U.S. Backing Has Given Israel License to Kill & Maim

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by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 17, 2024

Israel Kills at Least 25 in Jabaliya U.N. Shelter as It Tightens Its Chokehold on Northern Gaza
Oct 17, 2024

Israel’s two-week siege on northern Gaza continues. Rescue workers say dozens of bodies remain buried under collapsed buildings in Jabaliya, where Israeli strikes earlier today on a U.N.-run school sheltering displaced Palestinians killed at least 25 people, including children. Hospitals warn food and fuel is running out. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, recorded this video late last night.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya: “The nursery is full of cases. They are critical cases in nature. This baby here was only a few hours old when his mother was targeted right after giving birth, so his mother, father and grandmother were martyred. This baby is now alone and has an injury to his head, which led to a secondary infection, and now he is receiving the needed treatment.”

U.S. Ambassador to U.N. Claims U.S. Will Hold Israel Accountable If It Starves Palestinians
Oct 17, 2024

At the U.N. Security Council Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield suggested the U.S. would start to demand evidence from Israel it is not intentionally starving Palestinians.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield: “A policy of starvation in northern Gaza would be horrific and unacceptable and would have implications under international law and U.S. law. The government of Israel has said that this is not their policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut off. And we will be watching to see that Israel’s actions on the ground match this statement.”

This comes as a new report by Politico reveals a top Biden administration official told aid groups in late August that the U.S. would not restrict arms and funding to Israel, even if Israel blocked food and other aid from entering Gaza. Lise Grande, Biden’s special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, reportedly told the heads of over a dozen aid groups the U.S. would never “hold anything back that [Israel] wants.”

Inside Gaza, Palestinians say Israel’s deliberate, man-made famine has been evident for months. This is Karam Safi, a displaced Palestinian in Khan Younis who has been working with aid groups to provide food to up to 16,000 people.

Karam Safi: “Due to the closure of the aid crossings and the permanent siege of the north and south, we were compelled to distribute these lentils, and with very simple resources and capabilities so that we can serve these people. … I expect a very big catastrophe. A very big catastrophe. I mean of a special kind. Why? Because most of the adults and children will die of hunger. And the Israelis are doing this intentionally. They are carrying out this siege to kill the people one way or another, not by strikes, but by famine. The goal is to humiliate the Palestinian people.”

Meanwhile, UNRWA, which has been defunded by the U.S. since January, is warning it may soon no longer be able to function.

Philippe Lazzarini: “And I will not hide the fact that we might reach a point that we won’t be able anymore to operate. And if we cannot operate anymore in Gaza, it’s not just UNRWA as the main provider of services, but you have also the rest of the U.N. system, which very much relies and depends on the platform that the agency has offered so far. So, we are very near to a possible breaking point. When would it be? I don’t know. But we are very near of that.”

Israel Expands Assault on Lebanon, Attacks Beqaa in East, Compounding Displacement Crisis
Oct 17, 2024

Israeli airstrikes have hit eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley shortly after Israeli forces warned residents it will attack the region. Before the latest warning, 25% of Lebanon was already under forced evacuation orders from Israel. Meanwhile, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon reports its peacekeepers have once again come under “direct and apparently deliberate fire” in southern Lebanon. We’ll go to Beirut to speak to journalist Rania Abouzeid after headlines.

Meanwhile, Syrian media reports at least two people were injured when Israel launched an airstrike on the port city of Latakia.

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“The Gaza Playbook”: Israel Brings Displacement, Death and Destruction to Lebanon
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 17, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/29 ... transcript

We get an update on Israel’s war on Lebanon from journalist Rania Abouzeid in Beirut. “We are seeing a definite escalation that started a month ago and doesn’t show any sign of letting up,” she observes, describing unrestrained attacks by Israel throughout the country, on all sectors of society, as Israel carries out its “Dahiya doctrine” in an attempt to foment division among the Lebanese population. “This is the Gaza playbook. … The sentiment here is that this is now a war on Lebanon,” Abouzeid says.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We begin today’s show in Lebanon. The United Nations says Israel’s war on Lebanon has displaced 1.2 million people, including 400,000 Lebanese children. Earlier today, the Israeli military attacked the Beqaa region in eastern Lebanon after ordering more people to flee their homes.

This comes as the death toll from Israel’s attack on a municipal building in the city of Nabatieh has risen to at least 16. Lebanese officials denounced the attack, which killed the city’s mayor and five other city workers who were holding a meeting to discuss distributing aid in the region.

Meanwhile, the U.N. says its peacekeeping forces in Lebanon came under, quote, “direct and apparently deliberate fire” from an Israeli tank on Wednesday. The tank fire damaged a U.N. watchtower and destroyed two cameras.

In other developments, video has emerged of Israel blowing up a historic neighborhood in the Lebanese village of Muhajbib. On Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was questioned about the attack by Matt Lee of the Associated Press.

MATT LEE: I want to go just to Lebanon for a second, because there was this footage that appeared, I guess overnight, of Israel blowing up an entire village in southern Lebanon. What do you make of that?

MATTHEW MILLER: So, I’ve seen the footage. I cannot speak to what their intent was or what they were trying to accomplish, what their targets were. I don’t know what they were. Obviously, we do not want to see entire villages destroyed. We don’t want to see civilian homes destroyed. We don’t want to see civilian buildings destroyed. We understand that Hezbollah does operate at times from underneath civilian homes, inside civilian homes. We’ve seen footage that has emerged over the course of the past two weeks of rockets and other military weapons held in civilian homes. So, Israel does have a right to go after those legitimate targets, but they need to do so in a way that protects civilian infrastructure, protects civilians.

MATT LEE: All right. I’m not sure I understand “I cannot speak to what their intent was or what they were trying to accomplish.” Isn’t it pretty clear that they —

MATTHEW MILLER: So —

MATT LEE: — what they were – what their intent was and what their —

MATTHEW MILLER: So — so —

MATT LEE: Whether they had a specific target in mind or not, blowing up an entire village, that seems to be pretty self-revelatory.

MATTHEW MILLER: So, I don’t — I don’t know what was in those buildings. I don’t know what was potentially underneath those buildings. That’s why I said I can’t speak to what they were trying to accomplish.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller being questioned by Matt Lee of the Associated Press.

Well, we go now to Beirut, where we’re joined by Rania Abouzeid. She’s a Lebanese Australian journalist and author based in Beirut. Her new piece for The New Yorker is titled “War Comes to Beirut.”

Rania, welcome back to Democracy Now! If you could respond to the latest news, the places and the scale of the Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon?

RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, actually, a month ago today, the war in the south became the war in Lebanon with Israel’s mass detonation of thousands of pagers across the country. And that was followed the next day with a similar triggering of explosives in walkie-talkies. And it heralded an escalation that continues to this day. So, Israeli attacks have been ramped up in terms of the scope of the attacks, in terms of the frequency, the geographical location and also the targeting.

You mentioned in your intro the attack yesterday on Nabatieh’s municipal building. Now, Nabatieh is a provincial capital in southern Lebanon. The Israelis had earlier called on its residents to evacuate. Some were unable or unwilling to. And the local councilmembers, some of them, including the mayor, stayed behind to provide aid, bread, to distribute bread to those people, and they were killed.

Just in this past week, you know, we have seen airstrikes on homes that have been sheltering displaced people. This week, there was an attack on a house in northern Lebanon, which is the opposite end of the country from the Israeli border, and it killed more than 20 people. So we are seeing a definite escalation that started a month ago and doesn’t show any sign of letting up.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Rania, if you can talk about Israel saying they are only targeting Hezbollah? Talk about the map of who is getting bombed. And also talk about what Hezbollah is responsible for, not only a military wing.

RANIA ABOUZEID: Yes, no, Hezbollah is not only a military wing. It is also a political party. It has members of Parliament, more than a dozen of them. It has ministers in this government and certainly in governments over many years past. It has a very vigorous and active social services arm, which includes first responders. They have also come under attack by the Israelis, and many of them have been killed. So, it’s a multi-armed organization which is an integral part of Lebanon’s social and political and military fabric.

In terms of the victims of these Israeli strikes, I mean, I can tell you that the death tolls, the daily death tolls, are in the double digits. And most of those people who are killed are women and children. In that attack in northern Lebanon that I mentioned, there was an 80-year-old woman who was killed, along with two babies. So, it’s not just going after Hezbollah. We’ve heard this before. We’ve heard this in Gaza, that they’re only going after Hamas. And it’s the same thing that we’re hearing here. I mean, yesterday, as you mentioned also in your intro, Israeli troops rigged an entire village in southern Lebanon which is very close to the border, and they blew it up. This is the Gaza playbook.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: You are in Beirut. For your latest piece for The New Yorker, you’ve been speaking to people who have been displaced. There are tens of thousands. If you could tell us what they were saying and what the situation in Beirut is as more and more people are displaced from areas around Lebanon?

RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, first of all, the Israeli drones don’t seem to leave the air. They don’t seem to leave the skies over Beirut. And they’re not just over the southern suburbs, which is where Hezbollah had offices and a presence. It’s everywhere, across the city. It is this incessant buzzing.

The displaced are being housed in more than a thousand facilities across the country, including more than 700 schools and educational facilities. There are also many people who are still on the streets. Just yesterday, I was with a group of hundreds of displaced people who are in an area very close to the coast, to the Lebanese coast, in an area called Biel. And they’re staying — I can’t even call them tents, because the four sides were completely open to the elements. It was just a piece of canvas overhead. And these people are displaced from all over Lebanon, not just from the south. They were displaced from the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area known as Dahiyeh, and as well as the Beqaa, which has also come under bombardment, and elsewhere. There were Syrians among them, too.

So, yes, the government has opened more than a thousand shelters, but it’s not enough, given the sheer volume of people who have been displaced. Many have also been taken in by Lebanese into their homes. And that is why some of these houses — you know, we’ve seen some of these displaced people who were taken in by Lebanese in other parts of the country — come under Israeli attack.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Rania, if you could talk about the number of people you spoke to who consider themselves anti-Hezbollah? How are they feeling now?

RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, it’s definitely — the sentiment here is that this is now a war on Lebanon and that there is no safe space. When Christian villages in the north and in the south can also be targeted, there is a sense that you just don’t know who Hezbollah — sorry, who Israel is targeting. They claim that they are chasing Hezbollah operatives. Who knows? There are question marks about that. Is there any proof of that? Like yesterday, when they blew up the village in the south, they said that there were Hezbollah tunnels under this. You know, they seem — again, this is part of the Gaza playbook. They can say that there is a command center, Hamas command center, under one of the hospitals and blow it up.

So, there is a sense that, you know, there are certainly Lebanese who disagree with Hezbollah’s decision to open what it called a support front to ease the pressure of Gaza. That was how Hezbollah described its support front. There are Lebanese who disagree with that. There are Lebanese who blame Hezbollah for dragging — for, they say, dragging the country into the war. And there are many others who see Hezbollah as the frontline defense against Israeli not only airstrikes and attacks, but also there have been attempts over the past two-and-a-half weeks or so for Israeli ground troops to enter southern Lebanon. And they have faced very fierce resistance from Hezbollah fighters in the south.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, if you could respond, Rania, to what Netanyahu has said about Israel’s intentions in Lebanon? He said that the Lebanese basically need to eliminate Hezbollah. Unless people of Lebanon, he says, quote, “take the country back” and free themselves from Hezbollah, Lebanon would be turned into Gaza. I mean, your response? People are saying, suggesting that what he wants, what Israel really wants, is to instigate a civil war in Lebanon. Is that the general sentiment?

RANIA ABOUZEID: That is the general sentiment, and that is a sentiment that was conveyed from some of the country’s top politicians down to some of these displaced people who are still on the streets of Beirut. That is very — I mean, that’s how it was interpreted, that he’s basically saying, “Turn on each other, or we will turn you into Gaza.”

And, you know, we see these efforts to try and foment this suspicion among Lebanese. There are — in all of those cases that I mentioned, when displaced people who were taken into homes in other parts — and let me be frank, in non-Shiite areas of Lebanon, were targeted by the Israelis, there is this sense that the Israelis are trying to make Lebanese fear each other, to try and make people of the south almost outcasts and to make people afraid to take in the displaced into their homes and into their communities.

This is compounded by the fact that in recent days Israeli journalists just casually tweet something, saying, “Hey, you know, what’s happening in a garden in a particular neighborhood?” And that causes widespread panic, when the Lebanese fear that perhaps that garden — they’re saying that because that garden or that facility might be targeted. Just before we went on air, there was a report that the Al Jazeera offices in central Beirut have also received a similar warning and that they have now been evacuated. So, there is this panic and this sense Israel can target whatever it wants, whenever it wants, and that they’re — with complete immunity.

AMY GOODMAN: Your response also to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Rania, saying that he’s demanding UNIFIL soldiers get out of combat zones, alleging their presence is providing a human shield for Hezbollah? And overall, talk about the significance of saying that the peacekeepers — I think there are about 10,000 of them in southern Lebanon — should get out of the way, many saying they want them — that Israel wants them out because they don’t want international observers describing what’s happening there. But how UNIFIL is seen in Lebanon?

RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, I’ll tell you how UNIFIL has responded to those threats. And UNIFIL has said that they’re not going anywhere. UNIFIL is the peacekeeping force that is stationed along the U.N.-delineated Blue Line, which is the border between the two states. It is their role to stay there and to monitor what is happening there.

We’ve seen four, I think five, attacks now, direct Israeli attacks on UNIFIL bases. They have wounded peacekeepers. They have taken out surveillance cameras on some of these bases. They’ve also, on one occasion, actually used a bulldozer to try and bring down a wall on one of these UNIFIL bases.

So, it’s all part of this effort to sort of intimidate and to attempt to discredit not just UNIFIL, but the U.N. We’ve seen the same thing with UNRWA, which is the U.N. agency which is tasked with dealing with Palestinian refugees. Beyond that, I mean, we saw Netanyahu himself at the U.N. General Assembly stand on the podium there and call the U.N. antisemitic. Israel has declared the U.N. secretary-general persona non grata in Israel. So, it’s all part of this coordinated effort to try and discredit the U.N. if it points out things like international law and the laws of war and international humanitarian law, and, in fact, UNIFIL’s mission and why it is in southern Lebanon.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Rania, could you explain, you know, this idea, this doctrine, the Dahiya doctrine, and whether — which is named, of course, after the area outside Beirut which has come under fire from Israel, and whether you think that’s actually in effect now? And I just want to just quote a brief passage from your New Yorker piece where you point out — I mean, just to give a scale — a sense of the scale of Israel’s assault, you know, a number of health workers have been killed, health facilities targeted. You quote Airwars, a British conflict monitor, who told The Washington Post that Israel’s offensive in Lebanon was, quote, “the most intense aerial campaign that we know of in the last 20 years” — of course, with the exception of Gaza. So, if you could explain the Dahiya doctrine and your sense of whether it’s in effect now?

RANIA ABOUZEID: Well, the Dahiya doctrine was created, basically, after the 2006 war. And to put it very bluntly, the idea is that you cause so much pain to a community that you try and pry public support from the group, from the nonstate actor — in this case, Hezbollah. So, the idea is that you inflict so much pain on Hezbollah’s support base, on what is known here as the resistance community, that it turns against the group.

And this is why we’re seeing, you know, the scope of the targets is so wide. It is not just — you know, Israelis are not just targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and military targets. They are also targeting, as I said, people, displaced people who escaped parts of the country that are very far away from the border. They’re targeting — Lebanon’s public health minister has said that he — you know, there are hospitals that have been bombed and closed their doors because of the threat of Israeli strikes. More than a hundred paramedics have been killed. Medical centers have been targeted. So, it is a very — the targeting is very broad.

And the idea is to try and, as I said, pry that support, to say — actually, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said this, not in his last speech, which was a few days ago, but in the one before that. He said this is the war about who screams first. So, it’s about inflicting pain on the other side and who is going to say “enough” first. And the Dahiya doctrine thinks that if you inflict enough pain on Hezbollah supporters, you will pry them away from the party.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Rania Abouzeid is a Lebanese Australian journalist and author based in Beirut. Thank you so much for joining us. We’ll link to your piece for The New Yorker, “War Comes to Beirut.”

RANIA ABOUZEID: Thank you.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Coming up, as aid groups warn Israel is wiping northern Gaza off the map, the Biden administration is threatening to cut military assistance to Israel in 30 days if more aid is not allowed into the area. We’ll speak to former State Department official Josh Paul, who resigned in protest last year. Back in a minute.

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Ex-State Dept. Official: Israel Is Starving Gaza Now. We Can’t Wait Another 30 Days to Take Action
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 17, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/17 ... transcript

Aid groups warn Israel is wiping northern Gaza off the map, and the Biden administration is threatening to cut military assistance to Israel — but not for at least 30 days. This comes as the U.S. has continued to arm Israel despite findings by its own experts at USAID and the State Department that Israel has routinely impeded delivery of food and medicine to Gaza. We speak with Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned last October over the push to increase arms sales to Israel. He and Tariq Habash, who resigned in protest from the Education Department, have launched a lobbying organization and a political action committee called A New Policy to push for a new approach on Israel/Palestine amid what Paul calls a “deep-rooted and very entrenched” pro-Israel consensus in U.S. politics.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Nermeen Shaikh in New York, with Amy Goodman in Washington, D.C.

“Northern Gaza is being wiped off the map.” That’s the warning from Oxfam and 35 other humanitarian groups who say Israel’s siege on northern Gaza has reached a, quote, “horrifying level of atrocity.”

Earlier today, Israel’s military bombed an UNRWA school in Jabaliya housing hundreds of displaced Palestinian families. Al Jazeera reports the death toll from the attack has climbed to 25, with many children among the dead.

As Israel continues its siege on northern Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a letter Sunday threatening to cut off U.S. military assistance if Israel does not boost humanitarian aid access to Gaza within the next 30 days. The Biden administration has continued to arm Israel despite findings by its own experts at USAID and the State Department that Israel has routinely impeded delivery of food and medicine to Gaza in violation of U.S. law.

Politico has revealed that in August, Biden’s special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, Lise Grande, met with leaders of more than a dozen aid organizations and directly said the U.S. would not suspend arms to Israel. One person who attended the meeting told Politico, quote, “She was saying that the rules don’t apply to Israel.” Grande also reportedly said the United States will not, quote, “hold anything back that they want.”

We are joined now by Josh Paul. He’s a former veteran State Department official who resigned in protest of the push to increase arms sales to Israel amid its assault on Gaza. He’s a former director in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in the State Department. On Wednesday, he and Tariq Habash, who resigned in protest from the Education Department, announced the formation of a new lobbying organization and a political action committee called A New Policy to push for Washington to take a new approach on Israel/Palestine.

Josh Paul, welcome back to Democracy Now! We’ll talk about this new organization and the PAC that you’ve formed, but first if you could respond to the letter that Austin and Blinken sent to Netanyahu, what it said and what it means that they gave Israel 30 days? Of course, in 30 days, that’s after the U.S. elections will take place and a new administration will be in power.

JOSH PAUL: Yes. Thank you, Amy. And good to join you this morning.

So, I want to clarify, to begin with, that the letter that Biden — sorry, that Blinken and Austin sent to their counterpart in the Israeli government didn’t actually threaten to cut off arms or to suspend security assistance. It simply said that there could be consequences under National Security Memorandum 20 and under U.S. law. What those consequences are, I think, remains to be seen, if at all. We have seen repeated expressions of concern from the United States government over the course of the last year.

And yet, what this letter makes clear, in its detail — and it is a detailed letter. It lists, I believe, 15 steps the United States would like to see Israel take to facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. What it does by doing so is demonstrate that the U.S. is currently in breach of its own laws. U.S. law says the U.S. cannot provide security or any form of assistance to a country that is restricting the delivery of U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance. Here we have, in writing from this administration, a list of the ways in which Israel is doing so, and yet U.S. military assistance continues to flow.

And, of course, nowhere in the law does it say, you know, “Give them 30 days to see if they can fix it.” The law is very clear that when it is made known to the president that assistance is being restricted, U.S. assistance cannot be provided. So, I think that there is, you know, plenty of reasons for skepticism here. And, of course, while people are starving on a daily basis in Gaza, dying of malnutrition, the time for this to be fixed is now. The time for it to be fixed was actually almost a year ago, but it is certainly now, not in 30 days.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Josh Paul, if you can talk — although you left the State Department protesting U.S. policy on Israel, and you were the person who approved weapons sales within the State Department, you clearly still have contacts within the State Department. Can you talk about what people are saying? I mean, everything from the revelations of ProPublica, also us speaking to other people who quit over reports coming out of the State Department saying clearly Israel is cutting — preventing humanitarian aid from coming in, and yet Blinken turns these reports around. What people are saying? Are there more resignations within the State Department? And what the U.S. accomplishes, since Netanyahu is such a clear ally of Trump and wants him to win, yet Biden still embraces him, supports him, and even with this warning letter, as you said, you know, the election will happen by the time they were to cut off aid if Israel doesn’t comply with what the U.S. is demanding?

JOSH PAUL: Yes. That last part, in particular, has been a bit of a mystery to me and, I think, lots of other people, because it has been very clear that Prime Minister Netanyahu has long had a preference for the Republican Party and for President Trump. He made that clear again when he came to Washington. He has made that clear in running rings around President Biden repeatedly over the course of the last year. So, what the thinking there is on the part of Democratic strategists, I just can’t fathom.

You know, with regard to how things are playing out within the State Department, it’s actually been a year to the day since I handed in my resignation at the State Department. And, you know, there was a significant increase in dissent, in protest within the department in the initial months of this conflict. I think the challenge is that none of that really led to any policy, because what we — or, policy changes, because what we have is a very tightly controlled set of decisions that are being made on a very political and politicized basis from the very top levels of the U.S. government.

You noted that within the State Department, there has been increasing transparency and pushes from USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and from, for example, the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, to submit to Secretary Blinken evidence that Israel is restricting U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance. I think it is worth noting that when ProPublica’s piece came out two weeks ago, reporting that these reports had gone to Secretary Blinken and he had cast them aside, those reports also — that report also noted that one of those officials, Julieta Valls Noyes, assistant secretary for population, refugees, and migration, had been asked if she felt that Section 620I of the law, that says we cannot provide assistance in these circumstances, had been triggered, her initial response was “Yes.” When she was pressed, she backed down. I think it’s worth noting that she quietly resigned a week ago, shortly after the ProPublica story came out.

So, I think there is a degree still of concern, and certainly of shame, amongst high-level officials. I know that amongst lower-level officials, there is immense pain. I’ve heard from people in the last week saying they don’t know if they can do this any longer. At the same time, I think there’s also a feeling of desperation and that there’s really nothing, under President Biden, that can be done or can be changed from the inside on this issue. So people are waiting to see what happens next and what happens after the election.

AMY GOODMAN: And do you see, from your vantage point as an insider, any space between Biden and Harris?

JOSH PAUL: I think that’s very hard to say. Certainly, Vice President Harris, as a candidate, has not given us much evidence that there is any space. On the contrary, she has said repeatedly that she will continue the policies set by President Biden, including of unconditional support for Israel. There are people around Vice President Harris. Her policy team are, I think, different than those around Biden. And I think, as well, that Harris is not the ideologue on this issue that President Biden is. But I do think that what we face here is a deep-rooted and very entrenched set of political, economic incentives that will make it very hard for anyone to change U.S. policy in this regard, regardless of the outcome of the election, or of this election. This is something that is going to take a long time to resolve and a lot of effort.

And to get to the point that you opened our session with, that’s why Tariq Habash and I and a group of extraordinary, remarkable leaders, including former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, have created A New Policy. This is a lobbying organization and a political action committee founded on the idea that what we face here is actually not a policy problem. We know what the policy problems are. The people in government know what the policy problems are. What we face here is a political problem. And until we fix the politics, until we play within this ugly system that we have to make it work in the interests of the American voters, the American people, American values, and the interests of all of the people in the region, we are not going to make headway. So, that is what we are out to do.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Josh Paul, if you could also respond to recent reports that suggest that Israel will launch retaliatory strikes against Iran within the next three weeks — that is to say, before the U.S. election? And although the Biden administration has reportedly won assurances from Israel that they will not attack Iranian nuclear or oil sites, of course, the implications of this would be enormous. If you could respond to that and how you think the Biden administration would respond in the event that Israel does attack Iran?

JOSH PAUL: Well, so, let’s, first of all, remember that the Biden administration also won assurances from Israel back in April that it would conduct itself in accordance with international humanitarian law and not restrict the flow of humanitarian assistance in Gaza. So, I’m not sure how much assurances from Israel at this point are worth or how credibly they can be taken.

That said, I think that one of the things that is empowering Prime Minister Netanyahu in this situation is his knowledge that America has Israel’s back, that no matter what Israel does — you know, we have deployed now a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, a THAAD system, which is our most capable and most expensive air defense system, to Israel. We have deployed several squadrons of U.S. fighter jets. We have deployed U.S. Navy ships. And I think that the problem there is that we create for Prime Minister Netanyahu this ability to escalate without concern over repercussions, and indeed, if anything, a certain attraction, one can imagine, to him of getting America involved in a conflict with Iran that he has long craved. So I think these are indeed very dangerous times, particularly as we lead into a U.S. election here.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Josh, A New Policy, the name of your new organization — A New Policy’s website says the United States policy in the Middle East should comply with American laws, reflect American values, advance peace, and peace and prosperity for all Americans. Are you saying now that the U.S. is breaking U.S. law?

JOSH PAUL: So, not only am I saying that the U.S. is breaking U.S. law, but I’ve actually heard, as have others who I’m working with, from members of Congress, behind closed doors, who will say, “We believe that what Israel is doing with our weapons amounts to war crimes, but we won’t say that publicly.” What A New Policy’s mission ultimately is, as Tariq Habash said today in the magazine Semafor, is to change that, is to fix that, is to make it so that U.S. elected officials can vote in accordance with their voters’ preferences, with their constituents’ interests, with American interests, with American values and with American law. We need to remove these structural roadblocks and these financial, frankly, roadblocks to our democracy and to the enforcement of our laws. So, if all of your listeners or viewers would like to visit, we are at www.anewpolicy.org, and happy to continue the conversation there, as well.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Thanks so much, Josh Paul, former director in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in the State Department. He resigned in protest last year. He has just launched a lobbying group called A New Policy.” Thanks so much for joining us.

Coming up, we’ll look at Israel’s threats to launch retaliatory strikes against Iran as fears grow of a broader regional war.

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“Itching for a War”: Biden Deploys U.S. Troops to Israel as Netanyahu Threatens Escalation with Iran
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 17, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/17 ... transcript

We look at Israel’s threats to launch retaliatory strikes against Iran as fears grow of a broader regional war. We speak to analyst Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, about the Biden administration sending U.S. troops and the top-of-the-line THAAD missile defense system to Israel. “There are no direct and clear U.S. interests at stake here,” says Parsi. “Every time Israel escalates the war, Biden rushes in to protect Israel from the consequences of its own escalation,” incentivizing Israel’s escalation of tensions in the region and risking drawing the U.S. into war with Iran, he adds.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Nermeen Shaikh in New York, with Amy Goodman in Washington, D.C.

We end today’s show looking at the rising risk of a broader regional war in the Middle East. The Pentagon has announced U.S. B-2 bombers attacked five Houthi targets in Yemen earlier today. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the attacks came in response to Houthi’s, quote, “destabilizing behavior.” Houthi fighters have attacked vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November and vowed to continue until Israel ends its assault on Gaza and Lebanon.

This comes as the Biden administration is deploying an advanced anti-missile defense system and a hundred U.S. troops to Israel as Israel threatens to carry out retaliatory strikes against Iran in response to Iran’s recent ballistic missile attack on Israeli military and security sites.

Earlier today, the commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards issued a new warning to Israel. The commander, Hossein Salami, was speaking at the funeral of Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed in the Israeli attack that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

HOSSEIN SALAMI: [translated] You, Israel, may imagine that THAADs can compensate for your shortcomings in defending you. This is a mistake. Do not trust the tubes of these launchers. You cannot massacre Muslim nations but remain safe, secure and live in peace. No, that cannot happen.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We’re joined now by Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He’s the author of several books, including Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy.

Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Trita. If you could just begin by responding to this latest news?

TRITA PARSI: So, I think it’s extremely important for the American public to understand that what Biden has done here is that he has deployed U.S. troops into an active war zone in another country’s war. There are no direct and clear U.S. interests at stake here. And the Biden administration is essentially presenting this as if it is defending Israel or helping Israel defend itself, whereas, in reality, these are — the distinction between defensive and offensive weapons here is rather irrelevant, because what the Biden administration is doing is reducing the costs for Israel to escalate tensions in the region. Every time Biden does this, it makes it easier for Israel to escalate. And as a result, it has continued to do exactly that.

If Biden was not reducing the costs of escalation, it would have been costlier for Israel to do the steady escalation as we’ve seen in the last year, a widening of the war, and it would have thought twice. Perhaps the costs would even have been prohibitive. So, if the Biden administration’s actual goal is to prevent the widening of the war, prevent escalation in the region, adding defensive or any type of military capabilities to the side that actually is leading the escalation is not something that, in any way, shape or form, actually can help calm the situation down. Instead, it actually helps fuel tensions in the region and increases the likelihood of the very same widening of the war that Biden claims that he is against.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you give us, Trita, a chronology of what happened? The bombing on the inauguration of the new president by Israel of Tehran — not clear if it was an airstrike, if it was a bomb that was planted — that killed the Hamas negotiator, Ismail Haniyeh, then — that was Israel. Iran waits weeks and then attacks with 180 anti-ballistic missiles that kill no one but a Palestinian who died from, not clear, the shrapnel that came down from the sky in Jericho. They said they were just targeting military sites in Israel. Is Iran coordinating, by the way, with the United States, actually, in all of this? Is there more behind-the-scenes communication than we understand?

TRITA PARSI: There is behind-the-scenes communication, undoubtedly. And there is, perhaps at a surfical level, a degree of coordination. I think the Iranians do not want to see escalation, knowing very well that they are in a weaker military position, and they know quite well that Netanyahu has been looking, itching for a war for quite some time, a war that he designs to drag the U.S. into it. And his best opportunity to drag the U.S. into this unnecessary war is in the next three weeks. So, the Iranians have been rather restrained, hoping that they would avoid walking into Israel’s trap.

This is part of the reason why, after the assassination of Haniyeh, despite the fact that they promised a response, they didn’t respond. They claim that there were promises from the U.S. and Europe that there would be a ceasefire and that they waited to give that a chance. No ceasefire came, but on top of that, instead, Israel attacks Lebanon, kills Nasrallah, as well as the senior IRGC official. And after that, the Iranians did decide to respond, and they do so by striking military targets.

And in that strike, they also demonstrate their capacity to penetrate Israel’s air defenses, which is precisely why, when the THAAD is now being deployed over there in Israel — is an indication, is an admission that the Israeli air defenses are insufficient. This, again, goes back to what I said earlier on. Every time Israel escalates the war, Biden rushes in to protect Israel from the consequences of its own escalation. That is not a strategy to prevent escalation; that is a strategy that fuels escalation.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, Trita, could we also talk about what role countries in the region could potentially play in any possible retaliation against Iran? The Iranian foreign minister was recently in Riyadh. He’s now in Egypt. But people have spoken specifically about Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Israel has been trying to persuade them to, quote, “not facilitate any possible Israeli retaliation.” If you could talk about the relationship between the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran, the various sites at which they’ve been at odds, and where they stand at the moment vis-à-vis Iran?

TRITA PARSI: There’s been an interesting evolution of the position of the Saudis and the Emiratis. Fifteen years ago, they were not publicly, but privately, they were lobbying the U.S. quite aggressively to go to war with Iran. This was revealed by the WikiLeaks, in which the cables showed how much very senior officials, including the king of Saudi Arabia at the time, was pushing for the U.S. to go to war. This has now changed in the last couple of years. There’s both been a bit of a rapprochement between these countries, but also a clear realization on the Saudi and the Emirati side that the Iranians actually have capabilities that go far beyond what they had expected, which means that in case of a war, the Iranians would have the capacity of destroying a tremendous amount of facilities in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, and as a result, those two countries would suffer tremendously in the case of a war, which is something that they previously did not think was the case.

Today, I don’t think they are, in any way, shape or form, eager for this type of a confrontation. And I think the message from the Iranian side to them has been that if they facilitate, if they allow their airspace to be used or their bases to be used for an attack against Iran, the Iranians will also retaliate against them directly. I think that message from the Iranians is sent to them in order for them to put pressure on the Biden administration to actually restrain Israel, something that the Biden administration has been unwilling to do. The Iranians don’t have a direct way of pressuring the Biden administration, but they appear to be calculating that through Saudi Arabia and the UAE, there may be a greater likelihood that the Biden administration finally will do something to prevent the Israelis from further escalation.

AMY GOODMAN: Trita Parsi, according to The Washington Post, Israel is now considering striking military sites in Iran, but not Iran’s oil or nuclear facilities. However, many in the U.S. and Israel are saying, “Take this moment to strike. Take out Iran’s nuclear facilities.” We know, of course, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal that Obama had negotiated. What exactly would this mean, what is about to take place, apparently?

TRITA PARSI: Most military analyses point to the fact that the Israelis actually don’t have the capacity of delivering a fatal blow to Iran’s nuclear facilities. They have been pushing for a larger attack, including against oil installations and economic infrastructure. The Biden administration has pushed back and has essentially delivered a list of military targets that they believe would be adequate for Israel’s response. The Israelis, reportedly, have agreed to this.

But I think it’s very important to understand that most of this is, frankly, meaningless, because once the Israelis strike, particularly if they strike against military sites and try to target military officials, as they have done in Lebanon, there will be civilian casualties. There will be an escalation, that will almost make it inevitable for the Iranians to then respond again, which then means that in the second iteration of this, the Israelis are very likely to go after economic infrastructure, oil installations, and potentially the nuclear program, as well. As long as we are on an escalatory cycle, it does not matter what the first step is. What matters is what the last step is. And as long as we are on that cycle and Biden is not preventing it, it’s, frankly, meaningless if the first step is to avoid targeting nuclear sites and economic infrastructure. This will escalate towards a war in which all of those different things will be targeted, both on the Iranian side, as well as on the Israeli side.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Trita, finally, if you could talk about, respond to the fact that Netanyahu, much like — we spoke about this in our earlier segment on Lebanon — much like as he did with Lebanon, gave a direct address to the Lebanese people? He did the same with Iran last month, saying, “With every passing moment, the Iranian government is bringing the noble Persian people closer to the abyss.” What is the significance of this, and why is he doing that?

TRITA PARSI: Well, he’s done this on previous occasions, as well, not only in the context of Gaza and Lebanon, but in the case of Iran, as well. I think the primary target of this is actually not the Iranian public. The message was in English, and the original video had English subtitles. This is a message to the Western audience in order to present Israel’s war of aggression as a defensive war, as a war that will help get rid of a very unpopular regime in Iran, and as a result, just as with the Iraq War, this deserves the support of the Western publics, because the government in Iran is so problematic, similar to the argument against Saddam Hussein. And remember, it was Netanyahu who testified in Congress back right before the Iraq War promising that an attack on Iraq would have positive reverberations throughout the entire region.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Thank you, Trita Parsi.

TRITA PARSI: We’re seeing again the Israelis —

NERMEEN SHAIKH: I’m afraid we’re going to have to leave it there. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and author of several books, including Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy.

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Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 18, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/18/headlines

Israel Kills Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar, Says It Will Continue War on Gaza
Oct 18, 2024

Israel announced Thursday it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza. A senior member of Hamas’s political bureau told the AFP, “Israel believes that killing our leaders means the end of our movement … these leaders became an icon for future generations to continue the journey towards a free Palestine.” The Israeli military released a video allegedly showing Sinwar’s final moments in which he appears to throw a stick or piece of debris at the Israeli military drone filming him. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared “this is not the end of the war in Gaza” and that Israel would continue its assault until “Hamas lays down its arms and returns our hostages.” It appears Sinwar was not killed as part of a targeted strike, but in the course of Israel’s indiscriminate assault on the Gaza Strip.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined other leaders in calling for Sinwar’s death to propel a ceasefire. But inside Gaza, Palestinians say past killings of Hamas and other resistance leaders have not ended Israel’s brutality.

Kamal Abou Ajwa: “They did not only assassinate Sinwar. They also assassinated Haniyeh. They assassinated Hassan Nasrallah. And the war did not stop. We are urging for the war to stop. We are not asking for them to assassinate this person or that. They have assassinated most of our leaders, and the war has not stopped. We are calling for the war to stop.”

Yahya Sinwar became the chief of Hamas’s political operations after Israel assassinated his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran in July.

Press Groups Demand Israel Allow for Evacuation of Critically Injured Al Jazeera Reporters
Oct 18, 2024

In other news from Gaza, Al Jazeera camera operator Fadi al-Wahidi remains in a coma after he was shot in the neck by an Israeli sniper while reporting in Jabaliya earlier this month. Israeli authorities have blocked the evacuation of al-Wahidi from Gaza, as well as that of fellow Al Jazeera cameraperson Ali al-Attar, to receive urgently needed medical treatment. Press freedom groups are demanding that the two Al Jazeera camerapeople be allowed out of Gaza in order to survive.

Israeli Soldier Kills 59-Year-Old Palestinian as She Harvested Olives on Her Land
Oct 18, 2024

In the occupied West Bank, mourners gathered for the funeral of Hanan Salameh, a 59-year-old Palestinian woman who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers as she harvested olives on her land in the village of Faqqua near Jenin. At least 757 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israel since October 7 of last year. Hanan Salameh’s son described his mother’s killing.

Faris Salameh: “We were picking olives, and Israeli authorities had previously given us a permit to harvest the olives on the condition that we stay away from the fence 100 meters. We were farther than around 100 meters. And when they started shooting, we started packing our stuff and leaving. She was martyred. She was shot by the tractor. We were by the end of the area, far from the fence, and they shot her in cold blood. This is what happened.”

Earlier today, the U.N. said it’s recorded at least 32 attacks by Israeli settlers targeting Palestinians harvesting olives since the start of October. Thirty-nine Palestinians have been injured, and some 600 Palestinian olive trees and saplings were “vandalized, sawed off, or stolen.”

UNIFIL Says Israel Has Used White Phosphorus as Israeli Military Continues to Attack Its Forces
Oct 18, 2024

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon has reiterated it will remain in place despite ongoing, deliberate attacks against its members by Israeli forces. UNIFIL also said it found evidence of possible use of white phosphorus weapons near one of its bases. The use of white phosphorus is illegal. This comes as Hezbollah says it’s entering a “new phase” of its fight against Israeli forces that have invaded Lebanon, including the introduction of new weapons. Israel has killed at least 2,400 people in Lebanon and forcibly displaced over 1.34 million people over the past month.

Biden Praises Killing of Sinwar in Berlin as Western Leaders Renew Calls for Ceasefire
Oct 18, 2024

President Biden has arrived in Berlin for talks with Western leaders. During brief remarks after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Biden said his trip was aimed at ensuring that NATO remains strong and that Ukraine prevails in its war against Russian occupation. Biden also hailed Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Biden’s final trip to Europe as president comes as several European lawmakers have called for sanctions against Israel over its bloody assaults on Gaza and Lebanon.

European Leaders Split over Response to Israel; Spanish Lawmaker Calls Out Sánchez Hypocrisy
Oct 18, 2024

On Tuesday, far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni revealed that Italy has effectively had an arms embargo against Israel in place since its invasion of Gaza last year, with arms export licenses consistently denied. Meanwhile, Ireland’s leader Simon Harris said he’s looking at ways to immediately impose trade sanctions on Israel, following a call by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on the European Commission to suspend the bloc’s free trade agreement with Israel. That drew accusations of hypocrisy from some Spanish lawmakers, who pointed to Spain’s weapons deals with Israel since October 7 worth one billion euros. This is Spanish parliamentarian Ione Belarra, who addressed the Spanish parliament Wednesday while holding a picture of the Palestinian student Sha’ban al-Dalou, who was burned to death in Israel’s attack this week on Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza.

Ione Belarra: “Last Sunday, Israel did this: They burned dozens of people alive in tents while they were taking refuge in a hospital. What is the difference between this and the Nazi gas chambers? I am asking you all, Mr. President. There is no difference. And we are complicit as a country in this genocide.”

Sha’ban al-Dalou’s younger brother Abdul Ruhman succumbed to his burn wounds earlier today. We’ll go to Gaza later in the broadcast to speak with Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed about Sha’ban al-Dalou and his family.

College Students at Brown, Northwestern Protest to Demand End to Gaza Genocide
Oct 18, 2024

Gaza solidarity protests are continuing across U.S. college campuses. In Rhode Island, students from across the state are traveling to Providence today to join Brown University students in a protest against their school’s rejection of their call to divest from Israeli companies complicit in war and occupation.

In Illinois, Northwestern University sent in campus police to tear down a sukkah set up by Jewish students that they dedicated to the people of Gaza. A sukkah is a temporary booth or hut constructed during the weeklong festival of Sukkot. Jewish Voice for Peace Northwestern said, “We will not allow our traditions to be exploited by those who seek death and destruction. Our ancestors, many of whom endured genocide and ethnic cleansing, taught us never to be bystanders in the face of injustice.”

In more protest news, earlier this week peace activists again blockaded the entrance to the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to oppose the role of U.S. drones in Israel’s war on Gaza. One activist was arrested.

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Tareq Baconi on Death of Hamas Chief Sinwar & Why Killing Palestinian Leaders Won’t Pacify Resistance
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 18, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/18 ... transcript

Hamas has confirmed Israel killed the organization’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, marking what could be a turning point in its yearlong war. Sinwar was apparently not killed as part of a targeted strike, but in the course of Israel’s indiscriminate assault on the Gaza Strip. “It’s not a war that’s happening against Hamas … This is an Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people,” says Palestinian analyst Tareq Baconi, author of Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance. “The removal of someone like Yahya Sinwar will not stop the Netanyahu government from carrying out its genocide in the Gaza Strip.”

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: The head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, has confirmed in a televised address that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces earlier this week. Al-Hayya could succeed Sinwar. This comes after Israel announced Thursday it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, marking what could be a turning point in Israel’s assault on Gaza. Sinwar was apparently not killed as part of a targeted strike, but in the course of Israel’s indiscriminate assault on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military released a video they say shows Sinwar moments before his death after they attacked the building he was in, in Rafah. In Sinwar’s final moments, he appears to throw a stick or debris at the Israeli military drone filming him.

Hostage families called for Israel to now focus on negotiating a deal to free the hostages. Many of them protested in Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in a video statement after the killing.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] Today we clarified again what happens to those who hurt us. Today we once again showed the world the victory of good over evil. But the war, my dears, is not over yet.

AMY GOODMAN: After Israel’s announcement, Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas’s political bureau, told the AFP, quote, “Hamas is a liberation movement led by people looking for freedom and dignity … It seems that Israel believes that killing our leaders means the end of our movement … these leaders became an icon for future generations to continue the journey towards a free Palestine,” unquote.

This is a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City responding to news of Sinwar’s death.

KAMAL ABOU AJWA: [translated] We are urging for the war to stop. We are not asking for them to assassinate this person or that. They have assassinated most of our leaders, and the war has not stopped. We are calling for the war to stop.

AMY GOODMAN: Back in the United States, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined other world leaders in calling for Sinwar’s killing to propel a ceasefire. This is presidential candidate Vice President Harris.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Hamas is decimated, and its leadership is eliminated. This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza. And it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination. And it is time for the day after to begin.

AMY GOODMAN: Yahya Sinwar was appointed head of Hamas in July after the previous leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran on the day that the Iranian president was inaugurated.

For more, we go to Cape Town, South Africa, where we’re joined by Tareq Baconi, a Palestinian analyst and writer. The Palestinian Policy Network, he’s president of its board, Al-Shabaka. He is the author of the book Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance. His recent piece for The New York Review of Books is headlined “Accounts of the Struggle.”

Tareq, welcome back to Democracy Now! First, if you can respond to Israel’s announcement that they’ve killed Yahya Sinwar, how you understand he was killed, apparently in Rafah, and Hamas stopping short but looking like they are confirming, in fact, the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead?

TAREQ BACONI: Hi, Amy. It’s good to be back.

Yes, so, we’ve seen the footage now that was released by the Israelis yesterday. And just as I was coming onto the show today, the confirmation came in from Hamas that the leader, Yahya Sinwar, had been executed. Now, the footage that came out shows how unusual this situation had been. This was, as you said on the show, not an operation that was planned. It appears to have been an accidental stumbling of this unit that was training in the Gaza Strip on the group that included Yahya Sinwar.

Now, the footage that’s been circulating is one that I believe that the Israeli military will come to regret one day, because it’s showing a man in military fatigues who is fighting until his last breath. This is a leader who they had long claimed was in hiding, surrounded by hostages and preventing — or, cowering in fear from the Israeli military. And, in fact, here is a leader who’s aboveground, not surrounded by any of the captives, fighting. Now, this is going to be something that will certainly shape the way that Yahya Sinwar is remembered and the legacy that he will be thought as having made before his execution.

AMY GOODMAN: So, if you can talk about who Yahya Sinwar is? And talk about his rise to power and what you think the significance of this moment is.

TAREQ BACONI: Well, Yahya Sinwar really is a strategist. He’s someone who has gone up through the ranks of Hamas from its earliest days of the establishment around the founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. He was part of that early group of leaders. And so he has been a part of Hamas and Hamas’s organizational structure in the Gaza Strip for decades.

He’s, as is well known now, someone who also served time in Israeli prisons, which meant that he was also exposed to Israeli military officials and prison wardens and had used that time to learn Hebrew, to educate himself about Israeli politics, before returning to the Gaza Strip with the prisoner exchange deal that freed Gilad Shalit in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

He came back into the Gaza Strip and slowly made his way up through the ranks in the military wing. And certainly, then, after Ismail Haniyeh was moved to Doha, he became Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, as well. Now, this is someone who is very calculated and has always maintained a very clear and decisive position that Hamas is engaged in a war of liberation, is engaged in resistance, and not just armed resistance, but also popular resistance, against Israeli apartheid.

Now, his killing, there’s been a lot of talk about what his killing will mean for Palestinians in Gaza and for what’s happening today. And one of the things that’s really important to note is that this is a war that’s happening against the Palestinian people. It’s not a war that’s happening against Hamas, despite the framing being of a war against Hamas in the West. This is an Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people. The removal of someone like Yahya Sinwar will not stop the Netanyahu government from carrying out its genocide in the Gaza Strip. As far as Hamas is concerned, this is not a movement that is dependent on a singular leader. It’s a movement that has a collective approach to decision-making. We’ll have to wait and see who they elect as a new leader, but I don’t necessarily foresee a significant change in the reality on the ground in the immediate future.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, after Israel assassinated Nasrallah in Lebanon, thousands of Lebanese Israel has killed. Do you see the same thing happening now in Gaza? I mean, you have President Biden. You have Vice President Kamala Harris You have the families of hostages in Tel Aviv. They are continuing to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. And you have Harris saying now they should move forward in that direction.

TAREQ BACONI: Well, a ceasefire in Gaza has been possible for many months now. It’s been on the table for many months. And despite all of this false equalization that it was — that the obstacles to the ceasefire were both Sinwar and Netanyahu, the reality is that Sinwar has accepted, Hamas has officially accepted a ceasefire in which the hostages would be released in return for the Palestinian prisoners who are held in Israeli jails and a permanent cessation of violence. What the Netanyahu government has time and again said, that they will only accept a release or that exchange of captives for prisoners if the ceasefire is temporary, which means that after that exchange happens, they would plan to go back in and carry out the genocide. Now, it’s not clear how they think that that would be something that Hamas would be willing to accept, giving up the captives in return for only temporary reprieve. So, the obstacle to getting a permanent ceasefire in Gaza has always been the Netanyahu government.

The U.S. administration has time and again suggested that they’re putting pressure on the Netanyahu government to achieve a ceasefire. But that’s absolutely not in line with what the American administration has done in practice, which is to arm Israel and enable it to maintain a genocide against the Palestinian people. So I think all the rhetoric that comes out from either Harris or Biden at the moment has to be seen only as political theater. I think in the best-case scenario, we have an American administration that’s been entirely coopted by the Netanyahu government and is being led into becoming complicit in genocide against its best interests and the interests of the Palestinian people. And at worst, we have an American administration that has fully embraced Netanyahu’s ideological view of exterminating the Palestinian people, regime change in the region, and carrying out that ideological project through American arms and money. So I don’t think that the obstacle to a ceasefire has ever been Sinwar and that now the removal of Sinwar is suddenly going to lead us into a ceasefire.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to turn to President Joe Biden — he just arrived in Berlin — speaking with Western leaders as he addressed the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The death of the leader of Hamas represents a moment of justice. He had the blood of Americans and Israelis, Palestinians and Germans and so many others on his hands. I told the prime minister of Israel yesterday, “Let’s also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas.” And I look forward to discussing Iran.

AMY GOODMAN: “A path to peace,” he says. And he ends by saying, “I look forward to discussing Iran.” Your thoughts, Tareq?

TAREQ BACONI: Well, I mean, I think this is a continuation of the same, of the same positioning that the Biden administration has been in, which is really that they’re not making any of the decisions, or at least that they’re not making any of the decisions to end a ceasefire. They’re actively making the decisions to further support the Netanyahu government and to align American interests with Israeli interests in the way that it’s understood by Israel, which is to maintain a genocide in Gaza and to expand the war in the region.

I think it’s very clear that the Netanyahu government is thinking about completely destabilizing Lebanon, of possibly carrying out some kind of operation in Iran that could lead to a regime change. What we’re seeing today is an attempt by Israel to remake the Middle East in such a way that they can maintain their reality as an apartheid state unchallenged in the region. And the Biden administration is fully accepting of that reality and hasn’t made any moves to really counter or put pressure on the Netanyahu government to either end its genocide or rethink these policies.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to turn to a clip of Yahya Sinwar himself. We recently had Hind Hassan on Democracy Now! talking about her new documentary, Starving Gaza. But two years ago, it’s believed she was the last person to interview on video Sinwar when she was working for Vice News. This was in Gaza in 2021.

YAHYA SINWAR: [translated] Israel, which possesses a complete arsenal of weaponry, state-of-the-art equipment and aircraft, intentionally bombs and kills our children and women. And they do that on purpose. You can’t compare that to those who resist and defend themselves with weapons that look primitive in comparison. If we had the capabilities to launch precision missiles that targeted military targets, we wouldn’t have used the rockets that we did. Does the world expect us to be well-behaved victims while we’re getting killed? For us to be slaughtered without making a noise? That’s impossible.

AMY GOODMAN: Again, that was Yahya Sinwar back in 2021 speaking to Hind Hassan. Tareq Baconi, speak more about what he’s saying and also about the decades he spent in an Israeli prison.

TAREQ BACONI: Well, I mean, what he’s saying, Amy, is something that many Palestinians would intrinsically and immediately agree with, which is that the expectation from the Israeli side is that Palestinians really just roll over and die, that any kind of resistance, armed or otherwise, is fundamentally unacceptable. The idea from the Israeli side is that Israeli Jews should be living in peace and security even as they maintain a brutal, violent regime of apartheid against Palestinians. Palestinians really are expected to be out of sight, out of mind.

I mean, this interview was in 2021. If you think three years before that, Palestinians engaged in one of the broadest forms of popular mobilization in Gaza, calling for return. This was the Great March of Return of 2018. And it was met by Israelis snipering off Palestinians, killing medics and journalists. More than 200 Palestinians were killed, and more than 36,000 were injured. And yet no one in the international community really engaged with this to question what this architecture of apartheid was, what it meant that 2 million Palestinians were held in Gaza behind a brutal regime blockade that was systematically a form of collective punishment against the Palestinians there.

So, the expectation is, as Sinwar is saying, that Palestinians should not resist that, that Palestinians should acquiesce to that reality. And then any resistance, whether armed or otherwise, is met with immediate condemnation from the West, a reassertion of Israel’s right to defend itself and, as we see today, a carte blanche to carry out horrific violence, the kind of sadistic violence that we’ve been watching happen in Gaza over the course of the past year.

So, I think what’s really important for us to go away with is that we have to delink the genocide that’s happening in Gaza from October 7th. October 7th might have been the trigger, and that might have been the framing for Israel to claim that it’s retaliating. But what we’re seeing in Gaza is the actualization of genocidal policies that have been in the making for years, that Israeli officials have been talking about a second Nakba for years. Palestinians like myself have been warning for years that Israel is planning ethnic cleansing to complete the Nakba, to carry out mass killing in order to end the issue of Palestine. They want to maintain a positionality of unchallenged apartheid in Palestine and across the region without any kind of resistance. And I think this is what we’re seeing today. Israel’s ability to do that with full impunity is at full display.

AMY GOODMAN: And finally, Tareq Baconi, if you could talk about, before October 7th, the Qatari government asking Netanyahu if they wanted Qatar to continue sending millions of dollars to Hamas — men would actually bring suitcases of money into Gaza — or if they should stop this? And according to the reports of a number of newspapers, they told them — he told them to continue. And also the role of the U.S. in asking Qatar to be the host of Hamas in order for it to negotiate?

TAREQ BACONI: Well, I mean, it’s precisely the point I was making. Now the Israeli media, Benjamin Netanyahu, certainly American media — obviously, with the exception of this platform — is on a rampage of trying to position Hamas as, and Yahya Sinwar specifically, as this image of evil, of this demon, the embodiment of evil that must be removed in order to maintain goodness in the world.

But as you say, go back just over a year, and the Israeli government was very happy to be actively engaged with maintaining Hamas as a government in the Gaza Strip, because their issue was never Hamas. Their issue was: How do they maintain Gaza as an enclave of more than 2 million Palestinians in a state of calm and in a state that does not challenge Israeli security? So the structure of apartheid, the architecture of apartheid, the blockade itself, was never in question. The question was: How do we stabilize the Gaza Strip so that it’s not a threat to Israel?

And so, that really — that goes to the heart of how Israel has been thinking about Palestinians, both in terms of the Netanyahu government and long before, which is that they have to be pacified, they have to be defanged, and they have to accept their lot that they’re living under apartheid indefinitely. Now, in order to achieve that, they worked with various Palestinian political leadership in this instance, including Hamas, to stabilize Palestinian enclaves under overarching Israeli rule. And the U.S. was not only happy with that, it was so convinced that this pacification of Palestinians was sustainable that they —

AMY GOODMAN: We have 20 seconds, Tareq.

TAREQ BACONI: — that they allowed Israel to sort of pursue negotiation agreements and ingratiate itself with the region. It was never an issue of dealing with the political demands at the heart of Palestinian liberation.

AMY GOODMAN: Tareq Baconi, Palestinian analyst and writer, president of the board of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, author of the book Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance. We’ll link to your recent piece in The New York Review headlined “Accounts of the Struggle.”

When we come back, we go to Tel Aviv to speak with Israeli journalist Gideon Levy. Back in 20 seconds.

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Gideon Levy: Death of Sinwar Won’t End Israel’s War While U.S. Gives Netanyahu Free Rein in Gaza
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 18, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/18 ... transcript

Israel announced Thursday it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, releasing a video allegedly showing Sinwar’s final moments before his death after Israeli forces in Rafah attacked the building he was in. After the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared “this is not the end of the war in Gaza.” In Tel Aviv, Israeli families called for Netanyahu to refocus efforts on negotiating a deal to free the hostages. “They are torn because they are clever enough to understand that the killing of Sinwar does not mean the release of their loved ones,” says Gideon Levy, award-winning Israeli journalist and author, who says Netanyahu will continue to act through sheer force as he sets his sights on Iran with the full support of the United States.

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.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting today with ministers and heads of security agencies at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

For more, we go to Tel Aviv, where we’re joined by Gideon Levy, award-winning Israeli journalist and author, columnist for the newspaper Haaretz, where he’s also a member of the editorial board.

Gideon, welcome back to Democracy Now! Can you talk about the response in Israel to Israel’s killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar?

GIDEON LEVY: As you can imagine, Amy, there is a lot of sense of joy and pride. The media is encouraging it, obviously. The main headline of the most popular newspaper in Israel, Yedioth Ahronoth, says, “The Satan was assassinated.” The mood is of big content and of really feeling that justice prevailed and this Hitler was assassinated. Nobody asks what will be the day after. Nobody asks what did Israel benefit out of it. We are all celebrating the killing of the Satan.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what the families of hostages are saying, where you are, in the city of Tel Aviv? It seems like there wasn’t — they didn’t skip a beat yesterday in their protest of Netanyahu as they demanded a ceasefire.

GIDEON LEVY: Yeah, they are torn, because they are clever enough to understand that the killing of Sinwar does not mean the release of their beloved ones. On the contrary, it might even postpone it or maybe even miss it totally, because as long as Sinwar was alive, there was a partner. Now with whom will Israel deal about any kind of hostage deal, if Israel is at all interested in?

The feeling is that Netanyahu, now he’s boosted by much more support in Israel after this success, this military success of assassinating Sinwar. For him, the hostages were and still are not the first priority. And why would it now happen after it didn’t happen for a whole year? I doubt it. Why would Hamas go for it now? When it’s so beaten and there is so little to lose, why would they now care about releasing the hostages, almost their last asset? So, I understand that the families — they don’t speak in one voice, and it shouldn’t be one voice. But at least part of them are really in anxiety that maybe the last chance for releasing their beloved one was missed.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what we understand of how Yahya Sinwar was killed? He was not in the tunnels. The video that Israel is putting out of him sitting in a chair, he was in Rafah. Who the forces were who moved into that place, and the significance of that, Gideon Levy?

GIDEON LEVY: First of all, it was totally incidental. I must praise the Israeli information system of propaganda, or hasbara, as they call it. At least they admitted that it was not planned. They didn’t try to show it as if it was a very planned operation. It wasn’t. And he was killed. First they bombed this house where he was, and then a drone got into the house and showed him in his last moments. Quite pathetic video. And then they shot him in his head, as we saw, twice at least, because there are two holes in his head. And they killed him. He was masked, as you saw, trying to hide from being recognized.

But in any case, it doesn’t matter much. The fact is that Israeli intelligence couldn’t find him for one year. The fact is that Israeli intelligence couldn’t find the hostages for one year in a very small piece of land, Gaza Strip, where Israel is controlling now for one year. And finally, they found him. I mean, it was so expected. How couldn’t he be found finally, when Israel is searching after him for so long and really destructing every building and every street in Gaza? So, finally, they succeeded, obviously. It’s not a hell of a success, but in Israel they are quite happy about it. And I can understand the sentiment.

AMY GOODMAN: So, where does what Israel plans to do with Iran fit into this story?

GIDEON LEVY: I hope it doesn’t fit. And I’m very afraid that it does fit, because Netanyahu now feels much more secure. Those last so-called, or not so-called, military successes and achievements started with the beepers and the pagers and continued with the assassinations of all the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah. All those things just give him a boost to continue the same way that he believes in, the only way he believes in, namely, doing everything by force, doing everything throughout aggressive attacks on the rival, on the enemy.

And he might think the same now about Iran, because Iran is the next object. When the United States is so passive, so passive, really in a shameful way, he feels he has a free carte blanche to continue. And he has a carte blanche to continue, because the United States never stopped him, even not for a moment. He totally ignored the advices of the American administration, rightly so. Why would he bother about presidential advices if the arms continue to flow and the ammunition continues to flow? So, I’m very afraid that this will encourage him also to go to all kind of [inaudible] operations, grand operations also in Iran. And then it can be really frightening, because the outcome might be really catastrophe. And maybe he will succeed. Who knows? I mean, until now, we were all scared of invading Rafah. And look, he invaded Rafah, and nothing happened.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris praising the assassination of Sinwar as progress toward the elimination of Hamas. She spoke in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she was campaigning Thursday.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Hamas is decimated, and its leadership is eliminated. This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza. And it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination. And it is time for the day after to begin.

AMY GOODMAN: As we wrap up, Gideon Levy, if you can talk about this? I mean, in a letter, apparently, from Biden saying that they will end arms sales or limit them after 30 days — a top former State Department official said, “Where is it in the law to say if they are starving Gaza, stopping humanitarian aid to Gaza, that you wait 30 days?”

GIDEON LEVY: Even before the 30 days, whatever Vice President Kamala Harris said are wonderful words. I could sign on each word and word that she said. This is really a noble idea to stop this war, to let the Palestinians have dignity and freedom and security, and to let Israel’s security — it’s wonderful. The question is: What did the American administration do to promote those things in the recent year or years? And the answer is nothing, because whatever the administration said was in total contradiction to its deeds. When you continue to supply in an unconditioned way arms and ammunition to Israel, it means you want it to use it. And what is the use of it? Killing 17,000 children in Gaza. That’s the use of the American ammunition. So —

AMY GOODMAN: Gideon Levy, we’re going to have to leave it there. I thank you so much for being with us, award-winning Israeli journalist and author, columnist with Haaretz and on its editorial board.

When we come back, we go to Gaza. Sha’ban al-Dalou would have turned 20 years old this week, but he died in a fireball when Israel attacked Al-Aqsa Hospital, setting off a massive fire in a makeshift tent area housing displaced Palestinians. Back in 20 seconds.

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“I Could Be the Next Sha’ban”: 21-Year-Old Journalist from Gaza Reports on Teenager Burned Alive
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 18, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/18 ... transcript

Tributes have poured in from across the globe for 19-year-old Sha’ban al-Dalou, a software engineering student who burned to death after Israel bombed Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir al-Balah on Monday. Photographs and footage of his final moments shocked millions around the world as Sha’ban laid in a hospital bed with an IV attached to his arm as the flames engulfed him. His mother and youngest brother have also reportedly succumbed to their burns, and his two sisters are on the verge of dying from their injuries. “Another family is going to be wiped off the civil record,” says Abubaker Abed, a 21-year-old journalist reporting live from outside the Al-Aqsa Hospital who interviewed al-Dalou’s family and friends. Abed once dreamed of becoming a football commentator and is struggling to find food and supplies while Israel enacts a near-complete siege on Gaza. “We are young men that have nothing to do with this war. … But we are very daily being subjected to sheer violence and brutality,” says Abed. “I could be the next Sha’ban. Anyone could be the next Sha’ban, because Israel is allowed to do anything.”

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.

Tributes have poured in from across the globe for 19-year-old Sha’ban al-Dalou, a software engineering student who burned to death after Israel bombed Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir al-Balah early Monday morning. The bombing set off a massive fire in an area packed with makeshift tents housing displaced Palestinians who had sought safety at the hospital, including Sha’ban’s family. He was an engineering student at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University who had just started his studies in September of last year. He built the tent shelter his family was living in when Israel bombed them. Photographs and footage of his final moments shocked millions around the world as Sha’ban laid in a hospital bed with an IV attached to his arm as the flames engulfed him.

This is a video of Sha’ban al-Dalou in his own words, posted as part of a fundraising campaign to evacuate him from Gaza with his family.

SHA’BAN AL-DALOU: From the tent where we reside, I’m Sha’ban Ahmed, 19 years old. I’m a student studying software engineer. In this barbaric starvation war, we have displaced five times so far. Now we are in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the middle of Gaza, Deir al-Balah. I’m taking care of my family, as I’m the oldest. I have two sisters and two little brothers and my parents. We live in a very hard circumstances, suffering from various things such as homelessness and limited food and extremely limited medicine. And the only thing between us and the freezing temperature is this tent that we constructed by ourselves.

AMY GOODMAN: Sha’ban was at Al-Aqsa Hospital receiving care after he survived the earlier Israeli strike. Sha’ban al-Dalou would have turned 20 this week.

We go now to Gaza, where we’re joined by Abubaker Abed, a 21-year-old journalist from Deir al-Balah in Gaza. He used to be a football, or soccer, commentator, but now, as he says, he’s an “accidental” war correspondent. His new report for Drop Site News is titled “Shaaban Al-Dalou, Burned Alive in Gaza, Would Have Been 20 Today.” Sha’ban, burned alive alongside his mother, who was also killed on Monday morning. And we’ve just learned his little brother has succumbed to his injuries.

Abubaker, you wrote in your piece, “'He was then immolated along with his mother. We couldn't identify which charred body was him. But then, we searched for a gold necklace his mother used to wear. We found it on one body and knew it was her. Then, we buried them in one grave.’” You also shared the tragic news that Sha’ban’s youngest brother Abdul Ruhman has succumbed to his burn wounds. He was 10 years old. Abubaker Abed, you were about the same age as Sha’ban. Talk about how you learned of his story, and the importance of you writing it.

ABUBAKER ABED: First, thank you so much for having me.

But let me just start by saying that Sha’ban’s — after his youngest brother succumbed to his injuries and burns today early in the morning, now the other two sisters are facing the same fate. They are being treated here at Gaza’s hospitals, which lack every basic necessity inside them. So, they are on the verge of also being killed and passing away. So, we’re talking about an entire family that is going to be wiped out. Another family is going to be wiped off the civil record, which is incredibly harrowing.

Regarding the story of Sha’ban, you know, I just live a few steps away from the hospital. I’m here. I’m an original resident of Deir al-Balah. And then, pre-dawn, or before dawn exactly, an attack happened, and I was harshly awakened, as this is the norm over the course of time since this genocide started. So, when the footage and the videos really went viral on social media and everywhere, then I saw — I was just looking at the photos and the videos, and there was someone inside engulfed by flames, being burned alive in front of millions of people. That was, to me, something special, because I could not really comprehend it. I could not really stay silent. It’s my duty to honor such a memory, particularly because when I knew for the very first time that he was going to be — or, he was 19 years old, and just two days ago he turned 20, if he would have been alive, then I felt that this is my story, because no one else across the globe would really have done this story in the way I could.

We are about the same age, as you mentioned. He memorized the Qur’an. I memorized the Qur’an. He dreamt of completing his studies. I also dream of completing my studies. And our message is very clear from here. We are young men that have nothing to do with this war. We’re not a party to this war. We have no connection with Hamas. But we are very daily being subjected to sheer violence and brutality that has nothing to do with this war. It just keeps going on and on, and without any stop, even after the news of the killing of the Hamas leader. There seems to be no stop, which is incredibly devastating for us. What more should we really endure and go through so this war can stop?

So, the life of Sha’ban should be honored. I’m so proud, I’m so honored, I’m so privileged to have honored his memory, because he had a life once. Israel destroyed his house, reduced his university to rubble. He just started his university studies two years ago. And then, an entire life, a university human, just reduced to ashes. This is the barbarity and brutality of what Israel is about.

AMY GOODMAN: Abubaker, I want to tell the audience around the world who’s watching now, the noise behind you. You are right and front of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where Sha’ban ultimately died of his injuries. Explain how he built this tent, where he had come from for his family. You also spoke to his father, and you spoke to his cousin, who was also named Sha’ban.

ABUBAKER ABED: Yes, it’s just devastating. They are now appealing to everyone on outside, the world, that we want to help the entire family. We want to help the other members that are still surviving their burns. But, unfortunately, there seems to be no end. People over all around me, they are heading to hospitals because they think hospitals are probably or are seemingly the safest places here in Gaza. But the fact is that there is no safe place in Gaza. Sha’ban fled his home from the al-Nasr neighborhood in Gaza City to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital from the very first days of this incredibly harsh genocide. And he sought refuge here, but, unfortunately, he was killed. He was immolated alongside his mother, and now his brother, his youngest brother, has passed away. We’re now talking about a very high possibility that the other two sisters of Sha’ban will join them.

Now, it’s just incredibly devastating and disappointing to hear about such innocent souls being taken, being stolen, loads of dreams and loads of things. And it’s the same fate. They are being treated now inside hospitals in Gaza, these hospitals. As Israel continues its blockade of medical aid entering the strip, the closure of the two crossings in Gaza, Karem Abu Salem and Rafah crossings, are making things very difficult to treat many patients, even here inside the facility of the hospital here. We’re talking about, like, funerals after funerals, you know, a lot of people wailing over the bodies of their loved ones. Mothers are crying and suffering in pain. Children don’t have food.

And it’s the same story for me. I just have — you know, I’m just being starved. I’m incredibly going through such a devastating and harsh time, where I can’t find anything, any means of life. It’s been a year. These people’s wounds haven’t yet been healed up. We want to talk about that, that even time doesn’t heal their wounds. We just want to bring to the world, conjure up to the world the idea that or the many reasons why this world should push for a ceasefire, should make the ceasefire, should trigger a ceasefire deal very soon. Because it seems incredibly heartbreaking, what we are seeing on a very daily basis. Even just minutes before I’m talking to you, I mean, the Israeli military has ratcheted up its attacks in central Gaza and the northern parts and here in our city. So, the overall situation we talked about is just getting dire and deteriorating every single day.

Why? The main question is: Why? What does Israel want to achieve here in Gaza after nearly obliterating every meter of Gaza? This seems incredibly and unbelievably heartbreaking.

AMY GOODMAN: Abubaker, I wanted to play Sha’ban’s uncle, Abdulhay al-Dalou.

ABDULHAY AL-DALOU: [translated] The occupation is the incinerator. The most difficult thing for a person is to be burned. This is a message to the world. I wish the world look at it and see the reactions of people regarding this burning of a Palestinian person who is being tortured day and night. Nobody looks at the Palestinian person with mercy, neither the Arab countries nor the Western countries, nor the countries of the international community.

AMY GOODMAN: Again, that is Sha’ban al-Dalou’s uncle, Abdulhay al-Dalou, talking after Sha’ban died. Sha’ban was 19. Our guest right now, Abubaker Abed, is 21. As we were showing video of Sha’ban, Abubaker, I couldn’t help think how much he looks like you. You’re similar ages. There you are in front of the hospital. And I also couldn’t help notice how skinny you are. How are you getting food? And how is your own family getting food?

ABUBAKER ABED: Honestly, as I told you, as Israel continues closing the two crossings across the besieged territory, there is no food being allowed into the strip. We just mainly depend on some loaves of bread, which is our daily struggle, to get food. I don’t know where else across the globe, across the entirety of the globe, getting food and looking for some water is an arduous journey. We are struggling. We are, you know, exerting so much efforts to just get a sip of water and then some food.

I dream — I’m talking about myself here, as someone who is struggling with my weak immune system. There’s nothing to do with this war in particular. I haven’t got any, since this genocide started, any food, any fresh food that I can really help myself with. I’m most of the time fatigued, which is a result and a symptom of Israel’s continued genocide. It’s the same thing. My family are the same. My parents are sick. We haven’t been able to provide my parents with any medications, with any needed medications over the course of the past time. So, it’s not only my struggle. It’s the struggle of every single one here in Gaza.

And because we are talking about Sha’ban, Sha’ban was starved. He was immunocompromised, as well. And he had gone through many times of — you know, many times of gastroenteritis, hepatitis A virus, before even being injured inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque, when he was injured and his head was stitched up by 20 sutures.

I don’t know when this barbarity and insanity will stop, but it just continues. And we could be — again, my message to the world is that I could be the next Sha’ban. Anyone could be the next Sha’ban, because Israel is allowed to do anything. There are no international laws that can prevent Israel from doing — from continuing its open war crimes in Gaza. There is no law. And even my understanding is that the international laws and the rights of living, rights of freedom for every human being around the world are enshrined into humanity, into our globe, as we call it, but the claim to humanity we’re talking about has just been exposed when this genocide started, because the double standards of the Western community are extremely devastating and also disgusting and just took —

AMY GOODMAN: Abubaker —

ABUBAKER ABED: They just took the lives of many, many and thousands of people.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you so much for being with us.

ABUBAKER ABED: We need to talk about this.

AMY GOODMAN: I hate to cut you off. Thank you so much for being with us. Abubaker Abed writes that he looks at pictures of food on the internet. He’s a 21-year-old journalist from Deir al-Balah in Gaza, standing outside the hospital where Sha’ban burned to death. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.

[admin]

Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 21, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/21/headlines

Israel Kills 87 Palestinians in Strike on Beit Lahia as Siege on Northern Gaza Intensifies
Oct 21, 2024

“The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying.” Those are the words of a top U.N. official as Israel escalates its attacks amid a devastating siege on northern Gaza. Health officials in Gaza say at least 87 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beit Lahia on Saturday. Survivors said the dead include many women and children.

Ahmed Al Hajeen: “We were asleep around 12 a.m. when it suddenly felt like an earthquake hit the area. Debris was falling on us. We rushed outside after hearing screams of women and children and found that our neighbors had been targeted by massive bombs. Tons of explosives had fallen on a residential neighborhood full of civilians and displaced families. All those who were martyred here are children, women and displaced people who fled from other areas due to heavy strikes, seeking shelter in what they believed to be a safer place.”

Al Jazeera reports another 33 Palestinians have been killed so far today, including 18 in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Israel is also targeting the last three hospitals in northern Gaza: the Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals. Doctors Without Borders reports more than 350 patients are believed to be trapped inside the hospitals.

Meanwhile, Israel has blocked six medical NGOs from entering Gaza. The groups include Glia and the Palestinian American Medical Association. Israel also killed four water engineers who were traveling to make repairs to the water infrastructure near Khan Younis. According to Oxfam, the engineers were traveling in a clearly marked vehicle when they were attacked.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority denounced Israel’s escalating attacks, saying in a statement, “Genocide is unfolding in northern Gaza in its clearest form — in full view of the world — marked by siege, starvation, forced displacement, destruction of buildings, aerial bombardment, targeting of health centres, and mass killings.”

Farah al-Dalou Dies in Hospital Days After Her Brother Sha’ban al-Dalou Burned to Death
Oct 21, 2024

Earlier today, the Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed reported Farah al-Dalou had died in a hospital. She was the sister of 19-year-old Sha’ban al-Dalou, who burned to death last week in an Israeli strike on Al-Aqsa Hospital. Click here to see our interview with Abubaker Abed on Friday.

U.S. Envoy in Beirut as Israel Attacks Banks, More U.N. Peacekeeping Forces in Lebanon
Oct 21, 2024

Israel has also escalated its assault on Lebanon by attacking nearly a dozen bank branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial institution with ties to Hezbollah. Many of the banks were located in residential buildings and played a critical role in Lebanon’s financial sector.

On Sunday, the U.N. peacekeeping forces in Lebanon accused Israel of deliberately demolishing another U.N. observation tower in what UNIFIL described as a “flagrant violation of international law.”

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is now in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials over a possible diplomatic deal to end Israel’s attacks. As part of any deal, Axios reports, Israel is insisting it maintain the right to fly its warplanes over Lebanon and that Israeli troops be allowed to keep conducting operations in southern Lebanon. Hochstein’s visit comes two days after a drone from Lebanon hit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vacation home in northern Israel. Netanyahu was not home at the time of the incident, which caused only superficial damage to his home.

In a separate attack, Palestinian fighters in Gaza on Sunday killed the commander of the Israeli military’s 401st Brigade, Colonel Ehsan Daqsa. He has been described as the highest-ranking Israeli army officer killed in Gaza over the past year.

U.S. Intel Leak Reveals Details of Israel’s Planned Attack on Iran
Oct 21, 2024

The Biden administration has launched a probe after highly classified U.S. intelligence documents were posted online showing that Israel is taking steps to launch a retaliatory attack against Iran. One document came from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the other from the National Security Agency. The documents reference recent drills involving air-launched ballistic missiles, as well as covert drone activity. On Friday, President Biden was asked if he knew how and when Israel would attack Iran. Biden responded by saying “yes and yes.” The leaked documents also confirm Israel has nuclear weapons — a fact that has long been known but has never been acknowledged by Israel.

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“Collateral Damage”: Hundreds of Patients Trapped in North Gaza as Israel Intensifies Siege
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 21, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/21 ... transcript

Over 100 Palestinians have been killed in northern Gaza — where Israel is currently laying a major siege — by Israeli attacks since the start of the weekend. More than 350 patients are believed to be trapped inside the three remaining partially operational hospitals in northern Gaza: the Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals. Dr. Ayaz Pathan, an emergency medicine physician who recently worked at the Indonesian and Nasser hospitals, describes the conditions he witnessed and responds to Israel’s latest attack on aid workers and four water engineers who were killed. “It was tragic to watch people be in pain, die in pain, die of infections which are completely preventable,” says Pathan.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: “The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying.” Those are the words of a top U.N. official as Israel escalates its war amidst a devastating siege and forced expulsion of Palestinians in northern Gaza. Health officials there say at least 87 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beit Lahia on Saturday. Survivors said the dead include many women and children.

AHMED AL HAJEEN: [translated] We were asleep around 12 a.m. when it suddenly felt like an earthquake hit the area. Debris was falling on us. We rushed outside after hearing screams of women and children and found that our neighbors had been targeted by massive bombs. Tons of explosives had fallen on a residential neighborhood full of civilians and displaced families. All those who were martyred here are children, women and displaced people who fled from other areas due to heavy strikes, seeking shelter in what they believed to be a safer place.

AMY GOODMAN: Today, Al Jazeera reports at least 33 more Palestinians in Gaza were killed by Israeli attacks, including 18 in the Jabaliya refugee camp alone. Palestinians have shared footage on social media that appears to show people in Jabaliya being hit by a strike as they try to rescue an injured person in the street.

Israel is also targeting the last three functioning hospitals in northern Gaza: the Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals. Doctors Without Borders reports more than 350 patients are believed to be trapped inside the hospitals. This is an urgent video call for help made Sunday by Dr. Marwan Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza.

DR. MARWAN SULTAN: As-salamu alaykum. I’m Dr. Marwan Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital. Since middle of the night, the Indonesia Hospital exposed to attack by the Israeli forces, and they attack the second and third floor. Now we have 40 patients. Thirty of them, they are injured patients. There’s some of the patients, they are very serious, and they need oxygen, and they need critical care. So, the light, electricity is off since midnight. And the medical staff, they cannot make the generator on because of the — a lot of attack and a lot of danger. So, we are calling you to make the medical staff and the hospital safe. Please, our brother and sister, all the humanitarian societies, urgent call just to, please, help our medical staff and the injured people.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Marwan Sultan is the director of Indonesia Hospital in northern Gaza, speaking to us from there.

Meanwhile, Israel has blocked six medical NGOs from entering Gaza. The groups include Glia and the Palestinian American Medical Association. Israel also killed four water engineers who were traveling to make repairs to the water infrastructure near Khan Younis. According to Oxfam, the engineers were traveling in a clearly marked vehicle when they were attacked. The destruction of the water system in Gaza has led to many diseases.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority denounced Israel’s escalating attacks, saying in a statement, quote, “Genocide is unfolding in northern Gaza in its clearest form — in full view of the world — marked by siege, starvation, forced displacement, destruction of buildings, aerial bombardment, targeting of health centres, and mass killings,” unquote.

Earlier today, the Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed reported Farah al-Dalou had died of severe burns at a hospital, just days after her 19-year-old brother Sha’ban al-Dalou burned to death last week in an Israeli strike on Al-Aqsa Hospital that led to a major fire that burned the displaced people encampment near the hospital.

For more, we’re joined by Dr. Ayaz Pathan, an emergency medicine doctor who returned from Gaza in August, spent time at the Indonesian and Nasser hospitals.

Doctor, welcome to Democracy Now! Thank you so much for joining us. We just heard Dr. Sultan describing what’s happening there at Indonesian Hospital. Can you tell us more, having spent time there and having direct contact with people continuing through to today?

DR. AYAZ PATHAN: Yeah. Thank you for having me, Amy.

You know, Dr. Sultan does an amazing job at this hospital. As a matter of fact, he was very clear about the fact that after the hospital was besieged — and from that besiegement, we could see all sorts of damage. I have spent weeks in that hospital. I have seen, essentially, every inch of that hospital, including the damaged floors from what happened late in 2023, the burned medical equipment, the drone fire attacks that we’ve seen. And one thing that he said is that he would invite the Israelis into that hospital anytime, anyplace, to see what is going on, because there was no operations other than medical operations that were going on in that facility.

AMY GOODMAN: So, if you can talk about the conditions and the number of women and children in this hospital, what the siege over the last weeks of northern Gaza means, and particularly in these three hospitals? You’ve spent time in one.

DR. AYAZ PATHAN: Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, what I found during my time there — and this is identical to the stories that you will hear from every healthcare worker that is both there or has traveled there — is that the types of patients you see essentially represent the population. And so, when we talk about the strip, we talk about a population which is about 50% children that are high school age or younger. And so, everyone’s experience is that you find a lot of children, you find a lot of women. And absolutely, are there men there? Completely. But in that age group that you would consider potentially enemy combatants, I would say that represented about 25%, maybe 30%, of the total injured population that I would see. And even that percentage I’m giving you is assuming that 100% of those males in that category are enemy combatants. So, I think we’re seeing a lot of collateral damage, far more than is acceptable by any stretch of the imagination.

AMY GOODMAN: And the effects, Dr. Pathan, of the whole area not being able to get humanitarian aid?

DR. AYAZ PATHAN: Yeah. So, even when I was there, it was quite a challenge. Food insecurity was a huge issue. I was able to go to Kamal Adwan Hospital, which you had mentioned, and see their malnutrition clinic. I, myself, who had privileged rights to food, lost about 13 pounds in about two weeks there. And now you can only imagine what people over months and months have had to deal with over there. And that’s only the food issue.

Now, talk about medications, there were times that I knew the exact medication I needed to use, whether it was pain medication or an antibiotic, and unable to find that or use that and realizing that in any other situation or country in the world — and quite honestly, even in the south, we had a little bit more access to some of these medications — it was tragic to watch people be in pain, die in pain, die of infections which are completely preventable. And all in all, you’re talking about Gaza, which has had about three dozen functional hospitals prior to all of this, that number has been taken down to essentially a third. And even the hospitals that we talk about, such as Indonesia Hospital, where I was in, half of that capacity was shut down due to damage from prior besiegement.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Pathan, we just have reports that Israel has killed four water engineers who were traveling to make repairs to the water infrastructure near Khan Younis. According to Oxfam, they were traveling in a clearly marked vehicle when they were attacked. If you can talk — I mean, the horror of them being killed is horrifying enough, but the fact that they were trying to fix the water infrastructure, what that means, how devastated the infrastructure is, leading to disease, including polio?

DR. AYAZ PATHAN: Yeah. So, absolutely. I think water and the safety of the water is something that UNICEF has looked at, and I think on the order of 98% of the water that is available is not considered good for human consumption. So, now you take an injured population, a sick population — even in the cases that are medical, for example, say, pneumonia or something along those lines — the ability to be able to take care of these patients without something as simple as water, to be able to clean wounds, to be able to hydrate people, is a huge issue.

I think the other point that you made is about just traveling. And so, this is something we’ve seen time and time again, including my own experience, including experiences from other healthcare workers that have been there, and then other NGOs, World Central Kitchen. We’ve seen the United Nations World Food Programme being targeted despite being in vehicles that had been given permission to travel and are clearly marked.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Dr. Ayaz Pathan, I want to thank you for being with us from North Carolina, emergency medicine doctor who returned from Gaza in August, spending time at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and Nasser Hospital.

When we come back, Israel has also escalated its attacks on Lebanon, including hitting bank branches all over the country. Stay with us.

*****************

Report from Beirut: Israel Bombs Banks, Attacks UNIFIL in Expanding War of Aggression
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 21, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/21 ... transcript

We get an update on Israel’s latest attacks on Lebanese banks, which it accused of holding money for Hezbollah, and the Israeli military’s attacks on UNIFIL forces in contravention of both Lebanese sovereignty and the rules of war. “There is nothing that shows they really want to impose a ceasefire,” says Jamil Mouawad, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, of Israel’s flouting of international norms and the United States’ complicity in its human rights violations.

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 turn now to Israel’s escalating attacks on Lebanon. The Israeli military says it’s hit buildings housing nearly a dozen bank branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial institution with ties to Hezbollah. Many of the banks were located in residential buildings and held the savings for many Lebanese residents.

On Sunday, UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, accused Israel of deliberately demolishing another U.N. observation tower in what UNIFIL described as a “flagrant violation of international law.”

U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut today, and in his first remarks, he said Lebanon and Israel just committing to U.N. Resolution 1701 is not enough.

AMOS HOCHSTEIN: President Biden said our goal is a comprehensive agreement that implements U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and ensures this conflict is the last for many generations. 1701 was successful at ending the war in 2006, but we must be honest that no one did anything to implement it. The lack of implementation over those years contributed to the conflict that we are in today.

AMY GOODMAN: This comes as Hezbollah continues to fire missiles at Israel in response. On Saturday, a drone hit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s seaside home in the northern Israeli town of Caesarea. Netanyahu and his family were not there.

We’ll talk more about Iran, but we begin in Beirut, where we’re joined by Jamil Mouawad, assistant professor of politics and policy at the American University of Beirut.

Thank you for joining us from Beirut. If you can first talk about how besieged, how under siege you feel and people in Beirut feel, in Lebanon, and then talk about Israel targeting the bank branches that they say support Hezbollah?

JAMIL MOUAWAD: Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Actually, the situation in Lebanon is incredibly difficult. We currently live in a limbo. Life has come to a halt, basically, with people concerned about when do they go about their normal life, when students will go back to schools, to universities, people will go back to their jobs, but also to their normal life. So, there is a lot of anxiety going on.

And this is due primarily to the fact that, apparently, there are no serious diplomatic efforts to end the war as soon as possible. Today, as you just mentioned, the U.S. envoy was in Beirut. This morning, we read that Netanyahu and the Israeli government have submitted a proposal for a potential ceasefire. Israel is adopting a maximalist position in this direction. They want to — they are demanding the right to engage in active enforcement in the south of Lebanon. That is, intervening whenever they deem necessary. And also they are requiring freedom in operating in the Lebanese airspace. And this is a clear violation of not only the 1701, but this is a clear violation of the Lebanese sovereignty. So, either this proposal is a proposal to basically end the negotiations before they even start, or this is a proposal for Lebanon to surrender.

I just remind you and everyone that the battle in the south is still ongoing. Hezbollah is still able to fight back and resist. The Israelis are not able yet to invade Lebanon, as they probably would like to. Hezbollah is still able to fire its rockets and drones to Israel. We’ve seen, a week ago, a drone has hit the Golani military base in Israel. Two days ago, we saw that a drone, another drone, hit directly the home of — the sea home of Benjamin Netanyahu. And if this tells us anything, it tells us that Hezbollah is still able to operate in the south. And the battleground will definitely shape the negotiations, as well.

Yesterday, as you mentioned, Israel attacked directly and bombed financial institutions related directly to Hezbollah. Of course, we all know that Israel has identified any institution, civilian or not, directly affiliated with Hezbollah as a threat, and they are bombing it. Of course, this is only a way to demolish buildings in Lebanon and to further terrorize the Lebanese civilians.

AMY GOODMAN: And if you can talk about who uses this bank? Do you agree that it’s used to — it’s used for banking by Hezbollah? But also, who else? And where are these banking branches located around Lebanon?

JAMIL MOUAWAD: Yeah, I mean, these branches are located almost everywhere in Lebanon, in Beirut mostly. These are banks that offer microcredits for the Lebanese. Of course, the majority of the constituency of Hezbollah benefit from these credits. Some people claim — and this is true — that there is no oversight over these financial institutions by the central Lebanese bank, but this is also, unfortunately, to remind everyone that private and commercial banks have escaped this accountability for years, and we have a collapsed banking sector now in Lebanon.

AMY GOODMAN: Um —

JAMIL MOUAWAD: So, this is not — these —

AMY GOODMAN: Well, let me ask you another question, and it has to do right now with UNIFIL and what’s happening with the U.N. forces in southern Lebanon, and also how that relates to the U.N. Resolution 1701. But they say another watchtower has been blown up by Israel. Israel wants them out. The significance of this, Professor Mouawad?

JAMIL MOUAWAD: Yeah, it’s very shocking, actually, that Israel wants the blue helmets, the UNIFIL group, to withdraw from Lebanon, because they want to basically invade Lebanon. And UNIFIL has been very defiant so far, and they said, “We’re not withdrawing from the south.” They even went far and said that there is no way that only one member of the United Nations would dictate on us what to do. UNIFIL is in the south based on a U.N. resolution.

And this shows how aggressive and immune — it shows how Netanyahu benefits from impunity. We saw him directly attacking the UNIFIL. We saw him, as well, directly attacking the U.N. Secretary-General Guterres and declaring him as a persona non grata in Israel. We saw him also attacking and directly shaming President Macron when President Macron mentioned the possibility of imposing an arms embargo on the Israelis in order not to go on with their genocide in Gaza. The day after, he shamed him and told him, “Shame on you for even thinking about this.” So, this shows how aggressive and dramatic Netanyahu is and is willing to do everything in order for him to move on and implement his expansionist project.

AMY GOODMAN: Jamil, you have the U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein now in Beirut. You have Blinken headed to Israel. It’s not clear where he’ll be on his tour. It is his 11th trip in the last year to the area. And you have the Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz warning, “We will keep striking the Iranian proxy until it collapses.” Also, if you can talk about what Israel is demanding for a ceasefire? Axios reports Israel demands its Air Force has freedom of operation in Lebanese airspace, also demands — Israel demands that the IDF be allowed to engage in active enforcement to attack Hezbollah. This will be part of the ceasefire that they say they would accept.

JAMIL MOUAWAD: Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, in fact, this is a maximalist position by the Israelis. They don’t want — clearly, they don’t want a ceasefire. Clearly, they don’t want to respect the U.N. Resolution 1701. I remind everyone that U.N. Resolution 1701 is very clear. As per this resolution, the Lebanese Army should be deployed in the south, but it also should be equipped in order for it to be able to defend Lebanon from potential aggressions. The Lebanese government also demands the demarcation of the borders with Israel. ’Til now, Israel does not recognize any borders with Lebanon, except for the Blue Line, which is a withdrawal line and not the borders. So, this shows that Israel is not serious about a potential ceasefire.

But not only that, this poses questions as to what the United States of America wants. Are they impartial when it comes to these negotiations? I remind everyone that Amos Hochstein was serving at the Israeli army. So, is he impartial? Is he not? This is a question. This is a serious question. But so far, as we saw in Gaza on many occasions, the Americans are complicit in this genocide, and they’re complicit in the war against Lebanon. And there is nothing that shows that they really want to impose a ceasefire on Lebanon. Not only that, they probably would like to — and this is what Amos Hochstein said — to protect the interests of the Israelis by him referring to the fact that the Lebanese government or the UNIFIL did not even enforce 1701 in the past, and he did not refer at all to the many violations of the Israelis when it comes to the 1701, specifically when it comes to the airspace violation of Lebanon during these 20 years.

AMY GOODMAN: Jamil Mouawad is assistant professor of politics and policy at Department of Political Studies and Public Administration at the American University of Beirut, speaking to us from Beirut.

*****************

Will Netanyahu Incite a War with Iran? Leaked U.S. Docs Detail Israel’s Attack Plans
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 21, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/21 ... transcript

The Biden administration has launched a probe after highly classified U.S. intelligence documents were posted online showing that Israel is taking steps to launch a retaliatory attack against Iran. Meanwhile, a drone hit Benjamin Netanyahu’s seaside home Saturday in what the Israeli prime minister has called an assassination attempt by “Iran’s proxy Hezbollah.” As tensions between Iran and Israel heat up, we go to Tehran to speak with Hassan Ahmadian, a professor at the University of Tehran, who says Netanyahu and Israel have continually instigated violence in the region while “trying to tell the world that it’s Iran that is the problem.”

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: The Biden administration has launched a probe after highly classified U.S. intelligence documents were posted online showing Israel is taking steps to launch a retaliatory attack on Iran. One document came from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the other from the NSA, the National Security Agency. The documents reference recent Israeli drills involving air-launched ballistic missiles, as well as covert drone activity. On Friday, President Biden was asked if he knew how and when Israel would attack Iran. Biden responded by saying “yes and yes,” unquote.

Iran has issued a complaint with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog over Israeli threats to strike Iran's atomic energy sites in retaliation for a series of Iranian missiles that were fired into Israel earlier this month. Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement today saying, quote, “Threats to attack nuclear sites are against U.N. resolutions … and are condemned,” unquote.

This comes as a drone hit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s seaside home Saturday in the northern Israeli town of Caesarea. Netanyahu and his family were not home at the time of the incident, which caused superficial damage to his home. He shared this video on social media after the attack.

AIDE: Prime Minister, how is it going?

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Well, two days ago, we took out Yahya Sinwar, the terrorist mastermind whose goons beheaded our men, raped our women, burned babies alive. We took him out. And we’re continuing our battle with Iran’s other terrorist proxies. We’re going to win this war.

AIDE: So, will something deter you?

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: No.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to his aide. The prime minister also wrote on social media, quote, “The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake. … I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil: Anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price,” Netanyahu said.

For more, we go to Tehran, to Iran, where we’re joined by Hassan Ahmadian, assistant professor of West Asian and North African studies at the University of Tehran.

Professor, we welcome you to Democracy Now! If you can start off by responding to what Netanyahu said, blaming agents of Iran for the attack, though Iran disavowed responsibility for the attack on his seaside home? We may have lost professor Ahmadian. I think he’s coming back right now. Why don’t we break, and we’ll see if we can get back in touch with professor Ahmadian, who is in Tehran, Iran. I think we have him. Professor Ahmadian, thank you for joining us. Can you respond to what Netanyahu said, that agents of Iran were responsible for the attack on his seaside home? If you can respond?

HASSAN AHMADIAN: Yes. Well, I think Bibi Netanyahu has been trying to portray everything that’s happening in Gaza, in Lebanon, around the region as part of Iran’s act, whereas we all know it’s a fact now that Iran didn’t know about the 7th of October attack. And then, its allies fighting Israel for their various national reasons, they are supported by Iran, but it doesn’t mean that they act on behalf of Iran.

But obviously, Bibi is eying another game. He wants to see a confrontation bigger than his surrounding. He wants the U.S., Iran to be dragged into a conflict, I think. That’s why he’s pointing always to Iran. In the beginning of his campaign on Gaza, he was focused on Gaza. And then, when he wanted to widen the war, he started to point at Iran, and he started hitting Iranian targets. First came the Iranian Consulate. Then Iran retaliated. Then came the assassination in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh in the inauguration day of a new president in Iran.

Then Iran waited for a diplomatic settlement that Amos Hochstein and the Americans channeled to Iran that they are after, and they were using this assassination for a ceasefire there. The Iranians waited for two months, only to be surprised by Netanyahu moving to Lebanon, assassinating and — the pager attack, the walkie-talkie attack, then the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. All of this came after Iran waited for a diplomatic settlement in Gaza. And then Iran decided that “That’s enough. We need to retaliate; otherwise, our deterrence will be at stake.”

Obviously, to my understanding, Netanyahu is inching closer to, you know, a confrontation with Iran. The Iranians have said time and time again that they would retaliate. They have been retaliating. Now he’s talking about retaliating against Iran’s retaliation, which is basically escalation ladder he’s on, and he’s trying to tell the world that it’s Iran that is the provocateur, whereas in Iran, everyone feels the way that Bibi Netanyahu is trying to frame Iran internationally, and, as such, they are focusing on telling the world that we will not go for a war, we will not go for a confrontation, but if it’s enforced upon us, we will have to retaliate; otherwise, our deterrence will not work, and then it will be an open season in Tehran maybe.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Professor, can you comment on these leaked U.S. documents, intelligence documents, describing satellite images of Israeli military preparations for a potential strike in Iran? You also have the Foreign Ministry coming out today in Tehran, speaking out and saying it would be illegal to attack nuclear plants in Iran, according to the United Nations. If you can comment on all of this? The intelligence documents, not clear how they were leaked, coming from, among other places, the NSA, the National Security Agency, the intelligence agency in the United States that’s many times larger than the CIA.

HASSAN AHMADIAN: You know, we still don’t know the intricacies of these leaks. But, obviously, if they are intentional or not intentional, the leaking, it makes a different — I mean, the messaging or the message of them being linked will be different. But in any case, I think the Iranians are saying that these leaks show that the Israelis are trying to attack places of strategic importance that are legally — you know, should not to be attacked, but Israel is obviously trying or inching closer to attack them. It’s within the Iranian, you know, international or diplomatic reach, which the foreign minister and the president have been on the past few weeks telling the world that we don’t want escalation, but, obviously, the Israelis are coming to force it upon us, and we will have to retaliate.

The legality of the issue is obvious. I mean, it’s illegal, as per international law, to attack the atomic energy agency structure. It’s very obvious that it’s not legal to attack such places. But, I mean, the Israeli policy in assassinating scientists, killing a guest in an inauguration day in Iran, all the policies that have been pulled off previously were illegal, as well. So, the Iranians know that this is not going to affect the situation, but they are telling the world, “These are the evidence. We are not after this escalation, but you should look at Israel and what it’s doing to provoke Iran and its allies to retaliate.”

AMY GOODMAN: Professor Ahmadian, can you talk very briefly about Iran-Saudi relations and how that plays into this? Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Riyadh earlier this month. And the fact that the 180 ballistic missiles that were shot into Israel killed one person, a Palestinian in Jericho, but these were 180 ballistic missiles — is Iran actually coordinating this, sharing information with the United States?

HASSAN AHMADIAN: I’m not sure that is the case, especially the second attack that Iran — rather, retaliation that Iran did in October 1st. The first one was coordinated. Iran told the world and the United States, and indirectly Israel, as well, that we are not — we will attack in this timing. It was basically a political messaging that we can reach you, we can hit you, but we don’t want escalation, so don’t push us. The second attack, October 1st, was of a military nature. The Iranians showed their muscles, telling the Israelis, “You are playing with fire. We can do this.” Today, the message was that we can fire 7,000 missiles a day to deter Israel. But, basically, the narrative is that we don’t want escalation, but we are capable of fighting.

When it comes to Saudi Arabia and the GCC in general, the Iranians are trying hard to keep them away from, you know, basically assisting Israel and also keep the warming of the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia ongoing. The Iranians and the Saudis both have been pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Saudis embarked on a diplomatic campaign with the Europeans, with the Americans for months now to stop the conflict in Gaza. The Iranians are trying to push, saying that we don’t want — that the Israelis are widening the war and this that will be catastrophe to the — I mean, it was a political messaging campaign and also pushing back against Israeli provocation, as the Iranians see them. Both have been, basically, met in the aim of stopping the Gaza war. And I think the relationship has been advancing unexpectedly. Basically, the war in Gaza have brought Iran and Saudi Arabia, at least publicly and in the narrative, much closer than where we were — when they were before the October 7th. And both, as I said, they are aiming for the same target — that is, the stop of the onslaught on Gaza and elsewhere in the region.

AMY GOODMAN: Hassan Ahmadian, I want to thank you for being with us, assistant professor of West Asian and North African studies at the University of Tehran, speaking to us from Tehran, Iran, previously associate with the Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

[admin]

Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 22, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/22/headlines

Israeli Troops Separate Men from Women and Children, March Displaced Palestinians at Gunpoint
Oct 22, 2024

Israeli forces have barred rescue teams from reaching Palestinians trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings as Israel’s siege on the northern Gaza Strip continues into its 18th day. On Monday, Israeli drones equipped with loudspeakers hovered over shelters for displaced Palestinians in Beit Lahia, blaring messages ordering them to flee through military checkpoints. Witnesses say Israeli soldiers entered the shelters, separated men from their families at gunpoint and instructed women and children to move southward. The mass expulsion came amid continued unrelenting Israeli attacks, including a strike on Beit Lahia that killed 15 Palestinians, including children.

Gaza’s Health Ministry reports at least 115 Palestinians have been killed over the past 48 hours; 500 more were wounded, bringing the reported number of people wounded in Israel’s yearlong war to more than 100,000, with nearly 43,000 killed — though both figures are likely to be a vast undercount.

Northern Gaza’s last three operational hospitals remain besieged, with more than 350 patients trapped inside Al-Awda, Indonesian and Kamal Adwan hospitals. Dr. Marwan al-Hams is the director of Gaza’s field hospitals.

Dr. Marwan al-Hams: “Israel has not allowed the entry of any medicine, treatment and medical supplies to the north of Gaza. In addition, the Israeli occupation is preventing the entry of food and nutrition for the medical teams and patients inside the hospitals, and it is directly targeting the hospitals.”

Meanwhile, Gaza officials say Israeli forces have blocked the entry of more than a quarter of a million trucks carrying food and other vital aid into Gaza in the last year, as Israel is accused of using starvation as a weapon of war.

13 Killed, 57 Injured Near Lebanon’s Largest Hospital as Israeli Bombs Rain Down on Beirut
Oct 22, 2024

In Lebanon, rescue workers are searching for civilians trapped under the rubble of their homes after Israel’s military carried out more than a dozen strikes overnight on Beirut and its southern suburbs. At least 13 people, including a child, were killed and 57 others injured in an Israeli airstrike near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Lebanon’s largest public medical center. Separately, 50 medical workers and 15 patients were forced to evacuate the Al-Sahel Hospital in southern Beirut Monday after Israel’s military claimed — without evidence — it’s home to a secret, underground Hezbollah bunker containing hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold. Doctors insisted there’s nothing hidden beneath the hospital and took reporters on a tour of its lower floors to disprove the claims.

In Israel, air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv earlier today as Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets from Lebanon. Hezbollah said the attacks targeted a military base south of Tel Aviv, as well as a naval base northwest of Haifa.

Meanwhile, Syrian media is reporting at least two people were killed and three others injured Monday when an Israeli guided missile slammed into a car in Damascus. Israel’s military claimed responsibility, saying the strike killed the head of Hezbollah’s money transfers unit.

Israeli Officials Join Settler Groups to Call for Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza
Oct 22, 2024

Israeli Cabinet members and officials with the ruling Likud party called Monday for the reestablishment of illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza and for the ethnic cleansing of the territory’s Palestinian inhabitants. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir spoke from a conference of settler groups and ultranationalists near Israel’s border with Gaza, where he declared, “We will encourage voluntary transfer of all Gazan citizens. We will offer them the opportunity to move to other countries because that land belongs to us.” The conference was organized by the Nachala Settlement Movement, whose leader, Daniella Weiss, said thousands of settlers are set to move to Gaza.

Daniella Weiss: “We came here with one clear purpose. The purpose is to settle the entire Gaza Strip — not just part of it, not just a few settlements, the entire Gaza Strip, from north to south. Thousands of people are ready to move to Gaza now. As a result of the brutal massacre of the 7th of October, the Gaza Arabs lost the right to be here ever, so they will go to the different countries of the world. They will not stay here.”

Blinken Heads to Israel for 11th Visit Since Israel Launched Full-Scale Assault on Gaza
Oct 22, 2024

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders. The State Department claims Blinken’s trip is aimed at reviving failed Gaza ceasefire negotiations, yet the Biden administration continues to refuse calls for an arms embargo against Netanyahu’s government amid record U.S. military assistance to Israel. This is Blinken’s 11th visit to the region since Israel launched its latest war on Gaza last October.

Meanwhile, calls are growing for U.S. officials to investigate reports of the Israeli army using abducted Palestinians as human shields in Gaza, often forcing them to walk ahead of Israeli soldiers to inspect underground tunnels and buildings. The use of human shields is a war crime.

In related news, a group of over 60 House Democrats are demanding the Biden administration “take immediate action to advocate for unrestricted, independent media access” to Gaza, as Israel has blocked foreign journalists from entering over the course of its yearlong war.

****

“The Gaza I Know Is Gone”: Israel’s Rampage Continues as Survivors Struggle for Food, Water, Safety
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 22, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/22 ... transcript

Israeli forces have killed at least 115 Palestinians and injured nearly 500 over the past two days, according to Palestinian health officials. This comes as Israel continues to carry out a brutal siege on northern Gaza, which has been described as a “surrender or starve” policy of ethnic cleansing. As the military demands that tens of thousands of Palestinians leave the north, senior government ministers are pushing for new Jewish settlements in Gaza. Meanwhile, images and video have emerged from northern Gaza showing Israeli forces separating Palestinian men from their families and taking them away. Almost all aid has been cut off to the region, with hospitals under siege and barely able to function. “It’s a deliberate strategy of humiliating, terrorizing and punishing the civilian population,” says Palestinian writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada, who is originally from Gaza and is following developments closely as chief of communications at Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: “The smell of death is everywhere.” Those are the words of the head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, who is urging Israel to end its siege of northern Gaza. Lazzarini said, quote, “Our staff report they cannot find [food, water] or medical care. The smell of death is everywhere as bodies are left lying on the roads or under the rubble. Missions to clear the bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are denied. In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die.” The words of UNRWA’s Philippe Lazzarini.

According to Palestinian health officials, Israeli forces have killed at least 115 Palestinians and injured nearly 500 just over the past two days. Israel has ordered all Palestinians to flee their homes in Beit Lahia or face a new round of attacks. One drone strike in Beit Lahia killed 15 people, including women and children.

AMY GOODMAN: Images and video have emerged from northern Gaza showing Israeli forces separating Palestinian men from their families and taking them away. Almost all aid has been cut off to the area as Israel implements what’s been described as a “surrender or starve” policy. Hospitals in northern Gaza are under siege and barely able to function. This is Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia.

DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA: [translated] This situation means we are under what can be called a real genocide taking place against our people in the northern Gaza Strip. The health situation has completely collapsed. The world must act immediately to secure a safe humanitarian corridor to provide blood, supplies, medicines, equipment and medical staff, or the wounded will die in the coming few hours. Therefore, the world must understand what is happening now in the northern Gaza Strip: genocide, deliberate killing. Anyone who moves in the street is shot at. It’s clear that we are witnessing a real massacre against those present. …

Of course, the medical staff numbers are very low, and the volume of injuries is not at all proportional to the space available. Therefore, we had to implement the difficult triage system for cases. We had to leave some to die and some to live. Therefore, our capabilities are very limited. And so, the situation is catastrophic, my dear friend. The world must come now with pictures and words and images to see what is happening in the northern Gaza Strip: a real genocide against everyone who moves in the northern Gaza Strip.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

We’re joined now by Muhammad Shehada, writer and analyst from Gaza City. He’s chief of communications at Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. He’s joining us from Copenhagen.

Muhammad, welcome back to Democracy Now! It is so critical to have you with us. As you speak with people who are in northern Gaza, the devastating, horrific images that are coming out of there, under siege for more than two weeks, you’ve been in touch with a colleague of yours who is the mother of a 1-year-old. Can you describe what you’re hearing on the ground?

MUHAMMAD SHEHADA: Well, it’s a very close colleague of mine. She wrote me, basically this morning, that last night was the most violent since the war started. There was constant bombardment and shelling arbitrarily in the northern part of Gaza from 8:00 in the evening until 7:00 in the morning nonstop. It was an airstrike or a shelling literally every other second. The amount of it, the sheer intensity of it, was insane. And it’s been driving her very, very sort of — very worried about the survival of her family, but also suicidal by the mere thought that their turn is next at any moment. So, she’s saying, “I’m having these thoughts about how do I keep my son and husband alive, how do I stay alive myself. Give me advice where to go. What should I do? How should I get food?” And I cannot find any answer to any of these questions. There’s literally, literally, literally nothing is safe, and no access to food or water anymore.

Israel is implementing now a strategy that is in northern Gaza premised on four different pillars, one of which is mass starvation, quite literally mass starvation. The other one is mass killing and producing mass casualties, wounded people on mass scale. And then, the third one is shutting down all hospitals simultaneously, so that people with these wounds are destined to die if they don’t move south. And the last pillar is the mass expulsion, where you literally see Israel ordering people every day, “Move south. Move south.” And then they literally round them up from schools and hospitals and force them to line up on a death march and move to the south. I have friends who lost family members on some of these death marches, where you have to walk for dozens of kilometers under scorching heat or in the cold without any assistance, on foot, under constant fire, fully starved, with an empty stomach. And some people collapse and die on the way. I have never seen anything like this.

But on the other hand, I’m seeing Israeli politicians and media celebrating the footage of these death marches with utmost glee and utmost joy, that they see that this is the ultimate picture of victory. They are very open and honest that what they are doing now in northern Gaza has nothing — nothing — to do with Hamas. It has everything to do with the Palestinians in there. And they say that the reason why they want to depopulate it is because Palestinians believe that displacement is a thousand times worse than the war. It’s a deliberate strategy of humiliating, terrorizing and punishing the civilian population.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, Muhammad, can you explain? Why is that? Why do Gazans think that displacement is a thousand times worse than the war? And if you could elaborate on how the Israeli press, in particular — you said a little about that now — how the Israeli press is covering the devastating conditions that you’ve just described in northern Gaza?

MUHAMMAD SHEHADA: Well, basically, the reason why they find it a thousand times worse is that as soon as you cross the line dividing Gaza, the Netzarim Corridor — it’s a four-kilometers-wide area that Israel has turned into a military zone dissecting Gaza in two halves — as soon as you cross it, you will never return north again. You have to kiss your home and your loved ones goodbye. You will never see your family members that are literally just a few minutes on the other side. It’s something like the Berlin Wall, but way more atrocious.

And once you cross to the southern side, what you will find there is an insanely overcrowded tent city, just tents upon tents upon tents, surrounded by mountains of garbage and pools of sewage water, heavily infested with diseases, no protection against the weather, no protection against the rain, and just left doomed to your own fate, basically surviving of handouts, humanitarian aid that is barely coming in. So, people find this as an absolute nightmare. And once you cross to the south, Israel is playing with people in the south like a ping-pong, moving them around like chess pieces all the time, moving them from Deir al-Balah to Khan Younis, and then from Khan Younis to Mawasi, and then from Mawasi to Khan Younis again, and back to Nuseirat. It’s a nonstop nightmare. And this constant instability, this constant uncertainty, is one of the worst things you can do to someone that is heavily shell-shocked and traumatized and in pure survival mode.

Israeli media has been very honest since at least August. So, Israel’s Channel 12, the most-watched Israeli television, they said in August that, quote, “The central victory in Gaza, the central victory, is the psychological warfare that is waged upon the Gazan population in northern Gaza.” Depopulating northern Gaza, for them, is the ultimate victory image. And they are very honest that amongst the people that will move out of northern Gaza are the Hamas members. They are not concerned with fighting Hamas in the north. They just want everybody to move out. Now Israel’s main liberal newspaper, Haaretz, has been warning since — for many weeks, but yesterday they came and officially said, the editorial board, they said Netanyahu’s government is now, quote, “paving the way to building settlements in Gaza,” building the path or facilitating the path to building Jewish-only settlements in northern Gaza after emptying it completely.

So, for Gaza’s population to be moved into an overcrowded, unlivable tent city, pure sand and rubble and the desert, and be shell-shocked all the time and squeezed more and more and more into tinier and tinier places, it is an absolute nightmare. And that’s the Israeli strategy. The reason why they adopt these strategies, what they themselves brag about, is that the images of these death marches count as a victory image for Israeli political parties and for the Israeli public to show that, look, the Palestinian public are being humiliated, are being terrorized, are being collectively punished, and with the sort of excuse that this pressure might at the end lead Gaza to either surrender or face complete demise.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Muhammad, you know, today, Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, arrived in Israel, his 11th trip to the region since October 7th, 2023. If you could say whether you think anything might come out of this trip of his? There was talk earlier, which seems obviously to be false, that once Yahya Sinwar was killed, Israel would be more open to ceasefire negotiations.

MUHAMMAD SHEHADA: Yeah, I’ve been told that exact same thing repeatedly by American officials, by European officials and people from Israel, and even Arab officials, who kept saying that if Israel manages to get Sinwar, the war would stop, or we would double or significantly increase the momentum to end the war. But as soon as Sinwar was killed, you see every single one of those people playing dumb and deaf, just abandoning Gaza to its fate.

These performative visits and performative declarations, that there is a breakthrough, that the negotiations are happening, are just there as a pretense to buy time. There has been a deal on the table since at least July 2nd, the deal that President Biden put himself, that Hamas accepted fully on July 2nd with slight amendments in the updated formula, and Israel, as well. The message that the Qataris got from the Israelis is that Israel, as well, accepted that formula. And nonetheless, right after that ceasefire proposal was put on the table, Netanyahu went forth and killed the top negotiator in Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, and has been unleashing one massacre after another in Gaza and putting ludicrous terms that even his own security military establishment disagreed with completely, maintaining the occupation of Gaza in the Netzarim Corridor and Philadelphi, and merely having a six-week pause after which the war goes on again. So, these pretenses, Blinken’s visit, etc., it’s there just to buy time. It’s there to soothe people and pacify them and numb their outrage at what’s happening and unfolding in Gaza.

AMY GOODMAN: Muhammad Shehada, I want to ask you about the Israeli Cabinet members and officials with the ruling Likud party calling Monday for the reestablishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza and for the ethnic cleansing of the territory’s Palestinian inhabitants. The far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir spoke at a conference of settler groups and ultranationalists near Israel’s border with Gaza. This is what he said.

ITAMAR BEN-GVIR: [translated] We can return home to Gaza, and we can do another thing: to encourage Palestinian emigration out of Gaza, encourage emigration, encourage emigration. It’s the best and most moral solution, not by force, but by telling them, “We’re giving you the option: Leave to other countries.” The land of Israel is ours.

AMY GOODMAN: So, if you can talk about the significance of this, Muhammad Shehada? He was then cheered after he said this. And also talk about whether you think that Netanyahu right now is pushing for a war with Iran that would serve the U.S. election to get Trump elected, his true ally.

MUHAMMAD SHEHADA: Yes, absolutely. So, in terms of Iran and Netanyahu’s ambition, yesterday, Israel’s top right-wing journalist, Amit Segal, he said it openly and publicly, that we want Trump to be back, because if he is back in office, Israel will get away with annexing major parts of the Gaza Strip and will get away with as much, for instance, in Lebanon or vis-à-vis the Iranians. He is actively trying to sabotage Kamala Harris’s campaign. It’s no secret.

But in terms of the Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the U.S. — every time that point is raised to them, they try to dismiss it or downplay it by saying this is a fringe minority in Netanyahu’s government. No, it’s not. Now you have at least half of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition that are officially, openly in favor of such plan of depopulating Gaza’s half and building settlements there and taking over and annexing parts of it. But the other half, the sort of silent half in Netanyahu’s Cabinet, many of them are also in that direction, even people in the Israeli opposition.

Now you have the Israeli political map vis-à-vis Gaza is fragmented between three different preferences. Number one is the one you mentioned, Amy, about resettling the Gaza Strip, building Jewish-only settlements in Gaza. Number two is the Netanyahu preference, building an Israeli military government, a military dictatorship, to rule the Gaza Strip for the foreseeable future, and if the world is not happy with that, then a joint Arab or joint international mission to do Israel’s dirty work in Gaza, to pay for Gaza’s — sustaining life in Gaza on a humanitarian scale and do the sort of dismantling, disarmament of Hamas. And number three, the defense establishment, the moderate position and the opposition position is that Israel will rule Gaza militarily for the foreseeable future, a military occupation will stay in Gaza, but they don’t want to do anything with Gaza’s civilian aspect of governance. They want to outsource it to anybody else, so that they don’t have to pay anything for running Gaza. And you heard, for example, Israel’s former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who’s supposed to be the opposition to Netanyahu, a moderate, relatively speaking. As soon as Sinwar was killed, he said, “We will stay in Gaza for the foreseeable future.”

So, this is a very scary spectrum that you have on hand, that is setting forth the agenda for an indefinite war. And the only reason you can sort of change that, influence a change in there, is by basically pressuring Israel and cutting off the weapons supply. Without conditioning the weapons supply or cutting it off, there’s no hope of any positive alternative coming out of this.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Muhammad, before we end — we just have a minute — we would like to ask about your family. You recently saw in Egypt both your grandmother and your cousin. You say people who have even managed to get out look like ghosts of their former selves. If you could tell us what it was like, how your grandmother and your cousin appeared to you?

MUHAMMAD SHEHADA: Well, it’s a thought that I have to wrestle with all the time, is that the Gaza that I know is gone. And it’s not just the loved ones that were killed. I stopped counting how many I lost. And it’s not just the homes that were bombed. But it’s the physical debilitation, the physical weakening of the people in Gaza, even the ones that came out of it.

I got a message from my mom when my grandmother came out, and she said, “By the look of it, your grandma’s not going to be here for long. You have to come immediately and see her.” I went to see her. She was — before the war, she was this healthy, beautiful woman with a lot of jewelry on her hands, and she was very proud, traditional Palestinian clothing all the time. Now she was just mere skin and bone, with her feet swollen up in a very frightening way and complications with the digestive system nonstop. And she was bedridden completely, completely incapacitated.

I saw my cousin on the street, who was also a healthy, tall, beautiful woman in Gaza with smooth skin. That was her reputation, how she’s seen in the family. I saw her in the street. I didn’t recognize her. She did. And basically, she had shrunken. Her back is arched. She was skin and bone, a shorter person than the one I’m used to, with curled-up skin, very darkened skin, very rough skin. And I couldn’t recognize her anymore.

And I fear for the same fate of everyone I know in Gaza, that they have been changed and turned into ghosts physically, but also the mental debilitation. Before this war started, you had about 90% of Gaza’s population with PTSDs and 70% with persistent depressive disorder symptoms. Now it’s way, way, way uglier than that. Now I hear suicidal thoughts from everyone I know. And Gaza is culturally religious. There is the belief that suicide is the gateway to eternity in hell. But what Israel has done in Gaza is that it’s now pushing people to believe that God’s hell, no matter what, is going to be way better than the nightmare that is inflicted on Gaza.

AMY GOODMAN: Muhammad Shehada, we want to thank you for being with us, writer and analyst, originally from Gaza City, chief of communications at Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, speaking to us today from Copenhagen.

When we come back, we’ll be joined by the acclaimed writer and activist Naomi Klein. She’ll discuss her new essay, “How Israel has made trauma a weapon of war,” as well as how conspiracy theories are impacting everything from the U.S. presidential election to hurricane relief. She writes about conspiracies in her book, now out in paperback, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. Back in 20 seconds.

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Naomi Klein: Israel Has Weaponized October 7 Trauma to Justify Its Genocide in Gaza
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 22, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/22 ... transcript

-- "How Israel has made trauma a weapon of war"

-- "Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World"

More than a year since Israel launched its war on Gaza in response to the October 7 attack, we speak with the award-winning author, journalist and activist Naomi Klein, who says a “trauma industry” has emerged to keep Israeli society permanently in crisis in order to justify the country’s expansionist wars and human rights abuses. “Though the Israeli government likes to frame everything that is happening now as a response to October 7, this is a preexisting agenda,” says Klein, whose latest essay for The Guardian explores how Israel “has made trauma a weapon of war.”

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, “War, Peace and the Presidency.” I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: As we continue our coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, we turn now to look at “How Israel has made trauma a weapon of war.” That’s a headline to a recent essay in The Guardian by our next guest, the award-winning journalist and author Naomi Klein, who examines how memorials to the October 7th attacks have stirred support for Israel’s limitless violence.

She writes, quote, “It’s a simple fable of good and evil, in which Israel is unblemished in its innocence, deserving unquestioning support, while its enemies are all monsters, deserving of violence unbounded by laws or borders, whether in Gaza, Jenin, Beirut, Damascus or Tehran.”

AMY GOODMAN: Naomi Klein is professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia, the founding co-director of the UBC Centre for Climate Justice. Her latest book, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, is now available in paperback. She’s the author of many other books, including The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

Naomi, it’s great to have you back in our New York studio, but horrifying during these times. If you can respond first to what’s happening on the ground in Gaza, in Lebanon, and then if you can relate it to this piece that you just wrote for The Guardian?

NAOMI KLEIN: Sure. Well, I think the first thing that we — what we need to understand, and I think we have seen this in the clips and in your previous interview, is that though the Israeli government likes to frame everything that is happening now as a response to October 7th, this is a preexisting agenda. I mean, this is the settler movement, Ben-Gvir. I mean, all of these figures have always wanted Gaza depopulated. They’ve always wanted to settle Gaza. They’ve always believed it is part of so-called Greater Israel. So does Netanyahu. It’s part of their coalition agreement dating back to 2022 — right? — that they want the whole thing, and also the West Bank, by the way.

So, you know, I’ve written before about how states of shock are often exploited very cynically to ram through a preexisting agenda. And I think that’s absolutely what we’re seeing. But in order for that to work, the state of shock needs to be continued, heightened. There can never be a recovery. So the Israeli society needs to be reshocked and kept in this kind of trauma loop. And that’s what this piece about the kind of trauma industry is about.

And I want to be very clear: People have a right to grieve their loved ones. This is not about families gathering in grief. This is not about the right to remember and honor. It’s about state-orchestrated and -manipulated trauma. It’s a memorialization from above — right? — not from below, for a very specific end. And people in the Netanyahu government have been very clear that really what they’re doing with the way they are telling the story of October 7th is creating what they call a new national identity. And it’s a national identity that uses the trauma of that day to create a story that fuses October 7th with the Holocaust, and then uses that as the excuse for the genocide that we’re seeing right now.

So, you know, when we think about the horrors, that you’ve already outlined today on the show and, frankly, every show — right? — the deliberate starvation, the torment of an entire population, the torture of an entire population, the deliberate humiliation — how do you — and I think we all ask ourselves this question: How are people able to rationalize it? Right? And they’re able to rationalize it because within their information bubbles, they are being fed this constant story of “this is what they did to you,” a whole industry of reexperiencing it.

I mean, what I write about in this piece is all of these immersive, so-called memorialization kind of technologies, so it’s not only people in Israel, but in the diaspora, who are encouraged to put on VR goggles and reexperience October 7th as if it happened to them, immersive tunnels where you can go into the Gaza tunnels. It’s really an attempt to transfer trauma far and wide.

And in a state of trauma, you don’t really think. It’s pure emotion. It’s pure reaction. You can’t be analytical. You’re not going to be empathetic towards others. It’s about monsterizing the other and fusing your identity with the people in those houses, at the Nova music festival, in the tunnels. It’s very deliberate. It’s extremely manipulative. And it’s how you turn off any compassion or empathy or sense of ethics or morals.

AMY GOODMAN: And just to be clear, you point out that a number of hostage family members, in response to the state memorializations, as you put it, on October 7th, said, “Do not use our family members’ names. We don’t want to be a part of this,” as they fight for —

NAOMI KLEIN: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: — their family members to be released and a ceasefire, an end to Palestinian anguish.

NAOMI KLEIN: Oh yeah. I mean, this is — the way in which the government is weaponizing, instrumentalizing the deaths on October 7th and the hostages, the people who are most opposed to it are the families themselves, right? So, I begin the piece with the fact that, originally, the government’s plans for October 7th was to have this huge public event in the south. There were going to be thousands of people, I think 7,000 people. And they wanted to have, you know, members of the families there to testify. And kibbutz after kibbutz that was really, you know, on the frontline, like kibbutzim like Be’eri, said, “We’re not participating in this.” Then family members said, “Not only are we not participating, you can’t use our child’s name. You can’t use their image,” which is to not say that they’re not grieving. They had their own private, dignified ceremonies, vigils, you know, for people who are still alive. They just didn’t want any part of the pageantry and the weaponization of the government. They didn’t — and that was withheld.

You know, of course, the way my piece has been responded to through the sort hasbara channels is, you know, “Naomi Klein says we don’t have a right to grieve,” ignoring the fact that it’s the families themselves who have the most to grieve who are actually objecting the loudest within Israeli society.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And if you could say, Naomi — you know, you just mentioned, which your piece talks about at length, the conflation of October 7th with the Holocaust. First of all, what that makes possible?

NAOMI KLEIN: Right.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Some of the examples of the ways in which that’s happened through these different memorialization practices that you outline? And then, whether an argument can be made for whether this is not precisely a kind of a trivialization of the Holocaust, a kind of banalization of it, which is precisely what survivors and scholars of the Holocaust warned against?

NAOMI KLEIN: Right. Yeah, I think it’s extraordinary, because one of the things that is happening from the same people who are trivializing the Holocaust in this way, they’re also — if you say what’s happening in Gaza is genocide, you know, they’ll throw their arms up in horror and say, you know, “That is impossible,” despite the immense scale and the deliberate plans and all of the markers, the announcements of intent — now, I’m not going to go into that. But they think nothing of saying that October 7th was — as if 80 years had not passed, as if it was not another continent, as if it was not another group of people, as if the power dynamics were not flipped on their head, that this day just grafts onto the Holocaust, as if it was 1945.

And so, this goes from everything from the Shoah Foundation adding another chapter — so, the Shoah Foundation, which is, you know, an incredibly important archive of testimonies of Holocaust survivors, now has added testimonies from survivors of October 7th. March of the Living tours of Auschwitz, now you hear from survivors of October 7th. So it’s a total conflation of these events. You know, in the piece, I tell a kind of extreme story of — they call it an art project. I wouldn’t call it an art project, but it’s some — it was a bizarre kind of stunt of taking — creating a juxtaposition of the iconic memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Berlin and hanging a pair of mocked-up bloodied pants that were to symbolize sexual violence on October 7th and suspending them over that memorial with drones and then saying “Never again?” — question mark — as if this is all the same event.

Now, Nermeen, you asked about: Well, what are the implications of this? The implications are that if you do conflate these events, of course, it justifies any response, right? And more than that, if you cast Palestinians as Nazis, if you create this continuum, this absolutely false continuum, then it actually, post facto, does a lot more work than that, because then, if Palestinians are Nazis, then the original crime in the creation of the state of Israel, which is the Nakba, which is the mass, forced ethnic cleansing, displacement of hundreds of thousands, more than 700,000, Palestinians, who had nothing to do with the Holocaust, is, like, after the fact, justified, right? So, if they’re Nazis, then the original crime that Israel can’t look at in its founding is sort of, after the fact, justified. This is the psychology of it. Of course, it makes no sense. But this is why it’s very dangerous, and it’s why we’re seeing this acceleration of kind of finish-the-job Nakba from Israeli politicians.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: I want to ask, Naomi — one of the people that you cite in your piece, I mean, on the question of grief and grieving, is historian Gabriel Winant, whose piece in Dissent, which you take from, is headlined “On Mourning and Statehood.” It was a response to Joshua Leifer, a journalist, in the same journal, in Dissent. But I’d like to read a short excerpt. This is not what you quote, but it’s from his original piece. He writes, “The genuine humane sentiment that it is possible to grieve equally for those on both sides is, tragically, not true. One side has an enormous grief machine, the best in the world, up and running, feeding on bodies and tears and turning them into bombs. The other is starved for grief.” Now, Gabriel wrote that piece less than one week after October 7th. Now it’s over a year, over 42,000 Gazans killed. If you could elaborate on this? Because this is something that people have struggled with, you know, because, as you said earlier, people have a right to grieve what happened on October 7th, and yet there is this massive discrepancy.

NAOMI KLEIN: Massive asymmetry in who’s grievable, right? I mean, this is Butler’s term, Judith Butler’s term, that within a vastly unequal, white supremacist society, you have lives that are treated as more grievable than others. And so many justice struggles are about asserting that every life is grievable. And so, I mean, the Black Lives Matter movement is about asymmetrical grief in so many ways.

I mean, personally, I don’t think — I think there’s sometimes this idea that you can tell people not to grieve, because — you know, to sort of balance the scales. I don’t think grief is a very obedient emotion, from my experience. It’s highly disobedient and unruly. And I think it is dangerous, actually, to tell people that they can’t have the emotions that they’re having. I think it’s more constructive to try to redirect those emotions into a project that is liberatory, that is in solidarity, you know, create containers for grief that are not the weaponized containers or instrumentalized containers that are using that grief and turning it into a justification for genocide. So, you know, I have respect, but disagreement, with that position. But we need to wrestle with it.

You know, in the piece, I also quote a scholar, a Lebanese Australian scholar, Ghassan Hage, who talks about how he felt this pressure to grieve those deaths in a certain way after October 7th, in a way that he described as “supremacist mourning,” which had encoded in it the idea that these lives were more important, more precious than Palestinian lives, Lebanese lives. And that’s what we must reject on all counts.

The other thing that’s been pointed out many times is that you can’t really mourn when the bodies are still piling up, when there are bodies still under the rubble, when cities are being turned to dust. Mourning is something, actually, that you do once it’s over. And it’s not over.

AMY GOODMAN: You also quote Marianne Hirsch, a professor emerita at Columbia University, and you end your piece by applauding the group, Israeli Palestinian group, Zochrot, which means “remembering.” Talk about both.

NAOMI KLEIN: Yeah. I mean, Marianne Hirsch is a wonderful scholar of different forms of memorialization and the way in which these sort of top-down — this top-down pageantry memorial creates a false experience, a sort of — she doesn’t use this term, but a prosthetic trauma.

The remembering, you know, if you break down the parts of the word “remembering,” it’s really putting the pieces of the self back together again. And the work of Zochrot, which is — you know, they’ve been doing work for many years, which is really about putting the pieces — like, Israel is based on erasure — right? — erasing the presence of — it’s every settler-colonial state — the United States, Canada, Australia. They’re all about erasing the original Indigenous presence there, renaming towns, denying that there are burial grounds. So, it’s actually the opposite of memorialization that happens. And so, what would real remembering mean in violent settler-colonial states? And it would be actually putting the pieces of the self back together again, which is this deeper form of remembering.

[admin]

Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 23, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/23/headlines

U.N. Says Israeli Assaults on Gaza Have Set Back Development by Seven Decades
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Blinken Wraps 11th Israel Visit as Hostages’ Families Protest to Demand a Ceasefire
Oct 23, 2024

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Saudi Arabia after wrapping up talks with senior Israeli officials in Tel Aviv. The State Department says Blinken urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to revive Gaza ceasefire negotiations and pushed Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. On Tuesday evening, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Tel Aviv hotel where Blinken was meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. They were demanding the U.S. pressure Israel into making a ceasefire deal that would see the release of hostages held by Hamas. Protesters, many of them family members of hostages, held signs reading “No more war; no more bloodshed; free our state; free our hostages.”

Blinken’s 11th trip to the Middle East in just over a year comes as Axios reported the State Department is reviewing U.S. aid to Israeli units accused of killing, torturing and sexually assaulting Palestinians. ProPublica reported in April that a State Department panel had recommended as long ago as last December that multiple Israeli military and police units should be disqualified from receiving U.S. aid under the Leahy Amendment, the 1997 law that requires the United States to cut off financial aid to those credibly accused of human rights violations. Secretary Blinken still has not taken any action.

Al Jazeera Demands Medical Evacuation of Journalists Injured by Israeli Forces in Gaza
Oct 23, 2024

Al Jazeera is continuing to demand the immediate medical evacuation of two of its journalists in Gaza injured in Israeli attacks. Al Jazeera camera operator Fadi al-Wahidi was paralyzed after he was shot in the neck by an Israeli sniper while reporting in Jabaliya earlier this month. Israeli authorities have blocked the evacuation of al-Wahidi from Gaza, as well as that of fellow Al Jazeera cameraperson Ali al-Attar, to receive urgently needed medical treatment. Al-Attar suffered serious injuries due to shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah causing a cerebral hemorrhage. In related news, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is leading a group of U.S. lawmakers urging the Biden administration to open an investigation into the October 2023 Israeli attack that killed Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah in southern Lebanon. Six others were injured, including reporters for Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera.

Harris Campaign Ejects Muslim American Democrat from Detroit-Area Rally
Oct 23, 2024

Kamala Harris’s campaign has said it “regrets” a decision to eject a Muslim American Democrat from a Monday evening rally in metro Detroit, where Harris was joined on stage by Republican former Wyoming Congressmember Liz Cheney. Ahmed Ghanim, a Democratic Party activist and former House candidate for Michigan’s 11th District, says he RSVP’d to the event, cleared security and was seated at the Royal Oak Musical Theater when a staffer ordered him to leave or be put into the back of a police car. Ghanim told The Detroit News he felt targeted because he is Muslim, adding, “I didn’t even have anything like a Palestinian keffiyeh, any signs or a banner, nothing. None of that is allowed inside. I guess that’s how the Democratic Party deals with Muslims.” This comes as a new poll from Arab News finds Arab Americans are slightly more likely to vote for Donald Trump than Kamala Harris.

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“We Have Lost All Credibility”: Hala Rharrit on Quitting State Dept. & Ending U.S. Complicity in Gaza
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 23, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/23 ... transcript

As human rights groups continue to call out war crimes committed by the Israeli military, we speak to the only U.S. diplomat to publicly resign from the Biden administration over its policy on Israel. We first spoke to Hala Rharrit when she resigned from the State Department in April, citing the illegal and deceptive nature of U.S. policy in the Middle East. “We continue to willfully violate laws so that we surge U.S. military assistance to Israel,” she says after more than a year of Israel’s war on Gaza. Rharrit says she found the Biden administration unmovable in its “counterproductive policy,” which she believes has gravely harmed U.S. interests in the Middle East. “We are going to feel the repercussions of that for years, decades, generations.”

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Israel’s leading human rights group B’Tselem has accused Israel of committing “ethnic cleansing” in northern Gaza as Israel’s devastating siege on the area continues. In a statement, the group said, quote, “The magnitude of the crimes Israel is currently committing in the northern Gaza Strip in its campaign to empty it of however many residents are left is impossible to describe, not just because hundreds of thousands of people enduring starvation, disease without access to medical care and incessant bombardments and gunfire defies comprehension, but because Israel has cut them off from the world.” These are the words of the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

In the Jabaliya refugee camp, Israeli forces stormed at least three schools, forcing Palestinians sheltering inside to leave at gunpoint, before setting fire to the buildings. Palestinians in the refugee camp say they fear they’ll be killed if they stay put or if they try to flee south.

UMM AWAD AL-MADHOUN: [translated] A lot of rockets fell on us, and the quadcopters started shouting and telling us to get out, get out of the area. We evacuated and found lots of tanks and Israeli soldiers, and we were taken to a very large area, and they started shooting at us. They then started evacuating us from the area 10 by 10. When we reached here, I didn’t know where to come or go. I’m sitting in the street with my children.

AMY GOODMAN: This comes as the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, has issued a report stating it could take Gaza 350 years to rebuild if it remains under an Israeli blockade.

Meanwhile, Israel is also intensifying its attack on Lebanon. Earlier today, Israel bombed the historic Lebanese town of Tyre, one of the oldest cities in the world.

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken has arrived in Saudi Arabia after leaving Israel, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. Blinken spoke to reporters before leaving Israel.

SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: Israel has achieved most of its strategic objectives when it comes to Gaza, all with the idea of making sure that October 7th could never happen again. In the space of a year, it’s managed to dismantle Hamas’s military capacity. It’s destroyed much of its arsenal. It’s eliminated its senior leadership, including, most recently, Yahya Sinwar. This has come at the cost, great cost, to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Now is the time to turn those successes into an enduring strategic success. And there are really two things left to do: get the hostages home and bring the war to an end with an understanding of what will follow.

AMY GOODMAN: That was U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

We’re joined now by Hala Rharrit. She served 18 years as a career diplomat before resigning in April from the State Department over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy. She’s the first and only State Department diplomat to publicly resign over Gaza. At the time she left, she was the Arabic-language spokesperson for the State Department and the deputy director of the State Department’s Dubai regional media hub.

Hala Rharrit, thank you so much for being in our New York studio. We were just playing a clip of your former boss, of U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Your thoughts as we just passed this first anniversary of the Hamas attack on southern Israel and the ensuing Israeli attack on Gaza that has killed — this is by far considered an underestimate by most — at least 42,000 Palestinians, over 17,000 of them children?

HALA RHARRIT: First of all, Amy, thank you so much for having me. It really is an honor. And I have to tell you on behalf of so many diplomats, huge fan of yours. American diplomats have been watching your show for years, and we thank you for everything that you do.

In response to the onslaught of Gaza, I want to state the failures of this policy, that even for those that are thinking of it as this side versus another, we have to be realistic about the fact that it has absolutely failed. Secretary Blinken said Israel has achieved the strategic objectives in Gaza. No, it hasn’t. That is quite a lie. Its objectives was the release of the hostages. That has not been achieved. Its objective was also the destruction of Hamas. That has not been achieved.

The reality is that we, as the United States government, are in violation of U.S. law, of multiple of laws that your viewers can Google for themselves: the Leahy Law, the Foreign Assistance Act, the Arms Export Control Act. We continue to willfully violate laws so that we surge U.S. military assistance to Israel.

To what end? We are only empowering Benjamin Netanyahu to expand the conflict in Gaza, to expand the conflict within the West Bank, and now we’re seeing the devastation in Lebanon. Again, to what end? We saw the Lebanese foreign minister insist that Nasrallah and Hezbollah had actually agreed to the U.S. and France proposal for a ceasefire before he was assassinated. There are other ceasefires in Gaza that we have been pushing that Netanyahu is the obstacle. Yet this administration refuses to shift its policy, refuses to enforce U.S. law and continues to surge U.S. military assistance.

And the result has been devastating, absolutely devastating. These are human beings in Gaza that are being absolutely massacred, children. And this is going to have generational impacts and ultimately will not keep Israel any safer. And the entire region is destabilized, as we’re seeing now with the threat of Iran, as well. The policy has to change, and it has to change now.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Hala, I wanted to ask you — it wasn’t until earlier this month that Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a letter threatening to cut off U.S. military assistance if Israel does not boost humanitarian aid to Gaza in the next 30 days. What’s your response?

HALA RHARRIT: Thank you, Juan, for highlighting that. I can tell you, as someone that worked within the State Department PR machine, that this, unfortunately, is a public relations ploy. I am sad to say it, but it’s the truth. It is conveniently 30 days, marking the time after the election. Also, it was conveniently leaked. It’s not typical for a statement like this to be leaked to the press, but it was.

The reality is that the State Department and the administration at this point is trying to give voters, especially those that are so concerned about the conflict in Gaza, some level of hope: “As long as you vote for us, after this 30 days, we’ll enforce the law, and we will make a change.” This is absolutely a deception for the voters and for the American people.

We don’t need another 30 days. We have had ample evidence from within the United States government, not just the State Department, but a multitude of U.S. agencies, with proof that Israel is violating so many of our laws, is systematically withholding humanitarian assistance from going in. As was mentioned in the report, as well, Leahy vetting is being violated, with army units determined to have committed gross human rights violations. We need to take action, and we should have taken action months ago. This 30 days is only a PR ploy, and that is the only thing it really is.

And that’s the devastation of all of it, because we have to ask ourselves: What is going to happen in these 30 days? Right after this letter was sent, the Israeli government announced that medical groups were no longer allowed to go into Gaza. They informed the WHO. These are medical groups, including from the United States, that are providing lifesaving assistance to people in need, to civilians in need. This was a slap in the face of the administration. If they had actually taken this letter seriously, they wouldn’t have taken that step. Additionally, the onslaught of northern Gaza is clear. They’re continuing the onslaught, specifically of northern Gaza, a complete blackout, no food, no water, no internet — all this in this 30-day period supposedly. Unfortunately, we need to stop with the words, with the PR, and we need to take serious action.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you — even as the war, this horrific war, continues, the United States’ policy, and that of most European countries, is still in favor of a two-state solution long term in the area. But the Israeli Knesset itself, overwhelmingly, not just Netanyahu’s portion of the government, but overwhelmingly voted earlier this year to reject any possibility of a Palestinian state. I’m wondering your thoughts about the long-term future of the area.

HALA RHARRIT: You’re absolutely right. And the fact that the Knesset voted on that shows the fact that we, as the United States, have been enabling and empowering a right extremist government in Israel. And it’s time that we stop doing so. There are so many Israeli peace activists. We heard of B’Tselem, but there is a growing movement from within Israel, including members that — family members that actually lost relatives on October 7, that are demanding an end to the nonstop violence. These are the groups that we need to support; same on the Palestinian side, Palestinian activists that are calling for coexistence. The U.S. government needs to shift its policy. Again, I’m just going to repeat this over and over again. We continue to empower a right-wing extremist prime minister, when we should be doing is supporting civil society on both sides that are actually seeking to promote humanity for both peoples.

AMY GOODMAN: Hala, tributes have poured in from across the globe for 19-year-old Sha’ban al-Dalou. He was a software engineering student who burned to death after Israel bombed Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir al-Balah last week. He didn’t actually die then, but the bombing set fire to the displaced persons camp around the hospital. He had built his little tent area for his family. This is a clip of Zeteo News reporter Prem Thakker questioning recently State Department spokesperson Matt Miller about Sha’ban’s death.

PREM THAKKER: One of the people the world saw burned alive by the bombing of the Gaza hospital was Sha’ban al-Dalou, a 19-year-old engineering student who was still attached to an IV drip recovering from a previous bombing. And his story kind of speaks to how this isn’t just about one attack, a 19-year-old having to provide for his family, repeatedly displaced, brought to hunger, bombed twice in a matter of days. This is a year, and this isn’t out of nowhere. So, how many more patients burned alive by U.S. bombs —

MATTHEW MILLER: We don’t want to see any.

PREM THAKKER: — until this is enough?

MATTHEW MILLER: None. We don’t want to see any.

PREM THAKKER: Well, I guess the U.S. has said, you know, again and again, that no civilian loss is acceptable, 10,000 deaths ago, 20,000 deaths ago, and yet it’s continued. So, how does this answer mean anything without a policy shift?

MATTHEW MILLER: So, it is an incredibly difficult environment that Israel operates in. And I’ll just make clear, the thing that that question leaves out, as often happens — and I understand why — is the burden that Hamas bears, and not just the burden that Hamas bears by hiding behind humans and using humans as civilian shields, but the burden that Hamas bears in not coming back to the table to try to get to a ceasefire. So, Israel needs to do more to minimize civilian harm. Hamas needs to stop hiding behind human shields.

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s State Department spokesperson Matt Miller being questioned by Zeteo News reporter Prem Thakker. Hala, if you can respond to this report? And, you know, since Sha’ban has died, his brother has died, his mother has died, his sister has died. And people are saying that the family members who are burnt but not yet dead, because they can’t get out and because the hospital is in such disrepair, they are dying from their burns.

HALA RHARRIT: Such immense human suffering, the scale of which we just can’t really grapple with. And I have to just thank you, Amy, for humanizing the victims. And we all have to do that as Americans, because, ultimately, it is our bombs, it is our tax dollars that is creating this catastrophe.

As to Matthew Miller, I’m going to be unequivocal: He’s lying. And I know, I realize it’s quite a forceful thing for me to say, but as a former diplomat, I can assure that. There have been ceasefire deals that Hamas has agreed to. I am not one to advocate for the terrorist organization whatsoever, and I want to be clear about that. But facts are facts. Hamas has repeatedly agreed to ceasefire deals. It is Benjamin Netanyahu who has reneged on those deals.

Additionally, you had another guest on this show a while back, Gershon Baskin, who’s an Israeli negotiator, who has been negotiating on behalf of families of hostages. I have been in close touch with Gershon over the last month. He had, and continues to have, a deal that, again, is an Israeli deal that Hamas has agreed to. I pushed this to the State Department. I pushed this to the White House, at very senior levels. They have it. And it guaranteed the release of all of the hostages, and it guaranteed security for Israel, as well. I’m sorry, go ahead.

AMY GOODMAN: We have a clip of —

HALA RHARRIT: OK, great.

AMY GOODMAN: — Gershon Baskin.

GERSHON BASKIN: I’ve pleaded with the Hamas to say yes not only to me, but to tell the Egyptians and the Qataris that they agree to the deal that I proposed to them, which is a three-week, end-of-war, full-term ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, release of all the Israeli hostages and a release of an agreed number and list of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. This is a deal that can be made. It is a million times better than the deal that the United States, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to negotiate, unsuccessfully, for the last three months, which would just keep the war going and only release 32 hostages in 42 days. That’s a bad deal. We need to have a good deal put on the table. I’ve communicated this to the White House, to the Qataris, to the Egyptians and, of course, to the Israeli government. Now the officials need to push this through.

AMY GOODMAN: Why is Netanyahu refusing?

GERSHON BASKIN: Well, it’s very clear that Netanyahu doesn’t want to end the war, as one of his top negotiators told me on Saturday. The problem with any agreement that we can put forward is that the bottom line is that Hamas won’t make an agreement that doesn’t end the war, and Netanyahu won’t agree to any agreement that ends the war. He wants to keep this going.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Gershon Baskin speaking last month. It was before Yahya Sinwar was assassinated. Gershon Baskin, the Israeli researcher and peace activist who’s negotiated agreements with Hamas. The significance of what he is just saying? And also, I mean, Tony Blinken was your boss. You would brief him. You translated his words to the Arab world and the messages. And talk about the moment that you decided you cannot do this anymore.

HALA RHARRIT: Honestly, there were many moments, Amy, many, many moments. And after an 18-year career, you don’t take the decision to resign lightly. But it was despite all of my efforts, despite everyone’s efforts in terms of us career diplomats, highlighting the inhumanity, the illegality of this policy, the fact that it’s a counterproductive policy that is actually emboldening extremism on all sides, it is only ensuring generational cycle of violence.

I was initially told, “Good. Thank you for your feedback.” I was actually sending daily reports to the department. That was part of my job as a spokesperson. And I was highlighting what was happening in Gaza from the pan-Arab media. So I thought that my work was helping and feeding into Washington’s formulation of what to do next. But it became abundantly clear eventually that the policy was the policy. It was not shifting. I was actually asked in January to stop sending in those reports. Those reports also included the images that were going viral all over the Arab world of children being massacred, oftentimes showing U.S. complicity with fragments of U.S. bomb. Any other circumstance, this would have at least prompted a type of review of our, again, Leahy Law, everything else. It didn’t. Instead, I was silenced. I was sidelined. And that is something that has been unprecedented for me as an 18-year diplomat.

There is always disagreements within the U.S. Foreign Service in terms of policy, but it’s always been a spirit of collaboration, a spirit of “We want to hear from you. Let’s talk.” This has been different. It has been silence. And let me tell you, it has sent a chilling effect across the entire — I can speak about the Foreign Service. People have become to self-censor themselves. They are worried. And that hurts us as Americans, because when you have your experts — your experts, your U.S. government experts — silencing themselves because they’re worried about retribution, or they’re worried about what it will do to their career, we all lose. We lose as American citizens. It doesn’t keep us secure, doesn’t keep us safe.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I’m wondering if you could talk about the impact of all of this and the U.S. position of unequivocal support for Israel has done to the standing of the United States in the Arab world and in the Global South.

HALA RHARRIT: Yeah, that’s a very good question, Juan. That’s actually one of the things that I used to highlight in my daily reports. And I used to show clips and images that were going viral of, basically, America being determined to be child killers, the country of child killers.

After 9/11 and after the “war on terror,” the U.S. government worked so hard to rehabilitate ties in the Arab world, to improve people-to-people relations. All of that has been devastated. And we are not going to see the repercussions of that — I mean, we are going to feel the repercussions of that for years, decades, generation, because we have lost all credibility. We are seen as a country of double standards. We only care about human rights when it’s the human rights of a certain people. We only care about freedom of press when the journalists are not Arab, right? And this is abundantly clear to people across the Arab world and, at this point, beyond.

So, unfortunately, we’ve lost credibility not in terms of just our U.S. policy with regard to the Middle East, but also on Russia-Ukraine. We don’t have a leg to stand on. As a spokesperson before the conflict, I did well over a hundred interviews, including on Russia-Ukraine, for example. We can no longer talk about that with any credibility, because the answer is: Why do you care about a Ukrainian child, but you don’t care about a child in Gaza? What is the difference? And the racism, the blunt, absolutely blunt, racism of this administration has been laid bare.

And it’s going to be very, very hard to recover from this in the Arab world, because we’ve lost even — as I’ve discussed publicly before, we’ve lost, quote-unquote, the “liberals” across the Arab world, the ones who, despite it all, respected us for our values. But those values, even here at home, with the student protests being violently beaten down, it’s all seen through. They’re seeing through all of these double standards. And it’s hurting us, again, hurting us as American citizens.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And given the reality of this administration that you resigned from and that several other career government officials have resigned from, how do you see this election coming in two weeks and the impact of the “uncommitted” movement, and what you see, as an American who’s going to have to cast a ballot in this election?

HALA RHARRIT: Absolutely. Well, I think the Democratic Party is underestimating the power of this issue. I think they are assuming that people will turn up for Harris because, obviously, Trump is a threat to our democracy. But I think they’re underestimating the trauma — and I don’t use that word lightly — the trauma that this conflict has caused, because so many of us that have been focused on the Middle East have been consuming these incessant images of massacres, absolute massacres, of children getting killed, of the suffering now in Lebanon, and it’s unacceptable. And I think for a lot of people of conscience, they are not going to be able to bring themselves to vote for Harris, even though they understand that Trump is a threat to our democracy, as he surely is. And I think many are taking serious consideration in a third-party option, whether it’s the Green or another, because they’re tired of the institutionalized corruption that has become our government, and they’re tired of politicians who are not working on behalf of the United States, but are, rather, working on behalf of special interests.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you know Philip Gordon, who the national security adviser to Kamala Harris? We’re going to have to wrap up in one minute, but to ask: If you see any distance between Kamala Harris and President Biden?

HALA RHARRIT: I don’t now, because those are their own words. They’ve made it abundantly clear that they’re going to continue unconditional support to Israel. And they need to —

AMY GOODMAN: And Philip Gordon?

HALA RHARRIT: I think we’ve seen too many words, and at this point action. And Philip Gordon has made it clear that there’s going to be no arms embargo. And for me, that is him agreeing to a continuation of violation of U.S. law. And as someone that served my country and swore an oath to the Constitution, that’s something I cannot accept.

AMY GOODMAN: Hala Rharrit, we want to thank you so much for being with us, 18-year career diplomat, the first and only career diplomat to resign the State Department over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy.

[admin]

Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 24, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/24/headlines

Israeli Attack on Nuseirat Kills 17; Israeli Extermination Campaign in Northern Gaza Enters 20th Day
Oct 24, 2024

At least 17 Palestinians, including an 11-month-old baby, were killed today in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp, as Israel once again attacked a school turned shelter in central Deir al-Balah.

In northern Gaza, Al Jazeera reports many Civil Defense rescue workers are refusing Israeli orders to evacuate, facing arrest and attacks as they continue their rescue missions, even as their capacity has been nearly wiped out by Israel’s assault. Israel’s siege on northern Gaza, now in its 20th day, has killed over 770 Palestinians. This is a displaced Palestinian woman who fled Beit Lahia.

Lina Issam Abu Nada: “I fled the intense bombardment in Beit Lahia. Martyrs and remains were all scattered on the ground. We do not know where to go. Truly, we don’t know what state we have reached. … We cannot take it anymore. We are being exterminated in Gaza. We are dying, and no one is standing beside us, nor is anyone able to solve our issue. We are innocent. We have nothing to do with everything that has happened. We are lost between a war and an extermination.”

“A Dangerous Escalation”: Al Jazeera Blasts Israel’s Accusations Against Journalists
Oct 24, 2024

Al Jazeera has blasted Israel’s “dangerous escalation” of its attack against the news network, after the Israeli military claimed six of its journalists are members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera responded, “These fabricated accusations [are] a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide.”

Israel Carries Out 17 Overnight Strikes in Lebanon, Destroys Offices of Al Mayadeen News Station
Oct 24, 2024

Israel is continuing its assault on Lebanon, carrying out 17 attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight, leveling at least six buildings. One strike destroyed the offices of the Lebanese news station Al Mayadeen. Israel also killed three Lebanese soldiers in a separate strike.

Meanwhile, health authorities are warning of a possible cholera outbreak among Lebanese children amid mass displacement, attacks on the health system and lack of clean water and food. The 400,000 displaced children in Lebanon are also at risk of other highly transmissible diseases like hepatitis A and measles.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron pledged a 100 million euro aid package for Lebanon as he opened a conference in Paris to rally support for Lebanon and reiterate calls for a ceasefire.

Jewish Students Show Solidarity with Gaza During Sukkot Despite Crackdown from Universities
Oct 24, 2024

Here in the U.S., Jewish students across the country say college administrators have cracked down on their Gaza solidarity sukkahs, which have been set up over the past week to mark the holiday of Sukkot. In some cases, schools have destroyed the sukkah huts. Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement, “These universities desecrate these students’ Jewish practice because their faith is intertwined with their solidarity with the Palestinian people. A university has no right to dictate what types of Jewish practice are legitimate.”

Faith Leaders Demand NYC Council Take Up Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
Oct 24, 2024

Here in New York City, faith leaders and other activists disrupted a city council meeting Wednesday to demand councilmembers take up a vote on a Gaza ceasefire resolution. Protesters cried out “City Council, you can’t hide! No more bombs for genocide!” as they held up their hands, covered in red paint, while being forcibly removed by security. Over 100 city councils across the country have passed ceasefire resolutions.

Hundreds of Spanish Artists, Academics Call for Total Arms Embargo on Israel
Oct 24, 2024

In Spain, over 300 academics, entertainers and artists, including the directors Pedro Almodóvar and Isabel Coixet, have signed on to a letter calling on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to enact a full arms embargo on Israel, writing, “As long as Spain maintains military relations with Israel, it will continue to be complicit in this massacre.” Sánchez has said Spain halted its weapons trade with Israel since October of last year, but investigations have revealed some military exports have still gone ahead.

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“This Is Just Terrorism”: Israel Bombs World Heritage Site in Lebanon, Threatens Major Hospital
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 24, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/24 ... transcript

Israel is escalating its bombardment of Lebanon, leveling numerous buildings, including the offices of Lebanese news station Al Mayadeen. The Israeli military has also attacked the ancient city of Tyre, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, and killed three Lebanese soldiers in a strike in southern Lebanon, all while continuing to defy international calls for a ceasefire. “What we’re seeing is a complete degeneration into a war that has no rules, that respects no international conventions. There’s one side in this war that has complete impunity,” says Lebanese sociologist Rima Majed in Beirut. “Israel is targeting civilians in most cases. … This is just terrorism.”

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We begin today’s show in Lebanon, where Israel continues to bombard the southern suburbs of Beirut. Health officials report Israel carried out at least 17 strikes overnight, leveling numerous buildings, including the offices of Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese news station. Lebanon’s National News Agency described last night’s attacks as the “most violent” in the area in recent weeks. Israel also killed three Lebanese soldiers in a strike in the southern part of the country. Israel continues to defy international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

This comes as French President Emmanuel Macron hosted an aid conference for Lebanon in Paris. Macron reiterated his call for a ceasefire and vowed to send over $100 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Beirut, Lebanon, where we’re joined by Rima Majed. She’s an assistant professor of sociology at the American University of Beirut.

Thanks so much for being with us. If you can start off by talking about what’s happening in one of the oldest cities in the world, in Tyre in southern Lebanon?

RIMA MAJED: Yes. Thank you so much, Amy, for having me on the show again.

What was happening yesterday was very, very disheartening, but it’s really a crime of — you know, of a global scale. Tyre is a very central city in terms of archaeology, of history. And, you know, this has been the second city. So, Tyre is a city that is in the south and that is inhabited by a large population. This is the second city in the south, large city in the south, that is being destructed in a systematic way.

Yesterday, what we’ve — reports say that the old ruins of Tyre have been hit by strikes. We have seen similar reports from other archaeological and historical sites, such as Baalbek, before. These are ruins that have survived thousands of years and that are being now destroyed by Israel. Unfortunately, we are not seeing the same alarm that we saw when other ruins, whether in Syria or Iraq, were targeted. And I think this is a very important issue to flag and to talk about.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, Rima Majed, can you say why you think these attacks on these ruins have not received the kind of attention they should? Has UNESCO, for example, at least made a comment?

RIMA MAJED: Yeah, I think — I mean, I think the whole war on Lebanon is not receiving the attention that it needs to receive. I mean, there is a full-blown war that is taking very little space in the global media, for several reasons. One of them is, unfortunately, wars in this part of the world have become material for consumption, and there’s maybe media fatigue. But also, there’s an impunity that Israel has been enjoying since a long time, but that has become very flagrant since last year, where at this point what we cover is survival and bare life. I mean, there’s so much to cover in terms of people — you know, forced expulsions, people dying, that talking about ruins and history and archaeology is maybe seen not as a priority. But, I mean, it’s a devastating conflict, or it’s a devastating war, that is destroying all sorts of life on this land, whether social life or even when we think about history.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Rima Majed, if you could respond to what we said earlier, which is that France has pledged over — has pledged 100 million euros in support, humanitarian aid support, to Lebanon, and, in particular, also comment on what the defense minister, the French defense minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said earlier this week, on Monday, that, quote — and this is a quote from him — “Our position” — that is to say, France’s position — “right now is primarily driven by the fear of an imminent civil war in Lebanon”?

RIMA MAJED: Sure. So, on the question of humanitarian aid, I mean, France has just pledged today. In the same conference in Paris, the UAE has also pledged, and I’m sure other countries will pledge money. Unfortunately, I mean, this is the hypocrisy of this global system. What we’re getting — I mean, we’ve gotten to this point where humanitarianism has become really dehumanizing. The same countries that are sending — I mean, many of those countries that are sending us humanitarian aid are at the same time selling arms and sending arms to Israel to kill us. And the profit they make out of the arms industry is way bigger than what we get in terms of humanitarian aid. So, in that sense, it’s become really dehumanizing that we’re turned into objects of humanitarian support that targets, again, just bare life. I mean, the aim now is for people to survive, to have shelter, even if it’s not decent shelter, and, you know, just the basics of survival. We don’t talk about social lives that have been disrupted, about dreams that are gone, about plans that are now up in the air, about families that have been — you know, that have lost loved ones or been displaced. So, I think this is way bigger than anything humanitarian aid can solve. And we saw last week, when President Macron tried to insinuate that France should consider an arms embargo on Israel, I mean, we saw the backlash from Netanyahu and others. So, I think, you know, at this point, to me, this is really hypocritical.

On the second point of the comment on a possible civil war in Lebanon, there’s a lot of talk inside the country and outside, of course, about the possibility of sliding into a war, social tensions that are increasing because of the effects of displacement and tension in different neighborhoods. Lebanon is already a sectarianized country where these boundaries can shift quickly and can become very tense. But the point we don’t talk about is that civil wars are not the result of social tension. I mean, we never slip into a civil war. Wars, whether civil or not, are political decisions. And therefore, the question today is: Who is going to fund — I mean, yes, I’m not saying the war is impossible. Actually, it is very possible, a civil War. But the question is: Who’s going to fund it? Who’s going to back it politically at the regional level and at the international level? Who’s going to send arms? These are the questions that we need to answer, rather than thinking that wars are social explosions. They’re not. Revolutions are social explosions.

AMY GOODMAN: Earlier this week, at least 13 people, including a child, were killed, and about 60 others injured, in an Israeli airstrike near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Lebanon’s largest public medical center. At least 32 others were wounded in the attack, which caused major damage to the hospital. Separately, 50 medical workers and 15 patients were forced to evacuate from the Al-Sahel Hospital in southern Beirut Monday, after Israel’s military claimed without evidence it’s home to a secret underground Hezbollah bunker containing hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold. Doctors insisted there’s nothing hidden beneath the hospital and took reporters on a tour of its lower floors to disprove the claims. This is Alex Rossi, international correspondent for Sky News.

ALEX ROSSI: This is the Al-Sahel Hospital on the outskirts of Dahiyeh. Dahiyeh, of course, is a stronghold of Hezbollah. Now, we’re in the basement. This is — it’s alleged by the Israelis that this hospital is being used by Hezbollah as a way of storing gold and cash. And we’ve been invited in here. This tour has been in no way exhaustive. You can see there are lots of other press here, as well. But we haven’t been controlled in terms of what we can film or where we can point our camera. We’ve been allowed to open doors, move around. Now, there may be other areas of the hospital that we’ve not been taken to, but for all, you know, this looks like a hospital.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Alex Rossi, again, international correspondent for Sky News. If you could respond, Rima Majed, to what happened there and also talk about the U.S. State Department once again shoring up Israel in what it’s doing, the spokesperson Matt Miller saying, “We’ve seen footage that’s emerged over the course of the past two weeks of rockets and other military weapons held in civilian homes, so Israel does have a right to go after those legitimate targets”?

RIMA MAJED: Yes. I mean, the targeting of the Hariri Hospital was also very personal to me, because this is exactly where I grew up, actually. This is the neighborhood where I lived for several years. And it targeted civilians, mainly. All the other attacks are also targeting civilians. And this logic of — I mean, whether the German foreign minister’s logic of Israel having the right to target civilians, and now there’s a new logic of the right to target gold and money as a terrorist threat, is completely absurd. I mean, we’ve never seen — would this apply to Israel? Does Lebanon have the right to defend itself the way — using the same techniques and tactics that Israel uses? Of course not. I mean, this goes against every logic of protection of human rights, but also, I mean, just protection of civilians is basic here.

So, I think, I mean, what we’re seeing is a complete degeneration into a war that has no rules, that respects no international conventions, and that, you know, there’s one side in this war that has complete impunity. We’ve seen this over the past year, and it’s continuing. Israel is targeting civilians in most cases. I mean, what is the logic of targeting gold and money? If — I mean, let’s assume this is really what there is there: Why target it with a bomb? What is the logic of this? This is just terrorism. And this is what it should be called.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Rima Majed, if you could talk about the attacks, in fact, on financial associations Israel — sorry, the branches of a financial association reportedly linked to Hezbollah earlier this week, in fact, on Sunday? What is the Al-Qard al-Hassan Association, and why was it hit?

RIMA MAJED: I mean, it’s one of the financial institutions that are believed to be controlled by Hezbollah. It follows the same logic of, you know, the neoliberal turn of giving microfinance. So, this is not an aid institution. This is a bank that gives microfinance facilities.

What we have been seeing is that Israel is moving from the decapitation, which is continuing, of leaders, but there’s also very clear targeting of Hezbollah’s social institutions, whether hospitals, schools, banks, etc. So, the aim is probably to dismantle, and the target is not just Hezbollah as an organization, but it’s also, you know, its constituency, its people. And when I say its people or its constituencies, it doesn’t mean that these are Hezbollah fighters or members. These are just Lebanese civilians who have a political opinion that happens to be in support of that party. I mean, again, if we apply the logic on any other party, it would sound horrendous.

The fact that we are justifying — and, I mean, hearing the German foreign minister, who then, after saying what she said about justifying the right of Israel to kill civilians, then visiting Beirut, is really — I mean, the world today feels like the turn of the 20th century, I mean, the dark years of fascism. And it’s very alarming that this is how we are dealing with these wars and this is the logic with which we’re justifying the killing of some, but, of course, not others.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Rima Majed, finally, we just have a minute left. If you could talk about Security Council Resolution 1701? Amos Hochstein, who was just in the region, has said its implementation is the only way to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

RIMA MAJED: Yeah, I mean, Hochstein is — it’s interesting that the negotiator, you know, served in the Israeli offense — I mean, the IOF, I would call it — so has a clear side in this war. But, I mean, personally, I think this is a resolution that ended the 2006 war. At this point, I don’t think any of the parties, whether it’s Israel or Hezbollah — I mean, at this point, doesn’t matter what Hezbollah says, I mean, even if Hezbollah today says that they want to stop this war and they agree on everything, including 1701, which they have agreed on several times. I mean, just days before Nasrallah was killed, he had agreed on the implementation of 1701. I think at this point there is a plan that Israel will move on to implement, and that goes beyond what we’re hearing from these diplomats. That is a plan that is in line with the Abraham Accords, with changing the face of the Middle East. And unfortunately, it’s people like us who are paying the price.

AMY GOODMAN: Rima Majed, we want to thank you so much for being with us, assistant professor of sociology at the American University of Beirut, speaking to us from Beirut, Lebanon.

Coming up, Israel’s deadly campaign of starvation and forced expulsion in northern Gaza has entered its 20th day. We’ll go to Tel Aviv to speak with B’Tselem, the prominent Israeli human rights group, which described Israel’s siege as “ethnic cleansing.” Stay with us

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“Ethnic Cleansing”: Israeli Group B’Tselem Calls for World to Stop Israel’s Siege of Northern Gaza
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 24, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/24 ... transcript

The leading Israeli human rights group B’Tselem warned this week the world must stop the “ethnic cleansing” of northern Gaza, where the Israeli military has imposed a brutal siege since October 5, demanding that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flee south or face death. Israel is blocking almost all food, water and medicine from reaching northern Gaza while its forces carry out deadly raids and bombardment of the area, overwhelming the remaining hospitals. B’Tselem spokesperson Sarit Michaeli says it’s impossible to watch events unfold and “not conclude that what is going on there is the deliberate pressuring by the Israeli army of the civilian population of the area to move out of this area in order to empty it of Palestinians.”

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: Health workers in northern Gaza have been forced to postpone the latest phase of the polio vaccination program as Israel continues to carry out a deadly campaign of forced expulsion and starvation in northern Gaza. Earlier today, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israel’s actions, saying, quote, “People suffering under the ongoing Israeli siege in North Gaza are rapidly exhausting all available means for their survival.” Doctors in northern Gaza have described horrific conditions as hospitals are overwhelmed and remaining medical staff are unable to treat the injured. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA: [translated] We are talking on the 18th day of an imposed complete siege on the medical establishment in the north Gaza Strip. We appealed yesterday, the day before yesterday, and today we call on the world. The Kamal Adwan medical supply storage is at zero. We have no blood bags that we can offer to the wounded, no medical supplies or urgently needed medicine. …

Some members of our medical staff are either martyred, killed or injured. A little while ago, we received one of our colleagues who was martyred, Dr. Mohammed Ghanim. He was offering humanitarian services at one of the medical checkpoints in a shelter. The situation is catastrophic. …

We will be facing a humanitarian catastrophe if there’s no solution to this situation in the next few coming hours. The hospital will turn into a mass grave. There is a huge number of wounded people, and approximately every hour we lose one of them as a martyr. The wounded turn into martyrs due to the absence of needed medical supplies, tools and medical staff, who are either detained, wounded or martyred. …

Our medical staff and ambulances cannot get the wounded out of the street of Beit Lahia. We are talking about the wounded who manage to come to the hospital. They arrive, and we give them our services. Those who cannot come to us stay in the streets and are martyred. This is what is happening in the north of Gaza.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. And this is Lina Issam Abu Nada, a Palestinian who recently fled Beit Lahia.

LINA ISSAM ABU NADA: [translated] I fled the intense bombardment in Beit Lahia. Martyrs and remains were all scattered on the ground. We do not know where to go. Truly, we don’t know what state we have reached. I swear, by God, what we are going through is the hardest situation in days. Even the occupation, Israel, took my brother as they put all the men on one side and let us leave. The tank moved and covered us with dust.

On top of everything, no is standing for us. We ask you, with all the mercy you have, to stand beside us. What’s happening to us is unfair. We cannot take it anymore. We are being exterminated in Gaza. We are dying, and no one is standing beside us, nor is anyone able to solve our issue. We are innocent. We have nothing to do with everything that has happened. We are lost between a war and an extermination. We can’t take it anymore.

AMY GOODMAN: A Palestinian woman who recently fled Beit Lahia.

Earlier this week, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem accused Israel of committing ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza.

We go now to Tel Aviv, Israel, where we’re joined by B’Tselem’s international advocacy lead, Sarit Michaeli.

Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Sarit. Explain what you mean by ethnic cleansing and what exactly you understand is happening in northern Gaza, and how much Israelis understand what is happening right nearby.

SARIT MICHAELI: So, thank you, Amy, very much for the opportunity to be with you today.

I think B’Tselem decided to make this statement as really an act of desperation. It’s impossible for us to continue to watch, to observe the very little information we are getting from northern Gaza, the very fragmented information, and not conclude that what is going on there is the deliberate pressuring by the Israeli army of the civilian population of the area to move out of this area in order to empty it of Palestinians. This is ethnic cleansing. The definition that we would argue is the Israeli current actions on the ground.

And I think it’s important to remember that this is happening within a context. The context is not only increasing and ongoing reports that this is the Israeli policy, that this notion of the so-called island plan or the Generals’ Plan, that called on Israel to essentially starve the population of northern Gaza in order to get it to move out of the way, right? So, that’s one element of the picture. And then, the second element is that there is a growing debate, there is a growing kind of level of activism within the Israeli far right to demand the settling of northern Gaza. Now, this is the context of what we are seeing on the ground at the moment.

I think it’s important also to mention that the Israeli army itself has admitted, in a response to a high court petition submitted by several Israeli human rights organizations, that for the first two weeks of this month, no humanitarian aid was allowed into north Gaza. That was deliberate. That was knowingly. That wasn’t — isn’t something that the Israeli authorities deny. In addition, in the response submitted yesterday to the high court, Israel also states that this is continuing when it comes to Jabaliya. And we know that yesterday the Israeli army issued some drone footage showing throngs of civilians walking out from the Jabaliya refugee camp towards the south, and also saying that Israel managed to break the so-called Hamas siege on Jabaliya, and said that about 20,000 civilians have already left.

From our perspective, all this indicates one clear goal, which is to remove the people from northern Gaza, to empty that area. I also think — and we can maybe discuss it a bit in more length later on — there are also quite open admissions within the Israeli media that some of this is happening, certainly not in the framing of an international crime, but commentators have accepted, on some levels, that this is what Israel is doing now in north Gaza.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, let me just read, Sarit Michaeli, what the media has said. This is on Israel’s Channel 12, the chief political analyst saying, quote, “We can keep denying that what’s happening is an implementation of the Generals’ Plan — emptying of the strip, starving the terrorists, eliminating them, capturing them. That’s in my opinion what’s happening here.” So, you know, in effect, would you say that the Generals’ Plan itself constitutes ethnic cleansing? And then, to what extent do people in Israel believe that that’s what’s occurring? If it’s being said in the media, is there some consensus around it? Although I will note that what he said was “starving the terrorists, eliminating them,” not the general population there.

SARIT MICHAELI: Well, first of all, I want to be clear that Israel, we suspect — and as we also announced, together with colleagues in other human rights organizations last week, we suspect that Israel is implementing the spirit, I would say, maybe not necessarily every single aspect of the so-called Generals’ Plan, but that it is quietly implementing this.

And this is why we also called last week on the international community to really take responsibility for what is going on in Gaza. And we stated openly that it’s not just Israeli policymakers who should be held accountable and face consequences for these crimes, but also that the international community cannot but be considered complicit if Israel goes ahead and empties north Gaza of its inhabitants.

I think that when we look at this plan, this absolutely horrific plan, it includes provisions that are absolutely and clearly war crimes and could probably also be viewed as crimes against humanity. The idea is actually to basically starve the population out in order to leave the area, and then, according to this plan — and certainly, I don’t agree with any aspect of the logic — the only people remaining will be terrorists, and then they can just be killed off. This is the — again, I don’t want to simplify too much, but this is the essential logic of this plan.

But it is absolutely in contradiction with many of the known facts we know about the situation in Gaza and in north Gaza, the fact that many of the civilians there cannot leave or don’t want to leave. Some of them cannot leave because it’s impossible for them to move around, because they just have no other place to go, or they don’t want to leave these areas, because they know that the same sort of fate of being bombarded and exposed to Israeli attacks can, you know, wait for them in the many internally displaced camps throughout Gaza, where people are not safe in any way. So, there are many reasons why Palestinians would not want to leave north Gaza. So, that’s the first issue. The second issue — and certainly, the idea that you can somehow force them out permanently — right? — not for their own security, is absolutely illegal.

The second issue that is very clearly part of the illegality and the shocking lack of morals, I would say also, moral failure of this plan, is that the idea that you can somehow decide that after a certain moment, where you say you told all civilians to leave a certain area, that means that everyone left in there is a combatant, a terrorist, and you can just kill them, that is also not true. That’s simply not the way international humanitarian law goes. Civilians don’t lose their protected status if you gave them an illegal and probably also impossible-to-implement evacuation order. The idea that somehow a person should be considered a legitimate military target, regardless of what they’re actually doing, because they happen to be in a certain place that the Israeli army decided is no longer acceptable, that is not legal. That is clearly a war crime.

And I have to also say that this isn’t just things we are saying here at B’Tselem. In recent days, there have been several much more mainstream Israelis, including the former deputy leader of the Israeli National Security Council, who also said that these kinds of orders would be, you know, orders that are black flags flying over. These would be orders to commit war crimes, and that soldiers have to refuse to obey these kinds of orders. This is — as I said, this is a former Israeli security official.

I think it’s really important to remember also, though, that the current situation on the ground, unfortunately, isn’t — and again, I say it with a great deal of pain — isn’t really influenced by statements by human rights organizations like B’Tselem, by actions by Israeli wonderful and just very courageous Israeli human rights organizations that are now petitioning the high court, because we just simply don’t have the capacity to influence the reality on the ground at the moment.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Sarit, we just —

SARIT MICHAELI: And therefore, that is why that is the essential source of our call —

AMY GOODMAN: So, Sarit Michaeli, we just have a minute.

SARIT MICHAELI: — call to the international community.

AMY GOODMAN: We just have a minute. I want to go to that issue of the call of the international community, and particularly the U.S. Blinken has just left Israel, his 11th trip there, saying he’s pushing for a ceasefire, yet at the same time the Biden administration continuing to arm Netanyahu. In this last 30 seconds, your thoughts on that kind of approach, saying he should push for a ceasefire, but we’ll continue to arm you?

SARIT MICHAELI: It’s absolutely clear that we must have a ceasefire. We need a ceasefire, and we need a hostage deal now. But this isn’t going to happen unless Prime Minister Netanyahu is placed in a situation where he has to accept this. And we do not see this happening at the moment. I think the thought that somehow the U.S. administration can ask Netanyahu, can urge Netanyahu for a ceasefire, and this will actually happen, is simply unrealistic. There needs to be intense pressure to get Israel to currently accept a ceasefire, to stop what it’s doing in northern Gaza. And it has to come from action by the United States and the international community. Otherwise, they will also be complicit in what we’re seeing now.

AMY GOODMAN: Sarit Michaeli, we want to thank you for being with us, international advocacy lead for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which has accused the Israeli military of committing ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza.

Next up, we look at Israel’s intensifying war on journalists in Gaza, two critically wounded journalists not able to get out of Gaza, and Israel saying that six journalists are members of Hamas or Palestinian Jihad, what that means. We’ll speak with the head of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Stay with us.

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CPJ Head Condemns Israel’s Deadly War on Journalists in Gaza as IDF Threatens Al Jazeera Reporters
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 24, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/24 ... transcript

Al Jazeera is demanding the safety of its staff in the Gaza Strip after Israel claimed that six of the network’s journalists there have ties to militant groups. Press freedom advocates say the Israeli accusation amounts to a preemptive justification for murder. Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza last October, at least 128 journalists have been killed, including many from Al Jazeera. The Committee to Protect Journalists says Israel has a history of smearing Palestinian journalists with unproven claims, including in July, when Israel killed Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and later released documents claiming to prove al-Ghoul had received a Hamas military ranking when he was just 10 years old. “There is a pattern of Israel making these kinds of allegations, providing evidence that is, frankly, not credible or, in some cases, no evidence at all,” says Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ’s chief executive officer. “As we have fewer and fewer journalists reporting … we have less and less information coming out of Gaza. And it’s absolutely essential that we have that information, that we have those images, so that the international community can understand the scale of what’s happening.”

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, with Nermeen Shaikh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We turn now to Israel’s intensifying war on journalists. On Wednesday, the Israeli military publicly accused six Al Jazeera journalists of being members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Press freedom groups blasted the Israeli military for releasing what some have described as a kill list for the journalists.

In a statement, Al Jazeera said, quote, “Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces’ portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence. The Network views these fabricated accusations as a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide.”

This comes as Israel continues to block the evacuation of two Al Jazeera camera operators who were severely injured after being shot by Israeli troops. One of the journalists, Fadi al-Wahidi, has been in a coma after being shot in the neck.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive officer of the Committee to Protect Journalists here in New York.

Jodie, let’s start with the two journalists who are gravely wounded. One of them is paralyzed and in a coma. Israel is not letting them be evacuated. Can you talk about the significance of this?

JODIE GINSBERG: Well, yes. Fadi has been in a coma for over a week now, and not just in a coma, but with no access to painkillers. We’ve heard, obviously, about the ongoing bombardment in Gaza and what that has meant for hospitals. Al Jazeera has asked repeatedly, used all the formal channels to request their evacuation, and so far has had no reply. And this follows a pattern in which journalists appear to be being punished for doing their work, for exposing what’s happening inside Gaza.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Jodie Ginsberg, if you could — let’s go to these six Al Jazeera journalists who have been accused by Israel of being terrorists. You have pointed to — the CPJ has pointed to contradictory information that’s been released by the IDF in the past, at least one recent instance, Ismail al-Ghoul. Explain who he was and what the IDF said about him.

JODIE GINSBERG: So, Ismail al-Ghoul was an Al Jazeera correspondent. He was killed along with a freelance camera operator, Rami al-Rifi, near Gaza City in July. And the IDF alleged that al-Ghoul was an engineer in a Hamas brigade, and that justified his killing. They published a document which they said was a record of Hamas military activity as proof of these accusations. Some of the information indicated that al-Ghoul, who was born in 1997, had received a Hamas military ranking in 2007, so he would have been 10 years old. So, the document was not, in our view, credible.

And unfortunately, this is not a one-off incident. There is a pattern of Israel making these kinds of allegations, providing evidence that is, frankly, not credible or, in some cases, no evidence at all.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Jodie, especially talk about the significance of Israel doing this now. No one else, no other reporter is in Gaza. It’s only Al Jazeera reporters who are. Over 4,000 journalists have traveled to Israel to cover this war since October last year, but no other journalists have been permitted in.

JODIE GINSBERG: It’s hugely significant. This is the deadliest conflict for journalists that CPJ has ever documented. A hundred and twenty-eight journalists, at least, have been killed, 126 of them by Israel, and most of those are Palestinians. And in many cases, we believe those journalists to have been deliberately targeted for being journalists.

Now, you’re right, the major issue in all of this is that those journalists who remain are the only people who are able to provide us information about what’s happening inside Gaza. No journalist from outside Gaza has been allowed in since the start of that war, and that’s highly unusual. I speak to lots of war correspondents who’s covered many, many wars over decades, and all of them talk about how unprecedented this is to not have any access whatsoever. And that, of course, puts additional pressure on these journalists. And what you have when you have these kinds of accusations from Israel that the journalists are terrorists is a kind of justification for then killing them or attacking them.

AMY GOODMAN: So, you have Democratic Congressmember James McGovern leading 64 other congressmembers in a letter to Biden and Blinken, urging them to push for Israel to allow in international journalists. At the same time, Jodie Ginsberg, if you can talk about the number of journalists who have been killed in Gaza? Isn’t this unprecedented?

JODIE GINSBERG: It’s totally unprecedented. This number is — more journalists were killed in the first 10 weeks of the war, just the first 10 weeks of the war, than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year. That gives you some sense of the scale of this. Those journalists who remain are trying desperately to cover the impact of the war while suffering the same effects of the war as everyone else, the deprivations of food, the lack of shelter, the continual displacement, the lack of equipment. And as we have fewer and fewer journalists reporting and the challenge becomes greater and greater, of course we have less and less information coming out of Gaza. And it’s absolutely essential that we have that information, that we have those images, so that the international community can understand the scale of what’s happening.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Jodie Ginsberg, finally, if you could put this in a broader context? Is there any other precedent for Europe, the U.S. or any of its allies restricting access to all international journalists to a war zone for over a year, as has happened here?

JODIE GINSBERG: There’s no precedent like this. In wars, inevitably, one side or other will restrict access to journalists. We see that frequently. But it is unheard of that not a single international journalist has been able to get into Gaza for an entire year.

And remember that it’s not just about the access. Of course, that’s a major issue. But we have Gazan journalists doing phenomenal work in Gaza and in the West Bank. It’s not just about the access. It’s also about the attacks that we’ve seen on media facilities, which is civilian infrastructure. We’ve seen repeated communications blackouts. We’ve seen the banning of Al Jazeera and the closure of the Al Jazeera Ramallah bureau. So, it’s not simply — we’ve seen arrests of journalists both in Gaza and the West Bank. So, it’s not simply the dangers, the killing of journalists, egregious as that is. It’s the whole pattern and systematic attempt — and quite successful attempt — to censor what is happening inside Gaza.

AMY GOODMAN: Jodie Ginsberg, we want to thank you for being with us, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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Prominent Muslim Democrat Demands Answers After Being Kicked Out of Harris Rally in Michigan
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 24, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/24 ... transcript

We speak with Dr. Ahmed Ghanim, a prominent Muslim leader and former Democratic candidate for Congress, after the Kamala Harris campaign apologized for kicking him out of a Detroit election event Monday to which he was invited. Harris’s staunch support for Israel as it continues its brutal war on Gaza has infuriated many Muslim and Arab voters in Michigan, and while Ghanim says it’s a very important issue to him, he was not there to protest. He was also not given a reason for his removal, even after the campaign called him to apologize. “Apology without accountability is not an apology,” he says, adding that the incident has left him questioning whether Democrats still believe in diversity and inclusion or if “Muslims and Arabs don’t have room anymore in this party.”

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, with Nermeen Shaikh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We end today’s show with a Muslim American Democrat who was ejected from a Kamala Harris rally in metro Detroit, where Harris was joined by Republican former Congressmember Liz Cheney. Ahmed Ghanim is a Democratic Party activist and former House candidate for Michigan’s 11th District.

AMY GOODMAN: He joins us now from Oak Park, Michigan, not far from the Harris campaign event which he was ejected from. The Kamala Harris campaign has since said it regrets his removal.

Thank you so much for being with us, Ahmed Ghanim. In this few minutes that we have left, take us to the event that you were invited to and explain what happened.

AHMED GHANIM: Thank you for having me.

So, basically, I went, like anyone else. I was dressed in a suit, going to this event. I stood in line. It was a small event by invite only, 200 people there, less than 200 people. I went through a security like the airport security, where they have to check everything. They take even the signs that you have from the campaign, so nobody had any signs. You’re only allowed to have your wallet, and that’s it.

And I was cleared by security. I was seated like anyone. I was sitting there for like 10 or 15 minutes, just trying to answer some emails. I did not engage with anybody in conversation, because they seat you randomly with people you don’t know around you. And after 10 minutes, a lady came and told me, “Can you follow me?” And I thought probably they are changing my seat. I said, “That’s fine.” I followed her.

And at the door, I found two police officers waiting for me and said, “They don’t want you here at the event. If you either leave now, or I’ll put you in a police car.” And that was shocking to me. So, just I was sitting there, and I did not — I did not do anything. I did nothing. And now I’m threatened to be arrested or have to leave. And I was just asking. I told him, “OK, I’m going to leave. I just want to know: Why are you kicking me out?” And he said, “It is not me. It’s the venue that’s kicking you out.” So I asked him, “Why would the venue kick me out? The venue, they don’t know anything about me. It’s just a venue.” He said, “I don’t know.” And the lady that escorted me out, she ended the conversation and said, “This is not a conversation anymore. You have to be escorted out.” So, I didn’t want to escalate the situation, and I just left.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Ahmed, can you say whether — since you’ve left, have you heard anything further about why you were removed?

AHMED GHANIM: No. The campaign issued a brief statement saying they regret what happened. They gave me a call. I thanked him for the call, but I said, “I want to know why was I removed, because apology without accountability is not an apology.” So, so far, they did not provide any information or any reason why they removed me.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Ahmed Ghanim, you were a congressional candidate. You didn’t win the primary. You got 15,000 votes. After you were kicked out of the Kamala Harris event, the Trump campaign approached you to make an ad?

AHMED GHANIM: That’s correct. They approached me to make an ad against Vice President Harris. And they said, “This ad will be aired everywhere, on CNN, everywhere. But we want you to film it.” And I said, “No, I cannot do that.”

AMY GOODMAN: Why do you feel that? I mean, of course, President Trump, well known, one of his first acts in office as president was the Muslim ban. But if you can explain what you’re demanding now of the Kamala Harris campaign?

AHMED GHANIM: I’m demanding a reason why they ejected me from the campaign without anything. I didn’t have any Palestinian keffiyeh. I didn’t have any pins. I didn’t have any signs. I was not planning to protest. I just was sitting there. This is my city, where I ran. Everyone in this city, they know me, because I ran there. I was canvassing door to door there. My ads were there. My signs were there. I actually spoke at the Democratic Club in Royal Oak, Michigan. So, it’s not like I’m a random person. They know me very well. And there is a reason why they ejected me. So I want to know what is the reason.

And for me, when people talk about just one-issue voter, it’s not about Gaza. Gaza is far away from me. It’s a very important issue for me. But now it’s important — what’s more important: Do I have place in this party or not? Is this the party of diversity, of inclusion, or Muslims and Arabs don’t have room anymore in this party?

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we want to thank you so much for being with us, Ahmed Ghanim, a Muslim community leader, former Democratic congressional candidate, speaking to us from Oak Park, Michigan. On Monday, given no explanation when he was kicked out of an invitation-only Harris campaign event in Royal Oak, Michigan, to which he was invited.

[admin]

Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 25, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/25/headlines

“A Major Massacre” in Jabaliya; Israeli Forces Raid Kamal Adwan Hospital in Northern Gaza, Killing Patients
Oct 25, 2024

In northern Gaza, Israeli soldiers have launched a full-scale attack on Jabaliya. Details are still emerging on what a Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson described as a “major massacre,” with more than 150 people killed or injured as Israeli forces took down a dozen residential buildings.

Late Thursday, Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, expelling patients and staff, after earlier surrounding and shelling what was essentially the last hospital left standing in the area. Soldiers carried out mass arrests. Doctors say babies and children have died after being cut off from their oxygen supplies. Kamal Adwan’s director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, says the situation is catastrophic and there is nowhere patients in northern Gaza can go for treatment. After headlines, we’ll hear from the acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, Mohammed Salha.

Israeli attacks in the southern Gaza Strip continue, as well. In Khan Younis, at least 38 people were killed by Israel, including 14 children from the same family.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he expects Gaza ceasefire talks to resume in the coming days in Doha.

Israeli Airstrike Kills 3 Journalists in Southern Lebanon
Oct 25, 2024

In Lebanon, an Israeli strike killed three journalists as they slept in a guesthouse in the southern town of Hasbaya. Israel did not issue any evacuation orders for the area before the strike. The victims were Al Mayadeen journalists Ghassan Najjar and Mohamed Reda, and Wissam Qassim of Al-Manar TV. Al Mayadeen reporter Abbas Sabbagh addressed his colleagues’ killing earlier today from Lebanon.

Abbas Sabbagh: “Israel targeted journalists in Hasbaya, knowing that the area is known for the gathering of journalists. This enemy that looks for civilian targets after it’s drained its military targets and lost in the field is now targeting journalists.”

Lebanon’s information minister called the attack a war crime. The official death toll from Israel’s assault on Lebanon is nearing 2,600.

***

“Worse and Worse”: Hospital Director in North Gaza Says Israeli Assault on Jabaliya Is Bloodiest Yet
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 25, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/25 ... transcript

Israeli soldiers have just conducted what Gaza’s Civil Defense is calling a “major massacre” in Jabaliya, with more than 150 people killed or injured and dozens of buildings destroyed. It is the latest atrocity amid the military’s weekslong siege of northern Gaza. “It’s getting worse and worse,” says Dr. Mohammed Salha in a call from the Jabaliya refugee camp, where he is acting director of Al-Awda Hospital.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in northern Gaza, where Israeli soldiers launched a full-scale attack on Jabaliya earlier today, blowing up a dozen residential buildings. Gaza officials described the attack as a “major massacre” and warned of mass casualties, with more than 150 people reportedly killed or injured.

Late Thursday, Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, expelling patients and staff, after earlier surrounding and shelling what was essentially the last hospital left standing in the area. Soldiers carried out mass arrests. Doctors say babies and children have died after being cut off from their oxygen supplies. Kamal Adwan’s director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, says the situation is catastrophic and there’s nowhere patients in northern Gaza can go for treatment.

This comes as displaced mothers in northern Gaza are calling on the world to demand the resumption of the polio vaccination campaign for children there, which the World Health Organization said Wednesday had been postponed due to Israeli attacks and lack of access.

HANAN HEMEDA: [translated] If the polio vaccination is not available in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the children will be paralyzed. They will collapse in front of our eyes. They won’t move. Is this fair? We demand the world to allow the entry of the polio vaccination into the northern part of the Gaza Strip to protect our children from the polio virus.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, Democracy Now! reached Dr. Mohammed Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital in the Jabaliya refugee camp in north Gaza late Thursday night. He described what’s happening on the ground.

DR. MOHAMMED SALHA: Today is the 20th day of siege in the northern Gaza and the fifth day of siege at Al-Awda Hospital. They totally sieged Al-Awda Hospital with the tanks, so we can’t move outside the hospital. And from the beginning of this siege, they are bombing our two inpatient departments and bombing our water tanks. So now we have more than 70% of the hospital without water, because the tanks are destroyed, totally destroyed, the water tank. And also, this afternoon, they are bombing our central store related to medical supplies.

After today, we will not have the fuel to running the hospital, and we have a lot of patients inside the hospital. We have 43 of patients here. And we can’t deal with this, because every day we are doing to them operations and the treatment in the [inaudible] inside our [inaudible], and we need medication, medical supplies and fuel, and also food. We don’t have food, and we don’t have healthy water and filtered water.

Our message to the freedom people in the world, really, to stop the genocide in Gaza Strip and especially in the northern Gaza. You can’t imagine how the situation here. The people are dying in the streets. They are injured in the street, and nobody can move to bring them.

Now we hear the massacre of more than 150 [inaudible] in Jabaliya camp, but nobody can go there to save these people. Really, we need also, from WHO, U.N. agencies and our partners really to urgent appeal and urgent to come to Al-Awda Hospital to bring our needs, from medication and medical supplies, and especially from fuel, food and healthy water for patients here.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Dr. Mohammed Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, speaking late Thursday night to Democracy Now! We attempted to reach him live right now, but we could not get any kind of connection.

When we come back, we’ll be joined by Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha. He’s just published his new book of poetry, Forest of Noise.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: “If I Should Fall” from the 1974 album Palestine Lives! released by Paredon Records. Musician and label co-founder Barbara Dane passed away this week at the age of 97.

***

“Forest of Noise”: Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha on New Book, Relatives Killed in Gaza & More
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 25, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/25 ... transcript

In an extended interview, Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha discusses the situation in Gaza and his new book of poetry titled Forest of Noise. He fled Gaza in December after being detained by the Israeli military, but many of his extended family members were unable to escape. He reads a selection of poems from Forest of Noise, while sharing the stories of friends and family still struggling to survive in Gaza, as well as those he has lost, including the late poet Refaat Alareer. He also describes his experiences in Gaza in the first months of the war, including being displaced from his home and abducted by the Israeli military, noting that the neighborhood in Jabaliya refugee camp that his family first evacuated to last year was bombed by the Israeli military just days ago. “Sometimes I want to stop writing because I’m repeating the same words, even though the situation is worse. The language is helpless,” Abu Toha says. “Why does the world make us feel helpless?”

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.

As human rights activists plead with global leaders for immediate action, calling for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Jordan’s foreign minister met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in London today and condemned the humanitarian catastrophe in northern Gaza, telling Blinken, quote, “We do see ethnic cleansing taking place, and that has got to stop,” he said.

For more, we’re joined by Palestinian poet and author from Gaza, who writes in his new book of poems, “If you live in Gaza, you die several times.” Mosab Abu Toha’s second book of poetry is just out. It’s titled Forest of Noise. His previous award-winning book of poetry, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza. Mosab Abu Toha is a columnist, a teacher, founder of the Edward Said Library in Gaza. His recent essay in The New York Times is headlined “Gaza’s Schools Are for Learning, Not for Dying.” And his latest piece for The New Yorker is headlined “The Gaza We Leave Behind.”

Mosab Abu Toha, it’s wonderful to have you in studio safely here in New York, but I know that your heart and mind are in Gaza right now. Before we talk about your poetry, you have just come with terrible news for you and your family about what is happening there. Can you describe what you’ve heard just today?

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Thank you so much, Amy.

Yeah, I mean, just you mentioned the airstrikes that took down 10 residential buildings. I was staying in that place with my wife and kids just before we had to leave for an UNRWA school to stay in a shelter there and before I was abducted by the Israeli army. And this morning, I looked at the names of some of the people who were killed in that airstrike, and I see the, I mean, 19 names from the same family, including Um Fathi Abu Rashed [phon.], I mean, a temporary neighbor. I mean, we had Um Fathi as a neighbor for a few days before we had to leave the neighborhood. And now I read that this neighborhood, where I was staying with them, was bombed. So, she was killed along with some of her children. And this is the case of so many people. I’m not sure if you can see this. This is the list of the whole family. And, for example —

AMY GOODMAN: You’re holding up a list of what? Some 20 names?

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah, 20 names, including Um Fathi, the grandmother, her children and her grandchildren. And I look at — for example, I read this every day. So, there is Mohammed Salman, his brother Yousef, Islam, Sama, Aya, so five brothers. And then there is Mahmoud Fathi, the son Um Fathi Abu Rashed, and his wife and their children. So, I’ve been seeing this all the time.

And by the way, we are focusing right now on north Gaza. Yesterday, late at night, Israel bombed intensely Khan Younis. And I’m looking at some of the pictures here. These are the photos of the children who were killed yesterday. They just were able to withdraw the bodies of these children after the Israelis retreated from the area. So, and that was today. I learned about this just half an hour ago.

And then I went to the local news channel in my city, Beit Lahia, north Gaza, and I saw a picture of my neighbor, Ayman Abu Laila. This is his photo. He was killed — he was killed this morning while he was trying to get some water from a tap in the street. Ayman, to honor his memory, he was the principal of the only agricultural college in north Gaza. And he was trying — by the way, he lived just a few blocks away. And he wanted to move to stay with his brother, because there are some friends and some neighbors who are staying there, so he wanted to be close to the people who are there. He was killed. And his son — my wife just told me, because she was on the phone with her mother and father, who are trapped right now in Beit Lahia. They were told that the brother of my neighbor has been critically wounded, and he is in the house. There is no way that an ambulance can come. There is no way that anyone can come to their rescue. And the same thing happened yesterday in the Jabaliya refugee camp, the 10 residential buildings that were took down.

AMY GOODMAN: Mosab, yesterday, last night, I saw you at the Brooklyn Public Library, sold out, to hear you speak about your poetry. And you said at the beginning — I saw your wife and your three little children, but that hadn’t been the plan. You’re now in Syracuse, at Syracuse University.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about you almost canceling the day before, because your wife was too terrified for you to come to New York.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Indeed. I mean, taking my wife and three kids with me was a last-minute decision. I mean, the Israeli army has been horribly attacking north Gaza, displacing people and kidnapping, abducting doctors and nurses and journalists. And even the injured people, they had to evacuate. I mean, just imagine, I mean, people who have been injured, and they had some medical care, and they had to be on some medical equipment. They are taken away from the hospital. Some of them would die. And that’s why The Lancet journal said that more than 200,000 people have been — have died or were killed by the Israeli airstrike, the Israeli military campaign since October 7th.

So, my wife’s family, including her father, her mother, her siblings and some of the nephews and nieces, her grandparents, too, aged 75, they are now trapped in the family house, and they are unable to leave. And now Atta Abu Laila, my neighbor, was killed just a few meters away from them by shrapnel, by a piece of shrapnel from a tank shell. So, she worries that if I am away from her and she gets some terrible news, like today’s news, she would die from pain and grief. So she wanted me to be with her. And I told her I couldn’t cancel, you know, the event at the Brooklyn Public Library and also my event today at NYU. So, I said, “OK, you come with me.” And now she came with me, as if this would — I mean, I don’t claim — I don’t say that I would make her feelings better, because I, too, have family in Beit Lahia. I have a young sister with three children. The youngest is 2 years old. And I haven’t talked to her for about 10 days. It’s impossible to get in touch with my sister. I don’t know how she’s surviving or whether she’s alive at this moment.

AMY GOODMAN: You wrote on social media six days ago, “I write with a heavy heart that my cousin Sama, 7 years old, has been killed in the air strike on their house along with 18 members of her family, which is my extended family.”

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: For our TV audience, we are showing an image of Sama right now.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah, please, yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: Tell us who she is.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: So, Sama is one of the five children of my aunt Asma, who was also injured, the mother, I mean, in the house. Sama was staying with her parents, with her siblings, with her grandmother, who happens to be my grandmother’s sister. And I used to call her grandmother, because my grandmother passed away when I was very young. So, my grandmother’s sister, with two of her daughters and her grandchildren, and two of her daughter-in-laws and the grandchildren are still buried under the rubble until this moment.

So, Sama was killed in the airstrike. And the only reason why my aunt and her other children, or even though they were wounded — the only reason why they were not killed is that they were staying close to the door, because the bomb, when it falls, it usually hits the middle of the house. So, my aunt Asma survived the airstrike with some injuries, along with her husband and other four children. And they had — by the way, they were — my aunt had to walk to the Israeli soldiers who were standing just a few meters away from the bombed house. So, just imagine a criminal killing you and then waiting for you until you are either dead or come to them limping. And she told me that she kissed their hands, begging them to leave them alone and if she could take with her some wheat flour from the house that she was keeping next to her because there is no food in Gaza.

So, Sama was 7 years old. And I remember something very clearly, which is that every time I visited my aunt’s house, especially during the Eid, you know, after the Ramadan and after the pilgrimage season — so, we have two big Eids, or feasts. So, I used to visit my aunt, and her children are there. And this photo is from — I think you showed it. But this is from the Eid. This is her dress. And my aunt would bring a sheet of paper and ask her daughters, including Sama, ”Yalla” — because I’m an English language teacher, so she said, ”Yalla, show Mosab. Show Mosab the new words that you have learned — the colors, the animals.” But now Sama — I mean, I did not have a chance to bid her farewell. This is my cousin. And I lost 31 members of my extended family, including three first cousins, two of them with their husband and children. I didn’t get the chance even to see them before they were buried. And I don’t know whether some of them had any part of their bodies intact after the airstrikes.

So, just imagine the magnitude of loss that I’m facing as a — I’m just one person. Some other people lost all their families. And we know about the new term “wounded child, no surviving family.” About more than 2,000 children had the same case. They were the only — the sole survivors of their family. I mean, what future is awaiting them? No one is asking this question.

AMY GOODMAN: Mosab Abu Toha is an award-winning poet and author. He has a new book of poetry out. It’s called Forest of Noise. Your descriptions now make me think of your little son. You came with your three children yesterday. Can you read the poem about your son and your daughter?

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah, sure. So, by the way, this poem was written after May 2021 attacks. So, my son Yazzan was about 5 years old. My daughter Yaffa was 4 years old. And this is about them.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, this is very important, because you just said this was written in May 2021.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Half your poems in Forest of Noise are before last October 7th —

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Exactly, yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: — and the other half after.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Well, I mean, this tells you — this tells you a lot of things. So, this poem could be written today. And if it was written today, there are so many things that would not be present here, because this current genocide is so different from any other wars that Israel launched against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

“My Son Throws a Blanket Over My Daughter,” Gaza, May 2021.

At night, at home, we sit on the floor,
close to each other
far from the windows and the red
lights of bombs. Our backs bang on the walls
whenever the house shakes.
We stare at each other’s faces,
scared, yet happy,
that so far our lives have been spared.

The walls wake up from their fitful sleep,
no arms to wipe at their blurry eyes.
Flies gather around the only lit ceiling lamp
for warmth in the bitter night,
cold except when missiles hit
and burn up houses and roads and the trees,
the neighborhood next to us,
where Yazzan learned to ride his bike, scorched.

Every time we hear a bomb
falling from an F-16 or an F-35,
our lives panic. Our lives freeze
somewhere in-between, confused
where to head next:
a graveyard, a hospital,
a nightmare.
I keep my shivering hand
on my wristwatch,
ready to remove the battery
if needed.

My four-year-old daughter, Yaffa,
wearing a pink dress given to her by a friend,
hears a bomb
explode. She gasps,
covers her mouth with her dress’s
ruffles.
Yazzan, her five-and-a-half-year old brother,
grabs a blanket warmed by his sleepy body.
He lays the blanket on his sister.
You can hide now, he assures her.

And I have a video of that. It’s on my phone. I took a video of my son throwing a blanket. That’s how I couldn’t forget this moment.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, your kids know the hospitals in Gaza that we were just describing.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: Tell us, to humanize Kamal Adwan hospital, Al-Awda Hospital.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, by the way, Al-Awda Hospital — so, Kamal Adwan is run by the Gaza Health Ministry. The Al-Awda Hospital is run by the Palestinian Red Crescent, which is an NGO. And the Al-Awda Hospital is dedicated mainly to the people who cannot afford to pay health insurance. And many of the pregnant mothers who go to UNRWA clinics are referred to Al-Awda Hospital to give birth there for free. So it’s a hospital not only for the patients, but also the pregnant women to give birth. My sister Aya, 30 — sorry, 35 years old, is pregnant, and she’s about to give birth. And there is no hospital close to her. So I don’t know what she’s going to do.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is the main hospital in Beit Lahia and also in Beit Lahia project. And in the past few years, it was turned into a children’s hospital. And I used to take Yaffa and Yazzan to that hospital when they feel sick, when they have fever, when they are injured. And I have many friends who used to work as nurses there. And I know Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who is the head of the Kamal Adwan Hospital right now, who we watched just a few minutes ago. I mean, he is very helpless.

I mean, I use this in my language. I say the situation in north Gaza — in Beit Lahia or north is catastrophic. I mean, how many times did I use the same word? I mean, sometimes I want to stop writing because I’m repeating the same word even though the situation is worse. So, I mean, language is helpless. I mean, I used the same vocabulary after October 7th to describe the situation in north Gaza, in Beit Lahia. I said we had no water, no food. That was October 12th. And now we are October 25th, 2024, so a year. I mean, does really language help us? Why does the world make us feel, I mean, helpless? I think — I mean, I don’t like this, as a human being. We have never stopped shouting and screaming and showing our pictures and videos.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you remind our viewers and listeners, who may not have seen you on Democracy Now!? First, soon after October 7th, we talked to you in Gaza. We then talked to you, or spoke to others about you, when you were taken by the Israeli military. Then, when you were released and made it with your family to Cairo, we spoke to you.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: We spoke to you in South Africa, and now you have come to the United States. But take us on that journey, how you got out. And remind us what happened when you were separated from your family and taken by the Israeli military.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: So, Amy, that interview that you did with me, it was October 12th. I can’t forget the date, because that was the last day I was in my house. I just finished my interview with you on October 12th. I think it was 3 p.m., which is eight hour, 8:00 morning here. I even didn’t pay attention to the time.

AMY GOODMAN: Right about now, New York time.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah. I mean, by the time I finished my interview with you, I went down. My father and mother, my brother Hamza and his children and his pregnant wife, my brother Mohammed and his wife, my sister Aya with her children, who is now pregnant, my sister Saja and my sister Sondos. So, about 25 people were in the house with me. So, I went down, and I found my father and my mother packing their bags. And when I talk about bags, I talk about children’s school bags. We don’t have suitcases, by the way, which is something that many people don’t understand why. Because we don’t have airports, we don’t need suitcases. We travel with our backpacks, my children’s kindergarten backpack. I stuff it with some clothes and some — I put some water bottle there. So, I found my parents packing their bags, and I asked them, “Where are you going?” And they said, “You know the Israelis just dropped some leaflets ordering the residents of Beit Lahia, about 90,000 people, to evacuate.” And that was the first time I found my parents, you know, leaving. And then I went upstairs. I didn’t know what to take with me. I only took with me the copy, one copy, the only copy that I had of my first poetry book. And I took a bottle of water and some clothes for my children.

And then we went to the refugee camp. And do you know where we stayed? We stayed in the same neighborhood that was bombed yesterday, where 150 people were killed. And I just told you about the names of the people who were killed, including Um Fathi, who I now remember that we got one hour of water from the tap when we were in the camp. And Um Fathi would tell the neighbors, “The water is on. The water is on. Fill your buckets.” So, I remember here. And then, when the bombing got intense in the refugee camp, we thought of going to an UNRWA school which is just a few hundred meters away from the neighborhood in the camp. So, we stayed in a school shelter in Jabaliya, which was later raided by the Israeli army. And by the way, a few days ago, the Israelis again visited that school, took the men out. And they have abducted so many, including my wife’s sister’s husband. He’s a brother-in-law to me. So, they took him. And one reason he stayed in the school, he’s a nurse. He couldn’t leave the refugees in the school without any nursing person. So, he was abducted, and he is left with three children. The youngest was born after October 7. So, when the bombing got intense, I had to leave the school with my wife and kids, especially because we had the chance to leave Gaza for Egypt.

And on the Salah al-Din Street, which was described by the Israelis as a safe passage, I was abducted by the Israeli soldiers. I was handcuffed and blindfolded. And before that, I had to remove all my clothes. I was naked for the first time in my life. And under gunpoint, two Israeli soldiers were pointing their guns at me and the person next to me. And then we were taken to a place we didn’t know. I mean, for me, as a Palestinian who was born in Gaza, I had never been to Palestine, which is now Israel. So, that was the first time for me to sleep in my country, as a detainee, as someone who was blindfolded and handcuffed, as someone who didn’t know whether his wife and children, who he left behind, were still breathing.

Just imagine. Not only was I taken, blindfolded and handcuffed and beaten and harassed and insulted — they kept saying bad words in Arabic. These are the only words they know in Arabic, insulting words. But also, I did not know whether my wife and kids, from whom I was separated, were still breathing, whether they went to a place that is safe. Because there is no place that is safe. Why? Because when there is occupation, there is nothing that’s called a safe place. And I had also to worry about my mother and father, who I left behind in the refugee camp, and my siblings and their children. I mean, I was torn. I was torn into a hundred pieces, thinking about myself, why are they taking me, where are they taking me. And I heard some young men screaming, you know. Some of them had to be separated from their pregnant wives. So, after three days, I was released. I was dropped at the same checkpoint.

AMY GOODMAN: There was international outcry —

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Exactly.

AMY GOODMAN: — over you having been taken.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: As Mosab Abu Toha, not as a Palestinian. So, I think many people cared about me because I am a friend and a writer, but they did not maybe consider maybe doing the same thing with other people. It’s easier to get someone out than getting a whole population from under the military fist of the Israeli army. I mean, I just imagine if I was not a writer, if I was not a poet, if I did not have a publisher, if I did not have, you know, some journalism magazine that I wrote for. Just imagine no one knew about me. I would still have been under the Israeli custody. Maybe I could have died, just like Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who was taken from Al-Awda Hospital, by the way, in November last year. And he was announced dead last October. He was the best surgeon in the Gaza Strip, and he was — he died. He was killed.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you about another man, another poet, but he didn’t make it, the Palestinian poet, the Islamic University professor, someone you knew, Refaat Alareer, last on Democracy Now! October 10th, 2023. Refaat was killed by an Israeli strike in December, along with his brother, sister and four of his nieces. This is Scottish actor Brian Cox reciting Refaat Alareer’s poem “If I Must Die.” And then I want you to share your poem, a sort of segue to Refaat’s, “If I Must Die,” a video that went viral.

BRIAN COX: If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up
above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale.

AMY GOODMAN: Scottish actor Brian Cox, you know, who played in Succession, reciting Refaat Alareer’s poem “If I Must Die” in a video that went viral. And you can go to democracynow.org to see our interview with Refaat just before he was killed. In your book, Mosab Abu Toha, Forest of Noise, talk about Refaat and then your kind of rejoinder to this poem.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: I mean, I knew Refaat as a professor at the Islamic University of Gaza. He did not teach me, but I would say that he taught me a lot, because when I was in my second year, he was in Malaysia doing — completing, finishing his Ph.D. And when he returned, I was already finishing my courses. But he was someone who led me to the We Are Not Numbers project that he co-founded, which is a project that offers some mentorship for young writers. I was in the beginning of my writing career. So, he introduced me to the group. And that is a picture that I took with the strawberries.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re showing an image of Refaat holding strawberries.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah, yeah. We picked that strawberry, that same strawberry together in Beit Lahia, in my father-in-law’s farm, from my father-in-law’s farm. So, yeah, I knew Refaat as a father. He was a wonderful father for his kids. And he was a lovely son of his parents. His parents still survive, I hope, in Gaza City. And he’s also a professor of English literature. And when we were talking about literature, he would talk about Arabic literature and also English literature. His favorite poet, I think, was John Donne. And in the Arabic language, he loved the classical Arabic poems, like Al-A’sha, like Imru’ al-Qais, like Ibn Hilliza. And he would recite some Arabic poems to me, and I was amazed, you know?

So, before Refaat was killed, he published his poem “If I Must Die,” and he posted it on his Instagram. And I read that poem when I was still in north Gaza. It was before I was abducted. And it was very heartbreaking for me, I mean, someone writing about his death and what he wishes his death to be like. And I couldn’t but try and write my own “If I Must Die,” but I did not call it “If I Must Die.” I wrote “If I Am Going to Die.” But after he was killed, I retitled the poem, which is now called “A Request.” “A Request: After Refaat Alareer.”

If I am going to die,
let it be a clean death,
no rubble over my corpse
no broken dishes or glasses
and not many cuts in my head or chest.
Leave my ironed untouched jackets
and pants in the closet,
so I may wear some of them again
at my funeral.

Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: Mosab Abu Toha, reading from his new second second book of poetry, Forest of Noise. Just months after Refaat was killed, his eldest daughter, Shaima Refaat Alareer, was also killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza, along with her husband and 2-month-old son, Refaat’s grandchild.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, just imagine. I mean, Refaat became a grandfather after he was killed. He became a grandfather after he was killed. And, I mean, something that breaks my heart, just as it must break everyone’s heart, is that when someone is killed, they even don’t know who was killed with them. They don’t know — I mean, Refaat did not know that his daughter Shaima and her husband, Abd al-Rahman Siyam, I think his name, and his grandchild were killed after him. I mean, I don’t know whether he knows about this, whether, I mean, he’s now feeling a lot of pain knowing about this.

So, it is a campaign of killing the father, the mother, the sister. I would call this not only a genocide. It is not only a genocide against a people, but it’s also a genocide against families, because when you look at the names of the people who are killed, you see the name of the father, the mother, the children, the grandchildren. It’s not about killing five people from the street or five people in the mosque or the school. It’s killing a whole family. When I tell you that I lost 31 members of my extended family, I talk about two first cousins with their husbands and their children. I’m not talking about my cousin, no. Her husband, their children, the youngest 2 or 4.

AMY GOODMAN: Mosab, can you look into this camera and share your message with the world, what you want the world to take away right now about what’s happening in your home, in Gaza?

MOSAB ABU TOHA: I mean, if the world cannot really help us, I hope that they will not continue to support the oppressor. If you can’t really stop this, why don’t you just go away? I mean, I wish the world was ignoring us. No, they are not ignoring us. No, they are contributing to our suffering and the genocidal campaign that Israel has been launching, not since last year, since 76 years.

I mean, maybe you just mentioned that Blinken says that in a few days, you know, the negotiations would start again. I mean, why don’t you say the same things about sending the weapons to Israel? Why don’t you say, “Oh, in a few days, we will try and send the Israelis some new weapons”? Why don’t you take your time and think about what these weapons are going to do? Why does it take time to resume negotiations and force the Israelis to stop their killing of my people? Why does it take time? Why is it difficult to stop this, but it’s easy to send more and more weapons? Just leave us alone.

AMY GOODMAN: Your choice of the last poem to share with our audience around the world. Would you like to share “The Moon” or “Right or Left” or “Under the Rubble”?

MOSAB ABU TOHA: “Under the Rubble” is long, so I will go with “Right or Left,” which is a poem that I wrote for one of my friend’s sisters. My friend himself was killed with his parents, with four of his sisters, with his two children. So the only survivors were his wife and two other sisters. So, the body of my friend, Ismail Abu Ghabin, the body of his sister, 16 years old, and his father are still under the rubble. So I wrote this poem about the bodies that remain under the rubble, the body of his sister. “Right or Left.”

Under the rubble,
her body has remained
for days
and days.
When the war ends,
we try to remove
the rubble,
stone
after stone.
We only find one small bone
from her body.
It is a bone
from her arm.
Right or left,
it does not matter
as long as we cannot
find the henna
from the neighbors’ wedding
on her skin,
or the ink
from a school pen
on her little index finger.

AMY GOODMAN: Mosab Abu Toha, Palestinian poet and author. His new second book of poetry, Forest of Noise, has just been published. His previous award-winning book is called Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza. Mosab Abu Toha is a columnist, teacher, founder of the Edward Said Library in Gaza, which we’ll talk about in Part 2 of our conversation and post online. And also, I hope Mosab will read “Under the Rubble,” and we’ll post it at democracynow.org. Mosab, thank you for joining us in our New York studio.

MOSAB ABU TOHA: Thank you. I really appreciate it, Amy. Thank you

AMY GOODMAN: Next up, the BRICS summit has just wrapped up. We’ll be joined by two economists. Stay with us.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: “I Hate the Capitalist System” by the late great Barbara Dane. She passed away this week at the age of 97. By the way, Mosab Abu Toha will be speaking and reading his poetry at New York University, NYU, today at 5:00 at the Lillian Vernon House.

[admin]

Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 28, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/28/headlines

U.N. Chief Urges Restraint After Israel Bombs Iranian Targets Saturday
Oct 28, 2024

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has urged for a return to diplomacy and “maximum efforts to prevent an all-out regional war” after Israel bombed Iranian military facilities and air defense systems Saturday. The strikes included a site linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program. Iran said four soldiers were killed. Israel also struck air defense batteries and radars in Syria and Iraq. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would take “an appropriate response” to the attack, but he reiterated that Iran does not seek a wider war. Israel’s attack came about four weeks after Iran launched a missile attack on Israeli military sites in response to Israel’s mounting assault on Lebanon and Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.

“North Gaza’s Entire Population at Risk of Dying”: Israel Decimates Northern Gaza, Incl. Hospitals
Oct 28, 2024

As the death toll from Israel’s 24-day siege on northern Gaza tops 1,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, the U.N.’s top humanitarian official is warning “the entire population of north Gaza is at risk of dying.”

At Kamal Adwan Hospital, Israeli soldiers arrested and expelled nearly all male doctors and staff following its brutal raid. One of the victims of Israel’s assault on northern Gaza was the hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s young son Ibrahim. On Saturday, Dr. Abu Safiya led prayers for his murdered child as he laid him to rest. A nurse who survived the Israeli attack on Kamal Adwan described the siege.

Mayssoun Alian: “We were all surrounded from all sides. There was shooting from all directions with bombs and mortars, and they evacuated all those who were sheltering here, so that everyone leaves, both men and women. They separated men from women and made two queues. It was very, very humiliating for our men since they took them without clothes and nothing to cover with.”

Elsewhere in Gaza, an employee of Doctors Without Borders was killed in Khan Younis. And at least three more journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike. They were identified as Saed Radwan of Al-Aqsa TV, Hamza Abu Salmiya from Sanad News and Haneen Mahmoud Baroud from the Al-Quds Foundation.

DOJ Lawyers Call on Merrick Garland to Investigate Israeli Killings of U.S. Citizens
Oct 28, 2024

Lawyers at the U.S. Justice Department called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch investigations into crimes against U.S. citizens committed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including the killing of the activist Ayşenur Eygi. The letter to Garland highlighted the hypocrisy in the department’s refusal to acknowledge crimes by Israel while it has been outspoken against Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Israel Strikes Tyre, Killing at Least 7, as It Continues Its Assault on Lebanon
Oct 28, 2024

Israeli strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre have killed at least seven people today. The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for large areas of Tyre as it continues its deadly attacks. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s health minister says Israeli strikes have targeted 55 hospitals in Lebanon as Israel seeks to impair the country’s health infrastructure.

Microsoft Fires Employees, Harvard Suspends Professors & Students over Gaza Solidarity Protests
Oct 28, 2024

Here in the U.S., Microsoft has fired two employees who organized a vigil for Gaza. The workers, who are both Arab, belonged to the protest group “No Azure for Apartheid,” which opposes Microsoft’s sale of its cloud technology to Israel.

Meanwhile, Harvard University has temporarily suspended dozens of students and professors from its libraries after they staged a series of silent “study-in” protests to bring attention to the genocide in Gaza, as well as the crackdown on free speech at Harvard.

***

“This Carnage Needs to Stop”: Israel Bans Aid Groups from Gaza, Kills Over 1,000 in North Gaza Siege
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 28, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/28 ... transcript

Israel’s three-week siege of northern Gaza has killed at least 1,000 Palestinians. Most of the dead are women and children. On Saturday, Israeli forces withdrew from Kamal Adwan Hospital just one day after storming it, with health officials saying that soldiers detained dozens of male medical staffers and some of the patients. This comes as the Israeli government has banned six medical NGOs from entering Gaza despite the dire humanitarian crisis stemming from repeated displacements of the population, widespread disease, injuries from Israeli attacks, hunger and more. Some 43,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war on Gaza last October, according to local officials, although the true toll is likely far higher. “The healthcare infrastructure is destroyed. Many of the local doctors have been either killed or kidnapped. The patients are left stranded; no one is providing any help to them,” says Mosab Nasser, CEO of FAJR Scientific, one of the six medical aid groups banned by Israel.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s in northern Gaza, where Israel’s three-week siege has killed over 1,000 Palestinians, most women and children. Gaza health officials say almost 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7th, more than 100,000 wounded, though the toll is likely far higher. On Saturday, Israeli forces withdrew from north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, one day after raiding it. Health officials say soldiers detained dozens of male medical staffers and some of the patients. This is a nurse describing how Israeli forces detained the hospital’s director.

MAYSSOUN ALIAN: [translated] They called Dr. Hussam and asked him to let the male medics out. So he did, and they left. This was also very, very humiliating for them since they were also without clothes. There were around 70 male nurses that left here. They took them to the external clinic. They started to destroy things. And we were the only nurses in the hospital without the rest of the medical team.

AMY GOODMAN: The nurse mentioned Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a pediatrician. After Israeli forces retreated from the hospital Saturday, he buried his young son Ibrahim Hussam Abu Safiya, who was reportedly killed Friday in an Israeli strike on Jabaliya in northern Gaza.

DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA: Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. As-salamu alaykum. Allahu Akbar. As-salamu alaykum. Allahu Akbar.

AMY GOODMAN: The doctor praying and mourning his son in his white hospital coat.

This comes as the World Health Organization reports the Israeli government has barred six medical NGOs from entering Gaza. One of them, the Palestinian American Medical Association, released a statement, saying, quote, “We urgently demand that the Israeli authorities rescind this decision immediately and urge the U.S. State Department, along with international bodies, to advocate for the immediate reinstatement of these vital medical services, which constitute a fundamental human right protected by international law and the moral fabric of our global community,” unquote.

For more, we go to Houston, Texas, where we’re joined another head of another organization, one of six medical aid groups Israel has banned from entering Gaza. Mosab Nasser is the CEO of FAJR Scientific. He helped lead one of the largest medical missions to Gaza in August of 2023. He was last in Gaza in May during Israel’s invasion of Rafah. Nasser also helped renovate parts of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. He is himself originally from Gaza.

Thank you so much for being with us. As we watch the director of Kamal Adwan, a man you know well, mourn his son, praying at his grave in his white medical coat, can you talk about who he is and the significance of Kamal Adwan Hospital?

MOSAB NASSER: Good morning, Amy. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is a Palestinian hero. He is an amazing, amazing doctor that I have known now maybe for about four years. And I had several meetings with him when I was in Gaza in 2022 and helped, as said, renovate the Kamal Adwan Hospital’s emergency room and the external clinics, as well as the rehabilitation room for children. Dr. Hussam is the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, who, by the way, has a foreign passport. He had the choice, like, you know, many Palestinians, to leave from there at the beginning of the war, but he refused. He stood his ground at the Kamal Adwan Hospital to save lives and save limbs and take care of those children who are left stranded in this carnage.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is the only children’s hospital in north Gaza. It actually serves about 400,000 or 500,000 people in north Gaza, and there is really no other children’s hospital. It has the ICU. It has a large room for premature babies with incubators. And it’s a central hospital. If that hospital is not functional, you’re talking about thousands of children, again, left without any medical support.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, we were just speaking with another Mosab, the poet Mosab Abu Toha, on Friday, who talked about bringing his young children to this hospital and talked about the director being a pediatrician, that it’s basically the children’s hospital there. Mosab Nasser, if you can describe what has happened there in northern Gaza and what happened to this particular hospital, the Israeli forces raiding it, and this description of the doctors and medical aides being stripped naked in front of the others?

MOSAB NASSER: Amy, FAJR Scientific is a humanitarian apolitical organization. We are actually specialized in surgical — in complex surgeries. We’ve been operating in Gaza even before the war. And we have a team in the north, a local team, that actually serves the different hospitals, including the Indonesian Hospital.

And the news that we get from the team on the ground, that Kamal Adwan Hospital was attacked by the Israeli army. I believe more than 30 medical staff members were actually kidnapped by the Israeli army, including Dr. Hussam briefly, and then he was turned back. So, he’s left maybe with a few — a couple of doctors and a few nurses to take care of over 150 patients at the hospital.

The news that we received also that the Israeli army stripped those doctors naked and literally took them into no one knows where, similar to what happened to our colleagues at Nasser Hospital and Shifa Hospital. I still have many Palestinian colleagues. I’d like to name a few: Dr. Ghassan Abu Zuhri from Nasser Hospital, who’s one of the top surgeons in Gaza, orthopedic surgeons, no one knows his whereabout until today; Dr. Hani Abu Taima, the head of the surgical department at Nasser Hospital; and many others, many others across Gaza. So, the disturbing news that also we have received is that the Israeli army destroyed the oxygen concentrators and tanks at Kamal Adwan Hospital, leaving children in the ICU and in the incubators without oxygen. Many of them actually have died.

AMY GOODMAN: Have you been meeting with U.S. government officials? And what have they said? Also, do you know how Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s son died? We heard died in an Israeli airstrike on Jabaliya.

MOSAB NASSER: Regarding your first question, yes. In fact, I just came back from D.C. this past Thursday, where I met with — visited the offices of a few congressmen and senators. And before, in fact, I’ve also visited the State Department in this past visit, trying to advocate for lifting the ban or the denial on the humanitarian medical organizations that were actually denied entry by Israel, especially at this time where we are actually needed on the ground the most.

And that decision to ban or deny entry to now six organizations — in fact, initially, the initial number that we’ve heard was eight organizations — it’s mind-boggling. Especially with what’s happening in north Gaza, why would you prevent such organizations from coming to provide their services? Especially the healthcare infrastructure is destroyed. Many of the doctors, the local doctors, have been either killed or kidnapped. The patients are left stranded; no one is providing any help to them. And especially we — in FAJR Scientific, we’re actually specialized in surgical interventions. And many of the injuries that come to the hospitals across Gaza are blast injuries — broken bones, broken skulls, you know, all kinds of multiple degrees of burns. So, those patients require an immediate attention. And if you don’t provide this attention to them, many of them actually will die a slow and painful death because of infections.

Regarding Dr. Hussam’s son, I really don’t know the details surrounding his death, but I was told that he was — you know, he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jabaliya, as you mentioned.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, I wanted to ask you about a tweet of yours. You’re talking about a girl. “Mazyona is one of the children FAJR has been trying to evacuate out of #Gaza for months now. She sustained devastating injuries to her face—her face was nearly torn off. #Surgeons have held the remaining structure together, but she urgently requires a medevac for specialized care and bone surgery. [She] also still has shrapnel in her neck. She is of course in immense pain, [and] her condition is worsening. The platinum used surgically to rebuild her face is coming out, [and] doctors have stated [that] she needs surgeries outside [of] Gaza to save her life. Mazyona has been denied medical #evacuation four times. Authorities suggested that the medevac could proceed without Mazyona’s mother accompanying her. However, when her father attempted to take the next steps, Mazyona was again denied.” Explain her fate right now where she is.

MOSAB NASSER: That is another heartbreaking story, Amy, that I have been personally, as the CEO of the organization, following closely and advocating for Mazyona’s evacuation for almost three months now. I can’t tell you how many times I visited the State Department, how many times I talked to congressmen, how many times I’ve tried to reach to the Israeli authorities to try to evacuate her out of Gaza, with no results.

Mazyona was injured in the face — in her face, a serious injury. I mean, she has a viral video on Instagram and YouTube that you see how — when she was brought to the hospital, how she was bleeding. Initially, we submitted her mother as a companion. The mother was rejected by COGAT, the Israeli authority effectively. Then we submitted her father’s name. Then her father was rejected. Then we submitted the father’s aunt; then it was rejected. And then we submitted another aunt of the father; it was rejected. So, we are kind of left without any options. I don’t know — to the point, actually, I proposed my name to be a companion for Mazyona to get her out, and still we have not been able to get her out. In fact, the recent update we got from the local team on the ground, that she has potentially an infection, and if this girl is not evacuated as soon as possible, she could die.

Mazyona is one out of thousands, Amy. In fact, we have 12 children like Mazyona with serious injuries, some of them actually with a bullet settled in the head, that we wanted to take out, and we have not been able to take any of them. So far, since May, since the closure of the Rafah border, we were able — I mean, generally speaking, only 125 children were evacuated out of Gaza out of 2,500, if not more, needed an immediate evacuation. So, this carnage needs to stop.

AMY GOODMAN: Mosab Nasser, I want to thank you for being with us, CEO of FAJR Scientific, one of six medical humanitarian organizations Israel has barred from entering Gaza. He’s based in Houston and originally from Gaza.

Next up, we turn to Israeli political scientist Neve Gordon. He’s in London. He’s one of more than 3,000 signatories to an open letter titled “We Israelis are calling for global pressure on Israel to force an immediate ceasefire.” Back in 20 seconds.

***

“Save Us from Ourselves”: 3,000+ Israelis Call for Int’l Help to Pressure Israel to Back Ceasefire
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 28, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/28 ... transcript

-- Israeli Citizens for International Pressure

-- "Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire"

More than 3,000 Israelis have signed an open letter urging “global pressure on Israel to force an immediate ceasefire.” The signatories say they are motivated by patriotic duty to stop the country’s war crimes in Gaza and beyond, but say the lack of sanctions from other countries has allowed Israel to continue to pursue war, abandon the hostages still held in Gaza, ignore domestic opposition and persecute Palestinian citizens of Israel without real cost. “Unfortunately, the majority of Israelis support the continuation of the war and massacres, and a change from within is not currently feasible. The state of Israel is on a suicidal path and sows destruction and devastation that increase day by day,” reads the letter. For more, we speak with Neve Gordon, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London, one of the signatories of the open letter, who says international powers including allies like the United States need to “put their leg down and say enough is enough.” We also speak with him about Israel’s well-documented history of using Palestinians as human shields, including in its current war 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.

“We, Israelis, are calling for global pressure on Israel to force an immediate ceasefire.” That’s the headline of an open letter signed by more than 3,000 Israelis, along with our next guest, the Israeli political scientist Neve Gordon. The letter concludes by noting, “The leaders of many countries make repeated statements about the horror they feel and verbally denounce Israel’s operations, but these condemnations are not backed by practical actions. We are replete with empty words and declarations. Please, for our futures and the futures of all of the residents of Israel and the region, save us from ourselves and use real pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire,” the letter says.

For more, we go to London. We’re joined by Neve Gordon, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London. His recent Al Jazeera article is headlined “Israel has taken human shields to a whole new criminal level.” He’s author of Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire and co-editor of Torture: Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel.

Neve Gordon, welcome back to Democracy Now! Can you start off actually by talking about what this letter says? And the number of people is — the last time we looked, it was 2,000 Israelis who have signed it. Now it’s over 3,000, Professor Gordon.

NEVE GORDON: There’s a feeling among Israelis that the change cannot come from within. We do not have enough power from within to change the course of actions that Netanyahu and his government have put in place. And the only way to stop the violence, to stop the genocidal violence in Gaza, to stop the violence in Lebanon, and to stop future attacks and geopolitical war in the region is that leaders in Europe and leaders in North America, particularly the United States, put their leg down and say enough is enough and threaten Israel that if there is no ceasefire, they will sanction Israel, they will stop arms trade with Israel, they’ll stop sending Israel money, and ultimately stop trading with Israel. So, our belief is, to save the populations that inhabit this region, we need such an action.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk directly about what’s happening in the United States, clearly the major arms supplier to Israel, and what you think of the role of the Biden administration, of President Biden himself?

NEVE GORDON: The United States has a memorandum for arms trade. And in that memorandum for arms trade, it says very clearly that countries or warring parties that violate international humanitarian law and the laws of war, the U.S. will not sell weapons to them, will not give them weapons or sell weapons to them. It is beyond doubt that Israel has been systematically violating the laws of war since October 7th, 8th, and yet the United States continues to send arms. And that has to do with many reasons. One is the power of the military corporations in the United States. The other is the lobbying groups in the United States. And all the United States really has to do — all Kamala Harris has to do today is say that “the minute I’m president, if there is violation of international law, I will stop sending arms.” And yet the United States is breaking its own laws in order to continue giving Israel arms so that it continues its violence in Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere.

AMY GOODMAN: And your response to the grassroots protests across the country of the Biden administration continuing to support Israel?

NEVE GORDON: There’s a major gap, both in the United States but all across Europe and North America, between civil society and the political and financial elites. Civil society has been saying now for over a year, “Enough. We want to ceasefire. We’re against this human catastrophe. We’re against what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people. We want the Palestinian people to enjoy self-determination, to enjoy statehood like everyone else.” And yet the political and financial elites are continuing as if nothing is happening, supporting Israel. Here and there, there’s a kind of criticism from Biden, and yet Netanyahu is doing exactly as he wants to do, and the Biden administration is not doing anything. And there is fear from donors here during an election campaign. It’s a very complex system. But what we see is this major gap between the two kind of poles, the civil society pole, on the one hand, and the ruling political and financial elites. And I think we just need to continue doing what we do until we get them to follow their own laws, as they appear, for example, in the memorandum of arms trade.

AMY GOODMAN: Professor Gordon, does Netanyahu have a plan for Gaza? And what about these negotiations that are now taking place in Doha, in Qatar? Apparently, Egypt has proposed a two-day ceasefire, release of four hostages. What is happening there? And what do you think needs to happen?

NEVE GORDON: Well, I’d like to say a few words about the bigger picture. I think Netanyahu, pre-October 7, 2023, saw himself as a figure of history, one that has led Israel to economic success, one that will normalize relations with Arab countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, and one that is slowly managing to erase the Palestinians from history. Come October 7th and the failure of the Israeli intelligence and after 35 weeks of protest against the judicial overhaul and the death of 1,200 Israelis and 250 Israeli hostages, he understood that his position in history has changed. And he’s trying to rebuild that through, I think, three axes.

One is the Gaza Strip. And I don’t — I have very little belief in the current negotiations. I think large parts of his coalition want to resettle the northern Gaza Strip, and that’s why we’re seeing what we’re seeing there and what your previous guest told us about the kind of displacement of the population there, the destruction of the whole infrastructure of existence of the population through the destruction of the hospitals, of the schools, of the mosques, etc. And ultimately, what Netanyahu’s coalition would like is to resettle that part of the Gaza Strip, enclose the rest of the Palestinians in the south, and probably maintain some kind of ethnic policing there for years to come.

In Lebanon, I think Netanyahu would like to cleanse the area that’s south of the Litani River from any presence of Hezbollah. And I think that’s going to last for quite a while now. I hope I’m wrong. But I think that it’s not going to end soon.

But I think that the crown of the jewel for Netanyahu and the only way that he thinks of himself as returning to history as a hero is through the bombing of the nuclear plants in Iran. I think everything is leading in that direction. Again, I hope I’m wrong. But I think now Netanyahu will wait for the elections on November 5th, and then he’ll decide how to continue on that strategy. So, I think the talks now in Doha are more of a cosmetic to a large process that we see unfolding now in Israel and the Middle East.

AMY GOODMAN: Professor Gordon, we just have a minute, but you begin your recent Al Jazeera piece headlined “Israel has taken human shields to a whole new criminal level,” writing, quote, “The use of human shields in war is not a new phenomenon. Militaries have forced civilians to serve as human shields for centuries. Yet, despite this long and dubious history, Israel has managed to introduce a new form of shielding in Gaza, one that appears unprecedented in the history of warfare.” We have one minute. If you could explain?

NEVE GORDON: So, human shielding works through a politics of vulnerability, through the recognition that the civilian that is shielding a military target is not like a robust landmine or anti-missile defense system, but it’s the moral value that is ascribed to the civilian that supposedly deters the enemy from firing. So, if Hamas sees a co-patriarch dressed in civilian clothes, then, hopefully, that will dissuade them from firing and killing the human shield or try to deter it. When you dress the human shield in military garb, you’re not trying to deter Hamas from firing at the civilian, but you’re trying to actually lure Hamas so that they think it’s an Israeli soldier, that they fire at him, and then the Israeli soldiers can see where the fire is coming from and fire back. So it’s changing the whole logic of human shielding and using the vulnerability, instead of as a form of deterrence, in order to lure fire in, and basically relating to the Palestinian civilians not only as not quite human, as any kind of human shielding would relate to him, but actually as fodder, as a thing, as a shield, without the human in it.

AMY GOODMAN: Neve Gordon, we want to thank you being with us, Israeli political scientist, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London, is one of the main signatories of the letter that has now more than 3,000 signatories of Israelis calling on international pressure on Israel.

***

“We Are in an Escalatory Cycle”: Trita Parsi on Latest Israeli Attack on Iran, Risk of Wider War
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 28, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/28 ... transcript

-- "Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy"

We speak with Iranian American policy analyst Trita Parsi about Israel’s latest attack on Iran on Saturday, when it bombed military facilities and air defense systems in the country. Iran said four soldiers were killed in the attack. Israel also struck air defense batteries and radars in Syria and Iraq. Israel’s assault this weekend came about four weeks after Iran launched a missile attack on Israeli military sites in response to Israel’s war on Lebanon and Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders, part of a series of actions between the two countries since the outbreak of the war on Gaza last year. “The Israelis are just continuously escalating the situation,” says Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He warns that Iran’s relatively restrained responses to Israeli actions could encourage decision-makers in both Israel and the United States to “go all the way” and strike Iranian nuclear sites and other major targets. “This, unfortunately, is leading — much thanks to the approach of the Biden administration — towards a much larger escalation.”

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has urged for a return to diplomacy and, quote, “maximum efforts to prevent an all-out regional war” after Israel bombed Iranian military facilities and air defense systems Saturday. The strikes included a site linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program. Iran said four soldiers were killed. Israel also struck air defense batteries and radars in Syria and Iraq.

The Iranian president said Iran would take an appropriate response to the attack but reiterated that Iran does not seek a wider war. Israel’s attack came about four weeks after Iran launched a missile attack on Israeli military sites in response to Israel’s mounting assault on Lebanon and Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders, the Hamas leader in Tehran, Iran, on Inauguration Day, where the Israelis killed him.

For more, we go to Washington, D.C., where we’re joined by Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, author of several books, including Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy.

Trita, thanks so much for joining us for just these few minutes. If you can explain what took place this weekend and where you think where Iran and Israel will go next?

TRITA PARSI: Well, what happened over the weekend is the expected Israeli response to the Iranian response to Israel’s initial attack earlier on in April that started this whole exchange of fire between the two countries. What we don’t know, at least with confidence, is exactly how much damage the Israelis managed to cause in Iran. Clearly, there’s been some damage. There’s been at least five deaths. But the extent to which Iran’s air defenses have been taken out, etc., remains unclear. The Iranians initially played down the attack, signaled that they would not respond because it was not a significant attack, but the debate inside Iran seems to be shifting on that issue, precisely because of the deaths that has been caused by the Israelis.

The question the Iranians have is not only what options do they have that would avoid further escalation, but also how would it impact the American elections. Are they better off responding before or after the Iran elections? Is there a way for them to avoid responding at all, or would a lack of a response only further increase Israel’s appetite for striking Iran increasingly with impunity, if the Iranians are not striking back?

AMY GOODMAN: So, I wanted to ask you about Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s response to Israel’s attack on Iran. She said she’d like to see deescalation in the region, but added, quote, “I feel very strongly, we as the United States feel very strongly that Iran must stop what it is doing in terms of the threat that it presents to the region and we will always defend Israel against any attacks by Iran in that way.” Your response?

TRITA PARSI: Well, it is exactly this type of approach that has led us to this level of escalation — on the one hand, saying that we don’t want to see escalation; on the other hand, providing the Israelis with every equipment, every bomb, every piece of intelligence that allows them to escalate, then offering them protection against any Iranian retaliation, which then reduces the cost of escalation for the Israelis. And lo and behold, here we are. The Israelis are just continuously escalating the situation, striking more and more. They are now striking five or six countries in the Middle East. And all the United States says is that we would not like to see escalation, but we are providing every opportunity and every equipment and every logistical piece of material in order for the Israelis to have an easier time escalating the situation.

AMY GOODMAN: And your response to The Washington Post report that the Biden administration won assurances from Israel that Israel will not strike Iranian nuclear or oil sites in any retaliatory act? Do you agree with what our previous guest, the Israeli professor Neve Gordon, said, that he is concerned that that’s just where Israel is headed, perhaps waiting for Election Day next week, and then would do something like that after?

TRITA PARSI: Absolutely. The signals coming out of Israel, the signals coming out of those in Washington who want Israel to go further, is to essentially say, “See, it was relatively easy to strike Iran. What are we waiting for? Let’s go all the way.” And moreover, as I said on this show before, just because the first response at this time now was not going after the nuclear sites, because we are on an escalatory cycle, does not then mean that we will not end up with strike against nuclear sites and a full-scale war that that would prompt. So, the point is, it’s not where the first step is; it’s where this is leading to that is important. And this, unfortunately, is leading, much thanks to the approach of the Biden administration, towards a much larger escalation.

AMY GOODMAN: So, finally, Trita Parsi, you’re the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. What do you feel would be responsible statecraft right now?

TRITA PARSI: Right now the most responsible thing the United States could do, that would also lie in the U.S.’s own interests, is to actually pursue a strategy that truly deescalates the situation. Such a strategy would put pressure on all of the different parties, including of course the Iranians and the Houthis and Hezbollah, but it would also put pressure on Israel. And it would deprive Israel from all of the American bombs and all of the American material that the Biden administration has given them that allows them to just continue this war and to escalate this war. This is not terribly difficult to deescalate, if we actually pursue a strategy that is aimed at deescalation.

AMY GOODMAN: Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, author of several books, including Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy.

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Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow
October 29, 2024
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/29/headlines

Israeli Attack on Beit Lahia Kills at Least 93 Palestinians as Siege of Northern Gaza Continues
Oct 29, 2024

In northern Gaza, at least 93 Palestinians, including children, were killed today when an Israeli airstrike leveled a five-story apartment building sheltering displaced families in Beit Lahia. Dozens of wounded people were rushed to the Kamal Adwan Hospital only to be denied care. Just one doctor and a few exhausted medical workers remain at the hospital after Israeli forces in recent days raided the facility, separated men and women, and arrested much of the remaining staff and patients. U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called Israel’s ongoing siege on northern Gaza the “darkest moment” of the conflict.

Volker Türk: “The Israeli government’s policies and practices risk emptying the area of all Palestinians. We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity.”

Israeli Lawmakers Ban U.N. Aid Agency for Palestinian Refugees
Oct 29, 2024

Israel’s parliament has approved a law banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine from operating inside Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The U.N. agency, known as UNRWA, is tasked with providing food, healthcare and social services to Palestinians and is a critical lifeline to Gaza’s surviving 2.3 million residents who face widespread famine and malnutrition due to Israel’s unrelenting, yearlong assault. The ban on UNRWA was approved in a 92-10 vote with the full support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party. Israeli lawmaker Sharren Haskel co-authored the legislation.

Sharren Haskel: “If the United Nations is not willing to clean this organization from terrorism, from Hamas activists, then we have to take measures to make sure they cannot harm our people ever again.”

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, called the bill’s passage a “dangerous precedent,” “collective punishment” and a violation of the U.N. Charter and international law. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called it “unacceptable” and said the ban would have devastating consequences for Palestinian refugees. Its passage has increased support for a Palestinian Authority initiative to expel Israel from the United Nations General Assembly.

Israeli Attacks on Lebanon Flatten Homes in Tyre and Kill at Least 60 in Beqaa Valley
Oct 29, 2024

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says at least 60 people were killed as Israeli strikes pounded the eastern Beqaa Valley, including the city of Baalbek. At least two of the dead were children. The killings bring the death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon to over 2,700. Meanwhile, multiple Israeli airstrikes on Monday collapsed entire residential buildings and sparked fires in the southern port city of Tyre. A survivor said the attacks were aimed at civilians.

Survivor: “What do you expect us to do? They fired at random. They are not hitting military targets; they are only targeting civilians. Can you see people fighting? Why are they targeting us? Are we fighting them?”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has announced Naim Qassem will succeed Hassan Nasrallah as secretary-general of the group, following Israel’s assassination of Nasrallah in an airstrike last month. Qassem said Hezbollah fighters are continuing to repel Israeli attacks along the border and that the group’s military structure has remained intact.

South Africa Files Documents with ICJ Providing Evidence of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
Oct 29, 2024

South Africa on Monday filed over 750 pages of evidence in its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. South Africa says the documents lay out how Israel is “promoting the destruction of Palestinians living in Gaza, physically killing them with an assortment of destructive weapons, depriving them access to humanitarian assistance, causing conditions of life which are aimed at their physical destruction, … and using starvation as a weapon of war and to further Israel’s aims to depopulate Gaza through mass death and forced displacement of Palestinians.” Over 30 countries and regional blocs are supporting South Africa’s case at the ICJ.

Israelis Protest Outside Knesset to Call for Hostage Deal
Oct 29, 2024

In Jerusalem, hundreds of protesters rallied outside Israel’s Knesset on Monday to demand a Gaza ceasefire deal and an exchange of hostages. Israeli police arrested nine of the protesters as they nonviolently blocked a road near the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shraga Tichover: “It’s solidarity with the hostages. We want our prime minister to make a deal, to cut a deal. We want the war to stop. We want the stop of killing and everything. We want, you know, a sane country. That’s it. We want to live. I’m 55 years old. I have four kids. I’m doing this for my kids.”

1,000+ Writers Sign On to Israeli Boycott Pledge over Gaza Genocide, Occupation of Palestine
Oct 29, 2024

More than a thousand writers and publishing industry figures have signed on to what they’re calling the largest-ever cultural boycott against Israeli institutions. In an open letter, the authors denounce the ongoing genocide in Gaza, writing, “Israeli cultural institutions, often working directly with the state, have been crucial in obfuscating, disguising and artwashing the dispossession and oppression of millions of Palestinians for decades.”

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Israeli politician dragged out of Knesset for defying Netanyahu
by PoliticsJOE
Nov 19, 2024

Left coalition leader Ayman Odeh recounted a harrowing experience of a Palestinian father on the floor of the Knesset on Monday, and was dragged from the podium after levelling criticism against Benjamin Netanyahu's attacks on Gaza.



Transcript [Google translate Hebrew to English]

In Gaza there is
1738 and 5 babies your system killed Benjamin
Netanyahu what is your vision what is your vision
Tell me in 30 years you want a series of
Peace no no no stop by Binyamin Netanyahu I am
I want to tell you the story of Muhammad Abul Kosan
32 years old
From Gaza I got married two months before and after the war
Then Vino the journey
The chalk we moved from place to place starting from the north to
When we arrived at Der Balach on Shabbat Ha'er in August, I was born
Twins son and daughter of R. Yesel and this after surgery
My wife, a postman, was called to Arapi Simcha
Filled our hearts with the arrival of our first child
The excitement was indescribable that morning
Tuesday, August 1, I happily left for the hospital
I took out the birth certificate for my babies from
Glad I sent my wife photos from the birth
on WhatsApp but she didn't answer at the time I received it
A call from one of the neighbors who asked if I was okay, I answered
I'm fine and he told me the apartment you know
I was bombarded, my heart was pounding with fear and worry for fate
My family until I arrived at the reception desk of a house
The patients and some of the neighbors told me with trepidation that they were inside
jelly
The dead have not been 10 minutes since the certificate was set on fire
The birth and suddenly I issue them the death certificates
The
When in Gaza there is
1738 Ha babies your system killed
Babies under one year old in Gaza today
3555 Orphan babies, everyone's blood will be chased
You and you are fiercely frowning when you are away in Beit HaDan
Behg Beniman
Netanyahu, what is your vision, tell me
For 30 years you have been running for the no no no no no
Stop Stop Stop Red Red from the stand immediately red
From the stand immediately get off the stand
[music]
Immediately