Thursday, March 21, 2024

Homelessness, James Bond, the awful Jim Jordan

 BURN IT DOWN WITH KIM BROWN.


Ending homelessness in America is do-able.  I don't know why we don't take care of this problem.  Affordable housing is not some unknown concept.  Instead, we get idiots like Doo-Doo DeSantis saying they'll make it illegal to sleep in public.  If you're homeless, exactly where are you supposed to nap?  The government has failed the homeless and the government is who should be punished.


Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Boy George are in some spat.  Which shocks me.  I don't follow that nonsense.  But the headline said "new Bond."  New Bond?  Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been tapped to be the new James Bond?  He looks like he needs a flea dip and he also comes off too short.  Why in the world would they go with him?  It's a coveted role and so many actors could have done it.  I can't believe we're stuck with Fleabag for the next Bond.  He looks like a low rent Vin Diesel.    I hope they rethink this. 

On the topic of James Bond, UBJ reports:

Steven Soderbergh, renowned for his directorial prowess in films like the Ocean’s trilogy, is set to helm a new spy thriller titled “Black Bag.” Penned by David Keopp, details of the plot are tightly under wraps, leaving audiences eager to uncover the mysteries it holds. With a star-studded cast already in place, including Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Regé Jean Page, and Marisa Abela, the anticipation for this espionage flick is palpable.

Adding to the excitement, two esteemed actors from the James Bond franchise have joined the ensemble. Naomie Harris, known for her portrayal of Moneypenny in Daniel Craig’s Bond films, and Pierce Brosnan, who famously donned the role of James Bond in four installments, are set to bring their talent to “Black Bag.” Their involvement further fuels speculation about the project’s Bond-inspired elements.

Soderbergh’s affinity for the Bond franchise is well-documented. Despite never directing a Bond film due to differences during negotiations with producer Barbara Broccoli, his admiration for the iconic spy series has left its mark on his work. Films like “Haywire,” featuring Michael Fassbender, showcase Soderbergh’s penchant for espionage themes, hinting at what audiences might expect from “Black Bag.”

Given Keopp’s background in crafting spy thrillers, having co-written films like “Mission: Impossible” and “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” it’s reasonable to assume that “Black Bag” will draw inspiration from the Bond universe. With Soderbergh’s directorial vision and the star power of its cast, the film promises to deliver an electrifying espionage experience that pays homage to the iconic spy genre.



Michael Fassbender could be a good James Bond.  Henry Cavill would be good and I'd certainly be pleased with Tom Hardy. 

Now let's note this from TWO PARAGRAPHS:


Jim Jordan Challenger Is Ohio congressional candidate Tamie Wilson, who describes herself as “a devoted single mother, business owner, and strong woman fighting to protect all families, freedom, and fairness,” won the Democratic primary yesterday. She won 63.4 percent of the votes (15,034) — all of the counties in District 4 — beating her opponent Steve Thomas who won 36.6 percent (8,685).


Wilson is challenging incumbent Rep. Jim Jordan (who was uncontested in the Republican primary), whom she has referred to as “Trump and Putin's puppet” and “a danger to us all.”

[. . .]

Notably, one of the hundreds of unpassed bills Jordan has sponsored is the Life at Conception Act (2013). The Life at Conception Act, which declares that “the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being,” was reintroduced in the House in 2023 and has been referred to the House Committee of the Judiciary, which Jordan chairs.


Upon winning the Democratic primary, Wilson wrote on X: “Tonight Ohio women made it CRYSTAL CLEAR that they are standing up against extremism! My opponent Jim Jordan is TOAST!”

After clinching the nomination, Wilson told local news outlet Richland Source that she’s writing nine bills including a comprehensive sexual abuse prevention and accountability act, aimed at protecting students and athletes from sexual abuse in educational institutions. 

Jordan, who is serving his ninth congressional term, has been accused by six former OSU wrestlers of ‘turning a blind eye‘ to sex abuse allegations made against the team physician while Jordan was a team coach. Jordan has denied acknowledge of the abuse.


Be great if Jim Jordan were toast.  He's a lousy member of Congress and, honestly, his past cannot be forgotten or forgiven.


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Wednesday, March 20, 2024.  Not sure everyone got the party invite but the illegal Iraq War turned 21 today and, yes, US troops remain on the ground in Iraq, UK and US doctors testify about the horrors they witnessed in Gaza, calls grow for the US government to follow Canada's lead and stop supplying weapons to the government of Israel, and much more.



A United Nations mission set up to help Iraq investigate alleged Islamic State genocide and war crimes is being forced to shut down prematurely before it can finish its probes, following a souring of its relationship with the Iraqi government.

The removal of the UN mission set up in 2017 comes nearly a decade after the extremist group rampaged across Syria and Iraq and at a time when many of the Islamic State’s victims still live displaced in camps and long for justice.

“Is the work done? Not yet, this is pretty clear,” Christian Ritscher, head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh (UNITAD), told Reuters in an interview.


Probes don't go well in Iraq where corruption remains the main characteristic of every government the US has installed there since 2003.  


You could argue the corruption in the life of 57-year-old  Najah Al-Shammari is reflective of the corruption in Iraq.  Najah is the country's former Minister of Defense.  And he was arrested this week.  Not in Iraq.  Let's back up and use WIKIPEDIA for a few basics:

On June 24, 2019, al-Shammari was approved by the Iraqi parliament as defence minister of Iraq in Adil Abdul-Mahdi's cabinet.[1][2] He was nominated to the post by the al-Wataniya coalition, led by former prime minister and then vice president of Iraq Ayad Allawi.[2][6]

Reports of dual Iraqi-Swedish citizenship and criminal charges in Sweden

In April 2019, prior to the nomination of al-Shammari as a candidate for the post of defence minister, there were reports in Iraqi media that al-Shammari has dual Iraqi-Swedish citizenship.[6] The claims were rejected as false by a representative of the al-Wataniya coalition.[6]

In November 2019, the Swedish news website Nyheter Idag reported that al-Shammari is a Swedish citizen registered as a resident in a Stockholm suburb under an alternative surname (this surname was reported to be the name of al-Shammari's clan within the Shammar tribe).[4] According to the report, which was confirmed by Swedish authorities, al-Shammari applied for a residence permit in Sweden in 2009 and became a Swedish citizen in 2015.[4][7] It was also reported that al-Shammari was granted several state welfare benefits in Sweden, including full time sick leave, while he did not declare any (or for some years only very low) income from work.[4][7] He has also been the subject of several criminal investigations in Sweden, although he was never convicted of a crime.[4][7]

Al-Shammari was also accused of sexually harassing a Swedish 20-year-old male while being Defense Minister in leaked text messages,[8] although no other news sources have corroborated the allegation.

The Swedish police launched a preliminary investigation into benefit fraud and civil registration violations against al-Shammari after allegedly claiming child and housing support for years despite living in Baghdad.[9][10] The Swedish Prosecution Authority also announced that it had started an investigation for crimes against humanity against "an Iraqi minister", whom Swedish media identified as al-Shammari.[9][11] Criminal charges were subsequently dropped and al-Shammari returned to Sweden.[12]


He lied.  He had dual citizenship -- which so many Iraqi officials lie about.  AFP reported yesterday, "Former Iraqi defense minister Najah Al-Shammari was briefly arrested after arriving in Sweden, where he is suspected of benefits fraud, the prosecutor investigating the case said Tuesday.  Public prosecutor Jens Nilsson told AFP that Shammari was detained on Monday when he landed at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport since an arrest warrant had been issued."


Najah is a 57-year-old disgrace.  

The Iraq War?  Buy it a drink, it's now a 21-year-old disgrace -- legal to drink in the US.  

US troops remain on the ground in Iraq all this time later.  Republican or Democrat, no US president has pulled the troops out.  Republican-led or Democratic-led, no US Congress has demanded the troops be brought home.  

Nothing has been accomplished other than creating a land of orphans and widows.

21 years later and US forces still can't come home.  

 

My name is Penny Evans and my age is twenty-one
I'm a widow of the war that was fought in Vietnam
I have two baby daughters and I do the best I can
They say the war is over but I think it's just begun

I remember I was seventeen when first I met my Bill
At his father's grand piano we played old 'Heart and Soul'
I only knew the left hand part, he knew the right so well
He's the only boy I slept with, and the only one I will

First we had a baby girl, we had two good years
And next the warning notice came, we parted without tears
Then it's nine months from our last goodbye our second child appears
And it's ten months and a telegram confirming all our fears

So once a month I get a check from some army bureaucrat
And once a month I tear it up and mail the damn thing back
Do they think that makes it all right? Do they think I'll fall for that?
They can keep their bloody money, it won't bring my Billy back

I never cared for politics, speeches I don't understand
Likewise I'll take no charity from any living man
But tonight there's fifty thousand gone in that unhappy land
And fifty thousand 'Heart and Souls' being played with just one hand

My name is Penny Evans and my age is twenty-one
I'm a widow of the war that was fought in Vietnam
I have two baby daughters - thank God I have no son
They say the war is over but I think it's just begun 

-- Bella Gaffney performing Steve Goodman's "The Ballad of Penny Evans."

They say the war is over but US troops remain on the ground in Iraq.  21 years.  How long will the assault on Gaza last?


U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Tuesday that the Biden administration must follow Canada's government in halting arms exports to Israel, a call that came after humanitarian groups refuted the Israeli government's claim that its use of American weaponry in Gaza has been in line with international law.

Sanders (I-Vt.) said the Canadian Parliament was "absolutely right" to vote to stop weapons exports to Israel, whose military has killed more than 31,800 people in Gaza in less than six months—often using explosives, ammunition, and other equipment supplied by the U.S., Canada, Germany, and other countries.

"Given the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, including widespread and growing starvation, the U.S. should not provide another nickel for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's war machine," said Sanders.

Canadian lawmakers on Monday approved a nonbinding motion calling on the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to "cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel to ensure compliance with Canada's arms export regime."

Shortly following the vote, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told the Toronto Star that the government would stop exporting arms to Israel in line with the motion's demand. In the three months after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, Canada exported at least $28.5 million worth of military equipment to Israel, according to Global Affairs Canada.



Let's drop back to yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW!




AMY GOODMAN: Famine is imminent in northern Gaza. That’s according to a U.N.-backed report published Monday. The latest findings say virtually everyone in Gaza is struggling to get enough food and that nearly a third of the population of 2.3 million people are experiencing the highest levels of catastrophic hunger. At least 27 people, mostly children, have died from malnutrition and dehydration in the north. According to the new report, the death rate is expected to accelerate and reach famine levels soon.

The World Health Organization said in a statement, quote, “The IPC report confirms what we, our UN partners and NGOs have been witnessing and reporting for months. When our missions reach hospitals, we meet exhausted and hungry health workers who ask us for food and water. We see patients trying to recover from life-saving surgeries and losses of limbs, or sick with cancer or diabetes, mothers who have just given birth, or newborn babies, all suffering from hunger and the diseases that stalk it,” end-quote.

This comes as the Israeli military launched another major raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Monday with Israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery surrounding the complex and troops storming into a number of buildings. The Health Ministry said about 30,000 people had been sheltering at the hospital, which is the largest hospital in Gaza, and that everyone who tries to move is targeted by sniper bullets and quadcopters, they said. Among those killed in the raid was Faiq Mabhouh, a senior office in the Gaza police who was in charge of coordinating aid distribution in the north.

Meanwhile, President Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone call Monday that an invasion of Rafah would be a mistake, and called on Netanyahu to send a team of officials to Washington to discuss “an alternative approach” to targeting Hamas in Rafah without a major ground invasion. Israel has continued to bomb Rafah almost daily, prompting the Palestinian Foreign Ministry to say Israel has already begun its large-scale attack on the area.

The death toll in Gaza is close to 32,000, over a third of them children, while nearly 74,000 people have been injured.

For more, we’re joined by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian physician, activist, politician. He serves as general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative. He’s joining us from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Dr. Barghouti, welcome back to Democracy Now! Let’s talk about this issue of famine, doctors describing the wasting that you see, for example, at the temples of people who are dying of starvation, particularly children. Can you talk about what this means and when these officials in the U.N. and other bodies talk about this “man-made” disaster?

DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: Well, the reality is that the whole of Gaza population, 2.3 million people, are suffering from malnutrition already. That includes children, men, women, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, everybody. And that is because of the Israeli-imposed siege on Gaza, which is combined with continuous bombardment that is taking away the lives of people. But it is also combined with the fact that Israel has destroyed more than 70% of people’s homes. They don’t have normal place to be in. They don’t have normal clothes. They don’t have clean water to drink. And they don’t have food supplies.

And this is all happening in front of the world. We’re talking about famine. We’re talking about hunger. And we are talking about actually 700,000 people starving now in the north of Gaza, that includes also Gaza City, of whom 350,000 are children. And that’s why I think almost 30 people — 30 children children have died because of starvation already. This is all happening because of the Israeli siege, because nobody in the world — not the United States, not Europe, not the international community as a whole — is capable of forcing Israel to stop this terrible crime of collective punishment against a whole population. And Israel will not change its policy and its approach without sanctions. The world should impose sanctions on Israel to force it to open the routes of supplies of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza and to accept a ceasefire, because even if supplies are there and the bombardment continues, people will survive to die. That is the reality of the situation.

Today, 5% of the total population of Gaza have been killed or injured. We’re talking about almost 120,000 people. If that had happened in the United States of America, you would be talking about almost 12 million people killed or injured in five months of this terrible war. So that is the reality of the situation. But add to that, malnutrition causes low immunity. Lack of water causes diseases. There is an outbreak of certain diseases like infectious hepatitis, which has already affected 10,000 people. We have 32 medical teams from our organization, Palestinian Medical Relief Society, working in Gaza, and they report horrible reports. About 1 million people at this very moment in Gaza are sick with respiratory diseases, with gastrointestinal infections, with diarrhea, with hepatitis. And our biggest worry is the outbreak of certain infections among children because these children in Gaza have not had vaccination for more than 165 days.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about — I think it’s the fourth raid now on Al-Shifa? And they say tens of thousands of people have taken refuge there, the Israeli military and spokespeople saying they’re very careful, they have highly trained forces, that they separate the civilians from the militants, and them talking about a high-level Hamas official, Faiq Mabhouh, killing him, along with other fighters — Mabhouh apparently a top food — the person in charge of food distribution in the north.

DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: First of all, the Israeli army is lying when they say that they differentiate between civilians and noncivilians. How can this explain the fact that more than 80% of the people who were killed are civilians, women and children mainly? How can they explain that 70% of everybody killed are children and women? They lie. And they lie around the clock. And each time, they are caught with a crime that is obvious, like shooting the people who are starving in the north, trying to get some food from humanitarian aid, and they shot them. We’re talking about 400 people shot while they were trying to get some flour. These people are totally civilians. They are not armed. They’re not threat to anybody, but they killed them, in addition to injuring more than 3,000 other people. So, they keep lying, and I don’t believe their lies.

Now, Mr. Mabhouh, who was killed, is a policeman. He is not a fighter. He’s not from Qassam Brigade. He’s not carrying arms to fight. He was simply organizing some supplies to get to the north. And for the first time, two days ago, 13 trucks with some flour got to the north of Gaza, clearly. And this was well organized. People received their portions. There were no gangs to steal this supply. And obviously, this is something that Israelis didn’t like. They didn’t like that people were organized and getting some supplies after so many days of hunger. And that’s why they killed Mr. Mabhouh. They want chaos in Gaza. And their goal from attacking Shifa Hospital is actually to push people from Shifa Hospital and from Gaza City to the south, again, because the ultimate goal of Israel is ethnic cleansing.

And the reality is that the whole operation, military operation, to attack Rafah is already ready to be implemented, and maybe parts of it has already started to be implemented, as you mentioned. And there, why are they attacking Rafah, with 1.4 million people there, in an area that is very small, that does not exceed 25 square miles? They will cause a terrible massacre. But their real goal is to push people through the borders to Egypt, because Netanyahu did not change his original plan of ethnic cleansing. And the United States government, Mr. Biden and his administration, instead of saying to Netanyahu, “You cannot have an operation in Rafah, and you have to stop this fight, and you have to accept ceasefire,” instead of that, they are deciding to become part of his war cabinet, discussing the plans of how to attack Rafah rather than saying that this attack should not take place.

AMY GOODMAN: National security adviser Jake Sullivan briefed reporters on this last call between Biden and Netanyahu. He laid out the concerns Biden expressed about that possible ground invasion of Rafah.

JAKE SULLIVAN: First, more than a million people have taken refuge in Rafah. They went from Gaza City to Khan Younis and then to Rafah. And they have nowhere else to go. Gaza’s other major cities have largely been destroyed. And Israel has not presented us or the world with a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians, let alone feed and house them and ensure access to basic things like sanitation. … But a major ground operation there would be a mistake. It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally.

AMY GOODMAN: So, if you can talk about what this team from the Israeli government is that’s going to Washington, D.C., to come up with a so-called alternative plan — although Israel keeps insisting they don’t kill Palestinian civilians, they have very targeted troops that know exactly the difference between them — and what it means to say if they attack Rafah, which, of course, every day they are doing, but a full-scale ground invasion, they will establish humanitarian — what are they describing it as? Humanitarian islands for people to go to?

DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: That’s not true, because there is no safe place anymore in Gaza. And if there are places which will not be bombarded, as they claim, they are places without any infrastructure, without water, without electricity, without food, without medical services, without medicines, without anything. Where will people go?

To talk about the possibility of such an attack that it would cause more harm is not enough. It will cause a huge massacre, the largest massacre in human history probably, at least in the modern history. We will be talking about tens of thousands of people who would be slaughtered. That is the reality. And they have no place to escape to. Israel kept saying to people, “Move from this place to that place. It will be safe.” And then they would bombard the safe space. So the United States should not say — I repeat, should not say — there isn’t a good plan. They should say that the whole attack should not happen and that this war must stop.

And when the Israelis say they differentiate, they are lying. Are the 14,000 Palestinian children who were killed military activists or militants? These are children, for God’s sake. And they are not 19 or 18 years old. These are 10 years old, 2 years old, 1 years old, even months old. That is the reality of what’s happening in Gaza.

It’s a massacre. It’s a huge genocide that Israel is engaging in. And the United States of America does not have the guts to go to the United Nations Security Council resolution and allow the passage of a resolution demanding immediate ceasefire. That’s what we need: immediate ceasefire, no attack on Rafah, and supplies immediately to the civilian population of Gaza, which is starving.

AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk —

DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: Any other thing —

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk — 

DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: Any other thing is just talk. Yeah, please.

AMY GOODMAN: — about the negotiations that are going on in Qatar right now? Talk about what Hamas has put forward.

DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: Hamas tried, as we were — as the reports show that we have received, the reports show that Hamas tried to be flexible. They made some concessions to make it possible to reach an agreement, because they are really worried about the humanitarian situation of the people and the so many people who have been killed. But, unfortunately, Netanyahu restricted the team that went to Qatar. He restricted their authority and authorization. And in my frank opinion, I think Netanyahu is — he made all these restrictions with his team to prevent reaching an agreement and then used that failure to justify an attack on Rafah.

I do not think — because Netanyahu knows if he goes into a deal with Hamas about release of some prisoners and exchange of prisoners, his coalition partners, the fascists, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, will bring his government down. So, all he thinks about is how to save himself, how to save his position. He doesn’t care about Israeli prisoners. He knows. He knows very well that if he attacks Rafah, so many Israeli prisoners will be killed. He knows that, but he doesn’t care about them. And he is stuck with these fascists in his government, and he’s driving his whole government into the direction — and, actually, the Israeli society at large, he’s driving them into the direction of fascism, because what’s happening in Palestine cannot be made except by people who have no respect whatsoever, not only to international law, but to human lives, in general.

AMY GOODMAN: You’re in the occupied West Bank, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. You’re in Ramallah. Can you talk about the arrest of journalists? You have Ismail al-Ghoul — he’s with Al Jazeera Arabic — stripped naked there for hours, detained, interrogated with others when they raided Al-Shifa Hospital. Al Jazeera reported that satellite trucks were attacked outside — that’s TV satellite trucks — to restrict further images. You have in the occupied West Bank Rula Hassanein, who is a Palestinian journalist. It’s unclear if she was taken from her home in Ramallah, or was it Bethlehem, at like 2:00 in the morning, has a 9-month-old baby, is breastfeeding. This just happened. The attack on journalists, and what do you think is the message Israel is sending?

DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI: The message is that they are reoccupying all of the West Bank and all of Gaza, subjecting all Palestinian people, without exception, to terrible oppression.

And as you know, Amy, since the beginning of this war, Israel did not allow any foreign journalists to enter Gaza, except for one from CNN who was allowed there only for three hours. They didn’t allow any foreign journalists in, and then they started executing the local journalists. Up to now, 146 Palestinian journalists in Gaza were killed by Israeli snipers or Israeli bombardment, including two from Al Jazeera network. And now they’ve arrested a third one, al-Ghoul, and practically tortured him before releasing him. And you remember the story of the family of Dahdouh, who lost his wife, his children, because he was reporting for Al Jazeera.

And in my opinion, the attacks on journalists are also taking place in the West Bank. More than 30 journalists were arrested so far. And it goes on. And in the West Bank, by the way, Israel has arrested more than 7,500 new people. The total number of people in Israeli jails in the West Bank has risen from 5,300 to almost 9,000.

And one thing that the world doesn’t talk about is the terrible torture that the people in Israeli prisons are subjected to. They are fighting them, torturing them with hunger. They brought down the rations for — their food rations by 70%. They beat them regularly. Most recently, they attacked even one of the political prisoners, Marwan Barghouti, and many of his colleagues, as well, beating them badly. And it goes on. We have lost already 13 people in Israeli jails because of torture and because of beating and because of starvation. The situation in Israeli prisons is horrifying. And in Gaza, we don’t know exactly the number of people who were imprisoned or kidnapped. We’re talking about thousands of people, maybe 3,000, maybe 4,000. But the people who were released told us horrible stories about how they were tortured in an Israeli concentration camp in the Negev with electrical shocks, with drowning them in the water, with terrible beating. The director of Shifa Hospital is still in prison. They broke both of his hands, as was reported. And they tried to force him to admit things that he never did. That is the reality and the situation on the ground. It’s horrifying.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, I want to thank you for being with us, Palestinian physician, activist, politician, serves as general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, speaking to us from his office in the occupied West Bank in Ramallah.



A delegation of American and British doctors is in Washington DC to tell the Biden administration the Israeli military is systematically destroying Gaza’s health infrastructure in order to drive Palestinians out of their homes.

The doctors, who have recently returned from volunteering at Gaza’s besieged hospitals, are expected to meet White House officials and senior members of Congress this week to warn that pledges of increased aid to Palestinians under bombardment are largely meaningless without an immediate ceasefire to allow safe distribution of food and the revival of healthcare services.

Professor Nick Maynard, the former director for cancer services at Oxford University who worked at the al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza at the beginning of the year, accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of “appalling atrocities”.


ALJAZEERA provides a video report.




Gaza remains under assault. Day 166 of  the assault in the wave that began in October.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."   The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher.  United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse."  ALJAZEERA notes, "The Health Ministry in Gaza says the death toll from Israeli attacks since October 7 has risen to 31,923 with 74,096 people wounded."  Months ago,  AP  noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home."  February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:








And the area itself?  Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells."  Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."   


This morning, CNN reports, "Famine is set to break out in northern Gaza between now and May, a UN-backed report warns. The World Health Organization issued another stark warning about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, with a spokesperson saying that a growing number of infants are on the 'brink of death' from acute hunger. Israel's sustained restrictions on aid to Gaza may amount to the war crime of starvation, UN rights chief Volker Turk also said. "


New content at THIRD:


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Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Closeted Aaron and Swirly Turley

Closet case Aaron Rodgers is gunning for Idiot of the Week.   Ja'han Jones (MSNBC) reports:


New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is unlikely to be named as the running mate for conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2024 presidential campaign, according to a report from Mediaite over the weekend.
But it came as no surprise to me when Kennedy confirmed that Rodgers was on his list of potential veeps — both men have become celebrities in the conservative movement for rappelling into the depths of far-right rabbit holes and spouting the harebrained claims they find down there. And like with Kennedy, Rodgers’ conspiracy theories evidently can be steeped in outright bigotry.

That was made abundantly clear after some of Rodgers’ past remarks recently surfaced. Although he spent time last week responding (in lawyerly fashion) to allegations that he has privately shared false conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, he apparently doesn’t feel a similar desire to address the anti-immigrant bigotry and election denialism he espoused during a recent interview with fellow conspiracy theorist Eddie Bravo.

As first reported by the sports website Awful Announcing, Rodgers spread lies about Covid-19 during the Feb. 23 podcast — and then promoted a claim, without evidence, that immigrants who speak Spanish or Chinese are looking to join the U.S. military and then potentially turn on the country.

Rodgers said he heard the claim from conspiracy theorist Bret Weinstein on an episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast:


Oh well if it was on Joe Rogan's podcast --  Seriously, it's a doofus on a podcast.  Can we please stop pretending these people know what they're talking about?  And thank you to Ava and C.I. who were reading over my shoulder and said "D-o-o-f-u-s."  And for quoting me in their piece going up tonight.


Back to stupidity, Megan Turner (TAMPA FREE PRESS) reports on Swirley Turley the Trumpian Mistress:



George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Monday that the “improvisational” nature of the cases against former President Donald Trump caused damage to the image of the legal system and proved Trump was “right” about being targeted by a “weaponized” justice system.


And you know where he said it?  FOX "NEWS."  So you know it's . . . a lie.  Isn't it interesting that Swirley has still not said or written one word about the ethical scandals of Clarence Thomas -- all those undeclared gifts.  That's not 'news' to Swirley.  And, in fact, if the cases against Criminal Donald Trump were not "improvisational," Little Jonathan would be insisting that this was proof that it was organized.  Poor Jonathan.  He bought an aid -- El Torro -- mounted it to the wall and lodges himself on it while moaning, "Donald!"  DAWN-ALD!  Doesn't make him Ann Marie, never will.


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Tuesday, March 19, 2024.  Starvation, destruction and murder don't matter to a few names in the entertainment industry (who mistakenly attempt to pass themselves off as "stars").  We go a little slower than usual today since so many of these 'stars' are uneducated high school drop outs in their 60s who never sought out education after failing to graduate.


So last night, I go to Paul Rucnick's Twitter feed, like I do many nights, to get a good laugh.  And I do, but I look to the side and see "trending" and one of the names is Jennifer Jason Leigh.  "Jennifer didn't die, did she?"  No.  Although that might have been better.  Instead she's just getting her hate on.


 More than 450 Jewish stars and other Hollywood professionals are denouncing Zone of Interest writer-director Jonathan Glazer’s speech from the 2024 Oscars, in an open letter published by Variety on Monday.

In his controversial remarks on stage accepting the award for Best International Feature, Glazer connected his Holocaust film with the crisis in Gaza, saying, "Our film shows where dehumanization leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present. Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October — whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”

The open letter responds in part: "We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination."


Oh, their Jewishness was "hijacked."  That's hilarious and pretends that they, and only they get a say as Jews.  But the whole thing's pretense.


"Stars"?


Bald headed Julianna's lucky to get a third-banana role.  What was she doing before that crumb was tossed at her?  Oh, yeah, 'starring' on NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.


As for Jennifer, it would have been great if she could have become a star.  She's a very talented actress.  But she's had multiple opportunities and she never became a star and it's really too late at sixty-plus for her to become a star.  


Amy Pascal?  I always marvel how that racist got away with her racism being exposed -- those comments about Barack Obama in her e-mails -- and it appears it'll never impact her career.   And as bad as her racist comments were, they weren't comments when it came to Thandiwe Newton -- Amy was racist in her comments and actions .  And after SONY fired her, she continued to style herself as a great woman helping other women -- despite the fact that she regularly underpaid actresses when compared to actors on the same films and when pressed on this sexist behavior insisted it was the actresses' fault.


That's the kind of trash whore that Amy Pascal is.


That's really all you need to know about the people that signed that letter.  Amy is them, they are Amy.  They are racist born into comfort who just became more racist and more sexist.  And they don't have the common sense to shut their damn mouths.


Children are being killed and they deny it.  They are deniers of a genocide.


And you're seeing now why jury selection is needed.  The whores who signed the letter can't be objective.  They've tied being Jewish in with a foreign government -- not their own, please note -- and rush to serve that (right-wing) government.  They can't be objective.  They can't be honest.


They're sad and pathetic and they now include Jennifer Jason Leigh.  Who, to be clear, was never a star but had multiple chances.  It would have required dieting and following certain expected fashions and Jennifer never pursued that.  She did have a career where a number of us rooted for her.  She's lost her cheering section with her latest lies.


THE NATIONAL notes, "Israel's restrictions on humanitarian aid for Gaza may amount to a starvation tactic that could be a war crime, the UN's human rights chief said on Tuesday."  That's Volker Turk and THE TIMES OF ISRAEL quotes him stating, "The extent of Israel’s continued restrictions on entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime."  PRESS TV reports on Adele Khodr's warning, "UNICEF regional director for West Asia and North African has warned that more children in Gaza will die due to an 'impending famine' as Israel continues to impeded aid operations."  AFP quotes the head of the United Nations' World Food Program Cindy McCain stating, "People in Gaza are starving to death right now. The speed at which this man-made hunger and malnutrition crisis has ripped through Gaza is terrifying."  But, hey, these people are experts -- why not ignore them and embrace the musings of high school drop out Jennifer Jason Leigh?  THE NATIONAL notes, "The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israel had killed 14 of the organisation's medics since the start of the war in Gaza."  But, hey, who you gonna believe, facts or a high school drop out?


 AFP reports:


The entire population of Gaza is experiencing “severe levels of acute food insecurity”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, underscoring the urgency for increasing the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.

“According to the most respected measure of these things, 100 percent of the population in Gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. That’s the first time an entire population has been so classified,“ Blinken told a press conference in the Philippines where he is on an official visit.


The European Union's top foreign affairs official on Monday said that after more than five months of Israel's blocking of humanitarian aid and bombardment of Gaza, the U.S.-backed government has pushed the enclave into famine.

Josep Borrell, the E.U.'s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, demanded that Western governments clearly state the reason that at least two of Gaza's five governorates have now been identified by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative (IPC) as experiencing famine "with reasonable evidence."

"In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine; we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people," Borrell said in Brussels at a meeting on humanitarian aid for the besieged enclave. "This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of war."

"By whom? Let's dare to say by whom. By the one that prevents humanitarian support entering into Gaza," he said, adding that "Israel is provoking famine."



 
Gaza has become a “graveyard for children.” Israel’s bombing has killed least 12,300 children — and more than 31,000 people total — since October. Thousands more are unaccounted for and are likely to be found under the rubble of their destroyed homes and shelters. In addition to the relentless bombing, Israel has been waging a starvation campaign: While all Gazans are facing food insecurity, 1.17 million Gazans have reached emergency levels of hunger, and half a million are at catastrophic levels.

Against this backdrop of extreme violence, Israel has also been perpetrating a very particular form of violence that has disproportionate and long-term effects on children and youth: “scholasticide,” or the systematic destruction of the entire education system.

The destruction of Gaza’s education system has garnered less attention than has that of the health care system. But the consequences for children, youth and future generations of Palestinians are severe. In late January 2024, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that Israel had destroyed or damaged 378 school buildings (76 percent of the total school buildings in Gaza).

Many of the schools that are still standing have been transformed into displaced persons camps to accommodate some of the 1.9 million Gazans forced to flee their homes. Children who started the new school year with dreams of becoming teachers, nurses or doctors are now sleeping on the floor of their classrooms, with hundreds of people sharing a toilet. Still there’s no safety. Schools serving as shelters are being bombed and besieged, sniped at and blown up. Schools that haven’t been totally destroyed have been emptied of their furniture and textbooks, which were burned in the absence of needed fuel.

Gaza’s higher education system has also been decimated. All 12 universities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. The almost complete closure of the Gaza Strip has also prevented 555 students from taking up scholarship-funded studies abroad. Even more devasting, Israeli forces have killed 100 Palestinian academics in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Among them were professor Sufian Tayeh, killed with his family on December 2. He was a prominent scientist and the president of the Islamic University of Gaza, the Strip’s leading academic institution.





AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

We begin today’s show in Gaza, where humanitarian agencies say a small amount of flour has been delivered in northern Gaza for the first time in months, as the U.N. food agency warns famine is imminent and 70% of Palestinians in Gaza are facing catastrophic hunger. This comes as UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, is reporting one in three children under the age of 2 in northern Gaza is now acutely malnourished as Israel continues to block most aid from entering Gaza. On Friday, a ship carrying 200 tons of aid arrived in Gaza from Cyprus, but aid groups say far more aid is desperately needed inside Gaza.

Despite growing international criticism, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing to move ahead with a full-scale ground invasion of the southern city of Rafah, where over 1.4 million Palestinians are now seeking refuge.

For more, we go to Rafah, where we’re joined by Mohammed Abu Lebda. He’s a poet and a translator. He used to translate Edgar Allan Poe but now translates for the International Medical Corps.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Mohammed. Thank you for joining us today on Democracy Now! Can you describe the situation on the ground in Rafah and tell us about your city?

MOHAMMED ABU LEBDA: OK. Hi. It’s my pleasure to be here.

Actually, as you may see in the background, I’m talking about the tents that are here, and I want to say that every single street in Rafah city is full of tents, because after people were forced to be displaced from the rest areas of the Gaza Strip, from north until Khan Younis in the south, and they didn’t find any shelter but Rafah city, which — actually, let me say that the border towns — Rafah is a border town, and the border towns usually are neglected. And it’s not known — it’s not even known, only for geographers or even border guards.

So, Rafah was suffering in the normal days from bad infrastructure, lack of many basic life needs. So, actually, let me say, in the war of 2014, the people of Rafah were demanding to have a hospital, because we here, until now — we are in 2024 — we don’t have a suitable hospital that can provide good medical services to the people of Rafah. To just describe the horrible situation that Rafah is living, Rafah used to have a population of 250,000 people only. Now we have more than, over than 1.4 million people, without any suitable infrastructure or without providing them with the necessary basic life needs.

OK, the situation in the north of Gaza is really horrible. But let me say, in Rafah, there is no big difference, actually. People here are suffering from several things. Actually, you need to wait in lines, and maybe you can — you may spend the whole day in lines just to have some bread or even to have clean water, because most of the water here is polluted, and it’s not suitable for the human use. And it’s important to mention that, above all of this, the shooting and the bombing is still continuing here in Rafah, actually, even if Rafah was declared as a safe place.

AMY GOODMAN: Mohammed Abu Lebda, the Biden administration has said they have a red line, that would be the prime minister having the Israeli troops engaging in a full ground invasion in Rafah, if he doesn’t present a plan for how Palestinians would be dealt with on the ground, civilians. Israel announced it wants to transfer most of the more than million Palestinians in Rafah to what it calls humanitarian islands in other parts of Gaza. Can you explain what that means and what people are saying, how they are preparing?

MOHAMMED ABU LEBDA: OK, actually, to be honest, I don’t know what does it mean even, because I never heard about something called safe islands or something like that in Gaza Strip. So it is the first time I heard it, after reading the news. Actually, there is no effective plan that can easily transfer or move over than 1.4 million people here from Gaza Strip — from Rafah city, I mean, even to another areas, where the IDF is still working there. So, to be clear, it’s not an effective plan. Actually, to be honest, me and the rest of the Rafah people don’t know even what they are talking about, because it is the first time to hear about this.

But I can ask that the American government is to put real pressure and serious pressure on the Israeli government so they can prevent them seriously and honestly to invade Rafah, because invading Rafah means that there is a true catastrophe that is coming, even if we are still living in a catastrophe, actually, because the situation here cannot be described. So, invading Rafah means that you will end the little, the tiny hope that is still — we still have. So, what does this mean to me, actually? I am actually a little bit worried about the safety of the entire people here, because invading Rafah, which means that hundreds of thousands will be killed if something like that happened. So, I’m expecting and I’m hoping from the U.S. government to put serious pressure on the Israeli government in order to prevent such a catastrophe to happen.

AMY GOODMAN: What would it mean for your family, Mohammed, if the Israeli military does launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah? And can you describe what the process is for people to leave, to make their way into Egypt, the thousands of dollars that must be spent? I think, on average, it’s something like $5,000 per adult and $2,000 or $2,500 per child?

MOHAMMED ABU LEBDA: Let me say, first, leaving Gaza Strip toward Egypt, I mean, the entire people here, if there is an invade or march or there is any march into Rafah, actually, most of the world, including the U.S. government itself, actually they refuse that entirely. The Palestinians will not be moved. They refuse that entirely, to be moved to the Sinai or the Egyptian side. But let me say that I’m already displaced, because I lost my house by bombing some near houses near my house at the same square, so I forced to move to another place in the same area, Rafah city, because I’m from Rafah. And the same thing for the people who were displaced from the rest of Gaza Strip cities.

For me, or for my experience, for me and my family, we suffered a lot first when we were at our house in order to provide the basic life needs, as I mentioned, the basic food even. If there is any food here, you will find very, very high prices that the normal citizen or the normal civilians cannot really afford. So, it’s impossible to the people in such a situation to afford any kind of food. And let me say that anything that is entering from Rafah cross-bording, anything, literally, it’s not even enough for maybe half a million. We are talking about a number that — over than that with a big thing. So, from my experience, I face several things. First of all, we face, actually, very, very real threats — and it’s not once, it’s not even twice; we are even facing that daily. This is according to the physical thing.

And also I want to mention that we are facing severe symptoms related to our mental health. Actually, I’m not sure that I’m going to be the person that I used to be before the war when the war ends. I’m 100% sure that I was changed, and I was changed forever. It’s not me only. I’m talking about my family and the rest of the people here of Gaza Strip. We are facing severe symptoms when we are talking about the mental health. We are talking about children that are raising in such situations. Of course, they are going to have severe symptoms and many, many horrible things for their mental health, and they will carry that to all entire life, their entire life. So, from all sides, people here are really suffering, yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: Mohammed, you are a poet. You translate Edgar Allan Poe. Now you are a medical translator. Can you describe your work?

MOHAMMED ABU LEBDA: OK, yeah, I used to work to translate novels as a literary translator. But this war, or this catastrophe, let me say — I don’t prefer to use the word “war” because what we are witnessing is a catastrophe that cannot be described. Anyway, yeah, I used to translate literature, which means that I’m a sensitive person with many emotions. So, you need that in order to translate poetry or translate novels or something like that.

So, then, this catastrophe changed us forever, all of us, even our jobs. So, yeah, I moved to be a medical translator and a medical interpreter at a field hospital here between Rafah city and Khan Younis city in the south of Gaza Strip. Actually, my work as a medical translator, it was the first time to be in the field, actually, in such situations. And I can say that I’m witnessing very, very, very horrible situations. I’m witnessing daily many casualties that are arriving to the field hospital, because we don’t have any — we lost every governmental medical services because of the destruction of many, many hospitals, even the only hospital here in Rafah, which is al-Najjar Hospital. It cannot provide the necessary medical help, services. And the field hospital, which was established by the IMC, the International Medical Corps, they are actually — in only two months, they performed about 1,000 major surgeries, which is really, really a great thing to have. And even related to the outpatient departments, we are talking about consultations of maybe 30,000.

So, yeah, we are trying hard to provide our people with the necessary medical services, as well as the mental health and the CP, which is the child protection. We are doing our ultimate efforts in order to try hard in order to provide the people or the civilians and the innocent people here, to provide them with the medical services and other services. And let me use what Michel Foucault once said: Because we are no prophets, our job is to make windows where were once walls. So, we are trying hard is to create windows on the walls that this catastrophe is trying to build.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Mohammed Abu Lebda, we’re going to be joined by Rachel Corrie’s parents and the activist who held her hand as she lay dying. This is 21 years ago in Rafah. She was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer as she tried to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home. You shared with us a picture from Rafah in 2003 — you were a little boy at the time — with the caption “my grandmother with her neighbor and my sister Rozan after their home was destroyed by an Israeli bulldozer,” right around the time Rachel was trying to protect homes as a U.S. activist. Your thoughts on her significance? And how is she remembered in Rafah?

MOHAMMED ABU LEBDA: OK, let me say that Rachel Corrie is being remembered. Every single person here in Rafah, and in Gaza in general, in Gaza Strip in general, and especially of Rafah, every single person knows Rachel Corrie, even the late generations, all of them. Allow me to tell you the main reason. Actually, Rachel Corrie became an icon, not only here in Gaza Strip and not only for the Palestinians, the Palestinian people, but for the rest of the world, because she was — she passed away or she was killed because of her — because she was trying to deliver a very important message. It’s the most important message in the world, which is peace.

And, actually, for me, this is the main thing that we need to focus on, in order to achieve what Rachel Corrie was dreaming to achieve, which is a peace for the Palestinians. So, what matters for me in Rachel Corrie’s story is that she left her home, she left her parents and her family, and she came to a very — to a country that she never visited before. And, actually, she came into a conflict zone, which is considered as a dangerous zone. So, even her ideas to come to here, actually, it’s a bravery.

She’s really — actually, I want to say that she is being remembered here because of the story and the message she tried to deliver. And this, actually, this and Rachel Corrie’s story, should strengthen us here while we are living these horrible situations. We need to remember Rachel Corrie and her courage to come to a dangerous area, not only that, trying to defend the people, the voiceless people, to be the voice of the voiceless people here and to stand in front the ultimate power. She stand in front tanks and bulldozers, trying to defend the people here in Gaza Strip, which, actually, I don’t know what is a greater — what act will be greater than Rachel Corrie dead. So, I’m really grateful for Rachel Corrie. And I want to say that people like Rachel Corrie will never die, ever.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Mohammed Abu Lebda, poet and translator from Rafah, thank you so much. Your words are being heard around the world and by her parents, who are going to be joining us next. I’m looking at your GoFundMe page, Mohammed, which quotes another poet. You say, “All what we seek for is to live, like any human being in this earth. Helping us means that you are taking action, supporting humanity because the famous poet [Dante] said: 'The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.'” Thank you for talking to us today on Democracy Now!, Mohammed Abu Lebda.

MOHAMMED ABU LEBDA: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: Next up, we continue to remember the U.S. peace activist Rachel Corrie, killed 21 years ago, March 16th, 2003, when she was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer as she tried to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian pharmacist. It was three days before the U.S. invaded Iraq. Back in 20 seconds.



Gaza remains under assault. Day 165 of  the assault in the wave that began in October.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."   The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher.  United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse."  FRANCE 24 notes, "At least 31,819 Palestinians have been killed and 73,934 wounded since Israel started its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave."  Months ago,  AP  noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home."  February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:








And the area itself?  Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells."  Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."   


Omar Nazzal, the deputy head of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, says Israel’s latest crackdown on journalists at al-Shifa Hospital is part of a longstanding campaign of intimidation.

“The main objective is to deter journalists from speaking the voice of Palestinians,” Nazzal told Al Jazeera in Ramallah. Israeli forces are “intimidating journalists by showing that anyone who speaks out will be their next target”, he said.

As of today, at least 95 journalists and media workers – the overwhelming majority of them Palestinians – have been killed since the start of the war in October, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

In addition to the dangers faced in the line of duty, Nazzal said Palestinian journalists are also at risk of abuse or torture in Israeli jails, where he says 62 are currently held.

“There is no doubt that journalists are under massive danger,” said Nazzal.

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