Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
What happened when the war started?
I
was immediately afraid for the safety of my family, my siblings and
their families. This was compounded by the stress of being a new mother
trying to shield my son from the impact of the bombings and the upheaval
in our home, which was filled with noise and anxiety.
Within four days of the war starting, our home had become a refuge for more than 60 people, mostly relatives of my husband. Some were displaced due to the Israeli army’s threat to their neighbourhoods and some due to shelling on their homes that forced them out.
Ahmed had trouble sleeping. Calming and reassuring him was a challenge made more difficult by the [lack of food and nutrition] needed for breastfeeding.
What happened next?
My ordeal escalated on 19 October. By that point, there were 31 people sheltering in our house, as the rest had decided to move south. [The Israelis] targeted the entire street; at least seven houses including ours. Some of us were in a room together after I had fed Ahmed, kissed him and put him to bed in another room. I don’t know why, but my husband left the room we were in to do something.
Seconds later, the house was bombed and I saw total darkness. A few moments after that, men I did not know pulled me out from under the rubble. I screamed at them, begging them to save my son.
I couldn’t believe it. Ahmed was just there with me. When I put him to bed that day, I did not know it was the last kiss, the last embrace. Only six people survived.
I was in intense pain, so I was taken to Kamal Adwan hospital [in Beit Lahia], where I waited in bed all night hoping for news about my husband and son. The next morning, my father and mother came with pale faces. As soon as I saw them, I knew that a calamity had befallen my life for ever. They told me they had both died. I felt my world come crumbling down. My son was just five months and three weeks old. I had already bought him clothes that would last until he turned two or more. I was very excited to see him wear them. I wanted him to grow up quickly and become my companion and friend.
Following her call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest during his visit to Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib protested the right-wing leader's Wednesday address before a joint meeting of Congress by holding up a sign reading "war criminal" and "guilty of genocide."
"They will not erase us. Palestinians exist and we deserve to live. Our presence today will be a reminder that we aren't going anywhere," Tlaib (D-Mich.) said on social media. "I will never back down in speaking truth to power. The apartheid government of Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians."
Tlaib—the only Palestinian American member of Congress—brought a guest:
Hani Almadhoun, "who has lost over 150 members of his extended family
in Netanyahu's genocide" in Gaza.
"After witnessing his sister forced to eat animal feed, he and his family were determined to start a soup kitchen to feed their starving neighbors," the congresswoman said. "The Israeli apartheid regime is using starvation as a weapon of war, a war crime."
Hundreds of Jewish activists were arrested in the U.S. Capitol complex on Tuesday after staging a sit-in to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. and address to Congress this week, carrying signs and wearing shirts with slogans like “Not in Our Name” as they demanded an end to Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Protesters with Jewish Voice for Peace called for Biden to stop sending weapons to Israel and to push for an immediate ceasefire, occupying the Cannon House Office building rotunda — the same place protesters occupied in October to demand a ceasefire as Israel was first embarking on its genocide.
“No one is free until everyone is free,” “Jews say stop arming Israel” and “Jews say: stop the genocide,” read some of the banners hoisted by the crowd, who were clad in matching red shirts with a demand for an arms embargo.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday night spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming address to a joint meeting of Congress and the ongoing, horrific humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
Sanders’ remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below and can be watched live here:
M. President, tomorrow, Wednesday will be a unique moment in Congressional history.
Throughout the many years of our country, leaders from dozens of countries with all kinds of political backgrounds and persuasions have been invited to address a joint meeting of Congress.
To the best of my knowledge, however, tomorrow will be unique: in bringing Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress, it will be the first time in American history that a war criminal has been given that honor.
Frankly, this invitation to Netanyahu is a disgrace and something that we will look back on with regret. With this invitation, it will be impossible, with a straight face, for the United States to lecture any country on Earth about human rights and human dignity.
M. President, as you well know, along with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and several others, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been credibly accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). That court may soon issue arrest warrants for Sinwar and Netanyahu.
The case against Sinwar and his Hamas accomplices are clear. They were the organizers of the horrific October 7th terrorist attack on Israel that began this war and involved the mass murder of 1,200 innocent men, women, and children, the taking of hostages, and sexual violence. These war crimes are well-documented, and very few people would dispute the merits of these charges.
The ICC prosecutor’s charges against Netanyahu are also well-founded. The charges focus on the starvation of civilians as a method of war, as well as intentional attacks against the civilian population. Specifically, the prosecutor says that Netanyahu is responsible for “depriving [civilians] of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions.”
A separate UN independent commission of inquiry likewise found that both Hamas and the Israeli military have committed war crimes since October 7th, leading to widespread civilian deaths. The commission said the Israeli military’s “intentional use of heavy weapons with large destructive capacity in densely populated areas constitutes an intentional and direct attack on the civilian population, particularly affecting women and children.”
M. President, I think we all agree that Israel had the right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas attack on October 7th. But Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has, since that attack, waged what amounts to total war against the entire Palestinian people, making life unlivable in Gaza and killing tens of thousands. These actions have trampled on international law, on American law, and on basic human values.
M. President, I understand that the mass media and many of us in Congress have been preoccupied in recent weeks with the awful assassination attempt against former President Trump and the changes at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket.
But while all of this is going on, it is absolutely irresponsible for us to turn our backs on one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history, especially when that disaster has been aided and abetted by U.S. taxpayer dollars and weapons.
In other words, it’s not just the Israeli government. It is us and our money and our weaponry as well.
M. President, let’s be clear as to what’s going on in Gaza. Since this war began, among a population of 2.2 million people, at least 39,000 Palestinians have been killed and 89,000 injured – sixty percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people. Most observers believe that death toll is much higher, because thousands of people remain buried under the mountains of rubble. Their bodies have not yet been recovered.
M. President, some 1.9 million people have been driven from their homes, 90% of the population. Take a deep breath. 90% of the population driven from their homes. The vast majority of these desperate and poor people have now been displaced not once, not twice – but in some cases four or five times – herded around like cattle. Just yesterday, Israel announced another evacuation order for Khan Younis, and 150,000 people were forced to flee on a moment’s notice. Just yesterday.
M. President, when we talk about housing, it’s not just that people have been displaced time and time again. More than 60 percent of Gaza’s housing has been damaged or destroyed – including 221,000 housing units that have been completely destroyed. Where are these people going to go to if and when this war ever ends?
And with that housing destruction, more than one million people have been made permanently homeless. Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out. Today, more than a million Palestinians, almost half of the population of Gaza, are living in tents, trying to find shelter, trying to find protection from intense summer heat.
But M. President it is not just the housing that has been destroyed.
Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has also been devastated. Water and sewage systems have been made inoperable. And the result: raw sewage is running through the streets, spreading disease, and there is very little clean water. Many roads are impassable, and there is virtually no electricity.
But it’s not just housing and infrastructure that has been destroyed.
M. President, Gaza had twelve universities, schools of higher learning. Every single one of them has been bombed, and 88 percent of all school buildings have been damaged. In other words, under Mr. Netanyahu’s leadership, the entire educational system in Gaza has been annihilated. In fact, 540 people have been killed while sheltering in UN schools.
But M. President it’s not just the housing that’s been destroyed. Not just the infrastructure of Gaza that has been destroyed. Not just the educational system which has been destroyed.
At a time when almost 90,000 people are dealing with war-related injuries in Gaza – including many, many children who’ve lost their arms and their legs, who are suffering all kinds of diseases – the healthcare system has been systematically obliterated. 21 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are completely out of service, and the remainder can only partially function. The World Health Organization has recorded more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare facilities since October 7th.
As a result, disease is spreading due to shortages of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. Cases of hepatitis, dysentery, and other infections are on the rise. And cases of polio have now been detected. Malnourished women struggle to breastfeed their newborns, formula is inaccessible, and even when available cannot be used without reliable sources of clean water. So, the tiniest children and their mothers suffer as well.
But, M. President, it is not just the displacement of 1.9 million people, it’s not just the mass destruction of housing, it’s not just the obliteration of the infrastructure, it is not just the destruction of the educational system, it’s not just the annihilation of the health care system in Gaza that we are seeing. It is worse than that.
And I hope that my colleagues who attend Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks on Wednesday remember this as they rise, time and time again, to give him a standing ovation.
As a result of Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid, people in Gaza are now starving to death.
So, remember when people stand up and applaud: children, women, innocent people in Gaza are now starving to death.
According to the best available research, drawing on leading experts from the UN and other aid organizations around the world, some 495,000 Palestinians face starvation. These groups estimate that more than 50,000 children require treatment for acute malnutrition and are at risk of starving to death. At least 30 children – documented cases, and I suspect it’s a lot higher number than that – have starved to death.
So, as you stand up and applaud that guy, remember the starving children.
But even those who get the lifesaving care they need will carry the scars of this for the rest of their lives. As every psychologist will tell you, a child’s brain develops fastest in the first two years of life, and childhood malnutrition does lifelong cognitive and physical damage.
And I would ask my colleagues to stop for a moment and think about the psychological damage this war has done to the children there. Imagine being a child living with the constant buzzing of drones above your head, wondering if they are going to rain fire and bullets onto your home. Wondering if they might strike at any moment. Imagine being a little 5-year-old witnessing your relatives killed, your neighborhood destroyed. Imagine being a little 10-year-old: think about going hungry night after night, about searching for hours for water to drink. Think about being pushed from one place to another, carrying your belongings through streets running with sewage and amid piles of rubble and trash.
That is what Mr. Netanyahu – the man Congress is honoring tomorrow – has done to the children of Gaza.
According to the UN and virtually every humanitarian organization functioning in Gaza, Israel has intentionally blocked humanitarian aid – including food, water, and medical supplies – from reaching the desperate people of Gaza.
Let’s be clear: there is NO excuse for this. Blocking humanitarian aid, killing aid workers, and creating the conditions for starvation – these are not only acts of extreme cruelty, but they are clear violations of both U.S. and international law. They are war crimes. And Netanyahu heads the government that has enacted these policies.
So tomorrow, M. President, when members of Congress give Mr. Netanyahu a standing ovation, I hope for one second they will remember the starving children in Gaza.
I hope while they applaud, that they will think about the hundreds of aid workers killed, the dozens of hospitals bombed, the housing destroyed, and the universities obliterated.
M. President, when Mr. Netanyahu rises to speak tomorrow, I also hope that my colleagues remember that all this death and destruction is not just the unfortunate byproduct of a brutal war. Revenge and destruction are the explicit policy of this Netanyahu’s extremist government.
Two days into the war, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.” And that is exactly how they have pursued this war. Let me repeat: the Israeli Defense Minister described the Palestinian people as “human animals” – and, tragically, they have acted consistent with that view.
Let us be clear: the Israel of today is not the Israel of the past. It is now run by a right-wing, extremist government.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, has long advocated for the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from the region. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the man responsible for the occupied West Bank, is also an extreme racist and has called for the expulsion of Palestinians from the land. He has called for segregated hospital wards for Jews and Arabs because, “Arabs are my enemies.” That is the current Israeli finance minister and the man in charge of the West Bank.
So it should be no surprise that this extremist government, in addition to destroying Gaza, has overseen record Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law and commitments to the United States. Israeli forces and vigilante settlers have killed more than 500 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7th, including 131 children.
Just last week, the International Court of Justice issued a ruling on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. A panel of 15 accomplished judges from around the world confirmed what most of the world has long known: that occupation is illegal and must end.
I know that there are some here in Congress, not many, but some, who have condemned Netanyahu and his right-wing extremist government. But that is not enough. We cannot condemn a Prime Minister, who the ICC considers a war criminal, while at the same time continuing to provide his government with tens of billions of dollars in military aid. That is hypocrisy at its worst.
Just today, M. President, seven major unions, including the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW) and United Electrical Workers (UE), some of the largest unions in America representing about 6 million workers, sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to immediately halt all military aid to Israel.
They are absolutely right.
Netanyahu is a right-wing extremist and a war criminal who has devoted his career to killing the prospects for a two-state solution and lasting peace. He should not be welcome in the United States Congress.
On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank should be roundly condemned, and his right-wing extremist government should not receive another nickel of U.S. taxpayer funding.
The U.S. has long ignored many commands of international law, but its casual disregard of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has come into sharp focus this week as the U.S. Congress extends a warm welcome to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just five days after the ICJ notified all UN member states that they have a legal “obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
The World Court’s historic 83-page advisory opinion, which was issued on July 19 and held that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, was quickly hailed by Middle East political expert Nomi Bar-Yaacov as a “legal earthquake” and the strongest decision that the court had ever issued.
Unsurprisingly, however, both the Israeli and U.S. governments denounced the ICJ’s ruling and proceeded with their plans — including Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C. — as if it had never occurred.
The purpose of Netanyahu’s trip is to shore up U.S. support for his ongoing genocidal campaign against the Palestinians in Gaza and for his crusade against Iran.
AMY GOODMAN: In Washington, D.C., thousands of protesters are planning to march on Capitol Hill today as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress as the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza tops 39,100 — and expected to be much higher.
On Tuesday, 400 Jewish activists, including over a dozen rabbis, were arrested during a sit-in inside the Capitol to protest Netanyahu’s visit and to demand an immediate U.S. weapons embargo on the Israeli government.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are boycotting Netanyahu’s speech, including Senators Dick Durbin, who is the majority whip, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, Patty Murray, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who spoke Tuesday.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Netanyahu is a right-wing extremist and a war criminal who has devoted his career to killing the prospects of a two-state solution and lasting peace in the region. He should not be welcomed to the United States Congress.
AMY GOODMAN: Maryland Senator Ben Cardin will preside over the Senate during Netanyahu’s speech, after vice president, presidential candidate Kamala Harris declined to go.
In the House, Democratic Congressmember Rashida Tlaib called for Netanyahu to be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court. In a statement, she said, quote, “Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” unquote.
New York Congressmember Jerry Nadler, the most senior Jewish member of the House, said he’ll attend Netanyahu’s speech out of respect for the state of Israel, but Nadler said, quote, “Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2,100 years ago,” Nadler said.
A number of prominent Israelis have also criticized congressional leaders for inviting Netanyahu. Last month, The New York Times published an essay headlined “We Are Israelis Calling on Congress to Disinvite Netanyahu.” The essay was co-authored by six prominent Israelis, including former Israeli President Ehud Barak and former Mossad Director Tamir Pardo.
Another one of the co-authors joins us now. David Harel is the president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and a professor of computer science and applied mathematics at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He’s joining us from Rehovot, Israel.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Professor Harel. Why do you think it’s wrong for Netanyahu, your prime minister, to address this joint session of Congress?
DAVID HAREL: Good afternoon here. Good morning over there.
I think Congress has made a terrible mistake in inviting Netanyahu. First of all, he does not represent the majority of Israelis. He clings to power because of a coalition which includes some very, very extreme people. We feel deeply, and many, many Israelis feel, that the actions of this government are bringing Israel downhill to the point that we may be losing our country. It’s not just a crisis. It’s not just some things that are happening that we are not happy with. We actually feel that the existence of the country, that we so love and all six of us have served for many, many decades in various capacities, is at a grave risk of collapsing the country down, down to nothing.
At the very, very least, we feel that such an invitation to Netanyahu should be — should have been contingent on his doing essentially three things. Returning the 120 hostages home, there was a way to do that six, seven, eight months ago. There’s a way to do it right now, which he seems to be pushing off, time after time. The second thing is to stop the war in Gaza. We here in Israel are bleeding daily, with members of the military getting killed almost daily. And I don’t even want to mention the scores of civilians in Gaza that have died and keep on dying. This war has to stop immediately. It should have stopped a long time ago. And the third thing, he should have called for elections. There is a clear majority of around 60, 70% of Israeli citizens who want elections to be called. I mean, if these three things were to take place, I would understand an invitation for Netanyahu to speak at Congress.
But right now the citizenship at large has lost faith in him and his government and their actions. And we feel — in fact, let me quote you a father of one of the hostages, I think it was yesterday or today in Washington, who said — and this is a very nice term — he said what Netanyahu is going to be doing in Congress is a political theater. He has really one main goal, and that is to speak before Congress to get the ovations — that always come with the act — and to strengthen his base in Israel. And by the way, strengthening the base in Israel might, sadly and terrifyingly, have the consequence of the war being prolonged even further and the return of the hostages being delayed even further, and that includes, of course, some of the hostages who are U.S. citizens. So, in any case, it’s not only kind of a farce or a political theater, as this person said, but it’s also something that might have very bad additional consequences on the situation here rather than making things even better.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Professor Harel, what has been the reaction within Israeli society to your letter, especially in light of the fact that just last week the Knesset overwhelmingly voted to reject a two-state solution and Palestinian statehood?
DAVID HAREL: Yes. Well, first of all, to your last point, what I failed to mention, and I’ll mention now, is that there’s really two things on the table right now that Netanyahu has to decide upon. One, of course, is the deal, that is very, very similar to the one he himself put forward some weeks ago, for returning the hostages. And the other is that would come together with some kind of normalization of the relationship with Saudi Arabia, letting a Palestinian setup rule Gaza and — this comes to the point that you just made — making the possibility of moves toward a two-state solution much more viable than they seem now. So, it’s not just a one act or one war or one hostage problem. This thing touches upon a much more global and significant issue of perhaps moving towards the so badly needed steps to peace in the Middle East.
As to the reactions here, well, of course, we got some flak from people who thought that — not only people who disagree with the contents of our essay in The New York Times, but people who say, “Even if you are right, you should not be washing your dirty laundry outside of the country.” Some people said, “These problems should have been solved within the country. You can raise your alarm and your voice here, but not outside.” And to that, I have two things to say. One is, Netanyahu himself goes abroad to voice his opinions, to put forward what he believes in, often to put forward things that are incorrect, in order to garner support. And if he and his government can take their laundry outside of the country and show what they want, then there’s no reason why ordinary citizens like ourselves should not be able to do so.
We’ve also, however, got a lot of support. I mean, I have hundreds of mails and WhatsApps and telephone calls following that New York Times guest essay that we wrote which support us, and some people even saying that the courage needed to do that is tremendous. I don’t know about courage. What I can say is that out of the six people who authored this essay, I’m the only one who holds a position and gets paid by the government, as president of our academy. And in that sense, I do want to say that it wasn’t easy for me to decide to join this effort and actually to lead the writing, in a sense. I could have said, you know, “No, I have this role, and I shouldn’t be doing this.” But I think the situation is just so terrible and a danger to the state of Israel, and therefore also to the Jewish people at large, is so devastatingly alarming that I would be willing to give up anything, including my post at the Israel Academy, in order to voice what I think is the absolute truth outside. And in terms of laundering dirty laundry outside, you know, this is not just dirty laundry. The situation is terrible. And, you know, sometimes you need a foreign-made washing machine to help clean your laundry. And I’m not saying this as a joke. And this is one of the reasons that we decided to do this.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Professor, you mentioned that you’re president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, which has urged academic institutions around the world to resist calls to boycott research institutions and scientists in Israel. Could you explain why?
DAVID HAREL: Yes. Well, it was actually — let me say, there are three narratives that I identify when I try to listen to the music that you hear on campuses in the United States and also in some places in Europe, you know, the riots, the slogans. And if we want to bring this down to the real essence, there are three things that you can hear people chanting or saying or shouting. One is antisemitism, which, very simply put, is, you know, let the Jews disappear somehow, to put very mildly. The other is anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism, which is almost the same thing, which is that the state of Israel disappear somehow. And I’m putting this mildly, too. And the third is anti what Israel is doing or what the Israeli government is doing. And I go around, at the top of my voice, in Israel and abroad, fighting against the first two of these. Whatever Israel is doing, and however much I disagree with what is happening in Gaza and the way our government is carrying itself, including internally, the judicial reform, the attacks on academia and on cultural institutions, that is no reason at all to call for antisemitism or even to call for the Israeli state to disappear. So I will fight with all my might against those two things, antisemitism and anti-Israelism. But I will also do whatever I think I should do personally as an Israeli citizen to bring about a better government around here with better things.
As to boycotts on science, science is universal. It’s borderless. I do not collaborate with a colleague in Britain or United States or France or Germany because I am a mediocre scientist and the person over there is a better scientist. We collaborate because collaboration, international collaboration, is the essence of science, especially in the natural and exact sciences. And boycotting Israeli science is really damaging science in general.
You know, just to give an example which I like to give, recently, Ada Yonath, a Nobel Prize chemist at our institute, Weizmann Institute, who deciphered the structure of the ribosome, she did not do her work alone in her attic. She collaborated with several collaborators in Europe. She did her work using international grants from international bodies that grant research money. And what’s even more important, the results of her research are not just going to bring about improvements locally. I mean, her work is poised to help medicine in general. It’s going to help not only me, but also you and people everywhere around the world.
Boycotting science has the opposite effect, because scientists and humanity experts and intellectuals, they very, very often lead the battle against fascism, against fake news, for reasonable and logical thinking, for critical thinking. And if you weaken science, you not only weaken — if you weaken science in Israel, you not only weaken science in general, but you weaken the kind of logic and critical thinking that is needed in order to counter the bad trends that one sees not only in Israel these days, but throughout the world. So, the other thing I go around asking for is to stop these boycotts. There’s no need for them. There’s no point in them. They’ll only do harm globally.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Harel, do you agree that the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris, is correct in not presiding over today’s joint session of Congress that Netanyahu will be addressing?
DAVID HAREL: Definitely. She’s definitely right. In fact, I don’t want to take any credit whatsoever, but our essay appeared a month ago, and since then, there have been a lot of follow-ups by Israelis calling for members of Congress not to appear, you know, to kind of boycott, if I may use the same word that we just used a few minutes ago, to boycott his speech in Congress.
I’m very happy that Kamala Harris will not be sitting behind him and having to clap every time he says something for which he will get some kind of ovation. I’m very happy that something, I presume, between 50 and 100 members will not show up. And I am happy that there will be protests outside the Capitol to protest his invitation and to protest his speech. And if we have made a minor, modest contribution to that by voicing our opinion a month ago, then I’m very happy about that.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor David Harel, we want to thank you for being with us, president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, professor of computer science and applied mathematics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, speaking to us from Rehovot, Israel. We’ll link the New York Times article you recently co-authored, “We Are Israelis Calling on Congress to Disinvite Netanyahu.” Co-authors of the essay include the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the former Mossad Director Tamir Pardo.
Coming up, on Tuesday, 400 Jewish activists, including a dozen rabbis, were arrested at a sit-in at the Capitol to protest Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Back in 20 seconds.
Over two dozen organizations on Wednesday demanded that the Biden administration launch a multi-agency investigation into recent reporting that "the Israeli government is engaging in illicit social media influence operations targeting U.S. elected officials and U.S. civil society."
Pointing to June reports by The New York Times, Haaretz, and The Guardian, the groups—including the Center for International Policy, CodePink, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), National Iranian American Council (NIAC), U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) Action, and Win Without War—wrote to President Joe Biden and the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and State.
As Israel began waging war on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7 attack, the country's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs "allocated about $2 million to the operation and hired Stoic, a political marketing firm in Tel Aviv, to carry it out," the Times reported June 5, citing related documents and unnamed Israeli officials.
Although the Israeli ministry denied involvement in the campaign and Stoic didn't respond to requests for comment, the newspaper noted that "at its peak, it used hundreds of fake accounts that posed as real Americans on X, Facebook, and Instagram to post pro-Israel comments. The accounts focused on U.S. lawmakers, particularly ones who are Black and Democrats."
As The Guardian reported on June 24, "That effort is only one of many such campaigns coordinated by the ministry."
The newspaper detailed "a sprawling relaunch of a controversial Israeli government program initially known as Kela Shlomo, designed to carry out what Israel called 'mass consciousness activities' targeted largely at the U.S. and Europe."
"Concert, now known as Voices of Israel, previouslyworked with groups spearheading a campaign to pass so-called 'anti-BDS' state laws that penalize Americans for engaging in boycotts or other nonviolent protests of Israel," The Guardian explained, referring to the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
"Its latest incarnation is part of a hardline and sometimes covert operation by the Israeli government to strike back at student protests, human rights organizations, and other voices of dissent," according to the newspaper. "Voices' latestactivities were conducted through nonprofits and other entities that often do not disclose donor information."
Gaza remains under assault. Day 293 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." THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll rises to 39,145 with 90,257 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:
March for Our Lives, which was launched six years ago after yet another U.S. mass shooting, announced its first-ever political endorsement on Wednesday, backing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' bid for the White House.
"The stakes couldn't be higher," said the group, which was founded in the wake of the February 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. "As one of the largest youth-led movements in the nation, we are clear-eyed about the challenge ahead and we believe that Kamala Harris is uniquely suited to meet this moment."
Warning of the threat posed by Republican former President Donald Trump—who just survived an assassination attempt—and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), March for Our Lives said that "the country that young people will soon inherit stands at the precipice—on one side, authoritarianism that threatens our fundamental rights, including our right to live freely without fear of gun violence; on the other, a world where we can keep fighting to build the future that young people know we deserve."
"We need an ardent defender of democracy, a gun violence prevention champion, and a leader who will listen to young people, give us a seat at the table, and fight for our future. We believe that Kamala Harris is that candidate, and the right person to stand up for us and fight for the country we deserve," the organization continued, detailing how she has been "a forceful champion for gun safety and for young people" as vice president and a U.S. senator representing California.
"Young people are inheriting an increasingly precarious world," the group added, highlighting youth deaths from gun violence, Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, the escalating climate emergency, and far-right politicians pushing extremist policies. "We have been struggling to feel excited about voting in this election, and are increasingly pessimistic that change is possible. But we know that another Trump presidency is simply not an option that young people can afford—our lives are literally at stake."
On Monday, an Ohio Republican lawmaker introducing GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance suggested that, should Vance and presidential nominee Donald Trump fail to win the 2024 election, their supporters should engage in a “civil war to save the country.”
State Sen. George Lang later apologized for his comments at the rally when it became apparent that he was going viral online for endorsing political violence in order to instill candidates of his own preference against the will of American voters.
Vance did not condemn Lang’s comments during the rally or acknowledge them in any statements since.
An Iraqi delegation spent Monday and Tuesday in Washington for the latest round of talks to wind down the coalition and establish new bilateral security partnerships with each country that still has troops there.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani is under increasing domestic pressure to agree on a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces, most of which are American, but the US is wary about pulling out of Iraq amid a continued ISIS presence.
Iraqi politician Jawad Al Bulani, who is on the parliamentary security and defence committee, said Baghdad and Washington “are putting the finishing touches on the withdrawal deal of all foreign troops in the coalition in Iraq”.
“They are in the final stages now to go ahead with the deal,” Mr Al Bulani told The National.
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Skidmarks drags down the ticket7 hours ago
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Cher7 hours ago
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Let's get excited7 hours ago
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Smells Like Teen Stink13 hours ago
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What's that smell13 hours ago
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Your nose will reject his odor13 hours ago
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THIS JUST IN! TRUMP STINKS!13 hours ago
