Attacks Continue on Gaza’s Schools, Killing Displaced Palestinian Children Seeking Shelter
Sep 23, 2024
In Gaza, Israel is continuing to target schools and shelters housing displaced Palestinians. On Saturday, an Israeli attack on a school in Gaza City killed 22 people, including 13 children and six women. One of the victims was a 3-month-old baby. Survivors said there are no safe places to go in Gaza.
Umm Mahmoud: “We got displaced and came to this school. I left from my house after it was targeted and my husband and my two children were martyred, and we came to this school and thought it was safe. We thought this was a safe place. Then they target us. Where are we supposed to go if at a school we’re not safe? We got displaced seven or eight times, and I’m all alone with my two remaining children.”
An Israeli airstrike earlier today in Deir al-Balah killed a mother and four of her children. Meanwhile, heavy rain has flooded makeshift camps in al-Mawasi and other areas of Gaza.
Israel Raids and Shuts Down Al Jazeera Ramallah Office Amid Intensifying West Bank Attacks
Sep 23, 2024
Press freedom groups have condemned the Israeli military for raiding and shutting down Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office in the occupied West Bank. Heavily armed Israeli troops were seen on live TV entering the office and confiscating equipment while ordering the office closed for 45 days. Israeli troops also tore down a poster of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Al Jazeera journalist who was fatally shot by Israeli forces while covering a raid on Jenin two years ago. This is Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari.
Walid al-Omari: “This is a blatant attack on the Al Jazeera channel and Al Jazeera network and those who are working with them, as well as on the freedom of speech and the task of delivering the truth. This is an attack that aims to obscure the truth.”
The raid comes months after Israel banned Al Jazeera from broadcasting inside Israel.
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Israel Bombs Lebanon After Blowing Up Pagers in “Act of Mass Mutilation.” Is Ground Invasion Next?
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 23, 2024
Israel attacked more than 300 sites in Lebanon Monday, killing at least 182 people and injuring more than 700 others as fears grow of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah. The Israeli military also ordered residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes if they live near any site used by the militant group. “At the heart of this is an attempt to manufacture consent and try to portray most southern Lebanese as Hezbolloh operatives,” says Sintia Issa, editor-at-large at the Beirut-based media organization The Public Source. We also speak with Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British Palestinian reconstructive surgeon volunteering at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, where he has been treating victims of last week’s device explosions that injured thousands of people. He describes the disfiguring injuries from Israel’s booby-trapping of pagers and walkie-talkies, calling it “an act of mass mutilation.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Lebanon, where Israel has attacked more than 300 sites today and fears of a broader regional war are growing. Al Jazeera and other media outlets report 100 people were killed in the wave of strikes today, 400 more wounded, as the Israeli army steps up pressure on Hezbollah. United Nations chief António Guterres told CNN he feared, quote, “the possibility of transforming Lebanon into another Gaza.”
Earlier today, Israel instructed residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes if they live near by any site used by Hezbollah. Israel sent text messages, made phone calls to tens of thousands of people in what Lebanese officials decried as a form of “psychological warfare.” This is a Lebanese shopkeeper in Beirut.
LEBANESE SHOPKEEPER: [translated] I say this is the beginning of the war, definitely the beginning of a war.
AMY GOODMAN: This comes after Israel killed at least 45 people Friday in a massive airstrike on a densely populated residential neighborhood of Beirut. The dead include 16 members of Hezbollah, including two senior commanders, Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi. Lebanon’s Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh condemned the Israeli attacks.
ALI HAMIEH: [translated] The Israeli enemy, with all its continued crimes, with the excuse of pursuing Hezbollah, has targeted a residential compound. It has committed a massacre to a residential building, against unarmed children, women at their homes. … The Israeli enemy is taking the region to war.
AMY GOODMAN: Hezbollah responded by firing a barrage of rockets into Israel targeting an air base and weapons factories.
Meanwhile, former CIA director, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has accused Israel of terrorism for rigging thousands of walkie-talkies and pagers to explode in a coordinated attack last week that killed at least 37 people, injuring thousands more in Lebanon. Panetta spoke to CBS News.
LEON PANETTA: I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism. This has gone right into the supply chain. Right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: What the hell is next?
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Beirut, Lebanon, where we’re joined by two guests. Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah is a British Palestinian reconstructive surgeon who arrived in Beirut last week to treat some of the thousands of people injured when pagers and walkie-talkies exploded. He’s also worked in Gaza with Doctors Without Borders. Also with us in Beirut is Sintia Issa, editor-at-large at The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization.
We’re going to go to Sintia first. Can you describe the latest in Lebanon, this morning’s attacks that we hear killed, what, 100 people, injuring hundreds more, and then make your way back through the weekend?
SINTIA ISSA: Thank you for having me, Amy.
This morning, between 6 and 7 a.m., as most people were still sleeping, Israel began its largest bombardment campaign of the year in South Lebanon and then gradually it made its way to the Beqaa, reaching all the way north of the Beqaa to the Hermel. That’s about 200 kilometers far from the border. These are locations that were not targeted up until this point in the war. And in fact, this is very reminiscent of 2006. We’re talking about a hundred locations or so, 50 or a hundred locations or so, between villages, towns and various parts of the landscape. Jbeil district, which is not really involved at all in this war, was also targeted, Laqlouq. This is also part of the psychological warfare that we are seeing.
And the bombing itself, you know, we saw plumes that were not necessarily the most familiar, so we’re talking about bombs that may have been added to the arsenal for the first time here in Lebanon, or at least used in Lebanon for the first time. The scale is incomparable so far.
Later, in the afternoon, at around noon, we had maybe another hundred or 200 strikes in different locations. As you did mention, it seems like there’s a hundred people who were killed already and several hundred more definitely wounded and injured. Sites near hospitals were targeted, in a clear indication that what has happened in Gaza may be coming to Lebanon, as well.
In relation to this, as well, southerners, but also different people, reaching Beirut, but mostly in the south, received text messages telling them to leave their homes if their homes contains a missile or a rocket. Israel also infiltrated the landline network in Sour, in the south, and called people and told them to leave if their house contains rockets or if they’re close to any weapons. There’s also a series of videos that Israel has been circulating on social media platforms for propagandistic purposes. These are animations where you can clearly see homes, and inside these homes there are rockets lying there. And the same message is basically telling residents of Lebanon to leave if their homes contains rockets.
So, what we’re seeing here is an attempt to manufacture consent for a carpet-bombing campaign that will no doubt, perhaps — let’s see how far it goes, but it promises at least to resemble a little bit what we’re seeing in Gaza.
AMY GOODMAN: So, how do people know if they’re near some kind of Hezbollah site?
SINTIA ISSA: There is a conflation that’s essentially happening with southerners in Lebanon. There’s a conflation between all civilians and Hezbollah happening at the same time. There is a — if the question is, “Where is Israel attacking right now?” it’s been fairly indiscriminate. We’ve seen that, you know, cities and towns, including the heart of Nabatieh, was bombed. So, the Ghazieh, next to Saida, also the square was bombed. So we’re talking about attacks that are happening in the thick of the towns, densely populated areas, not just in disparate places. And, you know, at the heart of this is an attempt to manufacture consent and kind of try to portray most southernese as Hezbollah operatives, their homes as essentially depots and caches.
AMY GOODMAN: Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem spoke at the funeral of Ibrahim Aqil, killed in Friday’s Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Beirut.
NAIM QASSEM: [translated] The Lebanese support front for Gaza will continue, no matter how long it takes, until the war on Gaza ends. Secondly, the people of the north won’t return. Rather, displacement will increase, and support will expand. The Israeli military solution only deepens Israel’s dilemma and that of the northern population without solving their problems. So, go to Gaza and stop the war.
AMY GOODMAN: So, if you could comment on what he was saying? And also, I wanted to go to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, who told ABC’s This Week the U.S. has been engaged in, quote, “extensive and quite assertive diplomacy.”
JOHN KIRBY: We don’t believe that a military conflict — and we’re saying this directly to our Israeli counterparts, George — we don’t believe that escalating this military conflict is in their best interest. … We want to make sure that we can continue to do everything we can to try to prevent this from becoming an all-out war there with Hezbollah across that Lebanese border.
AMY GOODMAN: Sintia Issa, if you could comment?
SINTIA ISSA: Well, to be very clear, Hezbollah never intended to have a full-on war on Lebanon. That was not a part of their calculation or strategy at all, actually. They were very much interested in and intent on being a front of support and military solidarity to Gaza in the context of a genocide and ethnic cleansing. But Hezbollah never really wanted to have a full-fledged war. This is something that they stated themselves. And if we actually follow the facts on the ground, the actions, we will notice that they tried to work within the rules of engagement, target only military infrastructures and never civilian infrastructures. And that was always the intent. It was always Israel that wants to escalate this into a broader war with Lebanon. And for an entire year, Hezbollah has been trying to deescalate.
Now with what happened on Tuesday and Wednesday with about 3,000 people maimed in Dahieh in the span of seconds and then another assassination on Friday that took the lives of 54 people, injuring many more, it seems like war is forced upon Hezbollah. And if war is forced upon Hezbollah, then they will do it, and it will be a fierce battle, and it will be a costly battle for both sides.
Now, when it comes to the United States and John Kirby saying that, you know, the U.S. is very much trying to work for a ceasefire, again, if we actually try to compare the statements with actions on the ground, there’s large inconsistencies there. And the Lebanese people and the Palestinians and everyone in the region very much recognizes that the U.S. is not in fact trying to work on a ceasefire in real terms. In fact, the U.S. is quite complicit in what is happening in Gaza and now in this coming war on Lebanon. It supplies Israel with 60% of the weapons it’s using in Lebanon and Palestine, but also in Syria. It’s giving it diplomatic immunity in various U.N. Security Councils. And at the ICC, it’s basically stopping any incrimination of Yoav Gallant and Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes and plausible genocide. So the U.S. has been playing a very important role in this war from the very get-go.
And, of course, this question of peace process, you know, one remembers the — this question of ceasefire process, sorry, one remembers the peace process and the question of peace process. This question of process is really a ploy to extend the possibilities of capitulation, the possibilities of, in this case here, genocide in Palestine and increase the war on Lebanon. But the reality is just a ploy that’s presented to give more time to Israel to do more. Unfortunately, that’s the situation.
Of course, the war is maybe a fait accompli or not. I think the war can come to an end, and there are — there is a way out of this war. There is a roadmap. First, if the U.S. is indeed, you know, interested in reaching a ceasefire, it would halt all arms supply to Israel right now, the 60% it supplies. And, you know, since the U.S. does sanction about 30% of the countries in the world, then, in that case, it should be able to sanction Israel for committing war crimes against humanity and a genocide. And then, finally, it would lift all diplomatic and legal impunity for Israel at the ICC, for example. So, there is a road forward to end the war, and that’s to be sure.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to bring Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah into the conversation. You came to Lebanon last week. Interesting to hear the former CIA director, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta talking about the explosions of the pagers and the walkie-talkies as being a terrorist act. Can you talk about the effects on the ground and the kind of injuries you’re seeing, with, I think at last count, 37 dead, thousands injured?
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: This is the largest act of mass mutilation we’ve seen, even more than in the civil war in Sierra Leone, where warring parties were chopping each other’s hands off. This is — the explosive put in the pagers was sufficient to maim and not to kill. And so, what you have is over 3,000, with around 90% who have penetrating injuries to the eyes, some of whom both eyes, and a blast injury to the hand, with what we refer to in hand surgery as a mangled hand, because what happened is the pager went off, the victims picked up the pager and then looked at it, and it exploded in their hand facing their faces, and so there are also facial injuries.
Now, the act of booby-trapping these pagers meant that they went off when the people were in their cars with families, when they were in their homes, with kids picking up these pagers when they went off. And so, truly, the aim of this was to mutilate. And I tell my colleagues here that it’s reminiscent of the Marches of Return between 2018 and 2020, when Israel intentionally shot over 8,000 Palestinians in the lower limb with the aim of disablement and mutilation. And so, this is an act that was designed at inflicting disablement, at mutilation of the victims.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, it’s interesting you talk about the seconds’ delay, that it’s most like a double-tap bomb on a much smaller level — right? — when a country bombs another country, and then, as the rescue workers come running to help the people on the ground, they’re bombed again. In this case, it was a pager. And so, first it vibrates, forcing people — well, people instinctively then pick up or go over across the room to where it might not have hurt them, and then, as they pick it up, they are injured or killed.
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: And also, what happened the following day is that the walkie-talkies that had also been booby-trapped went off. And these walkie-talkies were being used by paramedics, by ambulance staff, by civil defense staff. And so, there was a kind of second wave of similarly, but with bigger explosive quantities in, with the same aim of inducing that terrible injury, paralyzing the health system and leaving these people with permanent disability.
AMY GOODMAN: On Friday, you were operating on victims of the pager and walkie-talkie attacks, when Israel bombed the residential building in Beirut?
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: Yes. And, I mean, that was our biggest worry, is that it highlighted the fact that as a result of around 3,000 wounded in the hospitals, there wasn’t any capacity left in the health system to take any of the wounded. And that’s what forced a lot of the hospitals to push for early discharge of the wounded over the weekend, because we felt that the health system was very exposed with all of these injured people in the beds, and we felt that there’s going to be another wave. And unfortunately, this came true this morning, that we needed to discharge a lot of the wounded early.
What you need to realize, this comes at the end of a four-year economic crisis that has really disabled the Lebanese health system and disabled the Lebanese government in terms of its ability to support the Ministry of Health. So, you have around a third of the doctors and nurses emigrated as a result of the collapse of the Lebanese currency. And you have a health system that’s mainly made up of small and medium-sized private institutions that, you know, just don’t have the purchasing capacity to buy the kind medications, consumables that they need. And those who did, it was used up on Tuesday treating and, since then, treating the 3,000 wounded.
AMY GOODMAN: You worked for weeks in Gaza treating the wounded, the injured there. How does what you’re seeing here in Beirut compare? You told The New York Times, “The Lebanese health system is in no way able to treat war wounded if it were to escalate into a full-blown war. the Lebanese health system is in no way able to treat war wounded if you were to escalate into a full-blown war. We are stuck in this loop. You just operate and operate. You feel like you are playing catch up all the time.” Dr. Abu-Sittah?
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: So, when we have these 3,000 wounded all within a couple of hours of each other, they flooded the health system, which then meant that they were being taken to the operating room. Really, I mean, this is the biggest hospital in Lebanon, the American University of Beirut Medical Center. And we had 10 rooms going all the time. We were doing around 50 to 60 cases per day. And it took us from Tuesday night, Wednesday morning ’til Saturday to finish the majority of the initial surgeries.
I mean, these patients, especially for their hand reconstruction, will need between five and 12 surgeries over the next five years to regain some hand function, to try to limit the disability that’s left. The eyes, that’s the even more devastating thing, the eyes, the loss of vision as a result of these injuries. That’s going to leave permanent disability. This is an act of kind of almost mythical mutilation. It’s an act of mutilation, not an — it was not an assassination attempt, but an act of mass mutilation.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, we want to thank you for being with us. My final question is — you moved to Beirut in 2011, joined the faculty of the American University of Beirut Hospital. Your mother was born in Lebanon. Why did you choose to go back?
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: On Tuesday, I realized, when I was in London — I had been in Glasgow as director, speaking at the opening ceremony of the academic year and then went back to London. And as the news came about on Tuesday morning, Tuesday morning and Tuesday afternoon, I realized the sheer number and the type of injuries which would require reconstructive surgery. And so, that was the decision. I took an overnight flight from London on Tuesday night and got here at 8:00 on Wednesday morning and came straight to the hospital. And we have literally been operating since then.
We’re now trying to clear the hospital, with the news of over 500 now wounded in the south. And we’re expecting these wounded, some of whom to come here, the most critically wounded. The Israelis have been targeting cars on the roads full of fleeing families. And so, we need — you know, I think the most important thing is that the humanitarian sector needs to realize that the Lebanese health system now needs help, before the Israelis bomb the airport. It needs trauma teams to be brought in. It needs them to be fully equipped and fully funded in terms of consumables and medication, because the system is not going to be able to deal with this.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you for being with us, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, British Palestinian surgeon, speaking to us from Beirut, and Sintia Issa, editor-at-large at The Public Source, also in Beirut, Lebanon.
When we come back, press freedom groups are condemning the Israeli military for raiding and shutting down Al Jazeera’s main West Bank office in Ramallah. The raid was broadcast live on television. We’ll speak with Al Jazeera’s managing editor.
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“Israel Has No Right”: Al Jazeera Managing Editor Slams Israel’s Raid & Closing of West Bank Bureau
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 23, 2024
Israel stepped up its censorship of Al Jazeera on Sunday as soldiers raided the Qatar-based news network’s Ramallah offices in the occupied West Bank and ordered a 45-day closure of the bureau. This comes after the Netanyahu government banned the network inside of Israel in May under a new media law giving authorities broad power to censor foreign outlets deemed to be security threats. “It was a show of force, a show of intimidation to show journalists around the globe that what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank isn’t allowed to be reported,” Al Jazeera managing editor Mohamed Moawad tells Democracy Now! Israeli forces have killed as many as 160 journalists in Gaza over the last year, including several who work for Al Jazeera. In 2022, an Israeli sniper killed the network’s acclaimed Palestinian American correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
Press freedom groups are condemning the Israeli military for raiding and shutting down Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office in the occupied West Bank. The raid was broadcast live on TV Sunday morning. Heavily armed Israeli troops were seen entering the office and confiscating equipment while ordering the office closed for at least 45 days. This is an Israeli soldier confronting Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari.
ISRAEL SOLDIER: [translated] Good evening. There’s an order from the court to shut down Al Jazeera for 45 days. I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office now.
WALID AL-OMARI: [translated] Should we all leave?
ISRAEL SOLDIER: [translated] This is an order.
WALID AL-OMARI: [translated] Can I see it, please? This is the order which was brought to us by this office and in his military forces. The order says that it is an order to shut down the office of Al Jazeera channel for 45 days. And this is a military decision from the commander of the central area and the Israeli military. It asks us to leave this office immediately and to take our personal belongings and our cameras.
AMY GOODMAN: During the raid, Israeli troops also tore down a poster of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Al Jazeera journalist, the Palestinian American, who was fatally shot by Israeli troops May 11th, 2022, when she was outside the Jenin refugee camp.
Reporters Without Borders responded to this weekend’s raid with a statement denouncing, quote, “Israel’s relentless assault,” unquote, and repeating its call for the repeal of the Israeli law that allows the government to shut down foreign media. U.N. secretary-general spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Sunday the U.N. is deeply concerned about Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera’s offices in the occupied West Bank.
STÉPHANE DUJARRIC: We’re very concerned any time, anywhere in the world, media offices get closed, especially in conflict areas, where journalists are the eyes and ears of the world, and they need to be able to do their job free from harassment or any other type of impediment.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Doha, where we’re joined by Mohamed Moawad, managing editor of Al Jazeera.
Welcome back to Democracy Now! Can you lay out exactly what happened on Sunday morning, Mohamed?
MOHAMED MOAWAD: Thanks, Amy, for having me. Glad to be back with you.
When we spoke, when we last spoke in May, when the Israeli government took the decision of shutting down our offices in Jerusalem and the Palestinian — and Tel Aviv, I told you that the situation is ambiguous and that the law itself upon which the Israeli government took the decision is ambiguous, as well. It could be weaponized against us anytime. When the Israeli government feel that the intimidation — as type of intimidation isn’t enough, they can go farther, escalate the intimidation process. So, that’s exactly what happened.
Our bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, was live, was live on air, reporting on the exchange of strikes in Lebanon between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces. Suddenly, the Israeli soldiers — these were not ordinary officers, but, rather, you know, fully equipped and ready-for-combat-zone officers and soldiers, and they invade — I say “invade,” not “stormed.” They invaded the office, and they spoke to Walid al-Omari, who stood very strong against them, defending his right for freedom of the press. And he told them, “Why you are here? This is not a combat zone. This is a space for journalism.” They said that there is an order to shut down the office. And that’s when that the whole situation was chilling for us, because, you know, this is a dedicated space for journalism. This is an office for reporters, for journalists. This is not a combat zone.
They then went on to move from corner to corner in the office as if it’s a combat zone. And then they tore down our late colleague Shireen Abu Akleh’s picture from the wall. They stole all equipments from inside the office, despite the fact that the order itself that was handed to Walid al-Omari did not mention anything about equipments. And then they went farther, to follow our colleagues downstairs, where they continued reporting about the incident, and they took the mic from Walid al-Omari and said, “You’re not allowed to work here. Go home.”
But, you know, the whole situation here is not shutting down an office, it’s not a decision by the Israeli government that was executed by the army, a fully equipped army, but, rather, an invasion to the very principle of the press freedom around the world.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain how the Israeli military has jurisdiction here? Your Ramallah bureau, which is in charge of the whole West Bank coverage of Al Jazeera, is in Area A, an area marked as being under Palestinian control in the Oslo Accords. So what legal jurisdiction did Israel have to come in with their heavily armed soldiers?
MOHAMED MOAWAD: That’s why, Amy, it’s very difficult for us to find a way to challenge this legally, because, really, the whole situation is ambiguous. They say this is emergency law. This is according to the defense minister of Israel, an order by him to the army to enter the West Bank and shut down an office which does not — you know, does not include the power of the Israeli army in this area because it’s an area that is under the jurisdiction A, which is mainly for the Palestinian Authority to decide about.
But, you know, the whole — Israel has no right to kill over 160 journalists in Gaza, I mean, and they’ve done it, and they continue to do it. They’ve killed three colleagues at Al Jazeera. They continue to commit atrocities against journalists. So, it wasn’t surprising. By the way, it was the least decision, the least action they have taken against us, because we’ve lost colleagues.
But at the same time, it was a show of force, a show of intimidation to show journalists around the globe that what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank isn’t allowed to be reported about and that the coverage of Al Jazeera is an enemy for the Israeli government, despite the fact that we haven’t and we’re not weaponizing at all, and we’re not going to do that. We’re not weaponizing our platform, despite the fact that we are being intimidated, we have lost colleagues.
Just before I came on air, we’ve been airing the Israeli forces press conference. And we continue to do that, despite the fact that the Israeli government shut down our offices in Israel and the Palestinian territories to try to delegitimize our coverage and say that Al Jazeera is a one-sided coverage, don’t operate there. But we continue to cover. We continue to make sure that we give voice to the voiceless and at the same time make sure that both narratives are kind of covered.
AMY GOODMAN: One of the things you do on Al Jazeera when reporters are reporting on Israel, since you’re banned from Israel, is repeatedly say that. That’s unlike U.S. networks that don’t say, when they’re reporting on Gaza, that the Israeli military prevents them from going into Gaza. Talk about that editorial decision that you’ve made, as you have reporters in Amman and other places saying, “We are not allowed to be in Israel as we report this right now,” and what these images mean that you’re broadcasting that others don’t.
MOHAMED MOAWAD: This is exactly what we should be talking about, Amy. Shutting down Al Jazeera’s office is the headline, but the name of the game is preventing journalists from doing their job, either in Gaza, in the West Bank. They want us to report remotely. They don’t want us to be in the frontlines. And that’s crystal clear.
I mean, the whole international journalistic community should be talking about one topic when they see a journalist killed in Gaza. They should be talking about one topic when they see an office shut down in Gaza or in West Bank or in Israel. The one topic is: No international journalist was allowed to enter Gaza to cover the war there, to give voice to the voiceless, which is at the core of this and the principle, the main principle, of this profession. No international journalists.
Even the international journalistic community is not placing pressure on Israel to allow their colleagues to get into Gaza to cover. Remember the Arab Spring, when so many American and Western journalists challenged the bureaucracy of the authoritarian regimes to go cover from Tahrir Square or from Tunisia or from Syria or from Libya. Right now no one is placing that pressure. And it’s really, really annoying, because we should be defending the freedom of the press. We should be defending the right to know what’s happening there. We should not be — we should not shy from what’s happening in Gaza and be part of this concealing that the Israeli government is trying to do to conceal what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank and the atrocities being committed. They just want us to report remotely.
And we will continue to remind the world and the journalistic community that this is happening and that you should unite to place pressure on the Israeli government to give the right for journalists to enter Gaza. Even after a possible ceasefire, this should be the case to uncover what’s really happened there. I remind you that we still have six correspondents reporting from Gaza. And that’s something that we are committed to. We are committed to give voice to the voiceless. An office is nothing for us. We will continue the coverage. We asked our colleagues to stay safe in the West Bank right now until we figure out the legal procedure, because, as I told you, Amy, the situation is ambiguous. We can’t really know on what basis that decision was taken, but we expected it.
AMY GOODMAN: Mohamed Moawad, I want to thank you for being with us, managing editor of Al Jazeera, speaking to us from Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 23, 2024
Massive Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill Over 180 People, Injure 700+
Sep 23, 2024
Al Jazeera is reporting Israel has killed more than 182 people in Lebanon so far today in a wave of extensive airstrikes hitting more than 300 targets. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports the dead include children, women and paramedics. More than 700 people have been wounded.
Earlier today, Israel instructed residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes if they live near any site used by Hezbollah. Israel sent text messages and made phone calls to tens of thousands of people in what Lebanese officials decried as a form of “psychological warfare.” Israel also hacked into Lebanese radio stations.
On Friday, Israel killed at least 45 people in a massive airstrike on a densely populated residential neighborhood of Beirut. The dead include 16 members of Hezbollah, including two senior commanders, Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi. Lebanon’s Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh condemned the Israeli attacks.
Ali Hamieh: “The Israeli enemy, with all its continued crimes, with the excuse of pursuing Hezbollah, has targeted a residential compound. It has committed a massacre to a residential building, against unarmed children, women at their homes. … The Israeli enemy is taking the region to war.”
Hezbollah responded to Friday’s attack by firing a barrage of rockets into Israel targeting an air base and weapons factories.
Ex-CIA Director: Israel’s Deadly Pager Attacks in Lebanon Was Act of “Terrorism”
Sep 23, 2024
Former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has accused Israel of committing an act of terrorism by rigging thousands of walkie-talkies and pagers that exploded in a coordinated attack last week that killed at least 37 people and injured thousands in Lebanon. Panetta spoke to CBS News.
Leon Panetta: “I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism. This has gone right into the supply chain. Right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: What the hell is next?”
Israeli Attacks Continue on Gaza’s Schools, Killing Displaced Palestinian Children Seeking Shelter
Sep 23, 2024
In Gaza, Israel is continuing to target schools and shelters housing displaced Palestinians. On Saturday, an Israeli attack on a school in Gaza City killed 22 people, including 13 children and six women. One of the victims was a 3-month-old baby. Survivors said there are no safe places to go in Gaza.
Umm Mahmoud: “We got displaced and came to this school. I left from my house after it was targeted and my husband and my two children were martyred, and we came to this school and thought it was safe. We thought this was a safe place. Then they target us. Where are we supposed to go if at a school we’re not safe? We got displaced seven or eight times, and I’m all alone with my two remaining children.”
An Israeli airstrike earlier today in Deir al-Balah killed a mother and four of her children. Meanwhile, heavy rain has flooded makeshift camps in al-Mawasi and other areas of Gaza.
Israel Raids and Shuts Down Al Jazeera Ramallah Office Amid Intensifying West Bank Attacks
Sep 23, 2024
Press freedom groups have condemned the Israeli military for raiding and shutting down Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office in the occupied West Bank. Heavily armed Israeli troops were seen on live TV entering the office and confiscating equipment while ordering the office closed for 45 days. Israeli troops also tore down a poster of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Al Jazeera journalist who was fatally shot by Israeli forces while covering a raid on Jenin two years ago. This is Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari.
Walid al-Omari: “This is a blatant attack on the Al Jazeera channel and Al Jazeera network and those who are working with them, as well as on the freedom of speech and the task of delivering the truth. This is an attack that aims to obscure the truth.”
The raid comes months after Israel banned Al Jazeera from broadcasting inside Israel.
****************
Israel Bombs Lebanon After Blowing Up Pagers in “Act of Mass Mutilation.” Is Ground Invasion Next?
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 23, 2024
Israel attacked more than 300 sites in Lebanon Monday, killing at least 182 people and injuring more than 700 others as fears grow of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah. The Israeli military also ordered residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes if they live near any site used by the militant group. “At the heart of this is an attempt to manufacture consent and try to portray most southern Lebanese as Hezbolloh operatives,” says Sintia Issa, editor-at-large at the Beirut-based media organization The Public Source. We also speak with Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British Palestinian reconstructive surgeon volunteering at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, where he has been treating victims of last week’s device explosions that injured thousands of people. He describes the disfiguring injuries from Israel’s booby-trapping of pagers and walkie-talkies, calling it “an act of mass mutilation.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Lebanon, where Israel has attacked more than 300 sites today and fears of a broader regional war are growing. Al Jazeera and other media outlets report 100 people were killed in the wave of strikes today, 400 more wounded, as the Israeli army steps up pressure on Hezbollah. United Nations chief António Guterres told CNN he feared, quote, “the possibility of transforming Lebanon into another Gaza.”
Earlier today, Israel instructed residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes if they live near by any site used by Hezbollah. Israel sent text messages, made phone calls to tens of thousands of people in what Lebanese officials decried as a form of “psychological warfare.” This is a Lebanese shopkeeper in Beirut.
LEBANESE SHOPKEEPER: [translated] I say this is the beginning of the war, definitely the beginning of a war.
AMY GOODMAN: This comes after Israel killed at least 45 people Friday in a massive airstrike on a densely populated residential neighborhood of Beirut. The dead include 16 members of Hezbollah, including two senior commanders, Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi. Lebanon’s Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh condemned the Israeli attacks.
ALI HAMIEH: [translated] The Israeli enemy, with all its continued crimes, with the excuse of pursuing Hezbollah, has targeted a residential compound. It has committed a massacre to a residential building, against unarmed children, women at their homes. … The Israeli enemy is taking the region to war.
AMY GOODMAN: Hezbollah responded by firing a barrage of rockets into Israel targeting an air base and weapons factories.
Meanwhile, former CIA director, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has accused Israel of terrorism for rigging thousands of walkie-talkies and pagers to explode in a coordinated attack last week that killed at least 37 people, injuring thousands more in Lebanon. Panetta spoke to CBS News.
LEON PANETTA: I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism. This has gone right into the supply chain. Right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: What the hell is next?
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Beirut, Lebanon, where we’re joined by two guests. Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah is a British Palestinian reconstructive surgeon who arrived in Beirut last week to treat some of the thousands of people injured when pagers and walkie-talkies exploded. He’s also worked in Gaza with Doctors Without Borders. Also with us in Beirut is Sintia Issa, editor-at-large at The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization.
We’re going to go to Sintia first. Can you describe the latest in Lebanon, this morning’s attacks that we hear killed, what, 100 people, injuring hundreds more, and then make your way back through the weekend?
SINTIA ISSA: Thank you for having me, Amy.
This morning, between 6 and 7 a.m., as most people were still sleeping, Israel began its largest bombardment campaign of the year in South Lebanon and then gradually it made its way to the Beqaa, reaching all the way north of the Beqaa to the Hermel. That’s about 200 kilometers far from the border. These are locations that were not targeted up until this point in the war. And in fact, this is very reminiscent of 2006. We’re talking about a hundred locations or so, 50 or a hundred locations or so, between villages, towns and various parts of the landscape. Jbeil district, which is not really involved at all in this war, was also targeted, Laqlouq. This is also part of the psychological warfare that we are seeing.
And the bombing itself, you know, we saw plumes that were not necessarily the most familiar, so we’re talking about bombs that may have been added to the arsenal for the first time here in Lebanon, or at least used in Lebanon for the first time. The scale is incomparable so far.
Later, in the afternoon, at around noon, we had maybe another hundred or 200 strikes in different locations. As you did mention, it seems like there’s a hundred people who were killed already and several hundred more definitely wounded and injured. Sites near hospitals were targeted, in a clear indication that what has happened in Gaza may be coming to Lebanon, as well.
In relation to this, as well, southerners, but also different people, reaching Beirut, but mostly in the south, received text messages telling them to leave their homes if their homes contains a missile or a rocket. Israel also infiltrated the landline network in Sour, in the south, and called people and told them to leave if their house contains rockets or if they’re close to any weapons. There’s also a series of videos that Israel has been circulating on social media platforms for propagandistic purposes. These are animations where you can clearly see homes, and inside these homes there are rockets lying there. And the same message is basically telling residents of Lebanon to leave if their homes contains rockets.
So, what we’re seeing here is an attempt to manufacture consent for a carpet-bombing campaign that will no doubt, perhaps — let’s see how far it goes, but it promises at least to resemble a little bit what we’re seeing in Gaza.
AMY GOODMAN: So, how do people know if they’re near some kind of Hezbollah site?
SINTIA ISSA: There is a conflation that’s essentially happening with southerners in Lebanon. There’s a conflation between all civilians and Hezbollah happening at the same time. There is a — if the question is, “Where is Israel attacking right now?” it’s been fairly indiscriminate. We’ve seen that, you know, cities and towns, including the heart of Nabatieh, was bombed. So, the Ghazieh, next to Saida, also the square was bombed. So we’re talking about attacks that are happening in the thick of the towns, densely populated areas, not just in disparate places. And, you know, at the heart of this is an attempt to manufacture consent and kind of try to portray most southernese as Hezbollah operatives, their homes as essentially depots and caches.
AMY GOODMAN: Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem spoke at the funeral of Ibrahim Aqil, killed in Friday’s Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Beirut.
NAIM QASSEM: [translated] The Lebanese support front for Gaza will continue, no matter how long it takes, until the war on Gaza ends. Secondly, the people of the north won’t return. Rather, displacement will increase, and support will expand. The Israeli military solution only deepens Israel’s dilemma and that of the northern population without solving their problems. So, go to Gaza and stop the war.
AMY GOODMAN: So, if you could comment on what he was saying? And also, I wanted to go to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, who told ABC’s This Week the U.S. has been engaged in, quote, “extensive and quite assertive diplomacy.”
JOHN KIRBY: We don’t believe that a military conflict — and we’re saying this directly to our Israeli counterparts, George — we don’t believe that escalating this military conflict is in their best interest. … We want to make sure that we can continue to do everything we can to try to prevent this from becoming an all-out war there with Hezbollah across that Lebanese border.
AMY GOODMAN: Sintia Issa, if you could comment?
SINTIA ISSA: Well, to be very clear, Hezbollah never intended to have a full-on war on Lebanon. That was not a part of their calculation or strategy at all, actually. They were very much interested in and intent on being a front of support and military solidarity to Gaza in the context of a genocide and ethnic cleansing. But Hezbollah never really wanted to have a full-fledged war. This is something that they stated themselves. And if we actually follow the facts on the ground, the actions, we will notice that they tried to work within the rules of engagement, target only military infrastructures and never civilian infrastructures. And that was always the intent. It was always Israel that wants to escalate this into a broader war with Lebanon. And for an entire year, Hezbollah has been trying to deescalate.
Now with what happened on Tuesday and Wednesday with about 3,000 people maimed in Dahieh in the span of seconds and then another assassination on Friday that took the lives of 54 people, injuring many more, it seems like war is forced upon Hezbollah. And if war is forced upon Hezbollah, then they will do it, and it will be a fierce battle, and it will be a costly battle for both sides.
Now, when it comes to the United States and John Kirby saying that, you know, the U.S. is very much trying to work for a ceasefire, again, if we actually try to compare the statements with actions on the ground, there’s large inconsistencies there. And the Lebanese people and the Palestinians and everyone in the region very much recognizes that the U.S. is not in fact trying to work on a ceasefire in real terms. In fact, the U.S. is quite complicit in what is happening in Gaza and now in this coming war on Lebanon. It supplies Israel with 60% of the weapons it’s using in Lebanon and Palestine, but also in Syria. It’s giving it diplomatic immunity in various U.N. Security Councils. And at the ICC, it’s basically stopping any incrimination of Yoav Gallant and Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes and plausible genocide. So the U.S. has been playing a very important role in this war from the very get-go.
And, of course, this question of peace process, you know, one remembers the — this question of ceasefire process, sorry, one remembers the peace process and the question of peace process. This question of process is really a ploy to extend the possibilities of capitulation, the possibilities of, in this case here, genocide in Palestine and increase the war on Lebanon. But the reality is just a ploy that’s presented to give more time to Israel to do more. Unfortunately, that’s the situation.
Of course, the war is maybe a fait accompli or not. I think the war can come to an end, and there are — there is a way out of this war. There is a roadmap. First, if the U.S. is indeed, you know, interested in reaching a ceasefire, it would halt all arms supply to Israel right now, the 60% it supplies. And, you know, since the U.S. does sanction about 30% of the countries in the world, then, in that case, it should be able to sanction Israel for committing war crimes against humanity and a genocide. And then, finally, it would lift all diplomatic and legal impunity for Israel at the ICC, for example. So, there is a road forward to end the war, and that’s to be sure.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to bring Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah into the conversation. You came to Lebanon last week. Interesting to hear the former CIA director, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta talking about the explosions of the pagers and the walkie-talkies as being a terrorist act. Can you talk about the effects on the ground and the kind of injuries you’re seeing, with, I think at last count, 37 dead, thousands injured?
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: This is the largest act of mass mutilation we’ve seen, even more than in the civil war in Sierra Leone, where warring parties were chopping each other’s hands off. This is — the explosive put in the pagers was sufficient to maim and not to kill. And so, what you have is over 3,000, with around 90% who have penetrating injuries to the eyes, some of whom both eyes, and a blast injury to the hand, with what we refer to in hand surgery as a mangled hand, because what happened is the pager went off, the victims picked up the pager and then looked at it, and it exploded in their hand facing their faces, and so there are also facial injuries.
Now, the act of booby-trapping these pagers meant that they went off when the people were in their cars with families, when they were in their homes, with kids picking up these pagers when they went off. And so, truly, the aim of this was to mutilate. And I tell my colleagues here that it’s reminiscent of the Marches of Return between 2018 and 2020, when Israel intentionally shot over 8,000 Palestinians in the lower limb with the aim of disablement and mutilation. And so, this is an act that was designed at inflicting disablement, at mutilation of the victims.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, it’s interesting you talk about the seconds’ delay, that it’s most like a double-tap bomb on a much smaller level — right? — when a country bombs another country, and then, as the rescue workers come running to help the people on the ground, they’re bombed again. In this case, it was a pager. And so, first it vibrates, forcing people — well, people instinctively then pick up or go over across the room to where it might not have hurt them, and then, as they pick it up, they are injured or killed.
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: And also, what happened the following day is that the walkie-talkies that had also been booby-trapped went off. And these walkie-talkies were being used by paramedics, by ambulance staff, by civil defense staff. And so, there was a kind of second wave of similarly, but with bigger explosive quantities in, with the same aim of inducing that terrible injury, paralyzing the health system and leaving these people with permanent disability.
AMY GOODMAN: On Friday, you were operating on victims of the pager and walkie-talkie attacks, when Israel bombed the residential building in Beirut?
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: Yes. And, I mean, that was our biggest worry, is that it highlighted the fact that as a result of around 3,000 wounded in the hospitals, there wasn’t any capacity left in the health system to take any of the wounded. And that’s what forced a lot of the hospitals to push for early discharge of the wounded over the weekend, because we felt that the health system was very exposed with all of these injured people in the beds, and we felt that there’s going to be another wave. And unfortunately, this came true this morning, that we needed to discharge a lot of the wounded early.
What you need to realize, this comes at the end of a four-year economic crisis that has really disabled the Lebanese health system and disabled the Lebanese government in terms of its ability to support the Ministry of Health. So, you have around a third of the doctors and nurses emigrated as a result of the collapse of the Lebanese currency. And you have a health system that’s mainly made up of small and medium-sized private institutions that, you know, just don’t have the purchasing capacity to buy the kind medications, consumables that they need. And those who did, it was used up on Tuesday treating and, since then, treating the 3,000 wounded.
AMY GOODMAN: You worked for weeks in Gaza treating the wounded, the injured there. How does what you’re seeing here in Beirut compare? You told The New York Times, “The Lebanese health system is in no way able to treat war wounded if it were to escalate into a full-blown war. the Lebanese health system is in no way able to treat war wounded if you were to escalate into a full-blown war. We are stuck in this loop. You just operate and operate. You feel like you are playing catch up all the time.” Dr. Abu-Sittah?
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: So, when we have these 3,000 wounded all within a couple of hours of each other, they flooded the health system, which then meant that they were being taken to the operating room. Really, I mean, this is the biggest hospital in Lebanon, the American University of Beirut Medical Center. And we had 10 rooms going all the time. We were doing around 50 to 60 cases per day. And it took us from Tuesday night, Wednesday morning ’til Saturday to finish the majority of the initial surgeries.
I mean, these patients, especially for their hand reconstruction, will need between five and 12 surgeries over the next five years to regain some hand function, to try to limit the disability that’s left. The eyes, that’s the even more devastating thing, the eyes, the loss of vision as a result of these injuries. That’s going to leave permanent disability. This is an act of kind of almost mythical mutilation. It’s an act of mutilation, not an — it was not an assassination attempt, but an act of mass mutilation.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, we want to thank you for being with us. My final question is — you moved to Beirut in 2011, joined the faculty of the American University of Beirut Hospital. Your mother was born in Lebanon. Why did you choose to go back?
DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTAH: On Tuesday, I realized, when I was in London — I had been in Glasgow as director, speaking at the opening ceremony of the academic year and then went back to London. And as the news came about on Tuesday morning, Tuesday morning and Tuesday afternoon, I realized the sheer number and the type of injuries which would require reconstructive surgery. And so, that was the decision. I took an overnight flight from London on Tuesday night and got here at 8:00 on Wednesday morning and came straight to the hospital. And we have literally been operating since then.
We’re now trying to clear the hospital, with the news of over 500 now wounded in the south. And we’re expecting these wounded, some of whom to come here, the most critically wounded. The Israelis have been targeting cars on the roads full of fleeing families. And so, we need — you know, I think the most important thing is that the humanitarian sector needs to realize that the Lebanese health system now needs help, before the Israelis bomb the airport. It needs trauma teams to be brought in. It needs them to be fully equipped and fully funded in terms of consumables and medication, because the system is not going to be able to deal with this.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you for being with us, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, British Palestinian surgeon, speaking to us from Beirut, and Sintia Issa, editor-at-large at The Public Source, also in Beirut, Lebanon.
When we come back, press freedom groups are condemning the Israeli military for raiding and shutting down Al Jazeera’s main West Bank office in Ramallah. The raid was broadcast live on television. We’ll speak with Al Jazeera’s managing editor.
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“Israel Has No Right”: Al Jazeera Managing Editor Slams Israel’s Raid & Closing of West Bank Bureau
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 23, 2024
Israel stepped up its censorship of Al Jazeera on Sunday as soldiers raided the Qatar-based news network’s Ramallah offices in the occupied West Bank and ordered a 45-day closure of the bureau. This comes after the Netanyahu government banned the network inside of Israel in May under a new media law giving authorities broad power to censor foreign outlets deemed to be security threats. “It was a show of force, a show of intimidation to show journalists around the globe that what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank isn’t allowed to be reported,” Al Jazeera managing editor Mohamed Moawad tells Democracy Now! Israeli forces have killed as many as 160 journalists in Gaza over the last year, including several who work for Al Jazeera. In 2022, an Israeli sniper killed the network’s acclaimed Palestinian American correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
Press freedom groups are condemning the Israeli military for raiding and shutting down Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office in the occupied West Bank. The raid was broadcast live on TV Sunday morning. Heavily armed Israeli troops were seen entering the office and confiscating equipment while ordering the office closed for at least 45 days. This is an Israeli soldier confronting Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari.
ISRAEL SOLDIER: [translated] Good evening. There’s an order from the court to shut down Al Jazeera for 45 days. I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office now.
WALID AL-OMARI: [translated] Should we all leave?
ISRAEL SOLDIER: [translated] This is an order.
WALID AL-OMARI: [translated] Can I see it, please? This is the order which was brought to us by this office and in his military forces. The order says that it is an order to shut down the office of Al Jazeera channel for 45 days. And this is a military decision from the commander of the central area and the Israeli military. It asks us to leave this office immediately and to take our personal belongings and our cameras.
AMY GOODMAN: During the raid, Israeli troops also tore down a poster of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Al Jazeera journalist, the Palestinian American, who was fatally shot by Israeli troops May 11th, 2022, when she was outside the Jenin refugee camp.
Reporters Without Borders responded to this weekend’s raid with a statement denouncing, quote, “Israel’s relentless assault,” unquote, and repeating its call for the repeal of the Israeli law that allows the government to shut down foreign media. U.N. secretary-general spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Sunday the U.N. is deeply concerned about Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera’s offices in the occupied West Bank.
STÉPHANE DUJARRIC: We’re very concerned any time, anywhere in the world, media offices get closed, especially in conflict areas, where journalists are the eyes and ears of the world, and they need to be able to do their job free from harassment or any other type of impediment.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Doha, where we’re joined by Mohamed Moawad, managing editor of Al Jazeera.
Welcome back to Democracy Now! Can you lay out exactly what happened on Sunday morning, Mohamed?
MOHAMED MOAWAD: Thanks, Amy, for having me. Glad to be back with you.
When we spoke, when we last spoke in May, when the Israeli government took the decision of shutting down our offices in Jerusalem and the Palestinian — and Tel Aviv, I told you that the situation is ambiguous and that the law itself upon which the Israeli government took the decision is ambiguous, as well. It could be weaponized against us anytime. When the Israeli government feel that the intimidation — as type of intimidation isn’t enough, they can go farther, escalate the intimidation process. So, that’s exactly what happened.
Our bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, was live, was live on air, reporting on the exchange of strikes in Lebanon between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces. Suddenly, the Israeli soldiers — these were not ordinary officers, but, rather, you know, fully equipped and ready-for-combat-zone officers and soldiers, and they invade — I say “invade,” not “stormed.” They invaded the office, and they spoke to Walid al-Omari, who stood very strong against them, defending his right for freedom of the press. And he told them, “Why you are here? This is not a combat zone. This is a space for journalism.” They said that there is an order to shut down the office. And that’s when that the whole situation was chilling for us, because, you know, this is a dedicated space for journalism. This is an office for reporters, for journalists. This is not a combat zone.
They then went on to move from corner to corner in the office as if it’s a combat zone. And then they tore down our late colleague Shireen Abu Akleh’s picture from the wall. They stole all equipments from inside the office, despite the fact that the order itself that was handed to Walid al-Omari did not mention anything about equipments. And then they went farther, to follow our colleagues downstairs, where they continued reporting about the incident, and they took the mic from Walid al-Omari and said, “You’re not allowed to work here. Go home.”
But, you know, the whole situation here is not shutting down an office, it’s not a decision by the Israeli government that was executed by the army, a fully equipped army, but, rather, an invasion to the very principle of the press freedom around the world.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain how the Israeli military has jurisdiction here? Your Ramallah bureau, which is in charge of the whole West Bank coverage of Al Jazeera, is in Area A, an area marked as being under Palestinian control in the Oslo Accords. So what legal jurisdiction did Israel have to come in with their heavily armed soldiers?
MOHAMED MOAWAD: That’s why, Amy, it’s very difficult for us to find a way to challenge this legally, because, really, the whole situation is ambiguous. They say this is emergency law. This is according to the defense minister of Israel, an order by him to the army to enter the West Bank and shut down an office which does not — you know, does not include the power of the Israeli army in this area because it’s an area that is under the jurisdiction A, which is mainly for the Palestinian Authority to decide about.
But, you know, the whole — Israel has no right to kill over 160 journalists in Gaza, I mean, and they’ve done it, and they continue to do it. They’ve killed three colleagues at Al Jazeera. They continue to commit atrocities against journalists. So, it wasn’t surprising. By the way, it was the least decision, the least action they have taken against us, because we’ve lost colleagues.
But at the same time, it was a show of force, a show of intimidation to show journalists around the globe that what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank isn’t allowed to be reported about and that the coverage of Al Jazeera is an enemy for the Israeli government, despite the fact that we haven’t and we’re not weaponizing at all, and we’re not going to do that. We’re not weaponizing our platform, despite the fact that we are being intimidated, we have lost colleagues.
Just before I came on air, we’ve been airing the Israeli forces press conference. And we continue to do that, despite the fact that the Israeli government shut down our offices in Israel and the Palestinian territories to try to delegitimize our coverage and say that Al Jazeera is a one-sided coverage, don’t operate there. But we continue to cover. We continue to make sure that we give voice to the voiceless and at the same time make sure that both narratives are kind of covered.
AMY GOODMAN: One of the things you do on Al Jazeera when reporters are reporting on Israel, since you’re banned from Israel, is repeatedly say that. That’s unlike U.S. networks that don’t say, when they’re reporting on Gaza, that the Israeli military prevents them from going into Gaza. Talk about that editorial decision that you’ve made, as you have reporters in Amman and other places saying, “We are not allowed to be in Israel as we report this right now,” and what these images mean that you’re broadcasting that others don’t.
MOHAMED MOAWAD: This is exactly what we should be talking about, Amy. Shutting down Al Jazeera’s office is the headline, but the name of the game is preventing journalists from doing their job, either in Gaza, in the West Bank. They want us to report remotely. They don’t want us to be in the frontlines. And that’s crystal clear.
I mean, the whole international journalistic community should be talking about one topic when they see a journalist killed in Gaza. They should be talking about one topic when they see an office shut down in Gaza or in West Bank or in Israel. The one topic is: No international journalist was allowed to enter Gaza to cover the war there, to give voice to the voiceless, which is at the core of this and the principle, the main principle, of this profession. No international journalists.
Even the international journalistic community is not placing pressure on Israel to allow their colleagues to get into Gaza to cover. Remember the Arab Spring, when so many American and Western journalists challenged the bureaucracy of the authoritarian regimes to go cover from Tahrir Square or from Tunisia or from Syria or from Libya. Right now no one is placing that pressure. And it’s really, really annoying, because we should be defending the freedom of the press. We should be defending the right to know what’s happening there. We should not be — we should not shy from what’s happening in Gaza and be part of this concealing that the Israeli government is trying to do to conceal what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank and the atrocities being committed. They just want us to report remotely.
And we will continue to remind the world and the journalistic community that this is happening and that you should unite to place pressure on the Israeli government to give the right for journalists to enter Gaza. Even after a possible ceasefire, this should be the case to uncover what’s really happened there. I remind you that we still have six correspondents reporting from Gaza. And that’s something that we are committed to. We are committed to give voice to the voiceless. An office is nothing for us. We will continue the coverage. We asked our colleagues to stay safe in the West Bank right now until we figure out the legal procedure, because, as I told you, Amy, the situation is ambiguous. We can’t really know on what basis that decision was taken, but we expected it.
AMY GOODMAN: Mohamed Moawad, I want to thank you for being with us, managing editor of Al Jazeera, speaking to us from Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
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Re: U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
by admin » Tue Sep 24, 2024 7:54 pm
Jon Stewart on Israel, Lebanon & The Widening Mideast War [PREVIEW]
The Daily Show
Sep 23, 2024 #DailyShow #Israel #Gaza
Jon Stewart tackles the growing war in the Middle East, from the recent Hezbollah pager attacks in Lebanon, to Israel’s plan of de-escalation through escalation, to the Biden administration's futile efforts to contain the conflict, while looking at criticism of Netanyahu from Americans and Israelis. #DailyShow #Israel #Gaza #Lebanon
Transcript
What if you really want to experience the full cognitive
dissonance and language calisthenics that have to be
deployed to describe the Middle East over the last,
I don't know, four, five, six, 10,000 years?
How we're describing what's--
I give you the golden soundbite brought
down from Sinai to explain how [BLEEP]
convoluted this has to be.
[LAUGHTER]
Or as that is sometimes called, war.
That is-- World War II, look at the subhead.
De-escalation through escalation.
I mean, do you even hear yourself?
My God.
The de-escalation through escalation.
That phrase is-- where have I heard?
It's right out of-- hold on a second.
Let me see if I can find.
Hold on.
No, it's not in there.
Hold on.
Let me see if I can find.
[APPLAUSE]
No, it's not in there.
Let me see if I can find.
[LAUGHTER]
[APPLAUSE]
Oh, my God.
[LAUGHTER]
John, that cat has wreaked havoc
on your bachelor lifestyle.
[LAUGHTER]
Although I do take issue with one of Garfield's bromides.
I happen to love Mondays.
[CHEERING]
[APPLAUSE]
It's the start and end of every workweek.
[LAUGHTER]
Though I hear Fridays are nice.
But here's the worst part.
The country that's providing all the bombs to the Middle
East-- or I guess now we have to call the bombs escalators--
[LAUGHTER]
Seems to have no idea when these bombs
are going to be used.
We were not notified by the Israelis
about their strike or the intended
target of their strike.
First, this is something we were
not aware of or involved in.
The United States did not know about,
nor was it involved in these incidents.
They're not telling you anything, huh?
Have you checked your pager?
[LAUGHTER]
I mean, my God, there have to be other ways of achieving
de-escalation without all this respectful exchange
of missiles.
Historically, that part is generally followed by years
of sorrow and bloodshed.
And we know there have been opportunities
for de-escalation, but Netanyahu did not seem
particularly interested in it.
Oh, my God.
I've criticized Netanyahu.
What have I done?
Go-- go ahead.
The people who are criticizing the prime minister,
it is shameful.
It is pathetic.
We should be standing shoulder
to shoulder with our strongest ally in the Middle East
instead of launching this criticism.
They criticized them for going too far constantly,
and that gives Hamas comfort.
(IN SQUEAKY VOICE) I'm sorry.
[LAUGHTER]
Criticism of the war is shameful,
and it gives comfort to Hamas.
You know who might be surprised to hear that?
The Israelis, who are unbelievably critical
of the war and Netanyahu.
[SPEAKING HEBREW]
[LAUGHTER]
What you going to say now, [BLEEP]?
[LAUGHTER]
Get off my back.
You heard what he said.
He said-- (FEIGNING HEBREW).
Does anyone have a Google translate on what he said?
What anti-Semites the former prime minister of Israel
and defense minister are.
But still, people are going to see this segment
and go, all right, maybe Israel isn't perfect.
But criticizing them feeds the fire.
Don't you worry about anti-Semitism?
And to that, I say no.
I believe anti-Semitism will be fine.
[LAUGHTER]
I've got to say--
[APPLAUSE]
Not for nothing.
[APPLAUSE]
But from what I've experienced, it's very resilient.
And it's not really tied to any event
or war or activity or reality.
For God's sakes, Kanye thought we ruined his Adidas deal.
We didn't though.
We just need orthotics, that's all.
[LAUGHTER]
Anti-Semitism will survive this war
like it survived all wars going back to the brave Hebrews
at Masada.
Do you see, Rabbi?
I was paying attention in Hebrew School.
[LAUGHTER]
You know what?
[CHEERING]
You know what?
Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe the blame the Jews from the Black Death
to the Spanish inquisition to the space lasers
will all go away if Israel does right.
And peace will reign and people will no longer baselessly
and conveniently blame the Jews when
things don't work out exactly the way they want them to.
This is the most important election in the history
of the United States.
I'm not going to call this as a prediction, but in my opinion,
the Jewish people would have a lot to do with the loss
if I'm at 40%.
Son of a bitch.
The Daily Show
Sep 23, 2024 #DailyShow #Israel #Gaza
Jon Stewart tackles the growing war in the Middle East, from the recent Hezbollah pager attacks in Lebanon, to Israel’s plan of de-escalation through escalation, to the Biden administration's futile efforts to contain the conflict, while looking at criticism of Netanyahu from Americans and Israelis. #DailyShow #Israel #Gaza #Lebanon
Transcript
What if you really want to experience the full cognitive
dissonance and language calisthenics that have to be
deployed to describe the Middle East over the last,
I don't know, four, five, six, 10,000 years?
How we're describing what's--
I give you the golden soundbite brought
down from Sinai to explain how [BLEEP]
convoluted this has to be.
[LAUGHTER]
Or as that is sometimes called, war.
That is-- World War II, look at the subhead.
De-escalation through escalation.
I mean, do you even hear yourself?
My God.
The de-escalation through escalation.
That phrase is-- where have I heard?
It's right out of-- hold on a second.
Let me see if I can find.
Hold on.
No, it's not in there.
Hold on.
Let me see if I can find.
[APPLAUSE]
No, it's not in there.
Let me see if I can find.
[LAUGHTER]
[APPLAUSE]
Oh, my God.
[LAUGHTER]
John, that cat has wreaked havoc
on your bachelor lifestyle.
[LAUGHTER]
Although I do take issue with one of Garfield's bromides.
I happen to love Mondays.
[CHEERING]
[APPLAUSE]
It's the start and end of every workweek.
[LAUGHTER]
Though I hear Fridays are nice.
But here's the worst part.
The country that's providing all the bombs to the Middle
East-- or I guess now we have to call the bombs escalators--
[LAUGHTER]
Seems to have no idea when these bombs
are going to be used.
We were not notified by the Israelis
about their strike or the intended
target of their strike.
First, this is something we were
not aware of or involved in.
The United States did not know about,
nor was it involved in these incidents.
They're not telling you anything, huh?
Have you checked your pager?
[LAUGHTER]
I mean, my God, there have to be other ways of achieving
de-escalation without all this respectful exchange
of missiles.
Historically, that part is generally followed by years
of sorrow and bloodshed.
And we know there have been opportunities
for de-escalation, but Netanyahu did not seem
particularly interested in it.
Oh, my God.
I've criticized Netanyahu.
What have I done?
Go-- go ahead.
The people who are criticizing the prime minister,
it is shameful.
It is pathetic.
We should be standing shoulder
to shoulder with our strongest ally in the Middle East
instead of launching this criticism.
They criticized them for going too far constantly,
and that gives Hamas comfort.
(IN SQUEAKY VOICE) I'm sorry.
[LAUGHTER]
Criticism of the war is shameful,
and it gives comfort to Hamas.
You know who might be surprised to hear that?
The Israelis, who are unbelievably critical
of the war and Netanyahu.
[SPEAKING HEBREW]
[LAUGHTER]
What you going to say now, [BLEEP]?
[LAUGHTER]
Get off my back.
You heard what he said.
He said-- (FEIGNING HEBREW).
Does anyone have a Google translate on what he said?
What anti-Semites the former prime minister of Israel
and defense minister are.
But still, people are going to see this segment
and go, all right, maybe Israel isn't perfect.
But criticizing them feeds the fire.
Don't you worry about anti-Semitism?
And to that, I say no.
I believe anti-Semitism will be fine.
[LAUGHTER]
I've got to say--
[APPLAUSE]
Not for nothing.
[APPLAUSE]
But from what I've experienced, it's very resilient.
And it's not really tied to any event
or war or activity or reality.
For God's sakes, Kanye thought we ruined his Adidas deal.
We didn't though.
We just need orthotics, that's all.
[LAUGHTER]
Anti-Semitism will survive this war
like it survived all wars going back to the brave Hebrews
at Masada.
Do you see, Rabbi?
I was paying attention in Hebrew School.
[LAUGHTER]
You know what?
[CHEERING]
You know what?
Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe the blame the Jews from the Black Death
to the Spanish inquisition to the space lasers
will all go away if Israel does right.
And peace will reign and people will no longer baselessly
and conveniently blame the Jews when
things don't work out exactly the way they want them to.
This is the most important election in the history
of the United States.
I'm not going to call this as a prediction, but in my opinion,
the Jewish people would have a lot to do with the loss
if I'm at 40%.
Son of a bitch.
- admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 37523
- Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Re: U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
by admin » Thu Sep 26, 2024 11:09 pm
Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 24, 2024
Israel Vows to Ramp Up Its Assault on Lebanon After Killing 558+ People in One Day
Sep 24, 2024
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has accused Israel of waging “a war of extermination” after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 558 people, including 50 children, and injured over 1,800 since Monday. It was Israel’s largest attack on Lebanon in nearly two decades. Israel said today it will further “accelerate” its attacks on Lebanon. Israel claimed the airstrikes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, but Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israel mostly struck civilian sites including hospitals, medical centers and ambulances. Thousands of Lebanese residents have fled southern Lebanon, with many heading to Beirut. The U.N. Human Rights Office warned Israel that sending a “warning” before attacking civilians is not acceptable.
Hezbollah forces responded to Israel’s massive attack by firing missiles at Israeli military bases, arms factories and other areas. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned, “We are almost in a full-fledged war,” while U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was “alarmed” at the large number of civilian casualties reported in Lebanon.
Stéphane Dujarric: “The message to the parties that are firing at each other across the Blue Line, to all the parties involved in this conflict, is: Step back from the brink. Stop the escalation. … As we just said, there is no military solution at this point that will make anyone in either country any safer.”
Israel’s attack on Lebanon also killed at least one journalist. Hadi Al-Sayed, a reporter for Al-Mayadeen, died after Israel bombed his home in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has announced more U.S. troops would be sent to the Middle East.
“They’re Being Killed in Schools as They Seek Shelter”: U.N. Decries Israel’s War on Gaza’s Children
Sep 24, 2024
The U.N. Human Rights Office is calling on Israel to stop attacking schools in Gaza that provide shelter to displaced Palestinians. Over the past three days, Israeli attacks on schools have killed at least 32 Palestinians, including 16 children. The U.N. agency said, “The children of Gaza have already lost schools as a place of education. Now, they are being killed in schools as they seek shelter.”
On Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa spoke at the United Nations.
Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa: “As I speak to you, before you, our people in Gaza are enduring one of the darkest chapters in modern history. For nearly a year now, Israel’s genocidal war has caused unprecedented loss and suffering and humanitarian catastrophe. At the same time, our people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, continue to face systemic threats driven by the escalating settlers’ violence, military raids, movement restrictions and financial siege, withholding of Palestinian tax revenues.”
Biden Admin Kept Arming Genocide After State Dept., USAID Found Israel Blocked Gaza Aid Delivery
Sep 24, 2024
ProPublica has revealed USAID and the State Department’s refugees bureau both concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza. But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top Biden officials rejected the findings of the agencies — the two foremost U.S. authorities on humanitarian assistance. Blinken’s decision allowed the U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel. Under U.S. law, the government is required to cut off weapons shipments to countries preventing the delivery of U.S.-backed aid.
Greta Thunberg Joins Palestinian Call to Boycott Chevron
Sep 24, 2024
Prominent climate activist Greta Thunberg has joined demands to boycott Chevron over its supplying of energy to Israel.
Greta Thunberg: “In Palestine and all over the world, the fight against colonialism and corporations’ destruction of the planet are intrinsically linked. Look at Chevron. Everyone knows that Chevron is one of the world’s biggest climate criminals, but the oil giant is also fueling Israel’s genocide in Palestine.”
***************
“Absolutely Terrifying”: Israel’s War Comes to Lebanon, Setting Record-Breaking Single-Day Death Toll
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 24, 2024
Israel’s massive aerial bombardment of Lebanon killed at least 558 people on Monday in what is the highest single-day death toll in Lebanon in nearly two decades. Thousands more have been injured in strikes that targeted hospitals, medical centers and ambulances, while tens of thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes. “It has been havoc,” says Michelle Eid, editor-in-chief of Al Rawiya, in Beirut, describing attempts by family members to flee the attacks in the south. “The speed with which this has happened has been incredibly shocking,” says Lebanese writer and translator Lina Mounzer. “Once Lebanon goes up in flames, it’s also very likely that the entire region goes up in flames.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The Israeli military says it carried out another airstrike on Beirut today in a southern suburb of the city. This comes as the death toll from Israel’s massive aerial bombardment of Lebanon Monday rose to at least 558 people, including over 50 children and over 40 women. More than 1,600 people have been injured. It marked the highest single-day death toll on Lebanon in nearly two decades.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes in southern Lebanon in the largest exodus since the 2006 war. Many displaced families are sleeping in makeshift shelters set up in schools in Beirut and other cities. Some 500 people have even crossed into Syria to seek safety, according to Agence France-Presse.
Israel claimed the airstrike struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, but Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israel also struck hospitals, medical centers and ambulances. Hezbollah forces responded to Israel’s massive attack by firing missiles at Israeli military bases, arms factories and other areas. Satellite data analyzed by Associated Press showed the wide range of Israeli airstrikes aimed at southern Lebanon covering an area of over 650 square miles.
The aerial bombardment comes as Lebanon is still reeling from last week’s attack by Israel when thousands of electronic communication devices, from walkie-talkies to pagers, exploded at the same time across Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000.
For more, we go to Beirut, where we’re joined by Michelle Eid, editor-in-chief of Al Rawiya, a digital magazine covering the Levant. She joins us from Beirut.
Welcome to Democracy Now! Can you describe what’s happening on the ground now in Lebanon with this largest single-day death toll in almost 20 years, the massive flight of Lebanese from the south moving towards Beirut, Michelle?
MICHELLE EID: Hi. First of all, thanks for having me.
Essentially, what’s happening now is a massive exodus from the south. Many people are displaced. They’re trying to find a safe haven. And as a result, the roads are jammed. There’s an oncoming fuel crisis, as well, because people are trying to fill their tanks. And so, so many people have been stuck on the road for hours on end trying to reach somewhere safe. And as people were exiting south Lebanon and going on the road towards Beirut, there were airstrikes falling near them, around them. So you can imagine it’s a very panic-filled scene.
And around Lebanon, so what’s happening at the moment is these individuals who are displaced from the south are trying to find safe havens in schools and different shelters all across Lebanon, whether it be the north, Beqaa, Mount Lebanon. And people are going, trying to help them, trying to find any basic necessities that they can help them with, provide them with food, with water, with medicine, with sleeping bags so they can sleep. So you can imagine the situation is quite dire at the moment.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Michelle, these bombing attacks have occurred not just in the south, but also in some northern sections of Lebanon, as well. So, how are the civilians supposed to know even where to go?
MICHELLE EID: You know, the way that I can describe this is, they think about the next — the immediate solution. So, once they’re bombing the south, people are leaving the south. When they bomb Beqaa, they try to find another safe place in Beqaa. They don’t have the luxury of thinking long term. They don’t have the luxury of thinking, “Where would be the safest place for me to be now?” especially with the crowding, you can say, because there are a lot of people who are trying to find these shelters, who are trying to find apartments, so there’s an overflow of demand and maybe not enough supply, or, rather — let me fix that — there is supply, but there is also some sort of exploitation of the people who are being displaced from the south. So, landlords, for example, there is not a lot of, you can say, give and take when it comes to rent. And so, many families find themselves unable to rent an apartment with their children, with their elderly parents, with their members of the family that have special needs or special medical requirements.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And this comes — these attacks come in a situation where Lebanon has already had a long-term economic crisis. Could you talk about the situation in the country as a whole?
MICHELLE EID: You know, prior to the war, the country has already been suffering. It’s been suffering since 2019 with the financial collapse, then, after that, with the coronavirus. So, public institutions are not able to support the community, the Lebanese population properly, or all communities that live within Lebanon. And so, once the war began in October, there was, you know, panic amongst people in the community, in the Lebanese communities, about whether Lebanon would be able to sustain a war, whether the medical sector would be able to sustain the war, whether directorates that are responsible for food security are able to, whether gas and energy directorates are able to, as well.
So, Lebanon is not properly equipped to be able to sustain such a war. And it was not properly equipped to function even ever so normally prior to the war in its normal situation. So, as you can imagine, there is panic across not only members of the public, but also people who are in public institutions, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Michelle, you’re speaking to us from Beirut, so your own family has to be impacted by this. Can you describe both what you’ve talked about, the chaos —
MICHELLE EID: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: — in the streets, what has happened to your family in the south, and what these phone calls mean? Israel is saying they’ve sent out tens of thousands of calls. Apparently, Lebanon’s minister of information got one of these morning calls. The U.N. Human Rights Office warned Israel sending a warning before attacking civilians is not acceptable.
MICHELLE EID: Mm-hmm. I can talk about maybe my family first. So, I have family living in the south and Beqaa, as well. And on a personal level, for the past few days, it has been havoc trying to be able to reach them to make sure that they are OK. My maternal great-uncle is stuck in the south because of the situation on the roads. He didn’t want to leave the south at first, either, because the concept of leaving his home is already painful enough, because this is not the first time the south witnesses such aggression, you know? And so, it’s been just panic mode on a personal level to be able to try and get my family to safety, especially with data not being able — not being proper, as well, not having good connections, so we can’t reach them all the time. So, as you can imagine, even my family living abroad, they’re also in this state of panic trying to reach their family members here, as well. So, on an internal level, it’s been a mess.
And then, going on to people receiving texts and phone calls, so, dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals yesterday received either phone calls or texts telling them to evacuate their buildings because they do have some either Hezbollah weapons or Hezbollah personnel in these buildings. And they gave them either a timeframe to leave or with no timeframe at all. So, these individuals, not even knowing — you know, they haven’t had time to think of a plan B or a plan C. They had to grab their stuff and just leave their homes, try to find some safe haven, whether near or far. And these people who were conducting these phone calls, for example, the phone calls, they were coming from Lebanese numbers, but the individuals who were doing the calling spoke in formal Arabic, which is very different than our colloquial language, our mostly used language, our informal language. And so, as you can imagine, this induces quite the scary scenario for many people who are also unable to leave right away, who have members of their family who need special support, whether it be a physical disability, a mental disability of the sorts. So, it’s been quite hard on these families who were across the Beqaa, across the south and even in some suburbs in Beirut.
AMY GOODMAN: Michelle Eid is editor-in-chief of Al Rawiya. She’s speaking to us from Beirut. And in our New York studio, we’re joined by Lina Mounzer, Lebanese writer, translator, senior editor of the arts and literature magazine The Markaz Review. Her new piece for Middle East Eye is headlined “Israel’s war on Lebanon: The trauma of watching the 'Hollywood movie' from afar.”
Start off with what just has happened in the last 24 hours, worst single lethal day, deadly day for Lebanon in nearly 20 years, with over 558 people dead, 50 of them children. Your response, looking at all of this from New York?
LINA MOUNZER: First, hi, Amy. Thank you for having me here.
Honestly, it’s very shocking, looking at it, the speed with which everything is happening. The death toll, as you said, it’s actually — at this point, I think it’s fully half the amount of casualties that we saw in the 33 days of the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon — or, I should say, the assault on Lebanon in 2006. So, within one day, we’re seeing a huge amount of casualties.
And at the same time, we’re seeing all of the tactics that they have been using in Gaza. They’re kind of speed running what has been happening in Gaza. They’ve been bombing ambulances, pathways to hospitals. As Michelle was just talking about, they’ve been asking people to evacuate, but really it is flee. They’re, you know, making people panic. And then they’re also bombing the roads out, the bridges. People are terrified. It’s very difficult for them to find their way out.
And it’s really — you know, I just left Beirut. I’ve been there. You know, I live there normally, and I left Beirut a few weeks ago, and knowing that there was a possibility that things would escalate while I was gone, but truly the speed with which this has happened has been incredibly shocking. And, you know, just between one night and the next to wake up and to see full-blown war and this level of casualties and carnage is just absolutely terrifying. So, you know, my initial reaction really is one of shock, even though I feel we should have been inured watching what’s been happening in Gaza over the period of an entire year. We shouldn’t be shocked anymore, but still it is absolutely shocking.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Lina, I wanted to ask you about the coverage, the media coverage, in the United States and Europe on this, because it’s clear, number one, that these pager and walkie-talkie attacks were sheer terrorism on the part of Israel and that this is a naked escalation of the war on Israel’s part, yet that’s not the way it’s being portrayed. Rather, they’re concentrating on the technological sophistication of Israel and being able to use these pagers and these walkie-talkies to attack Hezbollah.
LINA MOUNZER: Yes, Juan, absolutely. I mean, basically, what we’ve been seeing from the beginning of the assault on Gaza, as well, is the media has been — you know, we use the word “complicit,” but what does that really mean? I mean, the media has been actively helping manufacture consent for what has been happening, allowing people to — not just to be complacent, but to feel that whatever is happening in Gaza, in Lebanon is well deserved. You know, this is Israel’s counterterrorism. This is Israel “defending itself,” quote-unquote. And people have bought that, to the extent that now Israel can come up with whatever flimsy excuse. You know, one of the things that they’ve been saying now is that they are bombing locations in the south because Hezbollah uses people’s homes to hide rocket launchers, and so any civilian casualties incurred are part of this counterterrorism.
And so, for me, the pager attack and the way that it was covered is really only just a small part of all of the way that Israel’s attacks have been — are being covered, you know, whether it’s by the fact that they continue to repeat the lies about, you know, burned, raped, mutilated, beheaded babies. If you notice, every single time an Israeli spokesperson speaks, they will never — you know, when they talk about the attacks, they will always — you know, it’s like they’ve been given this directive to use all of these, like — to use this particular language that’s very incendiary and to remind people of, you know, burned, beheaded, etc. And no one calls them out on it, even though there is no evidence of any of these things actually having taken place.
And so, it was very shocking to me. You know, if this pager attack had happened anywhere else — and we keep saying that, which I think it’s actually quite sad that we have to keep saying, “Imagine this happened to you,” or “Imagine it happened in any other country. What would you think about it in that way?” You know, it’s this constant feeling of having to remind people that, you know, we are equally as human as anybody else.
But, truly, I mean, what you had was you had a series of small explosions going off against the intimacy of people’s bodies across the entire country. And it was — everybody was in a — it is the absolute definition of terrorism. People were terrified. People were afraid of the electronic devices in their own homes.
And yet, you know, you have people covering this as though it were a marvel. I mean, even I saw an opinion piece in The New York Times the other day that began with, “Even though we’re all amazed by this, even though we all think it’s such an incredible thing, you know, technological feat that Israel pulled off, we still must admit that this is an act of terrorism.” So, even if somebody uses those words, it’s always couched within a kind of inherent excuse. And it’s, frankly, sickening, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, it’s quite something to, for example, hear Leon Panetta, the former CIA director, the former defense secretary, saying that the blowing up of pagers and walkie-talkies is terrorism. So, he is describing it in that way, you know, represents the establishment in the United States. And, of course, you hear Biden and Blinken decrying the fact that there isn’t a ceasefire, but at the same time, we bring you this report today from ProPublica, just one of many different reports, that says, USAID and the State Department’s refugee bureau — and this has to do with Gaza, and you make serious links, like saying Israel is speed running the Gaza playbook. ProPublica has revealed USAID and State Department’s refugee bureau both concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza, but Secretary of State Blinken and other top Biden officials rejected the findings of the agencies, the two foremost U.S. authorities on humanitarian assistance. That decision allowed the U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel, because under U.S. law, the government is required to cut off weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed aid. And I wanted to bring that to the end of your piece, where you quote a Lebanese friend who’s been living in the U.S. for a while, saying, “I’m either in the flames or I’m in the place [that’s] lighting the fire.” Can you talk about the U.S. role in what’s happening in your country, Lebanon, and Gaza?
LINA MOUNZER: I mean, the United States is — you know, there’s always these debates about who is wagging the dog, let’s say, you know, this idea of like who is truly in control. Is it Israel, or is it the United States? For me, they are one and the same. Israel seems to be kind of like a colonial outpost of the United States, and I feel that their interests are very much aligned. And so, the United States continues to say that it is not interested in a regional war, it is not interested in a conflagration. At the same time, they have been running cover for what Israel has been doing in Gaza for an entire year.
And honestly, since pretty much October 8th, we could see that this day was coming. We could see that so long as the war continued in Gaza, as long as the assault on Gaza continued, that this was eventually going to come and engulf Lebanon. And, you know, once Lebanon goes up in flames, it’s also very likely that the entire region goes up in flames.
And so, the United States can say all they like that they are, you know, looking at the possibility of a ceasefire, that they don’t want for there to be a regional war, but the way that they have been doing things is — you know, frankly, says otherwise, including and up to the fact that every single time that there’s something that Israel needs to be called out on, we see them running interference for Israel. You know, all the State Department spokespeople refuse to comment. They will not allow journalists to ask them any questions, and they will deflect constantly.
And so, I mean, the United States is firmly partnered. You know, as they keep saying, they say, you know, “We’re looking to our partners in Israel.” That’s exactly what they mean. They’re partners in Israel. They are partners in crime. And they truly are one and the same. It’s very difficult, honestly, to separate between the two, the United States and Israel, at this point.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Lina, I wanted to ask you about the timing of this escalation by the Netanyahu government, because those of us who have followed the conflict in the Middle East for decades know that Israel almost always uses the period before a presidential election, or sometimes after the election before a new government is sworn in, to launch its fiercest attacks, precisely because it knows that the administration in power, given the volatility of U.S. elections, is reluctant to take any action to even mildly criticize Israel. I’m wondering what your thoughts about the timing of this escalation.
LINA MOUNZER: I mean, I think you’re absolutely correct, and yet, at the same time, because we have seen absolutely no change in the U.S. administration, the Biden administration has been absolutely gung ho, 100% behind Israel, you know, so they have the full support. So it’s not — it doesn’t seem to me like this is going to — that the United States at any point was even threatening to withdraw full support from what’s happening. So, yes, the timing is before the election, and at the same time, you know, it’s been going on for so long at this point that I don’t even know what the election has to do with it anymore. It just feels like the United States is busy right now with its own — you know, with the elections and what’s happening there, and Israel is just free to run rampage all over Gaza, all over Lebanon. So, it is related to the United States elections, and yet, at the same time, I really cannot see how it’s going to make any difference whether it’s Harris or Trump or Biden in power, frankly, at this stage. It seems like it’s just running on autopilot, this war, at this point.
AMY GOODMAN: Lina Mounzer, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Lebanese writer, translator, senior editor of the arts and literature magazine The Markaz Review. We’ll link your piece in Middle East Eye headlined “Israel’s war on Lebanon: The trauma of watching the 'Hollywood movie' from afar.”
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 24, 2024
Israel Vows to Ramp Up Its Assault on Lebanon After Killing 558+ People in One Day
Sep 24, 2024
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has accused Israel of waging “a war of extermination” after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 558 people, including 50 children, and injured over 1,800 since Monday. It was Israel’s largest attack on Lebanon in nearly two decades. Israel said today it will further “accelerate” its attacks on Lebanon. Israel claimed the airstrikes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, but Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israel mostly struck civilian sites including hospitals, medical centers and ambulances. Thousands of Lebanese residents have fled southern Lebanon, with many heading to Beirut. The U.N. Human Rights Office warned Israel that sending a “warning” before attacking civilians is not acceptable.
Hezbollah forces responded to Israel’s massive attack by firing missiles at Israeli military bases, arms factories and other areas. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned, “We are almost in a full-fledged war,” while U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was “alarmed” at the large number of civilian casualties reported in Lebanon.
Stéphane Dujarric: “The message to the parties that are firing at each other across the Blue Line, to all the parties involved in this conflict, is: Step back from the brink. Stop the escalation. … As we just said, there is no military solution at this point that will make anyone in either country any safer.”
Israel’s attack on Lebanon also killed at least one journalist. Hadi Al-Sayed, a reporter for Al-Mayadeen, died after Israel bombed his home in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has announced more U.S. troops would be sent to the Middle East.
“They’re Being Killed in Schools as They Seek Shelter”: U.N. Decries Israel’s War on Gaza’s Children
Sep 24, 2024
The U.N. Human Rights Office is calling on Israel to stop attacking schools in Gaza that provide shelter to displaced Palestinians. Over the past three days, Israeli attacks on schools have killed at least 32 Palestinians, including 16 children. The U.N. agency said, “The children of Gaza have already lost schools as a place of education. Now, they are being killed in schools as they seek shelter.”
On Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa spoke at the United Nations.
Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa: “As I speak to you, before you, our people in Gaza are enduring one of the darkest chapters in modern history. For nearly a year now, Israel’s genocidal war has caused unprecedented loss and suffering and humanitarian catastrophe. At the same time, our people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, continue to face systemic threats driven by the escalating settlers’ violence, military raids, movement restrictions and financial siege, withholding of Palestinian tax revenues.”
Biden Admin Kept Arming Genocide After State Dept., USAID Found Israel Blocked Gaza Aid Delivery
Sep 24, 2024
ProPublica has revealed USAID and the State Department’s refugees bureau both concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza. But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top Biden officials rejected the findings of the agencies — the two foremost U.S. authorities on humanitarian assistance. Blinken’s decision allowed the U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel. Under U.S. law, the government is required to cut off weapons shipments to countries preventing the delivery of U.S.-backed aid.
Greta Thunberg Joins Palestinian Call to Boycott Chevron
Sep 24, 2024
Prominent climate activist Greta Thunberg has joined demands to boycott Chevron over its supplying of energy to Israel.
Greta Thunberg: “In Palestine and all over the world, the fight against colonialism and corporations’ destruction of the planet are intrinsically linked. Look at Chevron. Everyone knows that Chevron is one of the world’s biggest climate criminals, but the oil giant is also fueling Israel’s genocide in Palestine.”
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“Absolutely Terrifying”: Israel’s War Comes to Lebanon, Setting Record-Breaking Single-Day Death Toll
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 24, 2024
Israel’s massive aerial bombardment of Lebanon killed at least 558 people on Monday in what is the highest single-day death toll in Lebanon in nearly two decades. Thousands more have been injured in strikes that targeted hospitals, medical centers and ambulances, while tens of thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes. “It has been havoc,” says Michelle Eid, editor-in-chief of Al Rawiya, in Beirut, describing attempts by family members to flee the attacks in the south. “The speed with which this has happened has been incredibly shocking,” says Lebanese writer and translator Lina Mounzer. “Once Lebanon goes up in flames, it’s also very likely that the entire region goes up in flames.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The Israeli military says it carried out another airstrike on Beirut today in a southern suburb of the city. This comes as the death toll from Israel’s massive aerial bombardment of Lebanon Monday rose to at least 558 people, including over 50 children and over 40 women. More than 1,600 people have been injured. It marked the highest single-day death toll on Lebanon in nearly two decades.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes in southern Lebanon in the largest exodus since the 2006 war. Many displaced families are sleeping in makeshift shelters set up in schools in Beirut and other cities. Some 500 people have even crossed into Syria to seek safety, according to Agence France-Presse.
Israel claimed the airstrike struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, but Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israel also struck hospitals, medical centers and ambulances. Hezbollah forces responded to Israel’s massive attack by firing missiles at Israeli military bases, arms factories and other areas. Satellite data analyzed by Associated Press showed the wide range of Israeli airstrikes aimed at southern Lebanon covering an area of over 650 square miles.
The aerial bombardment comes as Lebanon is still reeling from last week’s attack by Israel when thousands of electronic communication devices, from walkie-talkies to pagers, exploded at the same time across Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000.
For more, we go to Beirut, where we’re joined by Michelle Eid, editor-in-chief of Al Rawiya, a digital magazine covering the Levant. She joins us from Beirut.
Welcome to Democracy Now! Can you describe what’s happening on the ground now in Lebanon with this largest single-day death toll in almost 20 years, the massive flight of Lebanese from the south moving towards Beirut, Michelle?
MICHELLE EID: Hi. First of all, thanks for having me.
Essentially, what’s happening now is a massive exodus from the south. Many people are displaced. They’re trying to find a safe haven. And as a result, the roads are jammed. There’s an oncoming fuel crisis, as well, because people are trying to fill their tanks. And so, so many people have been stuck on the road for hours on end trying to reach somewhere safe. And as people were exiting south Lebanon and going on the road towards Beirut, there were airstrikes falling near them, around them. So you can imagine it’s a very panic-filled scene.
And around Lebanon, so what’s happening at the moment is these individuals who are displaced from the south are trying to find safe havens in schools and different shelters all across Lebanon, whether it be the north, Beqaa, Mount Lebanon. And people are going, trying to help them, trying to find any basic necessities that they can help them with, provide them with food, with water, with medicine, with sleeping bags so they can sleep. So you can imagine the situation is quite dire at the moment.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Michelle, these bombing attacks have occurred not just in the south, but also in some northern sections of Lebanon, as well. So, how are the civilians supposed to know even where to go?
MICHELLE EID: You know, the way that I can describe this is, they think about the next — the immediate solution. So, once they’re bombing the south, people are leaving the south. When they bomb Beqaa, they try to find another safe place in Beqaa. They don’t have the luxury of thinking long term. They don’t have the luxury of thinking, “Where would be the safest place for me to be now?” especially with the crowding, you can say, because there are a lot of people who are trying to find these shelters, who are trying to find apartments, so there’s an overflow of demand and maybe not enough supply, or, rather — let me fix that — there is supply, but there is also some sort of exploitation of the people who are being displaced from the south. So, landlords, for example, there is not a lot of, you can say, give and take when it comes to rent. And so, many families find themselves unable to rent an apartment with their children, with their elderly parents, with their members of the family that have special needs or special medical requirements.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And this comes — these attacks come in a situation where Lebanon has already had a long-term economic crisis. Could you talk about the situation in the country as a whole?
MICHELLE EID: You know, prior to the war, the country has already been suffering. It’s been suffering since 2019 with the financial collapse, then, after that, with the coronavirus. So, public institutions are not able to support the community, the Lebanese population properly, or all communities that live within Lebanon. And so, once the war began in October, there was, you know, panic amongst people in the community, in the Lebanese communities, about whether Lebanon would be able to sustain a war, whether the medical sector would be able to sustain the war, whether directorates that are responsible for food security are able to, whether gas and energy directorates are able to, as well.
So, Lebanon is not properly equipped to be able to sustain such a war. And it was not properly equipped to function even ever so normally prior to the war in its normal situation. So, as you can imagine, there is panic across not only members of the public, but also people who are in public institutions, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Michelle, you’re speaking to us from Beirut, so your own family has to be impacted by this. Can you describe both what you’ve talked about, the chaos —
MICHELLE EID: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: — in the streets, what has happened to your family in the south, and what these phone calls mean? Israel is saying they’ve sent out tens of thousands of calls. Apparently, Lebanon’s minister of information got one of these morning calls. The U.N. Human Rights Office warned Israel sending a warning before attacking civilians is not acceptable.
MICHELLE EID: Mm-hmm. I can talk about maybe my family first. So, I have family living in the south and Beqaa, as well. And on a personal level, for the past few days, it has been havoc trying to be able to reach them to make sure that they are OK. My maternal great-uncle is stuck in the south because of the situation on the roads. He didn’t want to leave the south at first, either, because the concept of leaving his home is already painful enough, because this is not the first time the south witnesses such aggression, you know? And so, it’s been just panic mode on a personal level to be able to try and get my family to safety, especially with data not being able — not being proper, as well, not having good connections, so we can’t reach them all the time. So, as you can imagine, even my family living abroad, they’re also in this state of panic trying to reach their family members here, as well. So, on an internal level, it’s been a mess.
And then, going on to people receiving texts and phone calls, so, dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals yesterday received either phone calls or texts telling them to evacuate their buildings because they do have some either Hezbollah weapons or Hezbollah personnel in these buildings. And they gave them either a timeframe to leave or with no timeframe at all. So, these individuals, not even knowing — you know, they haven’t had time to think of a plan B or a plan C. They had to grab their stuff and just leave their homes, try to find some safe haven, whether near or far. And these people who were conducting these phone calls, for example, the phone calls, they were coming from Lebanese numbers, but the individuals who were doing the calling spoke in formal Arabic, which is very different than our colloquial language, our mostly used language, our informal language. And so, as you can imagine, this induces quite the scary scenario for many people who are also unable to leave right away, who have members of their family who need special support, whether it be a physical disability, a mental disability of the sorts. So, it’s been quite hard on these families who were across the Beqaa, across the south and even in some suburbs in Beirut.
AMY GOODMAN: Michelle Eid is editor-in-chief of Al Rawiya. She’s speaking to us from Beirut. And in our New York studio, we’re joined by Lina Mounzer, Lebanese writer, translator, senior editor of the arts and literature magazine The Markaz Review. Her new piece for Middle East Eye is headlined “Israel’s war on Lebanon: The trauma of watching the 'Hollywood movie' from afar.”
Start off with what just has happened in the last 24 hours, worst single lethal day, deadly day for Lebanon in nearly 20 years, with over 558 people dead, 50 of them children. Your response, looking at all of this from New York?
LINA MOUNZER: First, hi, Amy. Thank you for having me here.
Honestly, it’s very shocking, looking at it, the speed with which everything is happening. The death toll, as you said, it’s actually — at this point, I think it’s fully half the amount of casualties that we saw in the 33 days of the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon — or, I should say, the assault on Lebanon in 2006. So, within one day, we’re seeing a huge amount of casualties.
And at the same time, we’re seeing all of the tactics that they have been using in Gaza. They’re kind of speed running what has been happening in Gaza. They’ve been bombing ambulances, pathways to hospitals. As Michelle was just talking about, they’ve been asking people to evacuate, but really it is flee. They’re, you know, making people panic. And then they’re also bombing the roads out, the bridges. People are terrified. It’s very difficult for them to find their way out.
And it’s really — you know, I just left Beirut. I’ve been there. You know, I live there normally, and I left Beirut a few weeks ago, and knowing that there was a possibility that things would escalate while I was gone, but truly the speed with which this has happened has been incredibly shocking. And, you know, just between one night and the next to wake up and to see full-blown war and this level of casualties and carnage is just absolutely terrifying. So, you know, my initial reaction really is one of shock, even though I feel we should have been inured watching what’s been happening in Gaza over the period of an entire year. We shouldn’t be shocked anymore, but still it is absolutely shocking.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Lina, I wanted to ask you about the coverage, the media coverage, in the United States and Europe on this, because it’s clear, number one, that these pager and walkie-talkie attacks were sheer terrorism on the part of Israel and that this is a naked escalation of the war on Israel’s part, yet that’s not the way it’s being portrayed. Rather, they’re concentrating on the technological sophistication of Israel and being able to use these pagers and these walkie-talkies to attack Hezbollah.
LINA MOUNZER: Yes, Juan, absolutely. I mean, basically, what we’ve been seeing from the beginning of the assault on Gaza, as well, is the media has been — you know, we use the word “complicit,” but what does that really mean? I mean, the media has been actively helping manufacture consent for what has been happening, allowing people to — not just to be complacent, but to feel that whatever is happening in Gaza, in Lebanon is well deserved. You know, this is Israel’s counterterrorism. This is Israel “defending itself,” quote-unquote. And people have bought that, to the extent that now Israel can come up with whatever flimsy excuse. You know, one of the things that they’ve been saying now is that they are bombing locations in the south because Hezbollah uses people’s homes to hide rocket launchers, and so any civilian casualties incurred are part of this counterterrorism.
And so, for me, the pager attack and the way that it was covered is really only just a small part of all of the way that Israel’s attacks have been — are being covered, you know, whether it’s by the fact that they continue to repeat the lies about, you know, burned, raped, mutilated, beheaded babies. If you notice, every single time an Israeli spokesperson speaks, they will never — you know, when they talk about the attacks, they will always — you know, it’s like they’ve been given this directive to use all of these, like — to use this particular language that’s very incendiary and to remind people of, you know, burned, beheaded, etc. And no one calls them out on it, even though there is no evidence of any of these things actually having taken place.
And so, it was very shocking to me. You know, if this pager attack had happened anywhere else — and we keep saying that, which I think it’s actually quite sad that we have to keep saying, “Imagine this happened to you,” or “Imagine it happened in any other country. What would you think about it in that way?” You know, it’s this constant feeling of having to remind people that, you know, we are equally as human as anybody else.
But, truly, I mean, what you had was you had a series of small explosions going off against the intimacy of people’s bodies across the entire country. And it was — everybody was in a — it is the absolute definition of terrorism. People were terrified. People were afraid of the electronic devices in their own homes.
And yet, you know, you have people covering this as though it were a marvel. I mean, even I saw an opinion piece in The New York Times the other day that began with, “Even though we’re all amazed by this, even though we all think it’s such an incredible thing, you know, technological feat that Israel pulled off, we still must admit that this is an act of terrorism.” So, even if somebody uses those words, it’s always couched within a kind of inherent excuse. And it’s, frankly, sickening, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, it’s quite something to, for example, hear Leon Panetta, the former CIA director, the former defense secretary, saying that the blowing up of pagers and walkie-talkies is terrorism. So, he is describing it in that way, you know, represents the establishment in the United States. And, of course, you hear Biden and Blinken decrying the fact that there isn’t a ceasefire, but at the same time, we bring you this report today from ProPublica, just one of many different reports, that says, USAID and the State Department’s refugee bureau — and this has to do with Gaza, and you make serious links, like saying Israel is speed running the Gaza playbook. ProPublica has revealed USAID and State Department’s refugee bureau both concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza, but Secretary of State Blinken and other top Biden officials rejected the findings of the agencies, the two foremost U.S. authorities on humanitarian assistance. That decision allowed the U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel, because under U.S. law, the government is required to cut off weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed aid. And I wanted to bring that to the end of your piece, where you quote a Lebanese friend who’s been living in the U.S. for a while, saying, “I’m either in the flames or I’m in the place [that’s] lighting the fire.” Can you talk about the U.S. role in what’s happening in your country, Lebanon, and Gaza?
LINA MOUNZER: I mean, the United States is — you know, there’s always these debates about who is wagging the dog, let’s say, you know, this idea of like who is truly in control. Is it Israel, or is it the United States? For me, they are one and the same. Israel seems to be kind of like a colonial outpost of the United States, and I feel that their interests are very much aligned. And so, the United States continues to say that it is not interested in a regional war, it is not interested in a conflagration. At the same time, they have been running cover for what Israel has been doing in Gaza for an entire year.
And honestly, since pretty much October 8th, we could see that this day was coming. We could see that so long as the war continued in Gaza, as long as the assault on Gaza continued, that this was eventually going to come and engulf Lebanon. And, you know, once Lebanon goes up in flames, it’s also very likely that the entire region goes up in flames.
And so, the United States can say all they like that they are, you know, looking at the possibility of a ceasefire, that they don’t want for there to be a regional war, but the way that they have been doing things is — you know, frankly, says otherwise, including and up to the fact that every single time that there’s something that Israel needs to be called out on, we see them running interference for Israel. You know, all the State Department spokespeople refuse to comment. They will not allow journalists to ask them any questions, and they will deflect constantly.
And so, I mean, the United States is firmly partnered. You know, as they keep saying, they say, you know, “We’re looking to our partners in Israel.” That’s exactly what they mean. They’re partners in Israel. They are partners in crime. And they truly are one and the same. It’s very difficult, honestly, to separate between the two, the United States and Israel, at this point.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Lina, I wanted to ask you about the timing of this escalation by the Netanyahu government, because those of us who have followed the conflict in the Middle East for decades know that Israel almost always uses the period before a presidential election, or sometimes after the election before a new government is sworn in, to launch its fiercest attacks, precisely because it knows that the administration in power, given the volatility of U.S. elections, is reluctant to take any action to even mildly criticize Israel. I’m wondering what your thoughts about the timing of this escalation.
LINA MOUNZER: I mean, I think you’re absolutely correct, and yet, at the same time, because we have seen absolutely no change in the U.S. administration, the Biden administration has been absolutely gung ho, 100% behind Israel, you know, so they have the full support. So it’s not — it doesn’t seem to me like this is going to — that the United States at any point was even threatening to withdraw full support from what’s happening. So, yes, the timing is before the election, and at the same time, you know, it’s been going on for so long at this point that I don’t even know what the election has to do with it anymore. It just feels like the United States is busy right now with its own — you know, with the elections and what’s happening there, and Israel is just free to run rampage all over Gaza, all over Lebanon. So, it is related to the United States elections, and yet, at the same time, I really cannot see how it’s going to make any difference whether it’s Harris or Trump or Biden in power, frankly, at this stage. It seems like it’s just running on autopilot, this war, at this point.
AMY GOODMAN: Lina Mounzer, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Lebanese writer, translator, senior editor of the arts and literature magazine The Markaz Review. We’ll link your piece in Middle East Eye headlined “Israel’s war on Lebanon: The trauma of watching the 'Hollywood movie' from afar.”
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Re: U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
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Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 25, 2024
Thousands Flee as Israel Continues Assault on Southern Lebanon
Sep 25, 2024
Tens of thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon as Israel’s military continues intense artillery and missile attacks. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports the death toll has climbed to at least 569 people, including 50 children. Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched dozens of drones and rockets at Israel, including a long-range missile fired toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems. Israeli public media is reporting that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is readying troops for a possible ground invasion into Lebanon. In Beirut, officials say they’ve secured shelters for 10,000 people displaced from southern Lebanon. Some of the evacuees were forced into the same shelters they fled to nearly two decades ago during Israel’s July 2006 assault. This is Feryal Mehsen, a 58-year-old who narrowly survived a strike that destroyed her family home.
Feryal Mehsen: “The rocket landed in front of me. I was shocked. I couldn’t hear or see after that. Dust was all over the place. So I drove off quickly and headed to the upper road and kept going. I lost my temper because of what happened. It took me 12 to 15 hours to reach Beirut from Aitat because of the traffic congestion.”
U.N. Staffers and Journalist Among Those Killed by Israeli Strikes on Lebanon
Sep 25, 2024
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reports two United Nations staffers were among those killed by Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon. Ali Basma worked as a janitor at the UNHCR’s Tyre office for seven years before he was killed in an Israeli strike on Monday. And Dina Darwiche, a UNHCR employee featured in many of the agency’s videos, was killed along with her youngest son in an Israeli strike that seriously injured her husband and her other child. A separate Israeli strike killed cameraman Kamel Karaki of Al-Manar TV. He’s at least the fifth journalist killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October 7.
Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill 53 Palestinians, Including a Mother and Her Five Children
Sep 25, 2024
Israel’s military has continued its attacks on the Gaza Strip with at least 53 Palestinians killed over the past 24 hours. Among the dead are a mother killed along with her five children when Israel’s military bombed their house north of Rafah.
In the occupied West Bank, four Palestinians were shot and wounded as Israeli soldiers raided the Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron. Elsewhere, a Palestinian doctor was hospitalized in serious condition after he was shot by Israeli forces during a raid near the city of Qalqilya.
World Leaders Gathered at U.N. General Assembly Condemn Israel’s Assaults on Gaza, Lebanon
Sep 25, 2024
Here in New York, world leaders gathered for the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday condemned Israel’s assaults on Palestine and Lebanon. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and said the failure of nations to stop the violence showed the United Nations system and Western values are “dying.” Chilean President Gabriel Boric also condemned Israel’s actions.
President Gabriel Boric: “I refuse to choose between Hamas’s terrorism or the massacre and genocidal behavior of Netanyahu’s Israel. We do not have to choose between barbarities. I choose humanity. We denounce the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories and the de facto denial of the existence of an independent Palestinian state by the occupying country.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres accused Israel of violating the United Nations Charter and said too many governments were turning a blind eye to international human rights conventions and the decisions of international courts. Meanwhile, Joe Biden delivered his last speech to the United Nations as U.S. president, calling for a diplomatic solution to end Israel’s war on Gaza — even as his administration continues to provide weapons and billions of dollars in aid to Israel’s military.
President Joe Biden: “We’re also working to bring a greater measure of peace and stability in the Middle East. The world must not flinch from the horrors of October 7th. Any country, any country would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again.”
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“Lebanese Civilians Are Paying the Price”: Israeli Strikes Kill Nearly 600, Displace Tens of Thousands
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 25, 2024
Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The Israeli military is reportedly preparing to invade Lebanon while continuing to launch extensive airstrikes across the country, forcing tens of thousands to flee. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports the death toll has reached at least 569 people, with more than 1,800 wounded. Israeli strikes have killed United Nations employees, medical workers, at least one journalist and 50 children over the past two days. Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at Israel, including a long-range missile fired toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems. “Lebanese civilians are paying the price,” says Aya Majzoub in Beirut, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, who calls Israel’s attacks “unprecedented” and “devastating.” “In a single day, on Monday, more than 500 people were killed. … It is one of the highest daily death tolls in recent global wars.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: At least 22 people have been killed in Lebanon today as the Israeli military continues its bombardment across Lebanon. Israel is expanding the zones of attack with strikes for the first time on the beach resort town of Jiyeh, just south of Beirut, and Maaysrah, in the mountains in the north. The death toll over the past three days is nearly 600 killed, including over 50 children, 40 women, with more than 1,800 people wounded. Tens of thousands have fled southern Lebanon, many going to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, and are sleeping in schools and parks, in their cars.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reports two United Nations staffers were among those killed by Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon. Ali Basma worked as a janitor at the UNHCR’s Tyre office for seven years before he was killed in an Israeli strike Monday. And Dina Darwiche, a 12-year staff member of UNHCR’s Beqaa office who was featured in UNHCR videos, was killed along with her son in an Israeli strike that seriously injured her husband and another of their children. Another Israeli strike killed cameraman Kamel Karaki of Al-Manar TV.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at Israel, including a long-range missile fired toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems.
The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon today at the request of France.
For more, we go to Beirut, where we’re joined by Aya Majzoub. She’s Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Aya. Since you’re right there in Beirut, just describe the scene on the ground in the country.
AYA MAJZOUB: I mean, the onslaught that started Monday was really unprecedented. We saw tens and tens and tens of thousands of families hastily pack up their bags, leave their homes, without any idea where they’re going to next. All across Beirut now, you see cars that are parked with displaced families that have nowhere to go. The strikes have been expanding. There’s a lot of misinformation around. People are paranoid about another pager or walkie-talkie attack. I mean, the situation is really devastating.
And, Amy, you know, I really want to put the death count into perspective here. In a single day, on Monday, more than 500 people were killed, and that is a really astounding number. It is one of the highest daily death tolls in recent global wars. It is higher than most daily death tolls in Gaza in the past year. You know, in Gaza, despite the horrific Israeli onslaught, it took 18 days for the death count to reach 500. This happened in Lebanon in about 24 hours. In 2006, the 33-day war that took place between Hezbollah and Israel resulted in 1,100 deaths over 33 days. We’ve already achieved half of that in just 24 hours. So the numbers are really unprecedented.
And you see a major panic across the entire country. People don’t know where is safe anymore. The Israelis have expanded the areas that they’re targeting. They’re not limited to some areas in south Lebanon along the border and in the Beqaa. They’ve really expanded inwards into coastal cities, into mountains in the north. It really feels like nowhere is safe, and people are very much at a loss for what to do and where to go.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Aya, what about these phone calls and text messages and also reports of dropping of leaflets on the population by the Israelis? How are people reacting to that? And what indication do they have of even where to go?
AYA MAJZOUB: So, on Monday, the information minister said that around 80,000 people received calls to evacuate. And we tried to look into some of those calls, and there didn’t seem to be any pattern for who was receiving these calls. Some people in Beirut received them. Some people in the south received them, in the Beqaa. It was really all across the country. So it seemed like a tactic that was more intended to cause fear rather than an actual evacuation.
Some residents in south Lebanon did get more specific evacuation orders. But again, under international law, for evacuation orders to mean anything, they have to be effective, meaning that people must have the time to leave, and they must have the means to do so. What we saw on Monday was anything but. I mean, the instructions that people got were stay away from Hezbollah targets. Nobody knows — a civilian doesn’t know where a Hezbollah target is. So people just fled with the clothes off their back. It took 14, 15 hours for some families to make it from south Lebanon to Beirut. And we were receiving reports that there were some strikes on, you know, near where civilians were gathered to evacuate, in traffic jams. We’re still looking into those. But if that holds up, then that is also a serious violation.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you — that Amnesty is calling for an international investigation into the deadly attacks using these exploding portable devices. Could you talk about what you’re calling for and why? And why isn’t this patently labeled as a terrorist attack?
AYA MAJZOUB: So, under international humanitarian law and human rights law, we don’t use the term “terrorist attacks.” For us, attacks are either lawful or unlawful. Our qualification of the pager attacks is if, as is being reported and as U.S. officials and Lebanese officials have said, Israel was behind the attacks, then international humanitarian law applies, because these attacks were part of an armed conflict. Under international humanitarian law, it is prohibited to use weapons indiscriminately, which we found that the pager attacks were. The people who detonated the pagers did not know who was given the pagers or the walkie-talkies, and they did not know who would be around the individuals carrying those pagers and walkie-talkies. Therefore, the attack was indiscriminate and, therefore, unlawful under international humanitarian law and should be investigated as a war crime.
The reason that Amnesty has called for an international investigation on this particular attack is because of the risks of this kind of warfare. It transforms everyday objects, like pagers and walkie-talkies, into essentially booby traps. And there is an explicit prohibition under international humanitarian law on the use of such booby traps. But we felt that such an attack, although it didn’t cause nearly the same number of casualties as Monday’s onslaught, did instill some fear and panic into the Lebanese society and is a really dangerous method of warfare to be using. It was unprecedented. And the involvement goes far beyond just, you know, the Israeli military. There are allegations around various shell companies. So we’re trying to look into all of the multifaceted aspects of this attack, but we do feel that an international investigation in this case is warranted.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to ask you, Aya Majzoub, if you consider this a war on Hezbollah or Israel’s war on Lebanon.
AYA MAJZOUB: I mean, in terms of the impact on civilians, it is undeniable that Lebanese civilians are paying the price. You know, a lot of the media coverage of Monday’s attacks was Israel strikes Hezbollah targets. However, you know, we’ve looked at entire neighborhoods that have been flattened, residential towers that have been brought down, people’s livelihoods, their shops, their homes, their cars, all in ruins. You mentioned the deaths of the two UNHCR staff members. The health minister also mentioned the deaths of four medics and paramedics. Ambulances are being hit, medical centers. And the wave of displacement from south Lebanon, the Beqaa and other areas is now, I think, almost 500,000 people have had to leave their homes. Not all 500,000 people are Hezbollah. So, the impact on Lebanese civilians has really been catastrophic.
AMY GOODMAN: And the response of the United States? President Biden just gave his last speech at the United Nations as U.S. president. He — let’s see — the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has characterized this as almost a full-fledged war. President Biden said, “Too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced. Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest.” Even though a “situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is not [sic] possible.” He said “is still possible,” he said. Aya Majzoub, at the same time, the U.S. continuing to provide billions of dollars to the U.S. military — to the Israeli military.
AYA MAJZOUB: Yeah. I mean, there’s an obvious hypocrisy there. We consistently, since October 7, have been calling for the suspension of weapons sales and shipments to Israel. We’ve continued to call for respect of IHL. We have, in at least one instance, documented a possible war crime that Israel committed in Lebanon using U.S. weapons. So, if the U.S. really was serious about a deescalation in the region, then they should start by stopping arms and weapons shipments to Israel and by also supporting judicial criminal proceedings, including at the ICC.
AMY GOODMAN: Aya Majzoub, we want to thank you so much for being with us, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Middle East and North Africa, speaking to us from Beirut, Lebanon.
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 25, 2024
Thousands Flee as Israel Continues Assault on Southern Lebanon
Sep 25, 2024
Tens of thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon as Israel’s military continues intense artillery and missile attacks. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports the death toll has climbed to at least 569 people, including 50 children. Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched dozens of drones and rockets at Israel, including a long-range missile fired toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems. Israeli public media is reporting that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is readying troops for a possible ground invasion into Lebanon. In Beirut, officials say they’ve secured shelters for 10,000 people displaced from southern Lebanon. Some of the evacuees were forced into the same shelters they fled to nearly two decades ago during Israel’s July 2006 assault. This is Feryal Mehsen, a 58-year-old who narrowly survived a strike that destroyed her family home.
Feryal Mehsen: “The rocket landed in front of me. I was shocked. I couldn’t hear or see after that. Dust was all over the place. So I drove off quickly and headed to the upper road and kept going. I lost my temper because of what happened. It took me 12 to 15 hours to reach Beirut from Aitat because of the traffic congestion.”
U.N. Staffers and Journalist Among Those Killed by Israeli Strikes on Lebanon
Sep 25, 2024
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reports two United Nations staffers were among those killed by Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon. Ali Basma worked as a janitor at the UNHCR’s Tyre office for seven years before he was killed in an Israeli strike on Monday. And Dina Darwiche, a UNHCR employee featured in many of the agency’s videos, was killed along with her youngest son in an Israeli strike that seriously injured her husband and her other child. A separate Israeli strike killed cameraman Kamel Karaki of Al-Manar TV. He’s at least the fifth journalist killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October 7.
Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill 53 Palestinians, Including a Mother and Her Five Children
Sep 25, 2024
Israel’s military has continued its attacks on the Gaza Strip with at least 53 Palestinians killed over the past 24 hours. Among the dead are a mother killed along with her five children when Israel’s military bombed their house north of Rafah.
In the occupied West Bank, four Palestinians were shot and wounded as Israeli soldiers raided the Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron. Elsewhere, a Palestinian doctor was hospitalized in serious condition after he was shot by Israeli forces during a raid near the city of Qalqilya.
World Leaders Gathered at U.N. General Assembly Condemn Israel’s Assaults on Gaza, Lebanon
Sep 25, 2024
Here in New York, world leaders gathered for the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday condemned Israel’s assaults on Palestine and Lebanon. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and said the failure of nations to stop the violence showed the United Nations system and Western values are “dying.” Chilean President Gabriel Boric also condemned Israel’s actions.
President Gabriel Boric: “I refuse to choose between Hamas’s terrorism or the massacre and genocidal behavior of Netanyahu’s Israel. We do not have to choose between barbarities. I choose humanity. We denounce the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories and the de facto denial of the existence of an independent Palestinian state by the occupying country.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres accused Israel of violating the United Nations Charter and said too many governments were turning a blind eye to international human rights conventions and the decisions of international courts. Meanwhile, Joe Biden delivered his last speech to the United Nations as U.S. president, calling for a diplomatic solution to end Israel’s war on Gaza — even as his administration continues to provide weapons and billions of dollars in aid to Israel’s military.
President Joe Biden: “We’re also working to bring a greater measure of peace and stability in the Middle East. The world must not flinch from the horrors of October 7th. Any country, any country would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again.”
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“Lebanese Civilians Are Paying the Price”: Israeli Strikes Kill Nearly 600, Displace Tens of Thousands
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 25, 2024
Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The Israeli military is reportedly preparing to invade Lebanon while continuing to launch extensive airstrikes across the country, forcing tens of thousands to flee. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports the death toll has reached at least 569 people, with more than 1,800 wounded. Israeli strikes have killed United Nations employees, medical workers, at least one journalist and 50 children over the past two days. Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at Israel, including a long-range missile fired toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems. “Lebanese civilians are paying the price,” says Aya Majzoub in Beirut, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, who calls Israel’s attacks “unprecedented” and “devastating.” “In a single day, on Monday, more than 500 people were killed. … It is one of the highest daily death tolls in recent global wars.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: At least 22 people have been killed in Lebanon today as the Israeli military continues its bombardment across Lebanon. Israel is expanding the zones of attack with strikes for the first time on the beach resort town of Jiyeh, just south of Beirut, and Maaysrah, in the mountains in the north. The death toll over the past three days is nearly 600 killed, including over 50 children, 40 women, with more than 1,800 people wounded. Tens of thousands have fled southern Lebanon, many going to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, and are sleeping in schools and parks, in their cars.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reports two United Nations staffers were among those killed by Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon. Ali Basma worked as a janitor at the UNHCR’s Tyre office for seven years before he was killed in an Israeli strike Monday. And Dina Darwiche, a 12-year staff member of UNHCR’s Beqaa office who was featured in UNHCR videos, was killed along with her son in an Israeli strike that seriously injured her husband and another of their children. Another Israeli strike killed cameraman Kamel Karaki of Al-Manar TV.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at Israel, including a long-range missile fired toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems.
The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon today at the request of France.
For more, we go to Beirut, where we’re joined by Aya Majzoub. She’s Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Aya. Since you’re right there in Beirut, just describe the scene on the ground in the country.
AYA MAJZOUB: I mean, the onslaught that started Monday was really unprecedented. We saw tens and tens and tens of thousands of families hastily pack up their bags, leave their homes, without any idea where they’re going to next. All across Beirut now, you see cars that are parked with displaced families that have nowhere to go. The strikes have been expanding. There’s a lot of misinformation around. People are paranoid about another pager or walkie-talkie attack. I mean, the situation is really devastating.
And, Amy, you know, I really want to put the death count into perspective here. In a single day, on Monday, more than 500 people were killed, and that is a really astounding number. It is one of the highest daily death tolls in recent global wars. It is higher than most daily death tolls in Gaza in the past year. You know, in Gaza, despite the horrific Israeli onslaught, it took 18 days for the death count to reach 500. This happened in Lebanon in about 24 hours. In 2006, the 33-day war that took place between Hezbollah and Israel resulted in 1,100 deaths over 33 days. We’ve already achieved half of that in just 24 hours. So the numbers are really unprecedented.
And you see a major panic across the entire country. People don’t know where is safe anymore. The Israelis have expanded the areas that they’re targeting. They’re not limited to some areas in south Lebanon along the border and in the Beqaa. They’ve really expanded inwards into coastal cities, into mountains in the north. It really feels like nowhere is safe, and people are very much at a loss for what to do and where to go.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Aya, what about these phone calls and text messages and also reports of dropping of leaflets on the population by the Israelis? How are people reacting to that? And what indication do they have of even where to go?
AYA MAJZOUB: So, on Monday, the information minister said that around 80,000 people received calls to evacuate. And we tried to look into some of those calls, and there didn’t seem to be any pattern for who was receiving these calls. Some people in Beirut received them. Some people in the south received them, in the Beqaa. It was really all across the country. So it seemed like a tactic that was more intended to cause fear rather than an actual evacuation.
Some residents in south Lebanon did get more specific evacuation orders. But again, under international law, for evacuation orders to mean anything, they have to be effective, meaning that people must have the time to leave, and they must have the means to do so. What we saw on Monday was anything but. I mean, the instructions that people got were stay away from Hezbollah targets. Nobody knows — a civilian doesn’t know where a Hezbollah target is. So people just fled with the clothes off their back. It took 14, 15 hours for some families to make it from south Lebanon to Beirut. And we were receiving reports that there were some strikes on, you know, near where civilians were gathered to evacuate, in traffic jams. We’re still looking into those. But if that holds up, then that is also a serious violation.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you — that Amnesty is calling for an international investigation into the deadly attacks using these exploding portable devices. Could you talk about what you’re calling for and why? And why isn’t this patently labeled as a terrorist attack?
AYA MAJZOUB: So, under international humanitarian law and human rights law, we don’t use the term “terrorist attacks.” For us, attacks are either lawful or unlawful. Our qualification of the pager attacks is if, as is being reported and as U.S. officials and Lebanese officials have said, Israel was behind the attacks, then international humanitarian law applies, because these attacks were part of an armed conflict. Under international humanitarian law, it is prohibited to use weapons indiscriminately, which we found that the pager attacks were. The people who detonated the pagers did not know who was given the pagers or the walkie-talkies, and they did not know who would be around the individuals carrying those pagers and walkie-talkies. Therefore, the attack was indiscriminate and, therefore, unlawful under international humanitarian law and should be investigated as a war crime.
The reason that Amnesty has called for an international investigation on this particular attack is because of the risks of this kind of warfare. It transforms everyday objects, like pagers and walkie-talkies, into essentially booby traps. And there is an explicit prohibition under international humanitarian law on the use of such booby traps. But we felt that such an attack, although it didn’t cause nearly the same number of casualties as Monday’s onslaught, did instill some fear and panic into the Lebanese society and is a really dangerous method of warfare to be using. It was unprecedented. And the involvement goes far beyond just, you know, the Israeli military. There are allegations around various shell companies. So we’re trying to look into all of the multifaceted aspects of this attack, but we do feel that an international investigation in this case is warranted.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to ask you, Aya Majzoub, if you consider this a war on Hezbollah or Israel’s war on Lebanon.
AYA MAJZOUB: I mean, in terms of the impact on civilians, it is undeniable that Lebanese civilians are paying the price. You know, a lot of the media coverage of Monday’s attacks was Israel strikes Hezbollah targets. However, you know, we’ve looked at entire neighborhoods that have been flattened, residential towers that have been brought down, people’s livelihoods, their shops, their homes, their cars, all in ruins. You mentioned the deaths of the two UNHCR staff members. The health minister also mentioned the deaths of four medics and paramedics. Ambulances are being hit, medical centers. And the wave of displacement from south Lebanon, the Beqaa and other areas is now, I think, almost 500,000 people have had to leave their homes. Not all 500,000 people are Hezbollah. So, the impact on Lebanese civilians has really been catastrophic.
AMY GOODMAN: And the response of the United States? President Biden just gave his last speech at the United Nations as U.S. president. He — let’s see — the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has characterized this as almost a full-fledged war. President Biden said, “Too many on each side of the Israeli-Lebanon border remain displaced. Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest.” Even though a “situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is not [sic] possible.” He said “is still possible,” he said. Aya Majzoub, at the same time, the U.S. continuing to provide billions of dollars to the U.S. military — to the Israeli military.
AYA MAJZOUB: Yeah. I mean, there’s an obvious hypocrisy there. We consistently, since October 7, have been calling for the suspension of weapons sales and shipments to Israel. We’ve continued to call for respect of IHL. We have, in at least one instance, documented a possible war crime that Israel committed in Lebanon using U.S. weapons. So, if the U.S. really was serious about a deescalation in the region, then they should start by stopping arms and weapons shipments to Israel and by also supporting judicial criminal proceedings, including at the ICC.
AMY GOODMAN: Aya Majzoub, we want to thank you so much for being with us, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Middle East and North Africa, speaking to us from Beirut, Lebanon.
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Re: U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
by admin » Thu Sep 26, 2024 11:22 pm
Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 26, 2024
Israel Rejects Ceasefire Calls, Prepares for Possible Ground Invasion as Lebanon Death Toll Tops 620
Sep 26, 2024
Israel has rejected a possible ceasefire as it continues its assault on Lebanon. The U.S., France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia had called for a 21-day ceasefire as the death toll in Lebanon topped 620 people, at least 72 of those killed on Wednesday. Despite resounding international warnings against escalating attacks, Israel is doubling down, with its military chief Herzi Halevi telling troops Wednesday, “You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
Half a million people in Lebanon are now believed to be displaced. Hospitals are overrun with victims of Israeli attacks. This is Dr. Adel Raee, director of the Raee Hospital in Sidon.
Dr. Adel Raee: “Since Monday until today, we have received 136 wounded, including 36 martyrs. Among those 36 martyrs, 18 were torn to pieces. There are still bodies in the morgue that require DNA testing for identification.”
We’ll go to Lebanon for the latest later in the broadcast.
“Israel Is Violating Our Sovereignty”: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Pleads with UNSC to Do Its Job
Sep 26, 2024
Here in New York, Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati pleaded with the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to intervene to stop Israel’s bombardment during an emergency session. Mikati said, “Israel is violating our sovereignty by sending their warplanes and drones to our skies.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke from the sidelines of the Security Council meeting Wednesday.
Abbas Araghchi: “The Security Council must act now to halt Israel’s war and enforce an immediate ceasefire, and by that, to save innocent lives. If not, the region risks full-scale conflict, and history will hold Israel’s enablers, especially the United States, responsible. … Iran will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon. We stand with the people of Lebanon with all means.”
This comes as a new Oxfam report is calling for urgent reform of the “colonial and archaic” Security Council. Oxfam says the UNSC’s five permanent members — the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. and France — are “failing people living in conflict” as they consistently abuse their veto power in their own interests, blocking opportunities for peace around the world.
One Year into Genocide, Palestinians in Gaza Warn Israel Is Poised to Subject Lebanon to Same Fate
Sep 26, 2024
In Gaza, displaced Palestinians are expressing solidarity with Lebanese people under Israeli attack.
Umm Muhammad Abu Shaqfa: “What is happening to us in Gaza is happening to Lebanon now. I have been displaced from the north for the last five months. And the world is quiet and is still standing by Israel. How is it the world is standing by it? In what viewpoint are they standing by them? How did they see the oppressor, and how did they see the oppressed? I don’t understand how. I don’t know how to comprehend this in my head, this mass genocide, the massacre of children, women, elderly, and making us live in tents and crisis that have no end. And now they are doing the same to Lebanon. But the war will not end unless it ends in Lebanon. If it ends in Lebanon, it will end in Gaza.”
Israel Dumps Truck with 88 Unidentified Palestinian Bodies in Gaza
Sep 26, 2024
In Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry refused to receive an Israeli truck filled with the unidentified remains of 88 Palestinians killed by Israel. A distraught mother searching for her missing son went to meet the truck.
Umm Tamer Yassin: “I got a call telling me there are dead bodies coming from Israel. I came running to see if my son is fine or dead. I want to know if he is among the dead bodies. … Look! These are dead bodies being thrown. They throw it to the people, left them to the streets, and their families cannot identify their bodies. Here is the truck. The bodies are inside. We cannot see them.”
Journalist Mujahed al-Saadi Arrested Amid Unprecedented Israeli Assault on West Bank Reporters
Sep 26, 2024
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports an unprecedented number of journalists and media workers have been arrested by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank over the past year. CPJ has documented a total of 54 such arrests since October 7; 36 remain jailed, including 14 held without charges under Israel’s “administrative detention” policy. Among them is Palestinian journalist Mujahed al-Saadi, who was beaten along with his wife by Israeli soldiers during a violent raid on their home in the early hours of September 19. He has since had no contact with his lawyer or family.
“It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive” Wins Emmy for Outstanding Hard News Feature
Sep 26, 2024
Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda has won a News and Documentary Emmy for her AJ+ report “It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive.” A group of Hollywood celebrities and pro-Israel groups unsuccessfully attempted to disqualify Owda’s widely acclaimed report, which chronicles her family’s forced evacuation of their home in Beit Hanoun after Israel launched its assault on Gaza.
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“Hell Is Breaking Loose in Lebanon”: Israel Rejects Ceasefire Proposal as U.N. Chief Calls for Peace
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 26, 2024
Israel is continuing its bombardment of Lebanon and preparing for a possible ground invasion of the country, with the Netanyahu government rejecting a proposed 21-day ceasefire put forward by the United States, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. About 500,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced, and the Health Ministry reports at least 72 people were killed and nearly 400 wounded in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to over 620 in recent days. “There is a lot of suffering. There is a lot of hardship right now,” says Beirut-based journalist Lara Bitar, who details how Israel has repeatedly attacked and invaded Lebanese territory going back decades. “The source of this pain can be pinpointed to the presence of the Israeli settler state in our region that continues to wreak havoc in Palestine, in Lebanon and across most of the world.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: We turn now to Lebanon, where some 500,000 people have been displaced by Israel’s bombardment. The Lebanese Health Ministry reports at least 72 people were killed and nearly 400 wounded in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to over 620 in recent days. Earlier today, Israel rejected a proposed 21-day ceasefire that had been called for by the United States, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Israel has called up two brigades to the Lebanese border in a sign that a ground invasion could be imminent. U.N. Secretary-General António Gutteres called for peace on Wednesday.
SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES: Hell is breaking loose in Lebanon. … An all-out war must be avoided at all costs. It would surely be an all-out catastrophe. The people of Lebanon, as well as the people of Israel and the people of the world, cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.
AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Beirut, where we’re joined by Lara Bitar, editor-in-chief of The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization.
Lara, if you can talk about what’s happening on the ground in Beirut? And here we are in New York right next to the United Nations. You have this international call for a ceasefire, but apparently the Netanyahu government of Israel is saying no, the Israeli general in charge of the IDF forces rallying troops, saying he’s preparing them for a ground invasion of Lebanon.
LARA BITAR: Good morning.
Here in Beirut, nobody really has any hope in these processes in the United Nations, in the words of the Biden administration or in the words also of the Netanyahu government.
I wanted to share with you some things that were relayed to me by one of our journalists who is now working in the south. He is going around to different schools that are hosting people who have been displaced from their homes but remain in southern Lebanon. So, first, he relayed to me that people are very, very tired. They’re unable to sleep for longer than a few minutes at a time because of the relentless bombardment by Israel. And he said that the shelters are full with elderly people, who have lived through so many massacres and witnessed so much horror inflicted by the Israeli settler colony. And he shared the story of one woman in particular. He said that she was in her eighties. She was wearing her house key as a pendant. And she told him that this is nothing in comparison to what they have lived through over the past few decades. And she mentioned the 1982 Israeli invasion of Beirut, the first Qana massacre in 1996, the second Qana massacre in 2006, and so on and so forth.
And the one thing that I want to relay here is that for a lot of these people who have been displaced from their homes, whose homes have been destroyed, their attachment to their land only grows stronger. And this is a prevailing sentiment among those who have been displaced. And this is not uncommon for Lebanon.
So, if you will just allow me 30 seconds or so, I would like to read a brief passage that I came across yesterday, written by Mahdi Amel, who was a Marxist intellectual. And he wrote this a few months after the 1982 invasion of Beirut. And he writes, “They said that the war in Lebanon would be swift and that in a few days those who have not knelt and who understand only the language of force would kneel. They declared that there would be no salaam, but shalom, and that Israel is the Rome of our modern times. To the kings of Israel, to the scum of our nation and our foul Arab regimes, to the petty fascists and to their imperialist masters, we say: It pleases us to spit in your faces. We will fight you even with our nails. Our fists are the compass of history. And the bullet of our freedom will pierce your hearts. To them, we say, brick by brick, we build a world on your graves. You are the dustbin of history, and Beirut is the city of the free. We have vowed that we will resist you.”
And this is not to say that everyone in Lebanon shares this sentiment, and definitely not the over 200,000, up to half a million people who have been displaced from their homes over the past few weeks, because there is a lot of suffering. There is a lot of hardship right now. People are struggling to find housing, shelter, food, diapers, milk. Hospitals are at capacity. People are really exhausted and suffering across the board. But for the most part, this pain can be pinpointed — the source of this pain can be pinpointed to the presence of the Israeli settler state in our region that continues to wreak havoc in Palestine, in Lebanon and across most of the world.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, Lara Bitar, you talked about this quotation that you read from 1982, when Israel invaded in 1982, and you’ve said that you don’t have much faith in a ceasefire. So, if you could provide some context to a possible imminent invasion, Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Talk about what happened in not just 1982, but also in 1978 and 2006.
LARA BITAR: I think we have to take very, very seriously every genocidal intent that is now being uttered by different government and military officials in Israel. Lebanon has a long history of invasions and occupation and terror by the Israeli state. And we can go even further back, to ’47, ’48. Lebanon [sic] seized over a dozen Lebanese towns and villages in ’78. There was also an invasion in ’82. The ’82 invasion lasted until the liberation in May 2000. There was also an attempted ground operation in 2006. And in terms of the 2006 attempted ground invasion into Lebanon, soldiers who returned home recounted how traumatizing it was for them, how they felt that they were fighting with ghosts. They could not see the fighters on the other side.
So, I think it’s important to note that coming into Lebanon is deeply traumatizing and frightening experience for the Israeli soldiers, who are accustomed to throwing bombs from the safety of the airspace. But on-the-ground battle, on-the-ground confrontation with real fighters who are fighting for their land, for their country, for their people, they don’t stand much of a chance.
And to the point of pushing for a ceasefire or for a truce or for the Biden administration having any kind of redline, we saw exactly what happened in Gaza over the past 11 months. The Biden administration was repeatedly saying that Rafah was a redline, that a ground invasion into Gaza was a redline. But the Israeli state, there were absolutely no repercussions, no ramifications for any of the actions that the Israeli state was doing. And this is what compelled it to continue to escalate, to continue to escalate its massacres, its terror of the Palestinian people in Gaza, who to this day continue to endure daily massacres that are not being reported on as much as they were at the beginning of the war.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Lara Bitar, so, if you could tell us a little bit more about how you think Hezbollah might respond to a possible invasion? And also explain Resolution — U.N. Resolution 1701, because the U.N. secretary-general, speaking Wednesday, he warned that Lebanon is at the brink, calling for an urgent ceasefire, but he also called for the implementation of U.N. Resolutions 1559 and 1701.
LARA BITAR: I can’t really predict how Hezbollah will respond, but what we know is that, so far, Hezbollah has continuously tried to deescalate. Hezbollah is not targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure. They have consistently aimed their weapons at military infrastructure and sites and soldiers, even after the pager attack, the walkie-talkie attack, repeated campaigns on Dahieh. Just a few minutes ago, before I joined you, Dahieh was yet again bombarded by the Israelis. I think this is the eighth attack on the Lebanese capital. Despite all of this escalation from the Israeli side, Hezbollah remains restraint, continues to try to deescalate. And the only ask here, which is not a really unreasonable ask, is for Israel to immediately end its war on the Palestinian people of Gaza after 11 months.
As far as U.N. resolutions, for the most part, they’re not legally binding. For the most part, they’re not respected. The 1701 Resolution, that was adopted after the 2006 war, is habitually, if not daily, violated by the Israelis in a variety of different ways. That’s why the majority of the Lebanese population is not holding its breath waiting for a U.N. resolution or for the Security Council or even for the international community. I think not just the people in Lebanon, but people around the world have completely lost faith in the so-called international order, the rule of law.
So, right now we can only expect things to get significantly worse. So long as the international community does not take any action to halt the insanity and the barbarism of the Israeli state, so long as the Western world continues to supply the Israelis with weapons, with support, with diplomatic cover, we have very little chance of seeing an end to this campaign anytime soon.
But on the other hand, what people can do, people anywhere can boycott Israel, can put pressure on their institutions, on their universities, on the corporations in which they work, and to divest from Israel. The only chance that we have is for the world and for comrades around the world to put this kind of pressure on their governments and on their institutions to isolate Israel, because Israel will only stop this campaign and this war around the region if it becomes too costly for it. And right now it’s not paying any kind of price for its actions.
AMY GOODMAN: As we wrap up, Lara Bitar, there is a protest that is approaching the United Nations now, especially people protesting what’s happening in Gaza. You have Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who delayed his trip by a day. He was supposed to address the U.N. General Assembly today; he’s going to do it tomorrow. What do you expect him to say? And in the U.S. media, on television, they’re saying that Blinken has been desperately, you know, rallying countries on the sidelines to get this 21-day ceasefire that the U.S., France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are now calling for. But you have The Guardian reporting that, in fact, an effort by France and Britain to secure a joint statement by the U.N. Security Council calling for a ceasefire has stalled in the face of U.S. objections. Your final thoughts, Lara?
LARA BITAR: At the risk of repeating myself, I don’t see —or, we, for the most part, don’t really believe anything that’s coming out of the Biden administration, neither its White House spokespeople or Blinken and others who are representing the U.S. And again, we have seen these maneuvers and this manipulation of public opinion, manipulation of the press for 11 months. They are not serious about a ceasefire, neither in Gaza nor in Lebanon, regardless of what they’re saying, regardless of what narrative they’re trying to sell us. We’re simply not buying it.
AMY GOODMAN: Lara Bitar, I want to thank you for being with us, editor-in-chief of The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization, speaking to us from Lebanon.
Next up, Israel deliberately blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza, two government bodies concluded. Antony Blinken rejected them. We’ll speak to the reporter who exposed this story in ProPublica. Stay with us.
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U.S. Gov’t Agencies Found Israel Was Blocking Gaza Aid. Blinken Ignored Them to Keep Weapons Flowing
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 26, 2024
We speak with Brett Murphy, the ProPublica reporterbehind a blockbuster exposé that revealed the Biden administration ignored warnings from its own experts about Israel blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza in order to keep supplying the country with weapons. USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the State Department’s refugees bureau both concluded earlier this year that Israeli authorities routinely impeded delivery of food and medicine into the devastated Palestinian territory, where hunger, disease and displacement have wreaked havoc on the civilian population. Although U.S. law requires the government to stop arms shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed aid, Secretary of State Antony Blinken ignored the findings and told Congress Israel was not restricting humanitarian assistance — helping to keep weapons flowing to the Israeli military to continue its assault on Gaza.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: ProPublica has revealed USAID and the State Department’s refugees bureau both concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top Biden officials rejected the findings of the agencies even though they’re considered the two foremost U.S. authorities on humanitarian assistance. Blinken’s decision allowed the U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel. Under U.S. law, the government is required to cut off weapons shipments to countries preventing the delivery of U.S.-backed aid. Days after receiving the reports, Blinken told Congress, quote, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.”
On Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, called for Blinken’s resignation, accusing him of lying to Congress. [Blinken] was asked about the ProPublica report Wednesday on CBS. This was his response.
SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: So, this is actually pretty, pretty typical. We had a report to put out on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and what Israel was doing to try to make sure that people got the assistance they needed. And I had different assessments from different parts of the State Department, from other agencies that were involved, like USAID. My job is to sort through them, which I did, draw some conclusions from that. And we put our report, and we found that Israel needed to do a better job on the humanitarian assistance. We’ve seen improvements since then. It’s still not sufficient.
AMY GOODMAN: Of course, that was U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
We’re joined now by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Brett Murphy, a reporter at ProPublica, where his new piece is headlined “Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them.”
Can you respond to Blinken’s response to your report, Brett?
BRETT MURPHY: Yeah. So, he said, basically, it was his decision to make. He was getting a lot of information, and he ultimately decided that it was not the assessment of the State Department that the Israelis were deliberately blocking aid.
What he didn’t mention and what’s really important to note here is that the two agencies that had told him that they were in fact deliberately blocking aid, one being USAID, are the foremost experts in this, as you said. They are the ones responsible for delivering humanitarian assistance into Gaza, into war zones all over the world. In addition to that, his own refugees bureau had made a similar conclusion called that a law called the Foreign Assistance Act should have been triggered because the Israelis were restricting aid.
The other assessments he was receiving were nowhere near as detailed as what he received from USAID. They sent a 17-page memo with detailed evidence describing exactly what they knew to be the truth on the ground, and he ultimately rejected those findings in what he told Congress.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, if you could elaborate, Brett, also on what U.S. obligations are under the Foreign Assistance Act?
BRETT MURPHY: Sure, yeah. So, it’s this law that has not been used very much systematically, but it basically says a foreign partner or ally that is receiving military assistance from the U.S. cannot at the same time be blocking U.S.-backed humanitarian assistance into a war zone. If it is the conclusion of the U.S. government that that is happening, the U.S. government is then required to cut off the military assistance. That’s what the law says.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Is there any other context in which this has occurred, that the U.S. has denied that a country is preventing U.S. aid from getting in in a conflict zone?
BRETT MURPHY: The last time it came up was in Turkey and Armenia. That was kind of the original context of the law itself. But, like I was saying, we have never truly been applying this in a systematic way. So, this has really been an obscure provision in the Foreign Assistance Act, but this year lawmakers, activist groups have been calling for the Biden administration to be using this exact provision.
AMY GOODMAN: We interviewed two people: Stacy Gilbert, the former senior adviser in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration — she resigned over this after 20 years in service — and Alex Smith, a former contractor for USAID, who was forced to resign over the Biden administration’s support for the war on Gaza. Talk about the significance of what they did, and Antony Blinken understanding full well what they understood and why they left.
BRETT MURPHY: Stacy Gilbert worked on the report that Secretary Blinken ultimately delivered to Congress. She was working on the drafts of that report. She was in the refugees bureau. She had a very clear understanding of what was going on. And what she ultimately said, when she resigned, when she saw the final version of what he had told Congress, she said, “We know this not to be true. We, the experts inside of the government, know that the truth on the ground is that the Israelis have been blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza.” This is what she said, and this is what she resigned over. And she said in her resignation letter that this report, what he told Congress, “is going to haunt us.”
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And can you explain: How detailed was that USAID memo that Blinken saw?
BRETT MURPHY: It was extremely detailed. It’s 17 pages of evidence that they were bringing to bear. The example that stuck out to me the most was on food, food shipments that were being held up just 30 miles outside of Gaza. There was enough flour, USAID said, to feed 1.5 million Palestinians for at least five months. But at the time — this was in the February to March timeframe — Israelis were not allowing flour into Gaza, because they said it was going to the U.N.’s branch there that had been accused of having ties to Hamas, so they were not allowing the flour in.
And this is what — this is the kind of thing that was really bothering USAID and frustrating their efforts. They couldn’t get food in. They couldn’t get medicine in, other supplies. A lot of their trucks, from, like, the Red Crescent, other humanitarian groups, were being turned around because of items in there the Israelis were not allowing in. Aid workers had been killed. Their convoys had been targeted. These were all the types of examples that USAID was telling Secretary Blinken.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And basically, there’s no recourse now, right, because it’s done? Or is there anything that the U.S., the Biden administration could now do differently?
BRETT MURPHY: Yeah, the law is not — it was not just a one-time shot. And this is what the U.S. government said, too, in response. They said, “We’re currently — we’re always assessing the situation.” They said that they believed that the situation was improving since after they applied leverage with this. The folks I talked to, both inside the government and in the humanitarian world, said that’s not true at all. The situation is as bad as it’s ever been, including since the Rafah incursion. But this law does not only have — you know, whenever Blinken addresses Congress to it; it can be applied at any point.
AMY GOODMAN: That they could cut off, that the U.S. government could cut off aid to — military arms to Israel.
BRETT MURPHY: Absolutely. If it assesses that the Israelis are deliberately blocking humanitarian assistance at any point, they can apply this law. That’s right.
AMY GOODMAN: Brett Murphy, we want to thank you for being with us, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for ProPublica. We’ll link to your new article, “Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them.”
And this update from the streets of New York: Twenty-five protesters have been arrested outside the United Nations ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s arrival to address the U.N. on Friday. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 26, 2024
Israel Rejects Ceasefire Calls, Prepares for Possible Ground Invasion as Lebanon Death Toll Tops 620
Sep 26, 2024
Israel has rejected a possible ceasefire as it continues its assault on Lebanon. The U.S., France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia had called for a 21-day ceasefire as the death toll in Lebanon topped 620 people, at least 72 of those killed on Wednesday. Despite resounding international warnings against escalating attacks, Israel is doubling down, with its military chief Herzi Halevi telling troops Wednesday, “You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
Half a million people in Lebanon are now believed to be displaced. Hospitals are overrun with victims of Israeli attacks. This is Dr. Adel Raee, director of the Raee Hospital in Sidon.
Dr. Adel Raee: “Since Monday until today, we have received 136 wounded, including 36 martyrs. Among those 36 martyrs, 18 were torn to pieces. There are still bodies in the morgue that require DNA testing for identification.”
We’ll go to Lebanon for the latest later in the broadcast.
“Israel Is Violating Our Sovereignty”: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Pleads with UNSC to Do Its Job
Sep 26, 2024
Here in New York, Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati pleaded with the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to intervene to stop Israel’s bombardment during an emergency session. Mikati said, “Israel is violating our sovereignty by sending their warplanes and drones to our skies.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke from the sidelines of the Security Council meeting Wednesday.
Abbas Araghchi: “The Security Council must act now to halt Israel’s war and enforce an immediate ceasefire, and by that, to save innocent lives. If not, the region risks full-scale conflict, and history will hold Israel’s enablers, especially the United States, responsible. … Iran will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon. We stand with the people of Lebanon with all means.”
This comes as a new Oxfam report is calling for urgent reform of the “colonial and archaic” Security Council. Oxfam says the UNSC’s five permanent members — the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. and France — are “failing people living in conflict” as they consistently abuse their veto power in their own interests, blocking opportunities for peace around the world.
One Year into Genocide, Palestinians in Gaza Warn Israel Is Poised to Subject Lebanon to Same Fate
Sep 26, 2024
In Gaza, displaced Palestinians are expressing solidarity with Lebanese people under Israeli attack.
Umm Muhammad Abu Shaqfa: “What is happening to us in Gaza is happening to Lebanon now. I have been displaced from the north for the last five months. And the world is quiet and is still standing by Israel. How is it the world is standing by it? In what viewpoint are they standing by them? How did they see the oppressor, and how did they see the oppressed? I don’t understand how. I don’t know how to comprehend this in my head, this mass genocide, the massacre of children, women, elderly, and making us live in tents and crisis that have no end. And now they are doing the same to Lebanon. But the war will not end unless it ends in Lebanon. If it ends in Lebanon, it will end in Gaza.”
Israel Dumps Truck with 88 Unidentified Palestinian Bodies in Gaza
Sep 26, 2024
In Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry refused to receive an Israeli truck filled with the unidentified remains of 88 Palestinians killed by Israel. A distraught mother searching for her missing son went to meet the truck.
Umm Tamer Yassin: “I got a call telling me there are dead bodies coming from Israel. I came running to see if my son is fine or dead. I want to know if he is among the dead bodies. … Look! These are dead bodies being thrown. They throw it to the people, left them to the streets, and their families cannot identify their bodies. Here is the truck. The bodies are inside. We cannot see them.”
Journalist Mujahed al-Saadi Arrested Amid Unprecedented Israeli Assault on West Bank Reporters
Sep 26, 2024
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports an unprecedented number of journalists and media workers have been arrested by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank over the past year. CPJ has documented a total of 54 such arrests since October 7; 36 remain jailed, including 14 held without charges under Israel’s “administrative detention” policy. Among them is Palestinian journalist Mujahed al-Saadi, who was beaten along with his wife by Israeli soldiers during a violent raid on their home in the early hours of September 19. He has since had no contact with his lawyer or family.
“It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive” Wins Emmy for Outstanding Hard News Feature
Sep 26, 2024
Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda has won a News and Documentary Emmy for her AJ+ report “It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive.” A group of Hollywood celebrities and pro-Israel groups unsuccessfully attempted to disqualify Owda’s widely acclaimed report, which chronicles her family’s forced evacuation of their home in Beit Hanoun after Israel launched its assault on Gaza.
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“Hell Is Breaking Loose in Lebanon”: Israel Rejects Ceasefire Proposal as U.N. Chief Calls for Peace
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 26, 2024
Israel is continuing its bombardment of Lebanon and preparing for a possible ground invasion of the country, with the Netanyahu government rejecting a proposed 21-day ceasefire put forward by the United States, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. About 500,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced, and the Health Ministry reports at least 72 people were killed and nearly 400 wounded in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to over 620 in recent days. “There is a lot of suffering. There is a lot of hardship right now,” says Beirut-based journalist Lara Bitar, who details how Israel has repeatedly attacked and invaded Lebanese territory going back decades. “The source of this pain can be pinpointed to the presence of the Israeli settler state in our region that continues to wreak havoc in Palestine, in Lebanon and across most of the world.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: We turn now to Lebanon, where some 500,000 people have been displaced by Israel’s bombardment. The Lebanese Health Ministry reports at least 72 people were killed and nearly 400 wounded in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to over 620 in recent days. Earlier today, Israel rejected a proposed 21-day ceasefire that had been called for by the United States, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Israel has called up two brigades to the Lebanese border in a sign that a ground invasion could be imminent. U.N. Secretary-General António Gutteres called for peace on Wednesday.
SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES: Hell is breaking loose in Lebanon. … An all-out war must be avoided at all costs. It would surely be an all-out catastrophe. The people of Lebanon, as well as the people of Israel and the people of the world, cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.
AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Beirut, where we’re joined by Lara Bitar, editor-in-chief of The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization.
Lara, if you can talk about what’s happening on the ground in Beirut? And here we are in New York right next to the United Nations. You have this international call for a ceasefire, but apparently the Netanyahu government of Israel is saying no, the Israeli general in charge of the IDF forces rallying troops, saying he’s preparing them for a ground invasion of Lebanon.
LARA BITAR: Good morning.
Here in Beirut, nobody really has any hope in these processes in the United Nations, in the words of the Biden administration or in the words also of the Netanyahu government.
I wanted to share with you some things that were relayed to me by one of our journalists who is now working in the south. He is going around to different schools that are hosting people who have been displaced from their homes but remain in southern Lebanon. So, first, he relayed to me that people are very, very tired. They’re unable to sleep for longer than a few minutes at a time because of the relentless bombardment by Israel. And he said that the shelters are full with elderly people, who have lived through so many massacres and witnessed so much horror inflicted by the Israeli settler colony. And he shared the story of one woman in particular. He said that she was in her eighties. She was wearing her house key as a pendant. And she told him that this is nothing in comparison to what they have lived through over the past few decades. And she mentioned the 1982 Israeli invasion of Beirut, the first Qana massacre in 1996, the second Qana massacre in 2006, and so on and so forth.
And the one thing that I want to relay here is that for a lot of these people who have been displaced from their homes, whose homes have been destroyed, their attachment to their land only grows stronger. And this is a prevailing sentiment among those who have been displaced. And this is not uncommon for Lebanon.
So, if you will just allow me 30 seconds or so, I would like to read a brief passage that I came across yesterday, written by Mahdi Amel, who was a Marxist intellectual. And he wrote this a few months after the 1982 invasion of Beirut. And he writes, “They said that the war in Lebanon would be swift and that in a few days those who have not knelt and who understand only the language of force would kneel. They declared that there would be no salaam, but shalom, and that Israel is the Rome of our modern times. To the kings of Israel, to the scum of our nation and our foul Arab regimes, to the petty fascists and to their imperialist masters, we say: It pleases us to spit in your faces. We will fight you even with our nails. Our fists are the compass of history. And the bullet of our freedom will pierce your hearts. To them, we say, brick by brick, we build a world on your graves. You are the dustbin of history, and Beirut is the city of the free. We have vowed that we will resist you.”
And this is not to say that everyone in Lebanon shares this sentiment, and definitely not the over 200,000, up to half a million people who have been displaced from their homes over the past few weeks, because there is a lot of suffering. There is a lot of hardship right now. People are struggling to find housing, shelter, food, diapers, milk. Hospitals are at capacity. People are really exhausted and suffering across the board. But for the most part, this pain can be pinpointed — the source of this pain can be pinpointed to the presence of the Israeli settler state in our region that continues to wreak havoc in Palestine, in Lebanon and across most of the world.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, Lara Bitar, you talked about this quotation that you read from 1982, when Israel invaded in 1982, and you’ve said that you don’t have much faith in a ceasefire. So, if you could provide some context to a possible imminent invasion, Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Talk about what happened in not just 1982, but also in 1978 and 2006.
LARA BITAR: I think we have to take very, very seriously every genocidal intent that is now being uttered by different government and military officials in Israel. Lebanon has a long history of invasions and occupation and terror by the Israeli state. And we can go even further back, to ’47, ’48. Lebanon [sic] seized over a dozen Lebanese towns and villages in ’78. There was also an invasion in ’82. The ’82 invasion lasted until the liberation in May 2000. There was also an attempted ground operation in 2006. And in terms of the 2006 attempted ground invasion into Lebanon, soldiers who returned home recounted how traumatizing it was for them, how they felt that they were fighting with ghosts. They could not see the fighters on the other side.
So, I think it’s important to note that coming into Lebanon is deeply traumatizing and frightening experience for the Israeli soldiers, who are accustomed to throwing bombs from the safety of the airspace. But on-the-ground battle, on-the-ground confrontation with real fighters who are fighting for their land, for their country, for their people, they don’t stand much of a chance.
And to the point of pushing for a ceasefire or for a truce or for the Biden administration having any kind of redline, we saw exactly what happened in Gaza over the past 11 months. The Biden administration was repeatedly saying that Rafah was a redline, that a ground invasion into Gaza was a redline. But the Israeli state, there were absolutely no repercussions, no ramifications for any of the actions that the Israeli state was doing. And this is what compelled it to continue to escalate, to continue to escalate its massacres, its terror of the Palestinian people in Gaza, who to this day continue to endure daily massacres that are not being reported on as much as they were at the beginning of the war.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Lara Bitar, so, if you could tell us a little bit more about how you think Hezbollah might respond to a possible invasion? And also explain Resolution — U.N. Resolution 1701, because the U.N. secretary-general, speaking Wednesday, he warned that Lebanon is at the brink, calling for an urgent ceasefire, but he also called for the implementation of U.N. Resolutions 1559 and 1701.
LARA BITAR: I can’t really predict how Hezbollah will respond, but what we know is that, so far, Hezbollah has continuously tried to deescalate. Hezbollah is not targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure. They have consistently aimed their weapons at military infrastructure and sites and soldiers, even after the pager attack, the walkie-talkie attack, repeated campaigns on Dahieh. Just a few minutes ago, before I joined you, Dahieh was yet again bombarded by the Israelis. I think this is the eighth attack on the Lebanese capital. Despite all of this escalation from the Israeli side, Hezbollah remains restraint, continues to try to deescalate. And the only ask here, which is not a really unreasonable ask, is for Israel to immediately end its war on the Palestinian people of Gaza after 11 months.
As far as U.N. resolutions, for the most part, they’re not legally binding. For the most part, they’re not respected. The 1701 Resolution, that was adopted after the 2006 war, is habitually, if not daily, violated by the Israelis in a variety of different ways. That’s why the majority of the Lebanese population is not holding its breath waiting for a U.N. resolution or for the Security Council or even for the international community. I think not just the people in Lebanon, but people around the world have completely lost faith in the so-called international order, the rule of law.
So, right now we can only expect things to get significantly worse. So long as the international community does not take any action to halt the insanity and the barbarism of the Israeli state, so long as the Western world continues to supply the Israelis with weapons, with support, with diplomatic cover, we have very little chance of seeing an end to this campaign anytime soon.
But on the other hand, what people can do, people anywhere can boycott Israel, can put pressure on their institutions, on their universities, on the corporations in which they work, and to divest from Israel. The only chance that we have is for the world and for comrades around the world to put this kind of pressure on their governments and on their institutions to isolate Israel, because Israel will only stop this campaign and this war around the region if it becomes too costly for it. And right now it’s not paying any kind of price for its actions.
AMY GOODMAN: As we wrap up, Lara Bitar, there is a protest that is approaching the United Nations now, especially people protesting what’s happening in Gaza. You have Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who delayed his trip by a day. He was supposed to address the U.N. General Assembly today; he’s going to do it tomorrow. What do you expect him to say? And in the U.S. media, on television, they’re saying that Blinken has been desperately, you know, rallying countries on the sidelines to get this 21-day ceasefire that the U.S., France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are now calling for. But you have The Guardian reporting that, in fact, an effort by France and Britain to secure a joint statement by the U.N. Security Council calling for a ceasefire has stalled in the face of U.S. objections. Your final thoughts, Lara?
LARA BITAR: At the risk of repeating myself, I don’t see —or, we, for the most part, don’t really believe anything that’s coming out of the Biden administration, neither its White House spokespeople or Blinken and others who are representing the U.S. And again, we have seen these maneuvers and this manipulation of public opinion, manipulation of the press for 11 months. They are not serious about a ceasefire, neither in Gaza nor in Lebanon, regardless of what they’re saying, regardless of what narrative they’re trying to sell us. We’re simply not buying it.
AMY GOODMAN: Lara Bitar, I want to thank you for being with us, editor-in-chief of The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization, speaking to us from Lebanon.
Next up, Israel deliberately blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza, two government bodies concluded. Antony Blinken rejected them. We’ll speak to the reporter who exposed this story in ProPublica. Stay with us.
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U.S. Gov’t Agencies Found Israel Was Blocking Gaza Aid. Blinken Ignored Them to Keep Weapons Flowing
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 26, 2024
We speak with Brett Murphy, the ProPublica reporterbehind a blockbuster exposé that revealed the Biden administration ignored warnings from its own experts about Israel blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza in order to keep supplying the country with weapons. USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the State Department’s refugees bureau both concluded earlier this year that Israeli authorities routinely impeded delivery of food and medicine into the devastated Palestinian territory, where hunger, disease and displacement have wreaked havoc on the civilian population. Although U.S. law requires the government to stop arms shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed aid, Secretary of State Antony Blinken ignored the findings and told Congress Israel was not restricting humanitarian assistance — helping to keep weapons flowing to the Israeli military to continue its assault on Gaza.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: ProPublica has revealed USAID and the State Department’s refugees bureau both concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top Biden officials rejected the findings of the agencies even though they’re considered the two foremost U.S. authorities on humanitarian assistance. Blinken’s decision allowed the U.S. to keep sending arms to Israel. Under U.S. law, the government is required to cut off weapons shipments to countries preventing the delivery of U.S.-backed aid. Days after receiving the reports, Blinken told Congress, quote, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.”
On Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, called for Blinken’s resignation, accusing him of lying to Congress. [Blinken] was asked about the ProPublica report Wednesday on CBS. This was his response.
SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: So, this is actually pretty, pretty typical. We had a report to put out on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and what Israel was doing to try to make sure that people got the assistance they needed. And I had different assessments from different parts of the State Department, from other agencies that were involved, like USAID. My job is to sort through them, which I did, draw some conclusions from that. And we put our report, and we found that Israel needed to do a better job on the humanitarian assistance. We’ve seen improvements since then. It’s still not sufficient.
AMY GOODMAN: Of course, that was U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
We’re joined now by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Brett Murphy, a reporter at ProPublica, where his new piece is headlined “Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them.”
Can you respond to Blinken’s response to your report, Brett?
BRETT MURPHY: Yeah. So, he said, basically, it was his decision to make. He was getting a lot of information, and he ultimately decided that it was not the assessment of the State Department that the Israelis were deliberately blocking aid.
What he didn’t mention and what’s really important to note here is that the two agencies that had told him that they were in fact deliberately blocking aid, one being USAID, are the foremost experts in this, as you said. They are the ones responsible for delivering humanitarian assistance into Gaza, into war zones all over the world. In addition to that, his own refugees bureau had made a similar conclusion called that a law called the Foreign Assistance Act should have been triggered because the Israelis were restricting aid.
The other assessments he was receiving were nowhere near as detailed as what he received from USAID. They sent a 17-page memo with detailed evidence describing exactly what they knew to be the truth on the ground, and he ultimately rejected those findings in what he told Congress.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, if you could elaborate, Brett, also on what U.S. obligations are under the Foreign Assistance Act?
BRETT MURPHY: Sure, yeah. So, it’s this law that has not been used very much systematically, but it basically says a foreign partner or ally that is receiving military assistance from the U.S. cannot at the same time be blocking U.S.-backed humanitarian assistance into a war zone. If it is the conclusion of the U.S. government that that is happening, the U.S. government is then required to cut off the military assistance. That’s what the law says.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Is there any other context in which this has occurred, that the U.S. has denied that a country is preventing U.S. aid from getting in in a conflict zone?
BRETT MURPHY: The last time it came up was in Turkey and Armenia. That was kind of the original context of the law itself. But, like I was saying, we have never truly been applying this in a systematic way. So, this has really been an obscure provision in the Foreign Assistance Act, but this year lawmakers, activist groups have been calling for the Biden administration to be using this exact provision.
AMY GOODMAN: We interviewed two people: Stacy Gilbert, the former senior adviser in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration — she resigned over this after 20 years in service — and Alex Smith, a former contractor for USAID, who was forced to resign over the Biden administration’s support for the war on Gaza. Talk about the significance of what they did, and Antony Blinken understanding full well what they understood and why they left.
BRETT MURPHY: Stacy Gilbert worked on the report that Secretary Blinken ultimately delivered to Congress. She was working on the drafts of that report. She was in the refugees bureau. She had a very clear understanding of what was going on. And what she ultimately said, when she resigned, when she saw the final version of what he had told Congress, she said, “We know this not to be true. We, the experts inside of the government, know that the truth on the ground is that the Israelis have been blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza.” This is what she said, and this is what she resigned over. And she said in her resignation letter that this report, what he told Congress, “is going to haunt us.”
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And can you explain: How detailed was that USAID memo that Blinken saw?
BRETT MURPHY: It was extremely detailed. It’s 17 pages of evidence that they were bringing to bear. The example that stuck out to me the most was on food, food shipments that were being held up just 30 miles outside of Gaza. There was enough flour, USAID said, to feed 1.5 million Palestinians for at least five months. But at the time — this was in the February to March timeframe — Israelis were not allowing flour into Gaza, because they said it was going to the U.N.’s branch there that had been accused of having ties to Hamas, so they were not allowing the flour in.
And this is what — this is the kind of thing that was really bothering USAID and frustrating their efforts. They couldn’t get food in. They couldn’t get medicine in, other supplies. A lot of their trucks, from, like, the Red Crescent, other humanitarian groups, were being turned around because of items in there the Israelis were not allowing in. Aid workers had been killed. Their convoys had been targeted. These were all the types of examples that USAID was telling Secretary Blinken.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And basically, there’s no recourse now, right, because it’s done? Or is there anything that the U.S., the Biden administration could now do differently?
BRETT MURPHY: Yeah, the law is not — it was not just a one-time shot. And this is what the U.S. government said, too, in response. They said, “We’re currently — we’re always assessing the situation.” They said that they believed that the situation was improving since after they applied leverage with this. The folks I talked to, both inside the government and in the humanitarian world, said that’s not true at all. The situation is as bad as it’s ever been, including since the Rafah incursion. But this law does not only have — you know, whenever Blinken addresses Congress to it; it can be applied at any point.
AMY GOODMAN: That they could cut off, that the U.S. government could cut off aid to — military arms to Israel.
BRETT MURPHY: Absolutely. If it assesses that the Israelis are deliberately blocking humanitarian assistance at any point, they can apply this law. That’s right.
AMY GOODMAN: Brett Murphy, we want to thank you for being with us, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for ProPublica. We’ll link to your new article, “Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them.”
And this update from the streets of New York: Twenty-five protesters have been arrested outside the United Nations ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s arrival to address the U.N. on Friday. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.
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Re: U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
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Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them. Blinken told Congress, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting” aid, even though the U.S. Agency for International Development and others had determined that Israel had broken the law.
by Brett Murphy
Propublica
Sept. 24, 5 a.m. EDT
https://www.propublica.org/article/gaza ... id-blinken
The U.S. government’s two foremost authorities on humanitarian assistance concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza.
The U.S. Agency for International Development delivered its assessment to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the State Department’s refugees bureau made its stance known to top diplomats in late April. Their conclusion was explosive because U.S. law requires the government to cut off weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid. Israel has been largely dependent on American bombs and other weapons in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
But Blinken and the administration of President Joe Biden did not accept either finding. Days later, on May 10, Blinken delivered a carefully worded statement to Congress that said, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.”
Prior to his report, USAID had sent Blinken a detailed 17-page memo on Israel’s conduct. The memo described instances of Israeli interference with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine.
Lifesaving food was stockpiled less than 30 miles across the border in an Israeli port, including enough flour to feed about 1.5 million Palestinians for five months, according to the memo. But in February the Israeli government had prohibited the transfer of flour, saying its recipient was the United Nations’ Palestinian branch that had been accused of having ties with Hamas.
Separately, the head of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration had also determined that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid and that the Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to freeze almost $830 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for weapons and bombs to Israel, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.
The U.N. has declared a famine in parts of Gaza. The world’s leading independent panel of aid experts found that nearly half of the Palestinians in the enclave are struggling with hunger. Many go days without eating. Local authorities say dozens of children have starved to death — likely a significant undercount. Health care workers are battling a lack of immunizations compounded by a sanitation crisis. Last month, a little boy became Gaza’s first confirmed case of polio in 25 years.
The USAID officials wrote that because of Israel’s behavior, the U.S. should pause additional arms sales to the country. ProPublica obtained a copy of the agency’s April memo along with the list of evidence that the officials cited to back up their findings.
USAID, which is led by longtime diplomat Samantha Power, said the looming famine in Gaza was the result of Israel’s “arbitrary denial, restriction, and impediments of U.S. humanitarian assistance,” according to the memo. It also acknowledged Hamas had played a role in the humanitarian crisis. USAID, which receives overall policy guidance from the secretary of state, is an independent agency responsible for international development and disaster relief. The agency had for months tried and failed to deliver enough food and medicine to a starving and desperate Palestinian population.
It is, USAID concluded, “one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world.”
In response to detailed questions for this story, the State Department said that it had pressured the Israelis to increase the flow of aid. “As we made clear in May when [our] report was released, the US had deep concerns during the period since October 7 about action and inaction by Israel that contributed to a lack of sustained delivery of needed humanitarian assistance,” a spokesperson wrote. “Israel subsequently took steps to facilitate increased humanitarian access and aid flow into Gaza.”
Government experts and human rights advocates said while the State Department may have secured a number of important commitments from the Israelis, the level of aid going to Palestinians is as inadequate as when the two determinations were reached. “The implication that the humanitarian situation has markedly improved in Gaza is a farce,” said Scott Paul, an associate director at Oxfam. “The emergence of polio in the last couple months tells you all that you need to know.”
The USAID memo was an indication of a deep rift within the Biden administration on the issue of military aid to Israel. In March, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, sent Blinken a cable arguing that Israel’s war cabinet, which includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, should be trusted to facilitate aid shipments to the Palestinians.
Lew acknowledged that “other parts of the Israeli government have tried to impede the movement of [humanitarian assistance,]” according to a copy of his cable obtained by ProPublica. But he recommended continuing to provide military assistance because he had “assessed that Israel will not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede U.S. provided or supported” shipments of food and medicine.
Lew said Israeli officials regularly cite “overwhelming negative Israeli public opinion against” allowing aid to the Palestinians, “especially when Hamas seizes portions of it and when hostages remain in Gaza.” The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment but has said in the past that it follows the laws of war, unlike Hamas.
In the months leading up to that cable, Lew had been told repeatedly about instances of the Israelis blocking humanitarian assistance, according to four U.S. officials familiar with the embassy operations but, like others quoted in this story, not authorized to speak about them. “No other nation has ever provided so much humanitarian assistance to their enemies,” Lew responded to subordinates at the time, according to two of the officials, who said the comments drew widespread consternation.
“That put people over the edge,” one of the officials told ProPublica. “He’d be a great spokesperson for the Israeli government.”
A second official said Lew had access to the same information as USAID leaders in Washington, in addition to evidence collected by the local State Department diplomats working in Jerusalem. “But his instincts are to defend Israel,” said a third official.
“Ambassador Lew has been at the forefront of the United States’ work to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, as well as diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would secure the release of hostages, alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, and bring an end to the conflict,” the State Department spokesperson wrote.
The question of whether Israel was impeding humanitarian aid has garnered widespread attention. Before Blinken’s statement to Congress, Reuters reported concerns from USAID about the death toll in Gaza, which now stands at about 42,000, and that some officials inside the State Department, including the refugees bureau, had warned him that the Israelis’ assurances were not credible. The existence of USAID’s memo, Lew’s cable and their broad conclusions were also previously reported.
But the full accounting of USAID’s evidence, the determination of the refugees bureau in April and the statements from experts at the embassy — along with Lew’s decision to undermine them — reveal new aspects of the striking split within the Biden administration and how the highest-ranking American diplomats have justified his policy of continuing to flood Israel with arms over the objections of their own experts.
Stacy Gilbert, a former senior civil military adviser in the refugees bureau who had been working on drafts of Blinken’s report to Congress, resigned over the language in the final version. “There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid,” she wrote in a statement shortly after leaving, which The Washington Post and other outlets reported on. “To deny this is absurd and shameful.
“That report and its flagrant untruths will haunt us.”
The State Department’s headquarters in Washington did not always welcome that kind of information from U.S. experts on the ground, according to a person familiar with the embassy operations. That was especially true when experts reported the small number of aid trucks being allowed in.
“A lot of times they would not accept it because it was lower than what the Israelis said,” the person told ProPublica. “The sentiment from Washington was, ‘We want to see the aid increasing because Israel told us it would.’”
[x]
Aid trucks wait in Egypt at the border with Gaza on Sept. 9. Credit AFP/Getty Images
While Israel has its own arms industry, the country relies heavily on American jets, bombs and other weapons in Gaza. Since October, the U.S. has shipped more than 50,000 tons of weaponry, which the Israeli military says has been “crucial for sustaining” the Israel Defense Forces’ “operational capabilities during the ongoing war.”
The U.S. gives the Israeli government about $3.8 billion every year as a baseline and significantly more during wartime — money the Israelis use to buy American-made bombs and equipment. Congress and the executive branch have imposed legal guardrails on how Israel and other partners can use that money.
One of them is the Foreign Assistance Act. The humanitarian aid portion of the law is known as 6201, which dates back to Turkey’s embargo of Armenia during the 1990s. That part of the law has never been widely implemented. But this year, advocacy groups and some Democrats in Congress brought it out of obscurity and called for Biden to use 6201 to pressure the Israelis to allow aid freely into Gaza.
In response, the Biden administration announced a policy called the National Security Memorandum, or NSM-20, to require the State Department to vet Israel’s assurances about whether it was blocking aid and then report its findings to lawmakers. If Blinken determined the Israelis were not facilitating aid and were instead arbitrarily restricting it, then the government would be required by the law to halt military assistance.
Blinken submitted the agency’s official position on May 10, siding with Lew, which meant that the military support would continue.
In a statement that same day, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., criticized the administration for choosing “to disregard the requirements of NSM-20.”
“Whether or not Israel is at this moment complying with international standards with respect to facilitating humanitarian assistance to desperate, starving citizens may be debatable,” Van Hollen said. “What is undeniable — for those who don’t look the other way — is that it has repeatedly violated those standards over the last 7 months.”
As of early March, at least 930 trucks full of food, medicine and other supplies were stuck in Egypt awaiting approval from the Israelis, according to USAID’s memo.
The officials wrote that the Israeli government frequently blocks aid by imposing bureaucratic delays. The Israelis took weeks or months to respond to humanitarian groups that had submitted specific items to be approved for passage past government checkpoints. Israel would then often deny those submissions outright or accept them some days but not others. The Israeli government “doesn’t provide justification, issues blanket rejections, or cites arbitrary factors for the denial of certain items,” the memo said.
Israeli officials told State Department attorneys that the Israeli government has “scaled up its security check capacity and asserted that it imposes no limits on the number of trucks that can be inspected and enter Gaza,” according to a separate memo sent to Blinken and obtained by ProPublica. Those officials blamed most of the holdups on the humanitarian groups for not having enough capacity to get food and medicine in. USAID and State Department experts who work directly with those groups say that is not true.
In separate emails obtained by ProPublica, aid officials identified items in trucks that were banned by the Israelis, including emergency shelter gear, solar lamps, cooking stoves and desalination kits, because they were deemed “dual use,” which means Hamas could co-opt the materials. Some of the trucks that were turned away had also been carrying American-funded items like hygiene kits, the emails show.
In its memo to Blinken, USAID also cited numerous publicly reported incidents in which aid facilities and workers were hit by Israeli airstrikes even sometimes after they had shared their locations with the IDF and received approval, a process known as “deconfliction.” The Israeli government has maintained that most of those incidents were mistakes.
USAID found the Israelis often promised to take adequate measures to prevent such incidents but frequently failed to follow through. On Nov. 18, for instance, a convoy of aid workers was trying to evacuate along a route assigned to them by the IDF. The convoy was denied permission to cross a military checkpoint — despite previous IDF authorization.
Then, while en route back to their facility, the IDF opened fire on the aid workers, killing two of them.
Inside the State Department and ahead of Blinken’s report to Congress, some of the agency’s highest-ranking officials had a separate exchange about whether Israel was blocking humanitarian aid. ProPublica obtained an email thread documenting the episode.
On April 17, a Department of Defense official reached out to Mira Resnick, a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department who has been described as the agency’s driving force behind arms sales to Israel and other partners this year. The official alerted Resnick to the fact that there was about $827 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars sitting in limbo.
Resnick turned to the Counselor of the State Department and said, “We need to be able to move the rest of the” financing so that Israel could pay off bills for past weapons purchases. The financing she referenced came from American tax dollars.
The counselor, one of the highest posts at the agency, agreed with Resnick. “I think we need to move these funds,” he wrote.
But there was a hurdle, according to the agency’s top attorney: All the relevant bureaus inside the State Department would need to sign off on and agree that Israel was not preventing humanitarian aid shipments. “The principal thing we would need to see is that no bureau currently assesses that the restriction in 6201 is triggered,” Richard Visek, the agency’s acting legal adviser, wrote.
The bureaus started to fall in line. The Middle East and human rights divisions agreed and determined the law hadn’t been triggered, “in light of Netanyahu’s commitments and the steps Israel has announced so far,” while noting that they still have “significant concerns about Israeli actions.”
By April 25, all had signed off but one. The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration was the holdout. That was notable because the bureau had among the most firsthand knowledge of the situation after months of working closely with USAID and humanitarian groups to try to get food and medicine to the Palestinians.
“While we agree there have been positive steps on some commitments related to humanitarian assistance, we continue to assess that the facts on the ground indicate U.S. humanitarian assistance is being restricted,” an official in the bureau wrote to the group.
It was a potentially explosive stance to take. One of Resnick’s subordinates in the arms transfer bureau replied and asked for clarification: “Is PRM saying 6201 has been triggered for Israel?”
Yes, replied Julieta Valls Noyes, its assistant secretary, that was indeed the bureau’s view. In her email, she cited a meeting from the previous day between Blinken’s deputy secretary and other top aides in the administration. All the bureaus on the email thread had provided talking points to the deputy secretary, including one that said Israel had “failed to meet most of its commitments to the president.” (None of these officials responded to a request for comment.)
But, after a series of in-person conversations, Valls Noyes backed down, according to a person familiar with the episode. When asked during a staff meeting later why she had punted on the issue, Valls Noyes replied, “There will be other opportunities,” the person said.
The financing appears to have ultimately gone through.
Less than two weeks later, Blinken delivered his report to Congress.
by Brett Murphy
Propublica
Sept. 24, 5 a.m. EDT
https://www.propublica.org/article/gaza ... id-blinken
The U.S. government’s two foremost authorities on humanitarian assistance concluded this spring that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza.
The U.S. Agency for International Development delivered its assessment to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the State Department’s refugees bureau made its stance known to top diplomats in late April. Their conclusion was explosive because U.S. law requires the government to cut off weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid. Israel has been largely dependent on American bombs and other weapons in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
But Blinken and the administration of President Joe Biden did not accept either finding. Days later, on May 10, Blinken delivered a carefully worded statement to Congress that said, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.”
Prior to his report, USAID had sent Blinken a detailed 17-page memo on Israel’s conduct. The memo described instances of Israeli interference with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine.
Lifesaving food was stockpiled less than 30 miles across the border in an Israeli port, including enough flour to feed about 1.5 million Palestinians for five months, according to the memo. But in February the Israeli government had prohibited the transfer of flour, saying its recipient was the United Nations’ Palestinian branch that had been accused of having ties with Hamas.
... [T]he UN Office of Oversight Services (OIOS)... was not able to independently authenticate information used by Israel to support the allegations....
“In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff members’ involvement,” he said.
-- UN completes investigation on UNRWA staff, 8/5/2024
Separately, the head of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration had also determined that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid and that the Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to freeze almost $830 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for weapons and bombs to Israel, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.
The U.N. has declared a famine in parts of Gaza. The world’s leading independent panel of aid experts found that nearly half of the Palestinians in the enclave are struggling with hunger. Many go days without eating. Local authorities say dozens of children have starved to death — likely a significant undercount. Health care workers are battling a lack of immunizations compounded by a sanitation crisis. Last month, a little boy became Gaza’s first confirmed case of polio in 25 years.
The USAID officials wrote that because of Israel’s behavior, the U.S. should pause additional arms sales to the country. ProPublica obtained a copy of the agency’s April memo along with the list of evidence that the officials cited to back up their findings.
USAID, which is led by longtime diplomat Samantha Power, said the looming famine in Gaza was the result of Israel’s “arbitrary denial, restriction, and impediments of U.S. humanitarian assistance,” according to the memo. It also acknowledged Hamas had played a role in the humanitarian crisis. USAID, which receives overall policy guidance from the secretary of state, is an independent agency responsible for international development and disaster relief. The agency had for months tried and failed to deliver enough food and medicine to a starving and desperate Palestinian population.
It is, USAID concluded, “one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world.”
In response to detailed questions for this story, the State Department said that it had pressured the Israelis to increase the flow of aid. “As we made clear in May when [our] report was released, the US had deep concerns during the period since October 7 about action and inaction by Israel that contributed to a lack of sustained delivery of needed humanitarian assistance,” a spokesperson wrote. “Israel subsequently took steps to facilitate increased humanitarian access and aid flow into Gaza.”
Government experts and human rights advocates said while the State Department may have secured a number of important commitments from the Israelis, the level of aid going to Palestinians is as inadequate as when the two determinations were reached. “The implication that the humanitarian situation has markedly improved in Gaza is a farce,” said Scott Paul, an associate director at Oxfam. “The emergence of polio in the last couple months tells you all that you need to know.”
The USAID memo was an indication of a deep rift within the Biden administration on the issue of military aid to Israel. In March, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, sent Blinken a cable arguing that Israel’s war cabinet, which includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, should be trusted to facilitate aid shipments to the Palestinians.
Lew acknowledged that “other parts of the Israeli government have tried to impede the movement of [humanitarian assistance,]” according to a copy of his cable obtained by ProPublica. But he recommended continuing to provide military assistance because he had “assessed that Israel will not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede U.S. provided or supported” shipments of food and medicine.
Lew said Israeli officials regularly cite “overwhelming negative Israeli public opinion against” allowing aid to the Palestinians, “especially when Hamas seizes portions of it and when hostages remain in Gaza.” The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment but has said in the past that it follows the laws of war, unlike Hamas.
In the months leading up to that cable, Lew had been told repeatedly about instances of the Israelis blocking humanitarian assistance, according to four U.S. officials familiar with the embassy operations but, like others quoted in this story, not authorized to speak about them. “No other nation has ever provided so much humanitarian assistance to their enemies,” Lew responded to subordinates at the time, according to two of the officials, who said the comments drew widespread consternation.
“That put people over the edge,” one of the officials told ProPublica. “He’d be a great spokesperson for the Israeli government.”
A second official said Lew had access to the same information as USAID leaders in Washington, in addition to evidence collected by the local State Department diplomats working in Jerusalem. “But his instincts are to defend Israel,” said a third official.
“Ambassador Lew has been at the forefront of the United States’ work to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, as well as diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would secure the release of hostages, alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, and bring an end to the conflict,” the State Department spokesperson wrote.
The question of whether Israel was impeding humanitarian aid has garnered widespread attention. Before Blinken’s statement to Congress, Reuters reported concerns from USAID about the death toll in Gaza, which now stands at about 42,000, and that some officials inside the State Department, including the refugees bureau, had warned him that the Israelis’ assurances were not credible. The existence of USAID’s memo, Lew’s cable and their broad conclusions were also previously reported.
But the full accounting of USAID’s evidence, the determination of the refugees bureau in April and the statements from experts at the embassy — along with Lew’s decision to undermine them — reveal new aspects of the striking split within the Biden administration and how the highest-ranking American diplomats have justified his policy of continuing to flood Israel with arms over the objections of their own experts.
Stacy Gilbert, a former senior civil military adviser in the refugees bureau who had been working on drafts of Blinken’s report to Congress, resigned over the language in the final version. “There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid,” she wrote in a statement shortly after leaving, which The Washington Post and other outlets reported on. “To deny this is absurd and shameful.
“That report and its flagrant untruths will haunt us.”
The State Department’s headquarters in Washington did not always welcome that kind of information from U.S. experts on the ground, according to a person familiar with the embassy operations. That was especially true when experts reported the small number of aid trucks being allowed in.
“A lot of times they would not accept it because it was lower than what the Israelis said,” the person told ProPublica. “The sentiment from Washington was, ‘We want to see the aid increasing because Israel told us it would.’”
[x]
Aid trucks wait in Egypt at the border with Gaza on Sept. 9. Credit AFP/Getty Images
While Israel has its own arms industry, the country relies heavily on American jets, bombs and other weapons in Gaza. Since October, the U.S. has shipped more than 50,000 tons of weaponry, which the Israeli military says has been “crucial for sustaining” the Israel Defense Forces’ “operational capabilities during the ongoing war.”
The U.S. gives the Israeli government about $3.8 billion every year as a baseline and significantly more during wartime — money the Israelis use to buy American-made bombs and equipment. Congress and the executive branch have imposed legal guardrails on how Israel and other partners can use that money.
One of them is the Foreign Assistance Act. The humanitarian aid portion of the law is known as 6201, which dates back to Turkey’s embargo of Armenia during the 1990s. That part of the law has never been widely implemented. But this year, advocacy groups and some Democrats in Congress brought it out of obscurity and called for Biden to use 6201 to pressure the Israelis to allow aid freely into Gaza.
In response, the Biden administration announced a policy called the National Security Memorandum, or NSM-20, to require the State Department to vet Israel’s assurances about whether it was blocking aid and then report its findings to lawmakers. If Blinken determined the Israelis were not facilitating aid and were instead arbitrarily restricting it, then the government would be required by the law to halt military assistance.
Blinken submitted the agency’s official position on May 10, siding with Lew, which meant that the military support would continue.
In a statement that same day, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., criticized the administration for choosing “to disregard the requirements of NSM-20.”
“Whether or not Israel is at this moment complying with international standards with respect to facilitating humanitarian assistance to desperate, starving citizens may be debatable,” Van Hollen said. “What is undeniable — for those who don’t look the other way — is that it has repeatedly violated those standards over the last 7 months.”
As of early March, at least 930 trucks full of food, medicine and other supplies were stuck in Egypt awaiting approval from the Israelis, according to USAID’s memo.
The officials wrote that the Israeli government frequently blocks aid by imposing bureaucratic delays. The Israelis took weeks or months to respond to humanitarian groups that had submitted specific items to be approved for passage past government checkpoints. Israel would then often deny those submissions outright or accept them some days but not others. The Israeli government “doesn’t provide justification, issues blanket rejections, or cites arbitrary factors for the denial of certain items,” the memo said.
Israeli officials told State Department attorneys that the Israeli government has “scaled up its security check capacity and asserted that it imposes no limits on the number of trucks that can be inspected and enter Gaza,” according to a separate memo sent to Blinken and obtained by ProPublica. Those officials blamed most of the holdups on the humanitarian groups for not having enough capacity to get food and medicine in. USAID and State Department experts who work directly with those groups say that is not true.
In separate emails obtained by ProPublica, aid officials identified items in trucks that were banned by the Israelis, including emergency shelter gear, solar lamps, cooking stoves and desalination kits, because they were deemed “dual use,” which means Hamas could co-opt the materials. Some of the trucks that were turned away had also been carrying American-funded items like hygiene kits, the emails show.
In its memo to Blinken, USAID also cited numerous publicly reported incidents in which aid facilities and workers were hit by Israeli airstrikes even sometimes after they had shared their locations with the IDF and received approval, a process known as “deconfliction.” The Israeli government has maintained that most of those incidents were mistakes.
USAID found the Israelis often promised to take adequate measures to prevent such incidents but frequently failed to follow through. On Nov. 18, for instance, a convoy of aid workers was trying to evacuate along a route assigned to them by the IDF. The convoy was denied permission to cross a military checkpoint — despite previous IDF authorization.
Then, while en route back to their facility, the IDF opened fire on the aid workers, killing two of them.
Inside the State Department and ahead of Blinken’s report to Congress, some of the agency’s highest-ranking officials had a separate exchange about whether Israel was blocking humanitarian aid. ProPublica obtained an email thread documenting the episode.
On April 17, a Department of Defense official reached out to Mira Resnick, a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department who has been described as the agency’s driving force behind arms sales to Israel and other partners this year. The official alerted Resnick to the fact that there was about $827 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars sitting in limbo.
Resnick turned to the Counselor of the State Department and said, “We need to be able to move the rest of the” financing so that Israel could pay off bills for past weapons purchases. The financing she referenced came from American tax dollars.
The counselor, one of the highest posts at the agency, agreed with Resnick. “I think we need to move these funds,” he wrote.
But there was a hurdle, according to the agency’s top attorney: All the relevant bureaus inside the State Department would need to sign off on and agree that Israel was not preventing humanitarian aid shipments. “The principal thing we would need to see is that no bureau currently assesses that the restriction in 6201 is triggered,” Richard Visek, the agency’s acting legal adviser, wrote.
The bureaus started to fall in line. The Middle East and human rights divisions agreed and determined the law hadn’t been triggered, “in light of Netanyahu’s commitments and the steps Israel has announced so far,” while noting that they still have “significant concerns about Israeli actions.”
By April 25, all had signed off but one. The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration was the holdout. That was notable because the bureau had among the most firsthand knowledge of the situation after months of working closely with USAID and humanitarian groups to try to get food and medicine to the Palestinians.
“While we agree there have been positive steps on some commitments related to humanitarian assistance, we continue to assess that the facts on the ground indicate U.S. humanitarian assistance is being restricted,” an official in the bureau wrote to the group.
It was a potentially explosive stance to take. One of Resnick’s subordinates in the arms transfer bureau replied and asked for clarification: “Is PRM saying 6201 has been triggered for Israel?”
Yes, replied Julieta Valls Noyes, its assistant secretary, that was indeed the bureau’s view. In her email, she cited a meeting from the previous day between Blinken’s deputy secretary and other top aides in the administration. All the bureaus on the email thread had provided talking points to the deputy secretary, including one that said Israel had “failed to meet most of its commitments to the president.” (None of these officials responded to a request for comment.)
But, after a series of in-person conversations, Valls Noyes backed down, according to a person familiar with the episode. When asked during a staff meeting later why she had punted on the issue, Valls Noyes replied, “There will be other opportunities,” the person said.
The financing appears to have ultimately gone through.
Less than two weeks later, Blinken delivered his report to Congress.
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Re: U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
by admin » Fri Sep 27, 2024 1:01 am
Stein leads Harris among Muslim voters in several swing states, new analysis finds
Adam Reilly
September 09, 2024
[X]
Jill Stein speaks into a microphone at a stage in a public park.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein speaks at a pro-Palestinian protest in front of the White House on June 8, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Mattie Neretin Getty Images
A new report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) shows that Jill Stein, the Lexington, Massachusetts, resident and Green Party candidate for president, is leading Democratic nominee Kamala Harris among Muslim voters in several key swing states.
The analysis expands on a survey conducted late last month that showed Muslim voters nationally split between Harris and Stein, even thought 69% of the respondents said they usually vote for the Democratic Party. The new analysis dug deeper into the data, specifically looking at voters in swing states.
In Michigan, 40% of Muslim voters said they plan to vote for Stein, compared to just 12% who said they plan to vote for Harris. Stein also received significant support from Muslim voters in Wisconsin, where 44% said they plan to vote for her compared to 39% who said they’ll back Harris. And in Arizona, Stein draws support from 35% of Muslim voters, compared to 29% for Harris.
According to the website World Population Review, Michigan has a Muslim population of more than 241,000, meaning that Stein’s substantial lead there — if it holds — could have a decisive impact on who ultimately wins that state. The website FiveThirtyEight currently shows Harris leading Republican nominee Donald Trump in Michigan by 1.9%.
A similar dynamic applies in Arizona and Wisconsin, where World Population Review puts the Muslim population at about 110,000 and 68,000, respectively. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Trump a 0.5% lead in Arizona and Harris a 2.8% lead in Wisconsin.
“When you have a candidate like Stein being a third-party candidate in these states, she has the potential to disrupt all these elections,” said Robert McCaw, CAIR’s national government affairs director and one of the authors of the report. “And how all candidates appeal to Muslim voters will really determine who might be the next president of the United States.
”From a Muslim civil rights organization’s perspective, we’re really challenging Muslims to turn out to vote regardless of which candidate they [choose], knowing that they can have an impact on the election,“ McCaw added.
Stein previously ran for president in both 2012 and 2016, when she received about 1% of the vote nationally. While Stein’s total tally in 2016 was modest, an argument can be made that the votes she received in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that year ultimately helped Trump become president. Stein was also a candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010, and for secretary of the commonwealth in 2006.
Stein’s 2024 platform calls, among other things, for an “immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine” and an immediate end to all U.S. military aid to Israel. She has also called for an independent investigation into “the legality of the billions for direct military aid” and suggested that prosecution by the International Criminal Court may be warranted.
In a statement provided to GBH News, Stein said: “We’re grateful for the strong support of Muslim voters who share with us the determination to end genocide in Gaza, and the injustice faced by our Muslim friends. We urge all people of conscience to resist the propaganda telling you to hold your nose and vote for genocide.
”If you vote for genocide, you are actively consenting to it and enabling it,“ Stein added. ”Don’t let them talk you out of your humanity. Stopping genocide is the moral imperative of our time.“
After President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid, Harris made remarks that were interpreted by some as indicating that she is more pro-Palestinian than Biden. But others argue that on a substantive level, Harris has maintained Biden’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war. At the recent Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris asserted Israel’s fundamental right to defend itself during her acceptance speech, and pro-Palestinian activists who had hoped to secure a speaking slot have said they were rebuffed.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to CAIR’s analysis, Harris leads Stein among Muslim voters in other swing states, including Georgia (43% to 17%), Pennsylvania (37% to 25%), and Nevada (26% to 13%, with Trump at 27%). According to World Population Review, the Muslim population of those states is approximately 124,000, 150,000 and 7,000, respectively.
FiveThirtyEight currently shows Harris leading Georgia by 0.3%, Pennsylvania by 0.6% and Nevada by 0.5%.
During the Democratic presidential primaries, when Biden was the party’s presumptive nominee, activists opposed to the administration’s policy on the Israel-Hamas war urged voters to remain uncommitted in several states. In Michigan, more than 100,000 uncommitted votes were ultimately cast, and in Hawaii, “uncommitted” received 29% of the vote.
The new report also highlights some notable differences inside the national Muslim electorate. For example, while Harris enjoys a sizable lead over Stein among Black Muslim voters (55% to 11%), Stein fares better with white, Arab and Turkic Muslims (33% to 26%). The discrepancy is smaller among Asian Muslims, with 28% backing Harris and 26% backing Stein.
Support for the two candidates also varies by gender. Harris leads among Muslim men with 29% support, while Stein leads among Muslim women with 34% support.
Adam Reilly: Adam Reilly is a politics reporter and the host of GBH’s Talking Politics. Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email Adam at [email protected].
Adam Reilly
September 09, 2024
[X]
Jill Stein speaks into a microphone at a stage in a public park.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein speaks at a pro-Palestinian protest in front of the White House on June 8, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Mattie Neretin Getty Images
A new report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) shows that Jill Stein, the Lexington, Massachusetts, resident and Green Party candidate for president, is leading Democratic nominee Kamala Harris among Muslim voters in several key swing states.
The analysis expands on a survey conducted late last month that showed Muslim voters nationally split between Harris and Stein, even thought 69% of the respondents said they usually vote for the Democratic Party. The new analysis dug deeper into the data, specifically looking at voters in swing states.
In Michigan, 40% of Muslim voters said they plan to vote for Stein, compared to just 12% who said they plan to vote for Harris. Stein also received significant support from Muslim voters in Wisconsin, where 44% said they plan to vote for her compared to 39% who said they’ll back Harris. And in Arizona, Stein draws support from 35% of Muslim voters, compared to 29% for Harris.
According to the website World Population Review, Michigan has a Muslim population of more than 241,000, meaning that Stein’s substantial lead there — if it holds — could have a decisive impact on who ultimately wins that state. The website FiveThirtyEight currently shows Harris leading Republican nominee Donald Trump in Michigan by 1.9%.
A similar dynamic applies in Arizona and Wisconsin, where World Population Review puts the Muslim population at about 110,000 and 68,000, respectively. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Trump a 0.5% lead in Arizona and Harris a 2.8% lead in Wisconsin.
“When you have a candidate like Stein being a third-party candidate in these states, she has the potential to disrupt all these elections,” said Robert McCaw, CAIR’s national government affairs director and one of the authors of the report. “And how all candidates appeal to Muslim voters will really determine who might be the next president of the United States.
”From a Muslim civil rights organization’s perspective, we’re really challenging Muslims to turn out to vote regardless of which candidate they [choose], knowing that they can have an impact on the election,“ McCaw added.
Stein previously ran for president in both 2012 and 2016, when she received about 1% of the vote nationally. While Stein’s total tally in 2016 was modest, an argument can be made that the votes she received in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that year ultimately helped Trump become president. Stein was also a candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010, and for secretary of the commonwealth in 2006.
Stein’s 2024 platform calls, among other things, for an “immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine” and an immediate end to all U.S. military aid to Israel. She has also called for an independent investigation into “the legality of the billions for direct military aid” and suggested that prosecution by the International Criminal Court may be warranted.
In a statement provided to GBH News, Stein said: “We’re grateful for the strong support of Muslim voters who share with us the determination to end genocide in Gaza, and the injustice faced by our Muslim friends. We urge all people of conscience to resist the propaganda telling you to hold your nose and vote for genocide.
”If you vote for genocide, you are actively consenting to it and enabling it,“ Stein added. ”Don’t let them talk you out of your humanity. Stopping genocide is the moral imperative of our time.“
After President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid, Harris made remarks that were interpreted by some as indicating that she is more pro-Palestinian than Biden. But others argue that on a substantive level, Harris has maintained Biden’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war. At the recent Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris asserted Israel’s fundamental right to defend itself during her acceptance speech, and pro-Palestinian activists who had hoped to secure a speaking slot have said they were rebuffed.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to CAIR’s analysis, Harris leads Stein among Muslim voters in other swing states, including Georgia (43% to 17%), Pennsylvania (37% to 25%), and Nevada (26% to 13%, with Trump at 27%). According to World Population Review, the Muslim population of those states is approximately 124,000, 150,000 and 7,000, respectively.
FiveThirtyEight currently shows Harris leading Georgia by 0.3%, Pennsylvania by 0.6% and Nevada by 0.5%.
During the Democratic presidential primaries, when Biden was the party’s presumptive nominee, activists opposed to the administration’s policy on the Israel-Hamas war urged voters to remain uncommitted in several states. In Michigan, more than 100,000 uncommitted votes were ultimately cast, and in Hawaii, “uncommitted” received 29% of the vote.
The new report also highlights some notable differences inside the national Muslim electorate. For example, while Harris enjoys a sizable lead over Stein among Black Muslim voters (55% to 11%), Stein fares better with white, Arab and Turkic Muslims (33% to 26%). The discrepancy is smaller among Asian Muslims, with 28% backing Harris and 26% backing Stein.
Support for the two candidates also varies by gender. Harris leads among Muslim men with 29% support, while Stein leads among Muslim women with 34% support.
Adam Reilly: Adam Reilly is a politics reporter and the host of GBH’s Talking Politics. Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email Adam at [email protected].
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Re: U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
by admin » Fri Sep 27, 2024 1:19 am
Netanyahu's Lebanon Gambit: The second front has restored the prime minister’s political standing
by Seymour Hersh
Sep 26, 2024
[x]
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Israeli shelling in Zaita, in the southern Lebanon, on September 23. / Photo by Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP via Getty Images.
One way to understand the dramatic events of the past week, and the restitution of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political standing in Israel, is to recall a famous statement of Admiral Ernest King, the US chief of naval operations throughout the Second World War. As the war neared its end, so the story goes, King was told by an aide that a group of reporters wanted an interview with him. “When it’s over,” he replied, “tell them who won.”
It could be Netanyahu’s motto today. I was surprised to be told recently by a well-informed official in Washington that things had changed dramatically in the war in Gaza—in Israel’s favor. There is no longer a possibility or a need for a ceasefire in Gaza, the official said. I further learned that ceasefire talk had been muted because, obviously, there is now a renewed Israeli war against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Amid the continuing carnage, Bibi’s standing inside Israel has soared as the death toll in Lebanon has risen.
The Israeli high command now believes, as has been reported in the Israeli media, that Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who orchestrated the murderous attack on Israel on October 7, may be dead and the Israeli Defense Force “is now in a ‘mopping-up phase’ of the tunnel war with Hamas.” The American official told me that “there’s been no communication from Sinwar in the past two or three weeks.” The implication was clear: somehow Israeli or American intelligence had been tracking or monitoring Sinwar’s communications, if not his precise underground location. There is little hope that any of the remaining Israeli hostages will be left alive. This is a conclusion that has yet to be shared with the increasingly anxious Israeli public.
(I must note here that the six hostages who were executed in a tunnel late last August were not killed, as I inaccurately recently reported, because their Hamas captors heard the noises of an Israeli sapper team whose mission was to destroy tunnels. The mission took place because the tunnel location of the hostages had become known and an Israeli special forces team was assigned to attack the site and seize the hostages. The six were found dead because there was no other exit for the guards. I do not know whether the guards were killed in a shootout or took their own lives. The full, tragic story was not made known at the time by the Israeli military, a decision that is hard to question.)
There are other facts, I was told, that indicate the Gaza war is in a mopping-up phrase. There have been no Israeli bombing missions over Gaza since last Friday (although Al-Jazeera reported that fifty people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday in various attacks), and many of the Israeli reservists who have been heavily involved in the war since last fall are in the process of being replaced by regular Israeli army soldiers.
There have been no ceasefire meetings or significant discussions with Hamas since the Israeli assassination last July 31 of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was in Tehran to celebrate the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, a four-time member of the Iranian parliament. Pezeshkian, a moderate, repeatedly says that he wishes to play a constructive role in world affairs, beginning with renewed talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Just a few weeks ago, Netanyahu was in trouble at home and abroad as the war in Gaza seemed to be an endless pit of horror. Hamas still seemed to be capable of putting up a fight, and the world was recoiling from the constant Israeli bombings of Gaza, the growing casualties, and the desperation of the surviving residents there. Netanyahu was continuing to disregard the anxieties of President Joe Biden and his foreign policy aides, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who were in seemingly endless meetings in Egypt and Qatar and failing to achieve a ceasefire that would result in a bombing pause and the return of the surviving Israeli hostages.
The IDF, composed largely of reservists who had been called up for what was turning out to be an endless commitment, was fraying as the war dragged on, and the Israeli reservists inevitably turned on the civilian population in Gaza. Just last week a group of IDF soldiers were caught on video throwing four bodies—it was assumed all were dead—from the roof of a battered building in the West Bank to the street.
The American official, who has long dealt with Israeli issues, ruefully explained his view of the long-standing Middle East impasse: “The Israelis want the Palestinians to be peaceful and accept their fate. The Palestinians objected and fought back. A new day in the Middle East will never come.”
Last week, as the current Israeli impasse with Hezbollah was turning murderous, I had a long talk with an Israeli hero of earlier war—he served in an elite commando unit—whose grandchildren are nearing a one-year deployment in Gaza. He was full of contempt for Netanyahu and his refusal to agree to a ceasefire. There are families in Tel Aviv, he told me, who are leaving the country every day “to get their children out of the kill.”
He remains convinced that the war with Hamas was lost well before the October 7 attack when those in charge of Israel’s most important intelligence unit, dealing with signals intelligence, ignored the reports of a senior female officer who repeatedly warned of the coming Hamas attack. The Israeli veteran, who spent his career in special units, said he understood what happened. The men running the unit told the woman, a colonel, in essence, that “you ladies are here to bring me coffee.”
It’s increasingly evident that a full inquiry into the military and intelligence failures of October 7, once promised by Netanyahu, will not take place as long as Netanyahu is still in office.
The retired officer, whose negative views of Netanyahu I have heard about for years, also told me he is totally supportive of Bibi’s current war against Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and the Hezbollah militia. “We will nail Hezbollah,” he said, because its defeat would be a blow against Iran, “and Iran controls Hezbollah.”
Netanyahu, seemingly on the political ropes inside Israel and around the world, is suddenly in full bloom as the leader of the expanding war against Hezbollah. Most Israelis fear Hassan Nasrallah, its Shiite leader, for his close ties to Shiite Iran, long viewed by Israel as a potential nuclear power and its most dangerous enemy. The Biden administration and Congress are joined to the hip with Israel when it comes to Iran, though its closeness to nuclear weapons capability has long been exaggerated.
Hezbollah demonstrated its support for Sunni Hamas after the devastating Israeli bombing of Gaza began by initiating a series of missile and rocket attacks on Israeli cities and villages as far as 35 kilometers south of the border with Lebanon. The Hezbollah attacks eventually led to the evacuation of some 67,000 Israeli citizens, who were moved into temporary housing. Israel responded by bombing Hezbollah and other targets in southern Lebanon. That war has exploded with renewed ferocity in the past two weeks. Nasrallah added to the tension by authorizing his missiles to strike targets up to 50 kilometers south of the Israeli border, putting the historic Israeli city of Haifa in peril as well as Tel Aviv.
The missile and bomb exchanges remained at a low intensity until last week, when Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, triggered explosives that had earlier been implanted in a shipment of 6,000 foreign-made pagers that were purchased by Hezbollah and distributed to its senior leadership and soldiers. Many of the pagers inevitably ended up with the family members of Hezbollah officials and fighters, and the ensuing chaos when all were triggered by an Israeli signal became front-page news around the world.
Israel’s electronic reach was demoralizing and terrifying, both for the technology involved and the obvious conclusion that Netanyahu had escalated his confrontation with Hezbollah while ignoring pressure from the Biden administration to agree to a ceasefire. I had a talk with another well-informed Israeli veteran, who was seriously wounded in an earlier war, who explained that the Israeli decision to trigger the explosives was not the planned act of war that it seemed to be. He said the embedded materials were triggered only because Mossad learned that its action had been inadvertently discovered by a few Hamas officials who had brought their pagers in for routine repairs. It was that discovery that led Netanyahu or one of his aides to authorize the attack.
I got no answer when I asked how anyone in Mossad or any Israeli intelligence service could uncover such a random fact. Instead, I was told Israel’s secret triggering of the pagers was “a brilliant special op but not a plan to start a war.”
The pager blasts are estimated to have killed dozens of people, including children, and injured thousands across Lebanon. The Israeli veteran also said more than three thousand Hezbollah soldiers were injured, many of them seriously.
If there was concern at the top of the Israeli military or civilian authority about a rebuke for such tactics from Washington, it was misplaced. There was no reaction from the Biden administration and the American media has consistently viewed Hezbollah primarily as a terrorist organization, despite its presence in the last decade as a significant member of the Lebanese parliament and government. If anything, the reaction was awe and respect for the attack. David Ignatius, the Washington Post columnist, noted that Israel had not taken immediate credit for the attack: “it didn’t need to. An attack of this sophistication and daring in Lebanon could not have been staged by any other nation. The video scenes of Hezbollah fighters being blown to the floor by their own communication devices sent an unmistakable message to the Iranian-backed militia. We own you. We can penetrate every space in which you operate.”
The next day, Israel doubled down and triggered explosions in walkie-talkies throughout Lebanon. Newspapers reported the death of at least twenty civilians and the wounding of 450 more amid widespread panic and terror throughout the county.
Michael Walzer, a renowned political theorist, writing in the New York Times, described Israel’s actions in blunt language as “terrorist attacks by a state that has consistently condemned terrorist attacks on its own citizens.” Walzer has written on just and unjust wars and supported Israel’s ferocious response to the Hamas attack on October 7 as justified. But the wrongdoing in this case, Walzer wrote, “was Israel’s, and the plotters had to know that at least some of the people hurt would be innocent men, women, and children.”
The main plotter was Israel’s prime minister, who authorized the use of the militarily useless terror attacks that could only bring Hezbollah and Lebanon closer to war. Netanyahu has understood that a war with Hezbollah is a way to bolster his declining popularity in Israel and perhaps some of the world.
The Biden administration has supplied Israel with an estimated 68 percent of its arms, and Netanyahu has treated the president and his secretary of state and other diplomatic officials as pawns to be led on. In his farewell speech this week to the UN General Assembly, Joe Biden talked about his ceasefire proposal, seemingly unaware that the fate of hostages had been overtaken by events, beginning with the assassination of Haniyeh. But Biden did say, referring to the current crisis between Hezbollah and Israel: “Full scale war is not in anyone’s interest.”
Vice President Kamala Harris has been silent on the issue in the closing weeks of her presidential campaign, as has Donald Trump. The political axiom that foreign policy has little to do with presidential campaigns remains safe for now. The one political figure left standing and talking is Netanyahu, still the man of the hour in Israel.
It was déjà vu for a retired Lebanese government official and longtime resident of Beirut who lived through the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel that ended with the saturation bombing of South Beirut, a Shiite area where Hezbollah was dominant. “There is no Washington now,” he told me. “It is a vacuum. As for Bibi, it is a historical opportunity. And the war he is seeking will be awful. He is awful. And it will take a long time, and he will be exhausted in Lebanon.”
I have written about the 2006 war between Israel and a seemingly outgunned Lebanon in which the powers that be in Israel were confident of success. In the end it was, by all accounts, as I wrote then, a wash.
An all-out war this time will be torrential.
by Seymour Hersh
Sep 26, 2024
[x]
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Israeli shelling in Zaita, in the southern Lebanon, on September 23. / Photo by Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP via Getty Images.
One way to understand the dramatic events of the past week, and the restitution of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political standing in Israel, is to recall a famous statement of Admiral Ernest King, the US chief of naval operations throughout the Second World War. As the war neared its end, so the story goes, King was told by an aide that a group of reporters wanted an interview with him. “When it’s over,” he replied, “tell them who won.”
It could be Netanyahu’s motto today. I was surprised to be told recently by a well-informed official in Washington that things had changed dramatically in the war in Gaza—in Israel’s favor. There is no longer a possibility or a need for a ceasefire in Gaza, the official said. I further learned that ceasefire talk had been muted because, obviously, there is now a renewed Israeli war against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Amid the continuing carnage, Bibi’s standing inside Israel has soared as the death toll in Lebanon has risen.
The Israeli high command now believes, as has been reported in the Israeli media, that Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who orchestrated the murderous attack on Israel on October 7, may be dead and the Israeli Defense Force “is now in a ‘mopping-up phase’ of the tunnel war with Hamas.” The American official told me that “there’s been no communication from Sinwar in the past two or three weeks.” The implication was clear: somehow Israeli or American intelligence had been tracking or monitoring Sinwar’s communications, if not his precise underground location. There is little hope that any of the remaining Israeli hostages will be left alive. This is a conclusion that has yet to be shared with the increasingly anxious Israeli public.
(I must note here that the six hostages who were executed in a tunnel late last August were not killed, as I inaccurately recently reported, because their Hamas captors heard the noises of an Israeli sapper team whose mission was to destroy tunnels. The mission took place because the tunnel location of the hostages had become known and an Israeli special forces team was assigned to attack the site and seize the hostages. The six were found dead because there was no other exit for the guards. I do not know whether the guards were killed in a shootout or took their own lives. The full, tragic story was not made known at the time by the Israeli military, a decision that is hard to question.)
There are other facts, I was told, that indicate the Gaza war is in a mopping-up phrase. There have been no Israeli bombing missions over Gaza since last Friday (although Al-Jazeera reported that fifty people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday in various attacks), and many of the Israeli reservists who have been heavily involved in the war since last fall are in the process of being replaced by regular Israeli army soldiers.
There have been no ceasefire meetings or significant discussions with Hamas since the Israeli assassination last July 31 of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was in Tehran to celebrate the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, a four-time member of the Iranian parliament. Pezeshkian, a moderate, repeatedly says that he wishes to play a constructive role in world affairs, beginning with renewed talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Just a few weeks ago, Netanyahu was in trouble at home and abroad as the war in Gaza seemed to be an endless pit of horror. Hamas still seemed to be capable of putting up a fight, and the world was recoiling from the constant Israeli bombings of Gaza, the growing casualties, and the desperation of the surviving residents there. Netanyahu was continuing to disregard the anxieties of President Joe Biden and his foreign policy aides, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who were in seemingly endless meetings in Egypt and Qatar and failing to achieve a ceasefire that would result in a bombing pause and the return of the surviving Israeli hostages.
The IDF, composed largely of reservists who had been called up for what was turning out to be an endless commitment, was fraying as the war dragged on, and the Israeli reservists inevitably turned on the civilian population in Gaza. Just last week a group of IDF soldiers were caught on video throwing four bodies—it was assumed all were dead—from the roof of a battered building in the West Bank to the street.
The American official, who has long dealt with Israeli issues, ruefully explained his view of the long-standing Middle East impasse: “The Israelis want the Palestinians to be peaceful and accept their fate. The Palestinians objected and fought back. A new day in the Middle East will never come.”
Last week, as the current Israeli impasse with Hezbollah was turning murderous, I had a long talk with an Israeli hero of earlier war—he served in an elite commando unit—whose grandchildren are nearing a one-year deployment in Gaza. He was full of contempt for Netanyahu and his refusal to agree to a ceasefire. There are families in Tel Aviv, he told me, who are leaving the country every day “to get their children out of the kill.”
He remains convinced that the war with Hamas was lost well before the October 7 attack when those in charge of Israel’s most important intelligence unit, dealing with signals intelligence, ignored the reports of a senior female officer who repeatedly warned of the coming Hamas attack. The Israeli veteran, who spent his career in special units, said he understood what happened. The men running the unit told the woman, a colonel, in essence, that “you ladies are here to bring me coffee.”
It’s increasingly evident that a full inquiry into the military and intelligence failures of October 7, once promised by Netanyahu, will not take place as long as Netanyahu is still in office.
The retired officer, whose negative views of Netanyahu I have heard about for years, also told me he is totally supportive of Bibi’s current war against Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and the Hezbollah militia. “We will nail Hezbollah,” he said, because its defeat would be a blow against Iran, “and Iran controls Hezbollah.”
Netanyahu, seemingly on the political ropes inside Israel and around the world, is suddenly in full bloom as the leader of the expanding war against Hezbollah. Most Israelis fear Hassan Nasrallah, its Shiite leader, for his close ties to Shiite Iran, long viewed by Israel as a potential nuclear power and its most dangerous enemy. The Biden administration and Congress are joined to the hip with Israel when it comes to Iran, though its closeness to nuclear weapons capability has long been exaggerated.
Hezbollah demonstrated its support for Sunni Hamas after the devastating Israeli bombing of Gaza began by initiating a series of missile and rocket attacks on Israeli cities and villages as far as 35 kilometers south of the border with Lebanon. The Hezbollah attacks eventually led to the evacuation of some 67,000 Israeli citizens, who were moved into temporary housing. Israel responded by bombing Hezbollah and other targets in southern Lebanon. That war has exploded with renewed ferocity in the past two weeks. Nasrallah added to the tension by authorizing his missiles to strike targets up to 50 kilometers south of the Israeli border, putting the historic Israeli city of Haifa in peril as well as Tel Aviv.
The missile and bomb exchanges remained at a low intensity until last week, when Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, triggered explosives that had earlier been implanted in a shipment of 6,000 foreign-made pagers that were purchased by Hezbollah and distributed to its senior leadership and soldiers. Many of the pagers inevitably ended up with the family members of Hezbollah officials and fighters, and the ensuing chaos when all were triggered by an Israeli signal became front-page news around the world.
Israel’s electronic reach was demoralizing and terrifying, both for the technology involved and the obvious conclusion that Netanyahu had escalated his confrontation with Hezbollah while ignoring pressure from the Biden administration to agree to a ceasefire. I had a talk with another well-informed Israeli veteran, who was seriously wounded in an earlier war, who explained that the Israeli decision to trigger the explosives was not the planned act of war that it seemed to be. He said the embedded materials were triggered only because Mossad learned that its action had been inadvertently discovered by a few Hamas officials who had brought their pagers in for routine repairs. It was that discovery that led Netanyahu or one of his aides to authorize the attack.
I got no answer when I asked how anyone in Mossad or any Israeli intelligence service could uncover such a random fact. Instead, I was told Israel’s secret triggering of the pagers was “a brilliant special op but not a plan to start a war.”
The pager blasts are estimated to have killed dozens of people, including children, and injured thousands across Lebanon. The Israeli veteran also said more than three thousand Hezbollah soldiers were injured, many of them seriously.
If there was concern at the top of the Israeli military or civilian authority about a rebuke for such tactics from Washington, it was misplaced. There was no reaction from the Biden administration and the American media has consistently viewed Hezbollah primarily as a terrorist organization, despite its presence in the last decade as a significant member of the Lebanese parliament and government. If anything, the reaction was awe and respect for the attack. David Ignatius, the Washington Post columnist, noted that Israel had not taken immediate credit for the attack: “it didn’t need to. An attack of this sophistication and daring in Lebanon could not have been staged by any other nation. The video scenes of Hezbollah fighters being blown to the floor by their own communication devices sent an unmistakable message to the Iranian-backed militia. We own you. We can penetrate every space in which you operate.”
The next day, Israel doubled down and triggered explosions in walkie-talkies throughout Lebanon. Newspapers reported the death of at least twenty civilians and the wounding of 450 more amid widespread panic and terror throughout the county.
Michael Walzer, a renowned political theorist, writing in the New York Times, described Israel’s actions in blunt language as “terrorist attacks by a state that has consistently condemned terrorist attacks on its own citizens.” Walzer has written on just and unjust wars and supported Israel’s ferocious response to the Hamas attack on October 7 as justified. But the wrongdoing in this case, Walzer wrote, “was Israel’s, and the plotters had to know that at least some of the people hurt would be innocent men, women, and children.”
The main plotter was Israel’s prime minister, who authorized the use of the militarily useless terror attacks that could only bring Hezbollah and Lebanon closer to war. Netanyahu has understood that a war with Hezbollah is a way to bolster his declining popularity in Israel and perhaps some of the world.
The Biden administration has supplied Israel with an estimated 68 percent of its arms, and Netanyahu has treated the president and his secretary of state and other diplomatic officials as pawns to be led on. In his farewell speech this week to the UN General Assembly, Joe Biden talked about his ceasefire proposal, seemingly unaware that the fate of hostages had been overtaken by events, beginning with the assassination of Haniyeh. But Biden did say, referring to the current crisis between Hezbollah and Israel: “Full scale war is not in anyone’s interest.”
Vice President Kamala Harris has been silent on the issue in the closing weeks of her presidential campaign, as has Donald Trump. The political axiom that foreign policy has little to do with presidential campaigns remains safe for now. The one political figure left standing and talking is Netanyahu, still the man of the hour in Israel.
It was déjà vu for a retired Lebanese government official and longtime resident of Beirut who lived through the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel that ended with the saturation bombing of South Beirut, a Shiite area where Hezbollah was dominant. “There is no Washington now,” he told me. “It is a vacuum. As for Bibi, it is a historical opportunity. And the war he is seeking will be awful. He is awful. And it will take a long time, and he will be exhausted in Lebanon.”
I have written about the 2006 war between Israel and a seemingly outgunned Lebanon in which the powers that be in Israel were confident of success. In the end it was, by all accounts, as I wrote then, a wash.
An all-out war this time will be torrential.
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Re: U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim
by admin » Thu Oct 10, 2024 8:50 pm
Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 27, 2024
Lebanon Calls for Int’l Community to Intervene as Israel’s Attacks Kill 700+ in a Matter of Days
Sep 27, 2024
Israel continues to bombard Lebanon, killing at least 25 people so far today, including a family of nine in the border town of Shebaa. Israel has killed over 700 people in Lebanon since Monday.
In an apparent flip-flop, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening he does support a U.S.-led temporary ceasefire effort, though he’s done nothing to slow down Israel’s assault and Israeli officials have threatened to launch a ground invasion. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.
Abdallah Bou Habib: “Lebanon is living through a crisis that threatens its very existence. The future of our people and our prosperity are in peril, and this is a situation that requires international intervention on an urgent basis before the situation spirals out of control with a domino effect, making the crisis impossible to contain.”
The U.N. says some 30,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria in recent days. Meanwhile, Syrian media says an Israeli airstrike from the occupied Golan Heights earlier today killed five Syrian soldiers on its border with Lebanon.
Israel Kills at Least 14 Palestinians in Another Attack on Gaza School Shelter
Sep 27, 2024
Israel’s assault on Gaza continues with another airstrike on a school sheltering displaced families in Jabaliya, which killed at least 14 people Thursday.
Rami Abdul-Nabi: “Where are these people supposed to go? They are not here for leisure or fun. These are people whose homes were destroyed in the north, in Beit Lahia, Jabaliya base, Beit Hanoun. This is a question for the international community, which has double standards. We demand the international organizations, the international community, the United Nations to provide us with safe places.”
Israel’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it secured another $8.7 billion in funding from the United States. Israel has killed over 41,500 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7 and wounded 96,000 others, according to official numbers.
100+ U.S. Lawmakers Demand Biden Admin Investigate Israel’s Killing of U.S. Activist Ayşenur Eygi
Sep 27, 2024
More than 100 U.S. lawmakers have signed on to a letter by Washington Congressmember Adam Smith demanding an independent investigation into Israel’s killing of Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi earlier this month in the occupied West Bank. Eygi’s family has also demanded the U.S. investigate, after the Biden administration said it would instead rely on Israel’s internal probe.
Cornell University Student Facing Deportation for Participating in Gaza Solidarity Protest
Sep 27, 2024
A Cornell University student is facing deportation to the United Kingdom after administrators suspended him for taking part in a campus protest calling on Cornell to divest from companies that support Israel’s assault on Gaza. Momodou Taal, a Ph.D. student in Africana studies, says he was advised to leave the U.S. “promptly” after his academic suspension led Cornell’s immigration office to cancel his F-1 student visa. Democracy Now! spoke with Momodou Taal on Thursday.
Momodou Taal: “Yes, it’s about freedom of speech, but that cannot be divorced from Palestine. The issue why we’re facing such repression and such repressive tactics is because it’s about Palestine. It’s because you’re speaking anti-Israel and anti-Israel’s genocide in Gaza. These issues are not, like, separate. So, absolutely, I think I’m a visible person. I’m quite outspoken on this issue. And I think this is the reason why I’m being targeted.”
Acclaimed Author Jhumpa Lahiri Declines Noguchi Award over Museum’s Keffiyeh Ban
Sep 27, 2024
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri has declined the prestigious Noguchi Museum award, after the museum recently fired three employees for wearing a keffiyeh. Lahiri, who teaches at Barnard, was one of many academics who signed on to a letter in May expressing support for Gaza solidarity protesters on campus.
“No War Criminals in NYC”: Activists Take Aim at Netanyahu Ahead of Contested UNGA Speech
Sep 27, 2024
Protests targeting Benjamin Netanyahu took place across New York City Thursday as he arrived in town ahead of his address to the U.N. General Assembly this morning. Yesterday morning, activists blocked traffic near the U.N. headquarters, unfurling a banner that read “NO WAR CRIMINALS IN NYC–STOP THE GENOCIDE!” before police began arresting people. More protests and arrests took place throughout the day and into the night. This is Jodie Evans, co-founder of CodePink.
Jodie Evans: “He’s executing state-sponsored terrorism. The fact that he was allowed to land in this city and he is staying in a hotel and he is not arrested is a shame on everyone in power in the United States and in the city.”
***************
Report from Beirut: Israel Is “Targeting Everyone” in Bombing Campaign, Killing 700+ in Just Days
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 27, 2024
We get an update from Lebanon, where the death toll from Israeli airstrikes has risen to over 700 since Monday, following a series of explosions involving pagers and walkie-talkies in Beirut and southern Lebanon last week. The Israeli military reiterated its troops were preparing for a ground invasion of Lebanon if tensions continue to escalate. Multiple Israeli tanks and armored vehicles have appeared across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. As the Biden administration claims it’s working toward a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel is set to receive a new military aid package from the United States totaling some $8.7 billion. “People are really scared,” says Mona Fawaz, professor of urban planning at the American University of Beirut. “Israel does these so-called targeted assassinations, which, sadly, much of the Western press has been celebrating, and they talk about Israelis’ ingenuity. In fact, it’s targeting everyone.” Fawaz discusses the context for Lebanon’s crisis, organizing to shelter and survive the bombing, and the Israeli messaging about evacuation orders and Hezbollah.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
We go now to Lebanon, where Israeli strikes have already killed at least 25 people today, including a family of nine in the border town of Shebaa, bringing the death toll to over 700 since Israel began its indiscriminate bombing on Monday. Israel’s strikes follow a series of explosions involving booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies in Beirut and southern Lebanon last week that killed at least 37 people and injured more than 3,500.
In an apparent flip-flop, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel shares the aims of the U.S.-led initiative for a temporary ceasefire, which has also been backed by France, by Canada, by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, by the European Union and others. This comes after Netanyahu had publicly rejected the ceasefire proposal and vowed Israel will carry on, with “full force,” attacks on Lebanon. Netanyahu spoke Thursday as he landed here in New York, where he’s scheduled to address leaders of the U.N. General Assembly.
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] My policy, our policy, is clear: We are continuing to hit Hezbollah with full force, and we will not stop until we achieve our goals — first and foremost, returning the residents of the north safely to their homes.
AMY GOODMAN: Netanyahu’s remarks came as the Israeli military reiterated its troops are preparing for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon if tensions continue to escalate. Earlier today, Israeli tanks and armored vehicles were seen crossing Israel’s northern border into Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Lebanese officials say the number of displaced people fleeing Israel’s attacks has likely surpassed a quarter of a million, with tens of thousands sheltering in evacuation centers, in schools that have been closed in Beirut and across Lebanon.
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly Thursday, the Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib urged all parties to agree to a ceasefire, as he said the worsening violence threatens Lebanon’s very existence. He said a U.S.-, France-led proposal for that temporary truce was an opportunity to generate momentum to take steps toward ending the crisis.
ABDALLAH BOU HABIB: [translated] Lebanon is living through a crisis that threatens its very existence. The future of our people and our prosperity are in peril, and this is a situation that requires international intervention on an urgent basis before the situation spirals out of control with a domino effect, making the crisis impossible to contain. It will be impossible to extinguish the flame of this crisis, which will transform into a black hole that will engulf regional, international peace and security. The crisis in Lebanon threatens the entire Middle East if the situation remains as it currently is and if the world remains immobile.
AMY GOODMAN: As the Biden administration claims it backs a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel says it’s set to receive a new military aid package from the United States totaling some $8.7 billion.
For more, we go to Beirut, where we’re joined by Mona Fawaz, professor of urban planning at American University of Beirut. She’s also an activist.
Welcome to Democracy Now! Can you talk about what’s happening on the ground, with tens of thousands of people taking shelter in schools and other places, a quarter of a million people displaced? You yourself are involved with helping to house people. What’s happening?
MONA FAWAZ: Hi, Amy. And thanks for covering all of this.
So, really, everyone here in Beirut is under — actually, in Lebanon, is under extreme duress. Since Monday, we’ve had more than, the Ministry of Health just announced, 747 deaths. That is in three days, actually — more than half the people killed back in 2006 during the entire war. That means that people fled the south really very, very quickly, and the Beqaa. And so, the normal trickle down is instead huge flows of people who are traveling across stranded roads, spending hours and hours on trips that normally would just take 45 minutes.
And, of course, people are fleeing because they’ve just been watching for a whole year a genocide unfold in Gaza, and they’ve been hearing members of the Israeli political class and the generals repeating over and over again that they’re turning Beirut into another Gaza. So that means that people are really scared. And Israel is pounding the south and the Beqaa with one raid after another. And they’re also deploying all sorts of tactics to scare people, throwing leaflets, taking over the public phone station to robot call people and issue calls telling everyone to evacuate our classrooms, our homes. Everyone was getting these calls on Monday and Tuesday.
So, it’s really a lot of stress that you have to deal with, in the background of a country that for the last 11 years have suffered one shock after the other. So, that population, one in five of whom is actually still a Syrian refugee, has also lost 80% — 80% of its population is below the poverty line since we went bankrupt in 2019. We haven’t had a president since 20— for two years now, actually. So, there is a — we have had to basically try and help each other in a context which is really very severe.
And as you pointed out, the schools are closed. Our kids are home, because the schools are being used in shelter. One in two schools in Beirut is actually a shelter right now, and more than 40% of all the public schools in Lebanon have been turned into shelter.
And it’s getting closer and closer to us. I mean, Israel does these so-called targeted assassinations, which, sadly, much of the Western press has been celebrating, and they talk about Israelis’ ingenuity. In fact, I mean, it’s targeting everyone. It’s touching everyone. Just yesterday, there was an attack in Beirut, and it wounded one of my architecture students, a fourth-year architecture student at the American University of Beirut. So, I mean, these are not fighters; these are civilians. She just lived on the wrong street, because Israel decided to do that. Last Monday’s attack killed about 50 people.
I mean, I guess I’m just trying to show the extent to which people are trying to get involved, make a difference, help each other, but really in a very, very difficult context. And, yes, of course, most of the people I know are actually involved in trying to help people. So, most of us are sheltering family members or friends or people we know in our own homes. We also are fundraising for the Civil Defense, because Israel has been actually targeting ambulances, claiming that the wounded are fighters, but that means that the Civil Defense, which is basically the first responders, are losing their lives and their ambulances. And so we’re trying to fundraise for them. We’re trying to fundraise for medications. And because I work in a lab that normally would do a lot of urban visualization on housing and rent, we’re actually really mapping the violence, and then also all the schools, and trying to coordinate the action of solidarity by showing where the schools are, who can take aid where, so as, basically, the university can play that role of coordination and support for solidarity movements.
AMY GOODMAN: Israel says it’s warned tens of thousands of people — I think even the information minister of Lebanon — to move, they say, anyone who’s living near a Hezbollah facility or where weapons are stored. How do people know this, Professor Fawaz?
MONA FAWAZ: Of course, people cannot know where Hezbollah has weapons. And, of course, Israel can claim anything it wants. In fact, they’ve been sending bombs in all sorts of neighborhoods and areas of the country where it’s very unlikely that Hezbollah has any weapons. And the point is to basically set people against the party and to basically make it seem as if the war is just the result of Hezbollah’s belligerence.
In practice, there has been ridiculous videos showing people hiding weapons under their mattresses. It’s actually really condescending picture — cartoons oriented towards the Lebanese people, telling them, “Hey, you know the person who hid the bomb under your sofa? Can you — do you remember that guy? He was a Hezbollah.” This is ridiculous. I mean, people don’t know, and that is actually increasing the fear.
And it’s basically meant to be divisive, because the Lebanese society, at the base, is already quite divided on many issues, and also to put people into — under more duress, to just say, “OK, we surrender. You can do whatever you want.” No one can ever say no to mighty Israel and its sponsors.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, you’re a professor of urban planning. Can you explain the scale of the destruction in Lebanon due to Israel’s attacks right now? You’re documenting the frequency of the attacks, the demolition of infrastructure. We just have a minute.
MONA FAWAZ: Well, since last October, we have been documenting the strikes on daily basis and showing where they go and how. And our evidence is very clear. It shows that Israel has hit Lebanon, until last week, four times more often and way more, way deeper. In the last week, of course, the numbers have gone up the roof, and it is impossible to count how much of the demolition has actually happened. So we are working to geo-sat that, because, as in previous wars, we will have to support the effort of reconstruction. But some of the villages on the edges of Lebanon are basically fully flattened.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you for being with us, Mona Fawaz. Please stay safe, professor of urban planning at the American University of Beirut.
Next up, we look at the “Anatomy of a Smear Campaign Against Rashida Tlaib.” We’ll speak with Prem Thakker of Zeteo and Steve Neavling, an investigative reporter at Detroit Metro Times. It all started with an interview the Detroit congressmember did with the Detroit Metro Times. Then CNN got a hold of it. Stay with us.
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 27, 2024
Lebanon Calls for Int’l Community to Intervene as Israel’s Attacks Kill 700+ in a Matter of Days
Sep 27, 2024
Israel continues to bombard Lebanon, killing at least 25 people so far today, including a family of nine in the border town of Shebaa. Israel has killed over 700 people in Lebanon since Monday.
In an apparent flip-flop, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening he does support a U.S.-led temporary ceasefire effort, though he’s done nothing to slow down Israel’s assault and Israeli officials have threatened to launch a ground invasion. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.
Abdallah Bou Habib: “Lebanon is living through a crisis that threatens its very existence. The future of our people and our prosperity are in peril, and this is a situation that requires international intervention on an urgent basis before the situation spirals out of control with a domino effect, making the crisis impossible to contain.”
The U.N. says some 30,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria in recent days. Meanwhile, Syrian media says an Israeli airstrike from the occupied Golan Heights earlier today killed five Syrian soldiers on its border with Lebanon.
Israel Kills at Least 14 Palestinians in Another Attack on Gaza School Shelter
Sep 27, 2024
Israel’s assault on Gaza continues with another airstrike on a school sheltering displaced families in Jabaliya, which killed at least 14 people Thursday.
Rami Abdul-Nabi: “Where are these people supposed to go? They are not here for leisure or fun. These are people whose homes were destroyed in the north, in Beit Lahia, Jabaliya base, Beit Hanoun. This is a question for the international community, which has double standards. We demand the international organizations, the international community, the United Nations to provide us with safe places.”
Israel’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it secured another $8.7 billion in funding from the United States. Israel has killed over 41,500 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7 and wounded 96,000 others, according to official numbers.
100+ U.S. Lawmakers Demand Biden Admin Investigate Israel’s Killing of U.S. Activist Ayşenur Eygi
Sep 27, 2024
More than 100 U.S. lawmakers have signed on to a letter by Washington Congressmember Adam Smith demanding an independent investigation into Israel’s killing of Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi earlier this month in the occupied West Bank. Eygi’s family has also demanded the U.S. investigate, after the Biden administration said it would instead rely on Israel’s internal probe.
Cornell University Student Facing Deportation for Participating in Gaza Solidarity Protest
Sep 27, 2024
A Cornell University student is facing deportation to the United Kingdom after administrators suspended him for taking part in a campus protest calling on Cornell to divest from companies that support Israel’s assault on Gaza. Momodou Taal, a Ph.D. student in Africana studies, says he was advised to leave the U.S. “promptly” after his academic suspension led Cornell’s immigration office to cancel his F-1 student visa. Democracy Now! spoke with Momodou Taal on Thursday.
Momodou Taal: “Yes, it’s about freedom of speech, but that cannot be divorced from Palestine. The issue why we’re facing such repression and such repressive tactics is because it’s about Palestine. It’s because you’re speaking anti-Israel and anti-Israel’s genocide in Gaza. These issues are not, like, separate. So, absolutely, I think I’m a visible person. I’m quite outspoken on this issue. And I think this is the reason why I’m being targeted.”
Acclaimed Author Jhumpa Lahiri Declines Noguchi Award over Museum’s Keffiyeh Ban
Sep 27, 2024
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri has declined the prestigious Noguchi Museum award, after the museum recently fired three employees for wearing a keffiyeh. Lahiri, who teaches at Barnard, was one of many academics who signed on to a letter in May expressing support for Gaza solidarity protesters on campus.
“No War Criminals in NYC”: Activists Take Aim at Netanyahu Ahead of Contested UNGA Speech
Sep 27, 2024
Protests targeting Benjamin Netanyahu took place across New York City Thursday as he arrived in town ahead of his address to the U.N. General Assembly this morning. Yesterday morning, activists blocked traffic near the U.N. headquarters, unfurling a banner that read “NO WAR CRIMINALS IN NYC–STOP THE GENOCIDE!” before police began arresting people. More protests and arrests took place throughout the day and into the night. This is Jodie Evans, co-founder of CodePink.
Jodie Evans: “He’s executing state-sponsored terrorism. The fact that he was allowed to land in this city and he is staying in a hotel and he is not arrested is a shame on everyone in power in the United States and in the city.”
***************
Report from Beirut: Israel Is “Targeting Everyone” in Bombing Campaign, Killing 700+ in Just Days
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 27, 2024
We get an update from Lebanon, where the death toll from Israeli airstrikes has risen to over 700 since Monday, following a series of explosions involving pagers and walkie-talkies in Beirut and southern Lebanon last week. The Israeli military reiterated its troops were preparing for a ground invasion of Lebanon if tensions continue to escalate. Multiple Israeli tanks and armored vehicles have appeared across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. As the Biden administration claims it’s working toward a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel is set to receive a new military aid package from the United States totaling some $8.7 billion. “People are really scared,” says Mona Fawaz, professor of urban planning at the American University of Beirut. “Israel does these so-called targeted assassinations, which, sadly, much of the Western press has been celebrating, and they talk about Israelis’ ingenuity. In fact, it’s targeting everyone.” Fawaz discusses the context for Lebanon’s crisis, organizing to shelter and survive the bombing, and the Israeli messaging about evacuation orders and Hezbollah.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
We go now to Lebanon, where Israeli strikes have already killed at least 25 people today, including a family of nine in the border town of Shebaa, bringing the death toll to over 700 since Israel began its indiscriminate bombing on Monday. Israel’s strikes follow a series of explosions involving booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies in Beirut and southern Lebanon last week that killed at least 37 people and injured more than 3,500.
In an apparent flip-flop, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel shares the aims of the U.S.-led initiative for a temporary ceasefire, which has also been backed by France, by Canada, by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, by the European Union and others. This comes after Netanyahu had publicly rejected the ceasefire proposal and vowed Israel will carry on, with “full force,” attacks on Lebanon. Netanyahu spoke Thursday as he landed here in New York, where he’s scheduled to address leaders of the U.N. General Assembly.
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] My policy, our policy, is clear: We are continuing to hit Hezbollah with full force, and we will not stop until we achieve our goals — first and foremost, returning the residents of the north safely to their homes.
AMY GOODMAN: Netanyahu’s remarks came as the Israeli military reiterated its troops are preparing for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon if tensions continue to escalate. Earlier today, Israeli tanks and armored vehicles were seen crossing Israel’s northern border into Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Lebanese officials say the number of displaced people fleeing Israel’s attacks has likely surpassed a quarter of a million, with tens of thousands sheltering in evacuation centers, in schools that have been closed in Beirut and across Lebanon.
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly Thursday, the Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib urged all parties to agree to a ceasefire, as he said the worsening violence threatens Lebanon’s very existence. He said a U.S.-, France-led proposal for that temporary truce was an opportunity to generate momentum to take steps toward ending the crisis.
ABDALLAH BOU HABIB: [translated] Lebanon is living through a crisis that threatens its very existence. The future of our people and our prosperity are in peril, and this is a situation that requires international intervention on an urgent basis before the situation spirals out of control with a domino effect, making the crisis impossible to contain. It will be impossible to extinguish the flame of this crisis, which will transform into a black hole that will engulf regional, international peace and security. The crisis in Lebanon threatens the entire Middle East if the situation remains as it currently is and if the world remains immobile.
AMY GOODMAN: As the Biden administration claims it backs a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel says it’s set to receive a new military aid package from the United States totaling some $8.7 billion.
For more, we go to Beirut, where we’re joined by Mona Fawaz, professor of urban planning at American University of Beirut. She’s also an activist.
Welcome to Democracy Now! Can you talk about what’s happening on the ground, with tens of thousands of people taking shelter in schools and other places, a quarter of a million people displaced? You yourself are involved with helping to house people. What’s happening?
MONA FAWAZ: Hi, Amy. And thanks for covering all of this.
So, really, everyone here in Beirut is under — actually, in Lebanon, is under extreme duress. Since Monday, we’ve had more than, the Ministry of Health just announced, 747 deaths. That is in three days, actually — more than half the people killed back in 2006 during the entire war. That means that people fled the south really very, very quickly, and the Beqaa. And so, the normal trickle down is instead huge flows of people who are traveling across stranded roads, spending hours and hours on trips that normally would just take 45 minutes.
And, of course, people are fleeing because they’ve just been watching for a whole year a genocide unfold in Gaza, and they’ve been hearing members of the Israeli political class and the generals repeating over and over again that they’re turning Beirut into another Gaza. So that means that people are really scared. And Israel is pounding the south and the Beqaa with one raid after another. And they’re also deploying all sorts of tactics to scare people, throwing leaflets, taking over the public phone station to robot call people and issue calls telling everyone to evacuate our classrooms, our homes. Everyone was getting these calls on Monday and Tuesday.
So, it’s really a lot of stress that you have to deal with, in the background of a country that for the last 11 years have suffered one shock after the other. So, that population, one in five of whom is actually still a Syrian refugee, has also lost 80% — 80% of its population is below the poverty line since we went bankrupt in 2019. We haven’t had a president since 20— for two years now, actually. So, there is a — we have had to basically try and help each other in a context which is really very severe.
And as you pointed out, the schools are closed. Our kids are home, because the schools are being used in shelter. One in two schools in Beirut is actually a shelter right now, and more than 40% of all the public schools in Lebanon have been turned into shelter.
And it’s getting closer and closer to us. I mean, Israel does these so-called targeted assassinations, which, sadly, much of the Western press has been celebrating, and they talk about Israelis’ ingenuity. In fact, I mean, it’s targeting everyone. It’s touching everyone. Just yesterday, there was an attack in Beirut, and it wounded one of my architecture students, a fourth-year architecture student at the American University of Beirut. So, I mean, these are not fighters; these are civilians. She just lived on the wrong street, because Israel decided to do that. Last Monday’s attack killed about 50 people.
I mean, I guess I’m just trying to show the extent to which people are trying to get involved, make a difference, help each other, but really in a very, very difficult context. And, yes, of course, most of the people I know are actually involved in trying to help people. So, most of us are sheltering family members or friends or people we know in our own homes. We also are fundraising for the Civil Defense, because Israel has been actually targeting ambulances, claiming that the wounded are fighters, but that means that the Civil Defense, which is basically the first responders, are losing their lives and their ambulances. And so we’re trying to fundraise for them. We’re trying to fundraise for medications. And because I work in a lab that normally would do a lot of urban visualization on housing and rent, we’re actually really mapping the violence, and then also all the schools, and trying to coordinate the action of solidarity by showing where the schools are, who can take aid where, so as, basically, the university can play that role of coordination and support for solidarity movements.
AMY GOODMAN: Israel says it’s warned tens of thousands of people — I think even the information minister of Lebanon — to move, they say, anyone who’s living near a Hezbollah facility or where weapons are stored. How do people know this, Professor Fawaz?
MONA FAWAZ: Of course, people cannot know where Hezbollah has weapons. And, of course, Israel can claim anything it wants. In fact, they’ve been sending bombs in all sorts of neighborhoods and areas of the country where it’s very unlikely that Hezbollah has any weapons. And the point is to basically set people against the party and to basically make it seem as if the war is just the result of Hezbollah’s belligerence.
In practice, there has been ridiculous videos showing people hiding weapons under their mattresses. It’s actually really condescending picture — cartoons oriented towards the Lebanese people, telling them, “Hey, you know the person who hid the bomb under your sofa? Can you — do you remember that guy? He was a Hezbollah.” This is ridiculous. I mean, people don’t know, and that is actually increasing the fear.
And it’s basically meant to be divisive, because the Lebanese society, at the base, is already quite divided on many issues, and also to put people into — under more duress, to just say, “OK, we surrender. You can do whatever you want.” No one can ever say no to mighty Israel and its sponsors.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, you’re a professor of urban planning. Can you explain the scale of the destruction in Lebanon due to Israel’s attacks right now? You’re documenting the frequency of the attacks, the demolition of infrastructure. We just have a minute.
MONA FAWAZ: Well, since last October, we have been documenting the strikes on daily basis and showing where they go and how. And our evidence is very clear. It shows that Israel has hit Lebanon, until last week, four times more often and way more, way deeper. In the last week, of course, the numbers have gone up the roof, and it is impossible to count how much of the demolition has actually happened. So we are working to geo-sat that, because, as in previous wars, we will have to support the effort of reconstruction. But some of the villages on the edges of Lebanon are basically fully flattened.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you for being with us, Mona Fawaz. Please stay safe, professor of urban planning at the American University of Beirut.
Next up, we look at the “Anatomy of a Smear Campaign Against Rashida Tlaib.” We’ll speak with Prem Thakker of Zeteo and Steve Neavling, an investigative reporter at Detroit Metro Times. It all started with an interview the Detroit congressmember did with the Detroit Metro Times. Then CNN got a hold of it. Stay with us.
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