Friday, August 02, 2024

Cher "A Woman's Story" and FOREVER

 That's Cher's "A Woman's Story."  She recorded that in 1875 after having left MCA and signed with WARNER BROS.  There was never an album that it was released on.  The b-side of the single was her cover of the Ronettes' "Be My Baby."  WARNER BROS. had put her with Phil Spector and the results were not promising for them.  About a year later, she recorded two more songs with Phil and WARNERS including the duet with Harry Nilsson "A Love Like Yours Don't Come Knocking Every Day" backed with a solo Cher performing "Just Enough To Keep Me Hanging On." This was a 1975 recording and not the version she recorded for her 1969 album 3514 JACKSON HIGHWAY.


Outside of a 45, "A Woman's Story" may be getting its first release on Cher's latest hits collection.  

 
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Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snashot:"

 

Friday, August 2, 2024.  Press briefings at the US White House and US State Dept demonstrate a government more than willing to overlook War Crimes,  Ismail Haniyeh was buried today as questions mount over what his death means with regards to a cease-fire, and much more. 


The slaughter in Gaza continues and does so with the US State Dept attempting to cover its eye and ears to reality.  Let's drop back to yesterday's State Dept press briefing conducted by spokesperson Vedant Patel. 


QUESTION: Okay. And last thing. I want to just bring to your attention that an Israeli lawmaker was asked about the alleged rape of the Palestinian detainee. And he basically says yes, it is legitimate. And as we look at the story, it is really appalling. I mean, it seems – pardon me for the graphic description that I am about to describe, but they took a cell phone and they shoved it up his gluteus maximus, all the way to the intestine, and they were calling the phone, the Israeli soldiers.

MR PATEL: Said —

QUESTION: This is documented.

MR PATEL: So —

QUESTION: I mean, how – don’t you find this appalling?

MR PATEL: We are aware of these concerning reports. And of course, if they are true they are appalling. The IDF itself has indicated that it is looking into these allegations, and we, of course, welcome that. It is essential that the rule of law and due process prevail. And in democracies, no one is above the law. And so we are going to let the process play out here. But of course, these reports are incredibly concerning. But there is an investigation taking place, and therefore I don’t want to offer any judgment until that process has concluded.


Isn't that interesting?  Vedant, spokesperson for the US government, and the US government's sudden reticence when it comes to discussing rape in the region?

For any who have forgotten, this is the same group that used US tax dollars and time on the American's citizen's clock to pimp lies about women raped on October 7th by Hamas -- women who never existed, women who never came forward (because they didn't exist to begin with).  But there was no talk of "an investigation is going on."  

 

President Joe Biden on Tuesday forcefully denounced the reported rape and sexual violence against Israeli girls and women by Hamas militants following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, calling on the world to condemn such conduct “without equivocation” and “without exception.”

Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Boston, Biden noted that in recent weeks, female survivors and witnesses to the attacks have shared “horrific accounts of unimaginable cruelty.”

“Reports of women raped — repeatedly raped — and their bodies being mutilated while still alive — of women corpses being desecrated, Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them,” Biden said. “It is appalling.”

Israel has said it is investigating several cases of sexual assault and rape from the Hamas attack on Israel. 


Lies.  There were no women raped on October 7th during the attack. But that didn't stop the US government from condemning the mythical rapes.  There was no such reticence when it came to that.

It's only when the victims are Palestinian that the US government turns all shy Ronnie on the topic.




They were shooting their mouths off regarding a lie in December but this rape actually has a victim and it actually is reported.  Debora Patta and Tucker Reals (CBS NEWS) reported on Tuesday:

A member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, speaking Monday at a meeting of lawmakers, justified the rape and abuse of Palestinian prisoners, shouting angrily at colleagues questioning the alleged behavior that anything was legitimate to do to "terrorists" in custody.

Lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky was asked as he defended the alleged abuse whether it was legitimate, "to insert a stick into a person's rectum?"

"Yes!" he shouted in reply to his fellow parliamentarian. "If he is a Nukhba [Hamas militant], everything is legitimate to do! Everything!"

Israel’s military has charged a reservist with aggravated abuse of Palestinian prisoners, a spokesperson said on Tuesday, as nine other soldiers appeared in military court for an initial hearing over allegations they had sexually abused a detainee from Gaza.

The new indictment alleges that the unnamed soldier, assigned to escort handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinians, used a baton and his assault rifle to attack prisoners on multiple occasions.

He did this even though their restraints meant they posed no threat, and he made videos of the violence. “The accused used severe violence against the detainees he was entrusted with guarding,” the IDF spokesperson said.

The other soldiers detained on Monday are accused of raping and attacking a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention centre so violently that he was taken to hospital in critical condition, Israeli media reported. 

The new indictment alleges that the unnamed soldier, assigned to escort handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinians, used a baton and his assault rifle to attack prisoners on multiple occasions.

He did this even though their restraints meant they posed no threat, and he made videos of the violence. “The accused used severe violence against the detainees he was entrusted with guarding,” the IDF spokesperson said.

The other soldiers detained on Monday are accused of raping and attacking a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention centre so violently that he was taken to hospital in critical condition, Israeli media reported. His injuries included a ruptured intestine, severe injury to the anus and lungs, and broken ribs, the Israel daily Haaretz reported. A doctor who treated the man told the paper that when he saw the horrific extent of the injuries, he initially assumed they were caused by other inmates.

“I didn’t believe that an Israeli jailer would do such a thing,” said Yoel Donchin, who is also a professor at the Hadassah university hospital.

Haaretz quoted him saying: “If the state and the members of the Knesset think there is no limit to the abuse of prisoners – let them come and kill them themselves like the Nazis, or close the hospital.”




Wednesday's snapshot included this press release from the office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights:


The UN Human Rights Office today published a report on arbitrary, prolonged and incommunicado detention by Israeli authorities, affecting thousands of Palestinians since last October. The report also covers allegations of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including sexual abuse of women and men.

Since 7 October, thousands of Palestinians - including medical staff, patients and residents fleeing the conflict, as well as captured fighters - have been taken from Gaza to Israel, usually shackled and blindfolded. Thousands more have been detained in the West Bank and Israel. They have generally been held in secret, without being given a reason for their detention, access to a lawyer or effective judicial review, the report states.

At least 53 Palestinian detainees are known to have died in Israeli military facilities and prisons since the horrific attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups against Israeli civilians on 7 October.

The staggering number of men, women, children, doctors, journalists and human rights defenders detained since 7 October, most of them without charge or trial and held in deplorable conditions, along with reports of ill-treatment and torture and violation of due process guarantees, raises serious concerns regarding the arbitrariness and the fundamentally punitive nature of such arrests and detention, said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk.

“The testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” he said.

On Monday, the Israeli authorities said they were investigating a number of soldiers for allegedly abusing a Palestinian prisoner earlier this month at the Sde Teiman detention centre in the Negev desert.

In Gaza, mostly men and adolescent boys have been detained. Many have been taken into custody while sheltering in schools, hospitals and residential buildings, or at checkpoints during their displacement from north to south, the report finds.

The Israeli military does not usually explain publicly the basis for taking Palestinians into custody in Gaza, although it has in some cases alleged affiliation with Palestinian armed groups or their political wings.

Israel has also not provided information regarding the fate or whereabouts of many of those detained, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been denied access to facilities where they are held.

Conditions in military-run detention facilities appear worse, the report states, adding children were among those held, in some cases jointly with adults.

Detainees said they were held in cage-like facilities, stripped naked for prolonged periods, wearing only diapers. Their testimonies told of prolonged blindfolding, deprivation of food, sleep and water, and being subjected to electric shocks and being burnt with cigarettes. Some detainees said dogs were released on them, and others said they were subjected to waterboarding, or that their hands were tied and they were suspended from the ceiling. Some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence.

Accounts of hostages taken by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups last October also described appalling conditions of captivity, including lack of food, water and poor sanitary conditions, and lack of fresh air and sunlight. Some described being beaten while being taken into Gaza, or seeing other hostages being beaten while in captivity; receiving surgery or stitches without anaesthetic. There were also reports of sexual and gender-based violence in captivity. In addition, the report criticises the Palestinian Authority for continuing to carry out arbitrary detention and torture or other ill-treatment in the West Bank, reportedly principally to suppress criticism and political opposition.

“International humanitarian law protects all those being held, requiring their humane treatment and protection against all acts of violence or threats thereof,” said Türk.

“International law requires that all those deprived of their liberty be treated with humanity and dignity, and it strictly prohibits torture or other ill-treatment, including rape and other forms of sexual violence. Secret, prolonged incommunicado detention may also amount to a form of torture.”

The High Commissioner reiterated his call for the immediate release of all hostages still held in Gaza. All Palestinians arbitrarily detained by Israel must be released. He also called for prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into all incidents that have led to serious violations of international law; ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and that all victims and their families are provided with their right to remedy and reparations.



We could go on and on with this.  There is an actual victims (there's more than one but we're referring to the one raised in the State Dept briefing).  There is a doctor on the record.  There are witnesses, there is video. 

But the US government that repeatedly pimped the lie that women were raped during the October 7th attack now wants to play the quiet game?

 
In other news,  Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated earlier this week (see Wednesday's snapshot).  THE NATIONAL notes, "Funeral ceremonies for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh are being held in Qatar. He will be buried at a cemetery in Lusail, north of Doha, after prayers at the country’s largest mosque, Imam Muhammad ibn Abd Al Wahab. Hamas has said representatives of other Palestinian factions and members of the public would attend the events."









Repercussions from the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, for which all fingers were pointed at Israel, reverberated Thursday, throwing into doubt when and how diplomats could end the war in Gaza.  

Israel has not yet commented on or accepted responsibility for the assassination early Wednesday in Tehran, which heightened the risk of all-out war between Israel and Iran and its proxies. It said Thursday it had killed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in a July airstrike in Gaza.

The tough question facing mediators and observers: How can talks continue if one side kills the main negotiator for the other side?

 Mr. Haniyeh, who was buried in a state funeral in Tehran Thursday, was viewed by Israel as a terrorist and a planner of the Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage.

He was also the subject of an arrest warrant request, along with other Hamas and Israeli officials, submitted by the International Criminal Court prosecutor.

Yet to Palestinian rivals, Middle East governments, and many European diplomats, Hamas’ politiburo chief was a pragmatic moderate within Hamas, a figure with whom they could negotiate and prod the movement’s more hard-line factions.


The assassination was noted at yesterday's White House press briefing.


Q    And then one — one more thing.  On — on Iran- Israel-Hamas negotiations.  Now that the lead Hamas negotiator is — is dead, who is there to negotiate with?  And why — why, in your estimation, would Hamas continue towards negotiating a ceasefire deal when their lead negotiator was just killed by the people they’re negotiating with?

MR. SULLIVAN:  It is too soon to tell what the impact of his death will have on the negotiations, and so I’m not going to speculate on that, especially in light of the broader dynamics and set of events unfolding in the region right now. 

What I will say is this.  The ceasefire and hostage deal is the pathway to ending this war.  It is the pathway to getting all of the hostages home, including the American citizen hostages, who we’re relentlessly focused on getting home.  And we remain determined to get it done. 



The Israeli Mossad assassinated Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh by detonating an explosive device planted in advance in his bedroom at the Iranian government official residence in Tehran, two sources with knowledge of the issue confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: The fact that the Mossad managed to plant the explosive device in a high-security facility shows not only the deep penetration of Israeli intelligence services inside Iran but also the vulnerabilities of the Iranian intelligence and security apparatus.

  • The details about the planted explosive device were first reported by the New York Times and confirmed to Axios by two sources. 

Tom Bennett and Raffi Berg (BBC NEWS) quote US President Joe Biden stating, "We have the basis for a ceasefire. He [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] should move on it and they [Hamas] should move on it now."  But any negotiation has an element of blind faith built into it and how can you move forward with the trust required when one of the two sides is assassinating leaders?  


Yesterday's snapshot noted the Israeli government's murders of journalists Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi.  Matt Shuham (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:


A day after an Israeli air strike killed a noted Al Jazeera journalist and his cameraman, the Israeli army acknowledged killing the reporters — and indicated the strike was purposeful.

Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi were killed by an Israeli airstrike Wednesday, shortly after reporting from the destroyed home of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’ political wing, who had earlier in the day been assassinated in Iran. 

Graphic video of the scene of the airstrike shows al-Ghoul was wearing a blue vest reading, “PRESS,” when he was killed. Both al-Ghoul and al-Rifi were wearing press vests and their vehicle carried “identifying signs,” Al Jazeera reported. Multiple reports indicated a nearby child was also killed in the strike.

In a tweet Thursday, the Israeli military indicated it had purposefully targeted the journalist, claiming without evidence that al-Ghoul was a “terrorist” and a member of Hamas’ military wing. 

 
Returning to yesterday's underwhelming State Dept press briefing:

QUESTION: So in the same vein, journalists should not be punished for what they do – anywhere in the world.

MR PATEL: That is absolutely true, Said.

QUESTION: Yeah. But what we have seen yesterday is a premeditated crime to kill a journalist for doing their job. They were right there on the front of Ismail Haniyeh’s home just to show the destroyed home from our colleagues from Al Jazeera, Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman man, Rami. And they were told by the Israelis to leave the scene. They did. They got in their car, and they moved, and then they were bombed. I mean, this is – that is summary execution, isn’t it?

MR PATEL: Said, I spoke to this a little bit yesterday. And the good news that we have relating to these American citizens who have returned – who will be returning to the United States, I don’t have an update on this, on their situations for you beyond that.

QUESTION: Okay. But —

MR PATEL: Let me just say, because you asked the question, the reports that you mentioned yesterday as well, we’ve seen those reports. We’re tracking the details. We continue to engage with our partners in Israel about any additional information.

But beyond that, when we have talked about journalists who have been killed in Gaza – this is something that the Secretary has spoken to a great deal. We have, time and time again, offered our – not just our condolences to Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza, but we have attempted to make clear just how vital the work of journalism has been to showcase the ongoing dire conditions in the Gaza strip and how key certain outlets and certain media organizations, including Al Jazeera, have been to that line of effort. And that’s something we will continue to not just say publicly, but we will raise privately with partners in the region and we’ll continue to stress with our partners in Israel as well.

QUESTION: Now there are also dozens of Palestinian journalists who are currently detained by Israel. Overwhelmingly, they’re not charged with anything. They’re held under administrative detention and so on. Do you call on the Israeli Government to either charge those journalists that are being held under administrative detention or let go?

MR PATEL: Look, Said, we have been clear and consistent that Israel needs to treat all detainees humanely, with dignity, and in accordance with international law. And it – the detainees’ human rights must be expected – respected. Beyond that, I’m just not – I don’t have specifics as it relates to these specific cases to speak to.

QUESTION: But certainly you urge the Israelis to release those who are not charged with anything if they – if they don’t charge them, correct?

MR PATEL: I’m not going to speak to specific cases —

QUESTION: Okay. All right.

MR PATEL: — in the judicial system that I’m not tracking. But what I want to say, again, is that we’ve been clear and consistent that Israel must treat all detainees humanely.



You're not going to speak to specific cases?  You're not going to do anything.  You're a useless tool in an ongoing cover up for War Crimes carried out by the Israeli government. 




  As Palestinians and humanitarians around the world marked 300 days of horror in Gaza, an aid organization highlighted a pernicious consequence of Israel's nearly 10-month assault: A hospital in the northern part of the enclave was forced to turn away many who arrived to give blood to help those wounded by bombs and bullets because the potential donors themselves were too malnourished and sick.

Gazans turned out in significant numbers in recent weeks to give blood at Al-Awda Hospital, an already underresourced facility that faced an influx of wounded patients following the Israeli military's latest attacks on Gaza City.

ActionAid International, a global humanitarian group, said Friday that "despite facing appalling personal circumstances, many people selflessly responded to Al-Awda Hospital's call-out for blood donations, but with the whole of Gaza at high risk of famine, many were deemed too unwell to undergo the process."

Dr. Mohammed Salha, the acting director of Al-Awda, said a "large percentage" of potential blood donors were turned away because they were "suffering from malnutrition." An estimated 96% of Gaza's population is facing crisis-level hunger.

"Malnutrition is widespread, specifically in the northern Gaza Strip," said Salha. "For over five months, no vegetables, fruit, or meat have been brought into the northern Gaza Strip."

Al-Awda is one of the few hospitals in Gaza that is still partially functioning amid Israel's devastating military assault, which has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians since October and sparked an unprecedented humanitarian emergency.

No one has been spared: Entire families, journalists, aid workers, nurses and doctors, and U.N. staff have been killed by the U.S.-armed Israeli military, and those who have survived have been repeatedly displaced and forced to live amid rotting trash, sewage, and the ruins of homes and buildings with little to no access to clean water, reliable food sources, bathrooms, and other necessities.

The fetid conditions have become what the World Health Organization described as a "perfect breeding ground for disease." Earlier this week, Gaza's Health Ministry declared the enclave a "polio epidemic zone" and warned the consequences could spill over into neighboring countries.

Lice, scabies, and rashes are also rampant in the enclave given overcrowded conditions. Israel's forced evacuations of large swaths of Gaza have meant that more than two million people have sought refuge in just 14% of the territory.


US Vice President Kamala Harris can present a break with the embrace of War Crimes in Gaza.  She cannot, however, represent such a break if she makes the hideous Josh Shairo her running mate.  This topic was discussed yesterday in a ZETEO segment.




Josh Shairo is a nightmare who will bring down enthusiasm for Kamala's run if he is selected.  Last month, this was addressed in Elaine's "Hell no to Shapiro" and Ruth's "Josh Shapiro adds nothing to the ticket" and Rebecca's "shapiro not only supports genocide, he also covers..." and the July 5th snapshot.   This week, the topic has been discussed in Rebecca's "yair rosenberg lies to build support for the awful josh shapiro," Elaine's "David Sirota is a piece of crap," Marcia's "Kamala and the polls" and Mike's "Kamala's running mate will be who?"  At COMMON DREAMS, Will Bunch writes:


When it comes to politics, they are some of the loudest voices in Pennsylvania: left-leaning activist types who protest the fracking industry, rally for more public school funding, or join anti-war marches. When the Democrats put forward a 2022 gubernatorial candidate in then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro from the party’s center flank — with iconoclastic views on some issues important to progressives, like school vouchers — the noise coming from his left flank was truly remarkable.

Utter silence.

That’s because Shapiro, unchallenged in the 2022 primary, faced a GOP fall opponent in Doug Mastriano — a Christian nationalist state senator with ties on the extreme right, a record of 2020 election denial, and a fondness for the Confederacy — who was seen by many voters as a threat to democracy. Disagreements over issues like the future of fracking didn’t seem important compared to fears of what a Mastriano administration might do.

Two years later, Shapiro is considered one of the nation’s most popular governors — with an approval rating that’s gone as high as 61%. And with the surprise elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democrat ticket and the party scrambling to make up lost ground in Pennsylvania, the largest swing state, Shapiro is one of the top contenders to become Harris’ running mate.

But that means the 51-year-old Shapiro’s rivals for the job aren’t right-wing Republicans like Mastriano but other Democrats like popular Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, the former astronaut married to anti-gun activist Gabby Giffords. Pennsylvania’s progressives, who bit their tongues in 2022 and have seen their grievances largely ignored in Harrisburg, are reverting to form. Many are speaking out against their home-state governor as a Democratic veep — raising questions among the party’s base that could derail his bid.

Upper Darby’s Colleen Kennedy, who represents Delaware County on the Democratic state committee, echoed other critics in saying that they’ll work hard for Harris no matter whom is picked. However, they contend, while Shapiro has some strong achievements that are comparable to his VP rivals, parts of his record make him a weaker choice for the Democrats.

“Shapiro has repeatedly pursued education policies that would permit discrimination against queer and trans students, disabled students, working class students, and immigrant students,” said Kennedy, in a criticism of his support for a school voucher plan. “We must continue to attract the political support of young people, who want to see accountability of rogue police departments, not student arrests” such as the raid on a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Pennsylvania urged by the governor.


Gaza remains under assault. Day 301 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 39,480 with 91,128 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:

  



April 11th, Sharon Zhang (TRUTHOUT) reported, "In addition to the over 34,000 Palestinians who have been counted as killed in Israel’s genocidal assault so far, there are 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza who are missing, a humanitarian aid group has estimated, either buried in rubble or mass graves or disappeared into Israeli prisons.  In a report released Thursday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the estimate is based on initial reports and that the actual number of people missing is likely even higher."
 

As for 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."




The following sites updated:








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Thursday, August 01, 2024

3 eternal Madonna hits

"Like A Prayer" is used very, very well in DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. It's use has led AMERICAN SONGWRITER to pick 3 Madonna songs that are "eternal" and "have stood the test of time."  They went with "Like A Prayer," "Material Girl" and "Vogue."

I would absolutely agree with "Like A Prayer."


I wonder though what we'd pick, each of us, for our own three?


On BILLBOARD, she's had 58 hits.  So that's a lot of discography.

Since AMERICAN SONGWRITER has already grabbed "Like  A Prayer," I'll leave it out and make my three choices the following.


3) "Beautiful Stranger."



2) "Music."



1) "Rain." 


 

 

So what would be your top three picks?

Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

 

.    

Thursday, August 1, 2024.  Kamala Harris calls out Donald Trump's "same old show" -- his empty attacks and empty policy, Donald looked crazier than ever at a journalist event, Skidmarks Vance's attack on nuns has been little noted, as has his time in Iraq as a "military journalist," two more journalist are killed in Gaza, and much more.



Yesterday, convicted felon Donald Trump attended the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention.  It did not go well.



At 78, Donald is the oldest person to run for US president and he is also the most childish.  



Donald Trump's audacious lie about Vice President Kamala Harris' race confirmed what many had long suspected: running against a Black woman could summon the former president's worst impulses.

Why it matters: Amid outrage from Democrats and discomfort from Republicans, Trump is doubling down on his incendiary claim that Harris recently "became a Black person" for political convenience.

  • In one fell swoop, Trump hijacked a news cycle dominated by the enthusiasm surrounding Harris' campaign — and redirected attention to his long and controversial record on race.
  • It's a nightmare for Republicans already reeling from the tightening race: They know Trump has a strong chance of beating Harris on the issues, but fear he could alienate swing voters with attacks on her identity.

Catch up quick: In a chaotic and combative interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention, Trump falsely claimed that Harris "happened to turn Black" after years of promoting her Indian heritage.

  • "So I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?" the former president asked, drawing pushback from ABC News moderator Rachel Scott.
  • "I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went — she became a Black person."
  • Trump concluded, as he often does, with a conspiratorial flourish: "I think somebody should look into that too."

The big picture: Trump's political rise began with a yearslong crusade to delegitimize the nation's first Black president, Barack Obama.

  • Much has changed since 2011, but Trump has never strayed far from the conspiratorial and racist roots of the birther movement.
  • In 2020, Trump said he had "heard" that Harris was not born in the U.S. and thus "doesn't meet the requirements" to be vice president. Harris was born in California.
  • Even during the GOP primary earlier this year, Trump falsely claimed that rival Nikki Haley was ineligible to be president because her parents weren't U.S. citizens when she was born.

Reality check: Harris is the first Black, South Asian and woman vice president.

  • She's the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, and was a member of a historically Black sorority at a historically Black college.
  • Like millions of mixed-race Americans, who represent one of the fastest-growing demographics in the country, the vice president identifies with both of her cultures. 




 
“This afternoon,” she said, pausing for boos from the crowd. “Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists.”

“And it was the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better. The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth. A leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us – they are an essential source of our strength.”

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was speaking at the Sigma Gamma Rho’s 60th International Biennial Boulé, the Black sorority’s gathering of its entire membership in Houston, Texas. Harris said she was there “as a proud member of the Divine Nine” – a group of the most historically powerful Black fraternities and sororities in the US. Harris is an alumna of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

The Harris campaign said in a statement: “The Donald Trump America saw at NABJ is the one Black voters have known for years.”


Tubby little Skidmarks Vance wanted to get on it by calling Kamala "phoney."

This would be the same Skidmarks who tries to silence his critics by bringing up his [cough cough] military record.  As Elaine noted on Monday:


Let me get this right, Skidmarks Vance who tries to play combat veteran to the public, was actually in Iraq for six months as "a military journalist."  From WIKIPEDIA:


After graduating from Middletown High School in 2003,[19] Vance enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Iraq as a combat correspondent for six months in late 2005.[20] He was part of the Public Affairs section of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing[21][22] and said that his service "taught me how to live like an adult" and that he was "lucky to escape any real fighting".[23] His decorations included the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.[20]



He's not a combat veteran.  He's a joke.  He 'served' in Iraq . . . as a journalist.  What?  The USO was full?  


Yeah.  He's the phony.  Maybe he should just focus his stupidity on comments about "cat ladies"?



Matt Gertz (MEDIA MATTERS) notes Skidmarks' long record of attacks on childless people including:

On Fox’s The Next Revolution that Sunday, Vance told host Steve Hilton that he supported giving parents extra votes to represent their children. He explained that this would counterbalance “the left,” which he said “has effectively been taken over by a lot of childless people, by the AOCs of the world, the Kamala Harrises of the world. Those people now run the agenda of the Democratic Party, and we’ve got to push back against that.”


 Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "JD Vance Doesn't Understand The Church" went up last night.



This goes to the hate and stupidity that Skidmarks Vance wallows in.  He's attacking nuns, grasp that.  And he doesn't grasp it because he wasn't a Catholic until 2019.  Doesn't look like he learned enough to be welcomed into that religion.   It's amazing how this attack from Vance on Catholic nuns has not been presented as the attack on religion that it actually is.

For centuries, nuns have contributed to society.  Centuries.  


In other news of crazy, a small group (six) of Democrats in Congress came out yesterday willing to be used to trash Kamala Harris.  The leader of the six tells you the story of the six and of their nonsense attack.  US House Rep Henry Cuellar.  Now Shady Menendez -- as Ann calls Senator Bob Menendez -- has taken up a lot of press with his crimes -- he was convicted last month on all counts.  But we shouldn't forget Henry.  The Justice Department hasn't as noted by this press release from May:


Congressman Allegedly Accepted Approximately $600,000 from Azerbaijan’s State-Owned Oil Company and a Mexican Bank in Exchange for Official Acts as a Member of Congress

An indictment was unsealed today in the Southern District of Texas charging U.S. Congressman Enrique Roberto “Henry” Cuellar, 68, and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, 67, both of Laredo, Texas, with participating in two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering. Congressman Cuellar and Imelda Cuellar made their initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Palermo in Houston.

According to court documents, beginning in at least December 2014 and continuing through at least November 2021, Congressman Cuellar and Imelda Cuellar allegedly accepted approximately $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: an oil and gas company wholly owned and controlled by the Government of Azerbaijan, and a bank headquartered in Mexico City. The bribe payments were allegedly laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, who performed little to no legitimate work under the contracts. In exchange for the bribes paid by the Azerbaijani oil and gas company, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to use his office to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan. In exchange for the bribes paid by the Mexican bank, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence legislative activity and to advise and pressure high-ranking U.S. Executive Branch officials regarding measures beneficial to the bank. 

Congressman Cuellar and Imelda Cuellar are each charged with the following offenses, and if convicted, face maximum penalties as indicated: two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official and to have a public official act as an agent of a foreign principal required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), five years imprisonment on each count; two counts of bribery of a federal official, 15 years imprisonment on each count; two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, 20 years imprisonment on each count; two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal required to register under FARA, two years imprisonment on each count; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, 20 years imprisonment; and five counts of money laundering, 20 years imprisonment on each count.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Deputy Assistant Inspector General Jason Loeffler and Special Agent in Charge Chris Hileman of the Department of State Office of Inspector General (DOS-OIG) made the announcement.

The FBI and DOS-OIG investigated the case.

Acting Deputy Chief Marco A. Palmieri, Acting Deputy Chief Rosaleen O’Gara, and Trial Attorney Celia Choy of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Trial Attorney Garrett Coyle of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.



This is the trash that's condemning Kamala Harris. And when you're accused of taking approximately $600,000 in bribes from a Mexican bank, maybe you're not the one to speak to immigration issues?  And when you're such disgusting trash, you should have been run out of Congress long ago.  WIKIPEDIA notes, "During the runoff, Cuellar faced renewed scrutiny over an incident in 2018 where he fired a pregnant staffer who had requested parental leave and subsequently suffered a miscarriage, and according to court documents, subsequently urged other staffers to help him discredit her.[33][34][35]"

Garbage.  Hopefully, garbage that will soon be behind bars.  And like others in the community, I am coming around to Ann's notion of death penalty as a sentence for public officials who abuse their positions and the public trust.  I'm not for the death penalty but if we're going to have it in this country, public officials like Henry should be the first ones put to death for their crimes.  The scope is so much larger. 




AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

This week, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump continued his racist attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris. Here’s Trump on Fox News Monday night, interviewed by Laura Ingraham.

DONALD TRUMP: Number one, they had an incompetent man as president, OK? Now they have somebody who’s worse. She’s sort of incompetent. She’s not very smart, but she’s very radical. Very radical. She will try and defund the police.

LAURA INGRAHAM: How would they consider a Harris presidency, just in — geopolitically?

DONALD TRUMP: I think they’ll walk all over her. I think —

LAURA INGRAHAM: How so?

DONALD TRUMP: — they’ll look at her. I think they’ll walk all over her. She’ll be so easy for them. She’ll be like a play toy. They look at her, and they say, “We can’t believe we got so lucky.” They’re going to walk all over her. And I don’t want to say as to why, but a lot of people understand it.

AMY GOODMAN: During a campaign event in Atlanta Tuesday evening, Vice President Kamala Harris challenged Trump to meet her on the debate stage so she could address his criticisms directly.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Well, Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage, because as the saying goes, if you got something to say, say it to my face.

AMY GOODMAN: President Trump has called Kamala Harris “dumb,” “dumb as a rock,” a “bum,” and has called her “evil.”

To discuss Harris’s historic campaign and more, we’re joined by professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, professor of law at UCLA and Columbia University, executive director of the African American Policy Forum, which is hosting their annual Critical Race Theory Summer School in Nashville this week, where she is joining us from now. Speakers include Ben Crump, talking about the police killing of Sonya Massey. Their opening plenary was called “Tip of the Spear: Tennessee on the Frontlines of the War on Woke.”

Professor Crenshaw, thanks so much for being with us. Can you respond to what Kamala Harris said last night, her first big campaign rally? Thousands were there. And talk about what the Republicans are saying. Out of so many congressmembers’ mouths, ”DEI hire,” “mediocre,” “This is all about DEI,” they say.

KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW: Well, first of all, one has to respond with just applause. I think it was such a perfectly delivered challenge to Donald Trump.

But, look, here’s the reality. As much as Kamala Harris’s likely nomination is galvanizing people around the country, she’s also serving as an avatar for all the fears of people who fear the browning of America, those who fear the browning of America more than they fear the rise of fascism in the United States. So, the challenge is quite clearly that those who support Kamala Harris and those who support our democracy have to take back the ground that they have conceded to the war against woke. This attack on her as the DEI candidacy is a direct consequence of the fact that the attack on the entire infrastructure of racial justice the entire last half of the 20th century and the first half of the 21st century has largely been conceded by progressives, by liberals and by moderates, those who don’t want to talk about the attack on racial justice, those who think that we can just ignore the racism on the right and ignore the racism that is being played out in Project 2025.

So, this is a moment where there’s interest convergence between those of us who understand the relationship between racial justice and democracy and those who are deeply concerned about the descent of our country and what will happen under another Trump administration. We cannot defend democracy, we cannot defend Kamala Harris, without taking on directly the intersection of racism and sexism that we are seeing playing out across this campaign. And so, the summer school that we’ve been having and that we’re having is designed to provide precisely those tools, the literacy that’s necessary and the courage, frankly, to meet this battle where it actually is.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Kimberlé Crenshaw, also we’re witnessing the hypersexualization of Kamala Harris, including the circulation of derogatory slogans and rumors about her personal life, media figure Megyn Kelly even saying that Kamala Harris slept her way to the top. Can you talk about the significance of this targeting of Harris with these kinds of claims?

KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW: Well, look, one of the insights of intersectionality is that racism and sexism are not simply additive. It’s almost like an algebra equation. She’s going to suffer both the misogyny that we saw play out with Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the racism that we saw playing out with Barack Obama, but also without a deep understanding about how misogynoir comes together to shape how African American women in particular are viewed, how they’ve been stereotyped over the course of history.

So, this is a moment where all those who support democracy and all those who support this candidacy have to quickly come together and learn how to read this attack on her, know how to respond to this attack on her and, quite frankly, connect it to the attacks on other Black women. We talked about Sonya Massey yesterday when Ben Crump was here, and he talked about how the autopsy reports actually support the video, that she was in a crouched position. She was shot from top to — from above her. This kind of degradation, dehumanization is deeply part of our history, and there’s a particular way that it plays out against women who are of African descent.

So, we are going to have to up our game. We’re going to have to not pivot away from these attacks. We’re going to have to meet them where they are. And we’re going to have to make it clear that Kamala Harris’s campaign offers much more to the white working class. And everybody wonders: Will she appeal to them? They’re not wondering why the white working class is not turned off by Donald Trump’s billionaire-focused agenda. We’ve got to talk about these things. And we’ve got to disarm the war on woke. It’s like a gun that’s been loaded, and it’s on the table, and it’s available to be targeted at things that people clearly care about, which is our democracy.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And do you have any concern on substantive issues, for instance, that the Harris campaign’s website, even after her endorsement by President Joe Biden and former President Obama, does not have a platform or policies on it that explain what her particular policies will be if elected in office?

KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW: Well, you know, it is early in the campaign. So, one of the things that we know for certain is that this is a campaign that is about rescuing our democracy from the cliff that we are on. And, look, we got lucky that we were able to save the democracy when we did. But, look, we’re not talking about the real threat. The real threat to our democracy that marched through that Capitol was the threat that was symbolized by that Confederate flag. There are those who fear sharing this country with all of us who are in it. If you look at the basic argument about the stolen election, who stole it? It was voters in Philadelphia, in Detroit, in Milwaukee, in Phoenix. They are saying what the quiet part is out loud. So, we know, at minimum, that the Harris campaign is about addressing the threat to our democracy.

Now, of course, we’re going to have to push the Democrats. We’re going to have to push Kamala Harris to actually make good on the right to democracy, the freedom to learn, all the reproductive freedom. We know that the election is just the first part. The second part is maintaining the mobilization that put her there. That’s the mistake that we made earlier on, and we can’t make that mistake again. So, as we come together to save our democracy, we also have to come together to be a governing majority in that democracy. That’s what we’re here to celebrate. That’s what we’re here to commemorate. Freedom Summer 1964 is the precursor to Freedom Summer 2024. This is the tip of the spear. This is why we are here.

AMY GOODMAN: Kimberlé Crenshaw, we want to thank you for being with us, professor of law at UCLA and Columbia University and executive director of the African American Policy Forum, hosting the annual Critical Race Theory Summer School in Nashville. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.



A new assassination campaign aimed at Israel’s opponents has erupted across the Middle East, imperiling already shaky Gaza ceasefire talks and threatening an even greater regional expansion of war. While Israel continues its genocidal attack on desperate Gazans, killing scores, perhaps hundreds just in the last several days, the latest moves were clearly designed to escalate Israel’s war in Gaza and expand the military tensions already simmering on its border with Lebanon, in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere into a full-scale war, potentially drawing in both Iran and the United States even more directly.

The lethal attacks on top military and political officials of Hezbollah and Hamas, in Beirut and Tehran respectively within 24 hours, demonstrates the centrality of assassination—and the irrelevance of diplomacy—in Tel Aviv’s strategic calculus.

Tuesday evening in the Lebanese capital, an Israeli airstrike hit the neighborhood of Dahiyeh, destroying a residential building very close to a major hospital, killing and injuring still-unconfirmed numbers of people. Israel claimed it killed Fuad Shukr, a top military official of Hezbollah, and a close adviser to Hassan Nasrallah, head of the political-military resistance organization in Lebanon. While Hezbollah has not confirmed Shukr’s death, it is clear that his assassination was the Israeli intent.

All the talk about Washington and Tel Aviv supporting a ceasefire or wanting the hostages returned means little when a top negotiator on the other side can be assassinated with impunity.

Just hours before that Israeli strike, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said that U.S. officials “do not believe that all-out war is inevitable and we still believe that it can be avoided.” That followed his statement that “our commitment to Israel's security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Hezbollah, and we are working on a diplomatic solution.”

But the U.S. has made clear by its actions—regardless of some politicians’ rhetorical support for ending the war—that it is not prepared to do the one thing that would result in a permanent ceasefire: stop sending Israel the weapons that enable the war in Gaza.

To the contrary, the possibility of a diplomatic solution was grievously undermined again just hours after the Beirut attack when another airstrike, widely assumed to be Israeli, assassinated the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in a guest house in Tehran. He was visiting the Iranian capital for the inauguration of just-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Haniyeh, who had briefly served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian elections that were initially welcomed by the United States, lived in exile in Qatar. In recent months he played a key role in the Qatar-sponsored and U.S.-backed Israeli-Hamas negotiations aimed at ending Israel’s assault on Gaza, ensuring access to humanitarian aid, and releasing illegally held Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages.

All the talk about Washington and Tel Aviv supporting a ceasefire or wanting the hostages returned means little when a top negotiator on the other side can be assassinated with impunity. Haniyeh was widely recognized as pragmatic and supportive of negotiations; in 2006, just three months after Hamas won the Palestinian election in both Gaza and the West Bank, Haniyeh wrote to then-President George W. Bush urging negotiations between the U.S. and Hamas, and offering acceptance of a two-state solution and a long-term truce with Israel. The current situation, he wrote, “will encourage violence and chaos in the whole region.” Bush never responded.

The negotiations the Hamas leader was participating in will almost certainly be stalled, if not derailed entirely, as a result of Haniyeh’s killing. The resulting continuation of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza matches the goal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has resisted ceasefire efforts and pledged to keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed. 


In other news, the Israeli government has killed two more journalists.  ALJAZEERA explains:

Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi have been killed in an Israeli air attack on the Gaza Strip.

The reporters were killed when their car was hit on Wednesday in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, according to initial information.

They were in the area to report from near the Gaza house of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was assassinated in the early hours of Wednesday in Iran’s capital, Tehran, in an attack the group has blamed on Israel.

Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, reporting from Gaza, was at the hospital where the bodies of his two colleagues were brought.

“Ismail was conveying the suffering of the displaced Palestinians and the suffering of the wounded and the massacres committed by the [Israeli] occupation against the innocent people in Gaza,” he said.

“The feeling – no words can describe what happened.”









Gaza remains under assault. Day 300 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 39,480 with 91,128 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:

  



April 11th, Sharon Zhang (TRUTHOUT) reported, "In addition to the over 34,000 Palestinians who have been counted as killed in Israel’s genocidal assault so far, there are 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza who are missing, a humanitarian aid group has estimated, either buried in rubble or mass graves or disappeared into Israeli prisons.  In a report released Thursday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the estimate is based on initial reports and that the actual number of people missing is likely even higher."
 

As for 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."




The following sites updated:











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