What is the US-supplied white phosphorus Israel is accused of using in Lebanon attacks?

By Annika Burgess

Posted 2h ago2 hours ago

A shell that appears to be white phosphorus from Israeli artillery explodes over a house in al-Bustan, a Lebanese border village with Israel on October 15, 2023.(AP: Hussein Malla)

The White House has said it is "concerned" about new reports that Israel used US-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an October attack in southern Lebanon.

The incendiary weapon can be used legally on battlefields, but rights groups have been sounding the alarm since early in the Israel-Gaza war of its "unlawful use".

White phosphorus is a toxic chemical that ignites when exposed to the air and is difficult to extinguish.

It sticks to the flesh and can cause serious long-term injuries, which makes its use against civilians or in a civilian setting a violation of the laws of war.

Israel has denied using white phosphorus illegally, but the US says it will be seeking more information after fresh claims emerged linking its use to an attack that injured at least nine civilians.

This is what we know.

What are white phosphorus bombs? 

White phosphorus is a colourless or yellowish translucent wax-like substance that smells a bit like garlic.

It is dispersed in artillery shells, bombs and rockets, igniting on contact with oxygen and burning at more than 800 degrees Celsius.

It only stops burning when it is deprived of oxygen, which makes its fire particularly difficult to extinguish.

It is classed as an incendiary weapon that acts mainly through fire and heat. 

White phosphorus is classed as an incendiary weapon.(Reuters: Evelyn Hockstein)

Sascha Dov Bachmann, a professor of law and security at the University of Canberra, said incendiary weapons such as napalm and white phosphorous were creations of the 20th century.

"If you asked me six years ago, I would have said there should be no room for them anymore," he told the ABC. 

"What should have been relegated to history is now very much current again."

What are incendiary weapons and how are they being deployed in Ukraine?

Such attacks can look like "fireworks" but could in fact be dangerous incendiary weapons that burn at around 2,000 degrees Celsius and cause excruciatingly painful burns to the skin.

Read more

White phosphorus munitions have the ability to ignite fast-spreading fires and produce light and thick smoke that can be used for military purposes. 

They can be used to make smokescreens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings.

They can also interfere with infrared optics and weapon tracking systems, thus protecting military forces from guided weapons such as anti-tank missiles, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In a defensive context, white phosphorus munitions are not considered illegal, Professor Bachmann said. 

But any direct targeting of civilians is prohibited and would constitute a war crime.

What harm can they have?

White phosphorus causes deep burns through muscle and down to the bone, and if not all fragments are removed they can reignite when exposed to oxygen, according to HRW. 

It can also cause respiratory damage and organ failure, with burns on less than 10 per cent of your body often being fatal.

White phosphorus can cause burns and respiratory damage.(AP: Hussein Malla)

Professor Bachmann described it as a particularly "nasty weapon of war".

"It does not only render you unable to fight on, it actually aims to destroy you," he said.

"It basically destroys human tissue."

HRW says those who survive their initial injuries often experience a lifetime of suffering.

"Extensive scarring tightens muscle tissue and creates physical disabilities," the group said. 

"The trauma of the attack, the painful treatment that follows, and appearance-changing scars lead to psychological harm and social exclusion."

What is Israel accused of?

Reports by Amnesty International and The Washington Post have accused Israel of using white phosphorus supplied by the US in violation of international law.

Amnesty International last month said artillery shells containing white phosphorus were used in military operations along Lebanon's southern border between October 10 and 16, 2023.

It claims that an attack on the town of Dheira on October 16 injured at least nine civilians.

The organisation described the incident as an "indiscriminate attack" that harmed civilians and should be "investigated as a war crime".

The Washington Post conducted its own investigation into the attack, claiming its journalists found remnants of shells fired into Dheira consistent with white phosphorous rounds made in the US in 1989 and 1992.

The reports also included videos and photos of strikes in the area that claim to show smoke plumes "consistent with white phosphorus munitions".

Residents told the Washington Post they had been trapped in their homes for hours after, and suffered respiratory problems for days after, the October 16 attack. 

In response to the Washington Post report and earlier claims from Amnesty International, John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said the White House would "be asking questions to try and learn a little bit more".

"We've seen the reports — certainly concerned about that," he said.

White phosphorus does have a "legitimate military utility" when used for illumination and producing smoke to conceal movements, he added.

"Obviously, anytime that we provide items like white phosphorus to another military, it is with a full expectation that it will be used in keeping with those legitimate purposes and in keeping with the law of armed conflict."

John Kirby says white phosphorus has a "legitimate military utility" when used for illumination or as a smokescreen.(AP: Hussein Malla)

Professor Bachmann said the reports still required independent verification and allegations would need to be investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"When we hear of white phosphorus being used, we have to be suspicious, and really ask the right questions," he said.

Amnesty and HRW have also reported an alleged case of white phosphorus shelling in a populated area of the Gaza Strip during the current Israel-Hamas war but have not verified civilian injuries from it.

What does Israel say?

Israel's military on Monday said it complied with international law and denied using the weapon illegally.

"The IDF and the entire security establishment acts according to international law," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said when asked about the recent reports.

"That is how we have acted and how we will act."

Israel maintains it uses the incendiaries only as a smokescreen.

Under Protocol III to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), air-dropped incendiary munitions are forbidden in populated areas, but ground-fired incendiary weapons are allowed in some circumstances.

Professor Bachmann said this includes defensive purposes for "battlefield elimination".

"If it is used to pierce armour — enemy tanks or assets — it would be direct targeting, but it would not be unlawful because it would target the enemy armour," he said.

In 2013, Israel said it was phasing out white phosphorus smokescreen munitions used during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza, which drew war crimes allegations from various rights groups.

The decision came in response to an Israeli High Court of Justice petition about use of the munitions.

Rights groups are calling for stronger international standards to better protect civilians from incendiary weapons.

Professor Bachmann said it was important to keep the debate open.

"To be fully aware of various capabilities and what could happen if they were used wrongly," he said. 

COP28 climate talks go into overtime amid standoff over fossil fuels

A flurry of shuttle diplomacy is under way at the UN-led negotiations in the UAE as countries fight over the wording of a potential deal.

Climate activists protest against fossil fuels at Dubai's Expo City during the COP28 climate talks in Dubai [Thomas Mukoya/Reuters]

Published On 12 Dec 2023

The COP28 climate talks have gone into overtime as countries grapple over the wording of a potential agreement on the issue of fossil fuels.

There was a flurry of shuttle diplomacy as the UN-led conference extended past midday on Tuesday after nearly two weeks of speeches, demonstrations and negotiations with many countries criticising a draft text released on Monday for failing to call for the total phase-out of oil, gas and coal.

The COP28 director general for the United Arab Emirates, Majid Al Suwaidi, said the aim of the draft text was to “spark conversations”.

“The text we released was a starting point for discussions,” Al Suwaidi said at a news conference on Tuesday. “When we released it, we knew opinions were polarised, but what we didn’t know was where each country’s red lines were.”

Monday’s draft prompted negotiations that ran overnight into early Tuesday at the talks in Dubai.

German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said the talks were in a “critical, critical phase”.

“There is a lot of shuttle diplomacy going on,” she said on X, formerly Twitter.

The draft text mentioned eight nonbinding options countries could take in cutting emissions, including reducing “both consumption and production of fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050″

This is the first time a UN summit has mentioned reducing the use of all fossil fuel


Too weak?

The draft text was criticised as too weak by countries that included Australia, Canada, Chile, Norway and the United States. They are among nearly 100 nations that want a complete phase-out of coal, oil and natural gas use.

Scientists say greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are the main cause of climate change. However, such fuels still produce nearly 80 percent of the world’s energy.

A new draft was supposed to be completed on Tuesday, but ongoing negotiations have prevented that from happening.

Deals at UN climate summits must be passed by consensus, and countries are then responsible for implementing them through their own national policies.

Different timeframes?

Countries in the Global South charge that richer countries should quit fossil fuels first because they have been using and producing them far longer.

“The transition should be premised on differentiated pathways to net zero and fossil fuel phase-down,” said Collins Nzovu, green economy minister for Zambia, which chairs the African group of countries in UN climate talks.

“We should also recognise the full right of Africa to exploit its natural resources sustainably,” he added.

Brazil is on board with forgoing fossil fuels but wants a deal that makes clear that rich and poor nations should do so on different timeframes, Environment Minister Marina Silva said.

OPEC countries, meanwhile, are the strongest resistors of a fossil fuel phase-out.
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Sources told the Reuters news agency that the UAE’s COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber faced pressure from Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, to drop any mention of fossil fuels in the final agreement.

‘Death sentence’

Meanwhile, participants from small island nations, which are among the countries hit hardest by rising sea levels, said they would not approve a deal akin to a “death warrant”.

“How do we go home and tell them the result? That the world has sold us out? ” Briana Fuean, a climate activist from Samoa, asked. “I can’t answer that. We are sitting in rooms being asked to negotiate our death sentence.”

Joseph Sikulu of Pacific Climate Warriors shed tears while talking about the draft text.

“We didn’t come here to sign our death sentence,” he said.

COP28 winds down with climate deal stuck in fossil fuel stalemate



By —Jon Gambrell, Associated Press
By —Jamey Keaten, Associated Press
By —Sibi Arasu, Associated Press
By —Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

Dec 12, 2023 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A stark standoff between countries that want a dramatic phase-out to fossil fuels causing damaging warming and those that don’t crushed hopes for an on-time finish to a critical climate summit Tuesday.

READ MORE: As COP28 climate talks move closer to final deal, critics say draft is lacking

The United Nations-led summit known as COP28 was scheduled to end around midday after nearly two weeks of speeches, demonstrations and negotiations. But the climate talks almost always run long, and Monday’s release of a draft agreement angered countries that insist on a commitment for rapid phase-out of coal, oil and gas.

Instead, the draft called for countries to reduce “consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.”

Majid al-Suwaidi, COP28 Director-General, said Monday night’s draft was meant to get countries to start talking and presenting what are deal-killers for them, which are called “red lines.”

“The text we released was a starting point for discussions,” he said at a news conference midday on Tuesday. “When we released it, we knew opinions were polarized, but what we didn’t know was where each country’s red lines were.”

“We spent last night talking, taking in that feedback, and that has put us in a position to draft a new text,” he said.

A new draft was promised to come out on Tuesday, but much of the critical work in the Dubai-based talks keeps getting delayed.

A senior negotiator for a developing nation who did not want to be named so as to not impact negotiations said the fossil fuel phase-out language would not be in the next version.

Al-Suwaidi gave conflicting comments about the future of the fossil fuel phase-out language, which at one point he said “doesn’t work.”

“It’s important that we have the right language when it comes to fossil fuels. It’s important that we think about how we get that balance. There are those who want phased out. There are those who want phased down,” al-Suwaidi said. “The point is, is to get a consensus.”

“We’ve said as a presidency, we think fossil fuel language needs to be part of that,” al-Suwaidi said. ”Now we need the parties to say, how do they land? We’ve spent a year knowing that that language doesn’t work.”

READ MORE: As COP28 talks wind down, sticking points remain on fossil fuels and climate adaptation

On one side are countries such as Saudi Arabia that won’t accept phase-out language, while European countries and small island nations say it is unacceptable to leave those words out. Countries wanting phase-out are in a tough position because they may have to accept either a weak deal or no deal, neither of which is good for them, said Alden Meyer, a veteran climate negotiations observer for European think-tank E3G.

But Meyer thinks the blowback from phase-out supporters may be the start of strengthening a proposed deal, leaving Saudi Arabia and a few other Gulf states “as the last ones standing in the way of a more ambitious deal. We’re not there yet. There’s more work to be done.”

The key is finding language that won’t make someone block a deal because a final agreement has to be by consensus.

Jean Su from the Center of Biological Diversity said “a feasible success is some type of language that signals a phase out of fossil fuels and it will not have any abatement in it, any carbon capture and storage, something that is clean and fair.”

She said rich countries can leverage financial commitments to developing nations can help pass fossil fuel language in a final deal.

“It’s a game of chicken,” said CEO of Climate Analytics and longtime climate talks observer Bill Hare. He said the European countries and Pacific Island nations are threatening to walk out if there aren’t changes to the text.

“How do we go home and tell them the result?” Briana Fuean, a climate activist from Samoa asked. “That the world has sold us out. I can’t answer that. We are sitting in rooms being asked to negotiate our death sentence.”

She said both the global stocktake, which addresses the Paris agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) to stave off the worst effects of climate change, and the goal for how to adapt to climate extremes are both equally important. Earth is on its way to smashing the record for hottest year, endangering human health and leading to ever more costly and deadly extreme weather.

Joseph Sikulu of Pacific Climate Warriors teared up while trying to express his emotions over the draft text.

“We didn’t come here to sign our death sentence,” he said.

Veteran COP observer Meena Raman of environmental activism group Friends of the Earth’s Malaysia chapter blasted industrialized nations, which caused the problem with historical emissions that stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. And countries like the United States, Canada and Norway are expanding oil production, she said.

“They don’t want to talk about historical responsibility but talk about keeping 1.5 alive,” Raman said. “It’s really playing to the gallery. Fossil fuel expansion is already happening in the global north.”

READ MORE: COP28 talks shift into high gear when words and definitions matter

Activists said they feared that potential objections from major oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, had watered down the text. The head of OPEC, the powerful oil cartel, was reported to have written to member countries last week urging them to block any language to phase out or phase down fossil fuels.

“This text that we saw yesterday is sinking the lifeboat of humanity,” activist Vanessa Nakate said.

“I think there’s a lot of work that the COP28 presidency needs to do to make this better because the first attempt was really bad,” said activist Romain Ioualalen of Oil Change International. “If there isn’t an outcome on … phasing out fossil fuels, this COP will be a failure and the COP President will not be seen as the hero.”

In the 21-page document, the words oil and natural gas did not appear, and the word coal appeared twice. It also had a single mention of carbon capture, a technology touted by some to reduce emissions although it’s untested at scale.

Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists urged negotiators to keep working.

“Please do not shut down this COP before we get the job done,” she said.

Associated Press journalists Lujain Jo, Joshua A. Bickel, Olivia Zhang, Malak Harb, Bassam Hatoum and David Keyton contributed to this report.


RelatedAs COP28 climate talks move closer to final deal, critics say draft is lacking

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COP28 Draft Agreement Abandons References To Phase Out Of Fossil Fuels, And The EU Is Not Happy

By Ana Tortell

December 12, 2023 


A draft agreement from the UN’s COP28 climate summit has omitted references to the phaseout of fossil fuels.

This triggered a backlash from countries – including EU member states – that want stronger measures against fossil fuels and accuse Saudi Arabia and other petrostates of disrupting global efforts to combat the climate crisis.

The agreement includes a number of actions that countries could take to get greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 – presenting the option as a choice.

This includes reducing “consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero [carbon emissions] by, before, or around 2050 in keeping with the science”.

However, several countries have criticised this move, urging the need for a stronger and clearer position on the phasing out of fossil fuels, rather than presenting the decrease in national consumption and production as a choice.
This is essential considering that fossil-fuel burning accounts for around three-quarters of emissions, making it the biggest contributor to climate change.

The agreement is facing reproval from many EU states, small island countries, and the UK.

EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said this was “clearly insufficient”.

“For the vast majority of our emissions, we have no alternative than to drive them down and out ASAP.”

Germany, the UK, and a coalition of small island states shared similar sentiments with the German foreign minister saying it contradicted EU energy policy and allowed for new coal power plants.

Meanwhile, the UK government said its position is clear, “there must be a phase-out of unabated fossil fuels to meet our climate goals”.

On the other hand, Samoa’s minister of natural resources who was speaking on behalf of a group of small island countries vulnerable to climate change, said they were “not being heard” and that their survival is “at stake”.

The secretary-General of the UN António Guterres said that the success of COP28 relies on reaching a consensus on the need to “reach a consensus on the need to phase out fossil fuels” while the US State Department said the wording on fossil fuels needed to be “substantially strengthened”.

Following this news, negotiators and state representatives accused Saudi Arabia of pressuring the president of COP28 and head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to divert the focus on any agreement away from fossil fuels.

An EU negotiator even highlighted an “emerging proactive coalition” that is more conscious, organised, and coordinated than ever before.

Do you think the COP28 needs a stronger approach to the phasing out of fossil fuels?

READ NEXT: Malta Urges For EU Sanctions Against 'Violent Israeli Settlers' In The West Bank

Ana Tortell is a university graduate who loves a heated debate, she’s very passionate about humanitarian issues and justice. In her free time you’ll probably catch her binge watching way too many TV shows or thinking about her next meal.

COP28 talks in Dubai overrun host-set deadline without fossil fuel deal

UN climate talks in Dubai on Tuesday ran past a host-imposed deadline for a deal as at-risk nations voiced fury over a proposed compromise that stops short of phasing out fossil fuels.

Activists protest against the use of fossil fuels at the COP28 UN Climate Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. 

© Kamran Jebreili, AP

By: FRANCE 24
Issued on: 12/12/2023 -

COP28 presidency wants 'historic' mention on future of fossil fuels in text

Cop28 Director General Majid Al Suwaidi said on Tuesday the summit's presidency wanted to include a "historic" mention on the future of fossil fuels in the next draft text for a possible deal, but it was up to the almost 200 nations at the talks.

"At this COP we are trying to do something that has never been done before, something historic ... Part of this is to include fossil fuels in the text. If we can, that would be historic," he told reporters.
UAE says seeking 'consensus' with next climate deal draft

The United Arab Emirates, host of the COP28 climate summit, said Tuesday it would seek consensus with a new draft deal after wide criticism of language on fossil fuels.

"We need to work on how we put their views into the text in a way that everybody can be happy with," said Majid Al Suwaidi, COP28 director general. "The point is to get a consensus."

COP28 countries set to continue negotiations beyond host-set deadline

After another late night of haggling, there was no sign that the COP28 talks on a draft agreement to reduce fossil fuel use were anywhere near completion, with negotiators waiting for a fresh text after wide criticism of a draft released Monday.

A deadline set by the Emirati hosts of the Dubai climate summit passed at 11am local time on Tuesday without a deal, with negotiators expected to work overtime after fury on a proposal that stops short of phasing out fossil fuels.

"We have time and we are prepared to stay a little longer," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

The team from the Marshall Islands – a low laying Pacific archipelago, threatened with submersion – vowed to stay until the end. It’s negotiator, John Silk, said that his country "did not come here to sign our death warrant".

Campaigners had hoped the COP28 summit – set in a glitzy metropolis built on petrodollars – would take the historic step of calling for the first time for a global phase-out of fossil fuels, which account for three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions blamed for the planetary crisis.

But the latest draft of the 21-page text put forward by COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber – himself head of the UAE's national oil company – does not go so far as to demand action on fossil fuels, only presenting measures that nations "could" take.

At UN climate talks, no consensus on what consensus is

Dubai (AFP) – The world's climate negotiators meeting in Dubai have spent sleepless nights in an elusive quest for consensus, but there is no consensus on what consensus means.

Issued on: 12/12/2023 

COP, as the annual Conference of the Parties meetings are called, takes no votes and there is no requirement of unanimity 

© Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

The United Arab Emirates, citing the need in the UN process for consensus, in a draft agreement for the COP28 summit stopped short of backing historic calls for a "phase-out" of fossil fuels.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has led objections to strong action against fossil fuels, the main culprit behind the planet's climate crisis.

But COP, as the annual Conference of the Parties meetings are called, takes no votes and there is no requirement of unanimity.

"It's a matter of interpretation," said Alden Meyer, a veteran watcher of climate negotiations at the E3G climate think tank.

He recalled that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait objected during the original United Nations vote in 1992 that established the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) but the session president, from France, simply brought the gavel down.

Ever since, Saudi Arabia has blocked a proposed rule that would allow decisions by a two-thirds majority if there is no consensus.

In 2012 in Doha, host Qatar ignored a request by Russia to take to the floor with concerns related to the landmark Kyoto Protocol, prompting Moscow angrily to hold up work in talks the following year, Meyer said.

A UNFCCC official said that any objections needed to be "explicit" for there to be no consensus.

Ignoring dissent

One of the most successful summits took place in Paris in 2015 with an agreement for countries to seek to limit warming to within 1.5 degrees (2.7 Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels.

But the delegate from Nicaragua initially refused to sign on, leading to an extraordinary pressure campaign on the small, single country that reportedly involved intervention by Pope Francis.

Laurent Fabius, then France's foreign minister and COP21 president, said: "I can no long recall whether it was me myself or via the pope, but we inquired to know if he was really representative" of Nicaragua's government position.

"The reply was no and that gave us more freedom," Fabius said.

Objections from Latin American leftists were more successful in the outcome of one of the most anticipated COPs, the 2009 summit in Copenhagen.

In a scene that stunned the sleep-deprived room, the Venezuelan representative, Claudia Salerno, raised her hand with a stigmata-like bloody palm, saying she was speaking on behalf of countries ignored by a deal brokered by US president Barack Obama with other major powers including China.

Denmark's prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, was ready to give up and declare the summit a failure, until the United States and Britain quickly asked for a break and Rasmussen came back to declare the agreement "noted" rather than approved or rejected.

In a parallel COP process, biodiversity talks in Montreal last year reached a major agreement on protecting species when the Chinese president of the meeting ignored objections by the Democratic Republic of Congo, which sought greater assistance from wealthy countries.

In Dubai, it remains to be seen if the Emirati president would brush aside the interests of Saudi Arabia, his country's larger neighbour and fellow oil producer.

Fellow Arab oil producers Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain have also raised objections to phasing out fossil fuels.

"It comes down to the judgment of the presidency," Meyer said. "Ultimately it's more of a political question."

© 2023 AFP

Campaigners 'losing trust in COP', says leading activist

Dubai (AFP) – Environmental campaigners are losing faith in the UN-led COP climate process after signs that a phase-out of fossil fuels may not be agreed in Dubai, a leading activist said on Tuesday.


Issued on: 12/12/2023 

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate poses for a photograph at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi on September 4 

© SIMON MAINA / AFP/File

Uganda's Vanessa Nakate, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, said activists were tired of being disappointed at the annual United Nations conferences to battle climate change.

She was speaking after the latest COP28 draft agreement dropped any mention of winding down fossil fuels, speaking only of a potential reduction in consumption and production.

"It can be tiring to keep coming to these places and to be constantly disappointed by the decisions that are made," the 27-year-old told a press conference.

"For this COP to be truly a success, it has to address fossil fuels.

"If leaders fail to address the root cause of the climate crisis after 28 years of climate conferences, then they aren't only failing us, but they're making us lose trust in the entire COP process."

Nakate's comments are reminiscent of 20-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who famously dismissed world leaders' promises on climate change as just "blah, blah, blah".

Thunberg, who in January said it was "ridiculous" that the United Arab Emirates' state oil company chief was the COP28 president, last attended a COP summit in 2021.

Some activists were in tears over the latest text. Joseph Sikulu of Pacific Island Warriors took several seconds to compose himself before addressing the press conference with tears rolling down his cheeks.

Nakate said: "What is happening here is unacceptable. What is happening is unjust. What is happening is unfair."

"This text that we saw yesterday is sinking the lifeboat for humanity," she added, calling it a "death sentence for communities".

"We know that in this case, there are over 2,400 fossil fuel lobbyists that have a lot of control and power over this process," said the Ugandan.

"And we must call out that sabotage, we must call out the power. We must hold the fossil fuel companies accountable for the climate crisis."

"Some people might say that if you are discussing how to cure malaria, you don't invite the mosquitoes," Nakate added.

© 2023 AFP

COP28 talks enter last day with no deal in sight on fossil fuels

Issued on: 12/12/2023 -

A stark standoff between countries that want a dramatic phase-out to fossil fuels causing damaging warming and those that don't crushed hopes for an on-time finish to a critical climate summit Tuesday. The United Nations-led summit known as COP28 was scheduled to end around midday after nearly two weeks of speeches, demonstrations and negotiations. But the climate talks almost always run long, and Monday's release of a draft agreement angered countries that insist on a commitment for rapid phase-out of coal, oil and gas. A major sticking point, the language employed by the draft was significantly weakened by the fact that the fossil fuel phase-out was removed from the text, FRANCE 24 Environment Editor Valérie Dekimpe said.

04:10 © FRANCE 24
Video by:  Valérie DEKIMPE

Climate justice 'cornerstone' of COP28 agreement, taking Global South concerns 'into account'

Issued on: 12/12/2023 -

06:17
Video by:Shona BHATTACHARYYA

More than 100 countries at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai have agreed to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 - one of the least controversial commitments floated at the conference. But they have given little detail on how they can make an industry running flat out go that much faster. "It is realistic, but there are elements that need to be solved; permitting, leases, grid connections," Anders Opedal, chief executive of Norway's Equinor, a major renewable energy developer, told Reuters. Renewable energy is key to meeting the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming. And while renewables are already expanding fast, this latest goal would require solar and wind power deployments to speed up a lot. The tripling target would bring global renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 gigawatts (GW) in just six years - more than 20% higher than current projections from BloombergNEF of around 9,000 GW by that time. That would mean pumping up investment in renewables, which the International Energy Agency (IEA) says hit $600 billion globally last year, at a time some investors are retreating due to higher borrowing costs. But the problems extend far beyond that. Across the renewables industry, there are signs of strain. Supplies are short of everything from wind turbines to transformers. There is a labour shortage. The cost of wind and solar projects has spiralled up. And local opposition to big energy projects has slowed layered bureaucracy with years-long processes to get permits. As world leaders envision a challenging COP28 plan to triple renewables, FRANCE 24's Shona Bhattacharyya is joined by François Gemenne, Chairman of the FNH Scientific Council, Author, HEC Professor.
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One in three UK men open to having more than one partner, study shows

by Swansea University

Appeal of different types of relationships split by sex. Relationships within the blue (solid) 

box are those where men have access to more than one woman, while those in the red box

 (dashed) are where women have access to more than one man. Error bars represent 95%

 confidence intervals. M = Male-led, F = Female-led. Credit: Archives of Sexual Behavior (

2023). DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02749-6

A third of UK men are open to the idea of having more than one wife or long-term girlfriend, according to a new Swansea University study.

In contrast, only 11 percent of women surveyed would be open to the idea of a polygamous marriage if it were legal and consensual.

Researchers asked 393 heterosexual men and women in the UK how they felt about a committed partnership in which they shared their other half with someone else or shared themselves.

The study asked participants about a relationship resembling polygyny—where a man marries more than one woman—and polyandry—where a woman marries more than one man.

Men were first asked if they would be willing to be shared with more than one wife and were then asked if they would be willing to share a partner with another man.

The study, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, showed that nine percent of men said they would share a partner, whereas just five percent of women were interested in such an arrangement.

Dr. Andrew Thomas, lead author of the study, said, "Comparing polygyny and polyandry directly, men were three-and-a-half times more likely to say 'yes' to the former than the latter, while women were twice as likely to say 'yes' to having more than one partner, compared to the idea of sharing their partner with someone else."

Polygyny and polyandry are alternative forms of marriage that involve multiple spouses, and their acceptance varies across cultures. In the United Kingdom, these practices are not legally recognized or widely embraced within the mainstream culture, as the legal framework is based on monogamy.

In contrast, certain cultures around the world historically and presently practice polygyny, where a man can have multiple wives, and polyandry, where a woman can have multiple husbands. These arrangements are often rooted in cultural, religious, or historical contexts. For example, some societies in Africa and the Middle East have long-standing traditions of polygyny, while certain communities in Tibet and Nepal have practiced polyandry.

Dr. Thomas added, "Committed non-monogamy has received a lot of attention recently. It's a hot trend, with more and more couples talking about opening up their relationships to include other people. However, these types of relationships are far from new."

"While most seek monogamous relationships, a small proportion of humans have engaged in multi-partner relationships throughout human history, especially polygynous marriage where one husband is shared by several co-wives."

"This study shows that a sizable minority of people are open to such relationships, even in the UK where such marriages are prohibited. Interestingly, many more men are open to the idea than women—though there is still interest on both sides.

More information: Andrew G. Thomas et al, Polygamous Interest in a Mononormative Nation: The Roles of Sex and Sociosexuality in Polygamous Interest in a Heterosexual Sample from the UK, Archives of Sexual Behavior (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02749-6

Journal information: Archives of Sexual Behavio

Providedby Swansea University Why do most women still take their husband's last name when getting married?

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The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State

Marxists Internet Archive

https://www.marxists.org › archive › marx › works

It focuses on early human history, following the disintegration of the primitive community and the emergence of a class society based on private property.

‎II. The Family · ‎The Punaluan Family · ‎The Monogamous Family · ‎The Pairing Family

A Root Cause Review of the Israeli-Hamas Conflict
 November 30, 2023
Author Ardishir Rashidi-Kalhur

 Exclusive to Ekurd.net

The appalling carnage inflicted on the Israelis by Hamas on October 7th, 2023, and the ongoing disproportionate and excessive response by the Israelis on the Palestinian population has benumbed the humanity within all of us. It even debilitated the United Nations and its member states to stop it as the brutality and the promise of war rages on. Could this be the manifestation of the “Clash of Civilizations”, Samuel P. Huntington wrote about in the 1990s? Does this volcanic eruption of attack and counter attack, revenge and counter-revenge be just another temporary flaring of violence until it subsides and erupt again in a future time? Does it have its roots in the Hebrew Bible itself? Can answers be found in the deep annals of history? Should we be investigating the various conspiracy theories?

It is ironic that if the letter “s” in “Hamas” is replaced with the letter “n” we have the name “Haman”. He was an Amalekite Persian who lived in ancient Persia and was the arch nemesis of the Jewish people. Haman’s reversal of ill-conceived fortune is the reason for the instigation of the feast of Purim and is well documented in the Book of Esther. Haman was a Persian official absolutely bursting with hubris and a top advisor to an equally hubris king Xerxes. Haman had hatched a cunning plan to kill and exterminate all the Jews throughout ancient Iran by initiating a decree, influencing with lies the king of Persian empire, (historically and erroneously referred to as “Persia” which simply means land of the Guards with numbers reach 10,000 under Cyrus, inherited by the immortal guards during the Shah’s regime and today under the Islamic Republic of Iran known by the IRGC, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp).

In the conclusion of the Book of Esther, the Jews are saved from the attempted total annihilation by their Persian foes and mainly due to the charm, beauty and political initiative of their Jewish rescuer named Esther. It is also interesting enough to mention that the name Esther is a cognate of the Kurdish word “Astarah” which means star, which in turn is related to the Sumerian name of the goddess Ishtar, who was worshiped by the Akkadians and the Assyrians in later centuries. Esther’s tomb is located in Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhelat) East of the city of Kermanshah, near Hama-daan.

Just as the United States and its allies rescued the Jews from a similar threat posed by Nazi Germany leading up and during WWII, we are stepping up and assisting once again the Jewish people threatened by the regime of Iran to total annihilation. The scourge of antisemitism to this very date has not been eradicated and Nazism (national socialism) still exists in the mind of much of the world. Esther, although she liberated her people from an all-out genocide some 2500 years ago, there still exists an anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist sentiment among a large sector of present-day Persians and their leadership.

Persian society continues to drive the political agendas of Persian Religious-Nationalists who are running the present-day Iranian government. Persian nationalism is ancient, in fact it is two and a half millennia (2500 years!). This long-standing state of affairs, combined with the Shiite version of Islamic Jihadism and “Shiitism”, (Jihad & martyrdom), which began some 1400 years ago with the rise of Islam, is the ideological fuel that drives the engine of the current Persian-run government in Iran and its political apparatus. It is exactly why they are funding Hamas. If the Persians are the guards, the Jihadists are used as bandogs in an unprovoked attack of the Jews. The Iranian regime is only the tip of one hateful spear aimed at the Jewish state, while there are multiple other forces with the same intention to destroy Israel and to try once again to kill all the Jews.

The current Hamas-Israeli war is the outcome of this animosity and hostility with many innocent Palestinian civilians being the real victims of this ancient conflict. Iran’s policy toward Israel and the Jewish people can be summarized in one sentence “from Haman-to-Hamas, the Jewish state of Israel must be eliminated”. It was knowing that an abiding anti-Jewish sentiment existed among a sector of the Persian elite during Reza Shah’s rule which contributed to an emboldened Hitler. He touted the idea of the Persians being of the pure “Aryan’ race, so that he (Hitler) could recruit Reza Shah’s ideological and political alliances in support of his war efforts against the Allies in the Middle East. Besides Reza Shah, Hitler found an even a stronger ideological ally in Kamal Ataturk of Turkey.

In essence, the current ideological forces that drives the Religious-Nationalism policies of the current Iranian and their like-minded regimes in the Middle East can be summarized as follows:

1. First, the Persian Nationalism, built upon centuries of false historical claims and a non-existent glorious past that supposedly dates back the time of early Persian kings who were in fact not empire builders. The Persian empire was created by the usurping guards of the already established Kingdom of the Medes under King Cyaxarex (Kay-Sar) (according to genealogies in Bible, The Medes are a sister to the Faith and that of Judaic faith through Abraham’s wife Keturah). The Medes were early friends of the Jews, helping them come out from under Assyrian captivity.

To the hidden amusement and quiet laughter of many world leaders, the Shiites clergies and many Iranians at the behest of the Shah of Iran in 1971, the Persians announced a vainglorious event known as “the celebration of 2500 years of the Persian empire” aggrandizing Cyrus the Great, great grandson of Kay-Sar. The laughter lingers still due of the fatuous belief that Iran had absolutely no previous history prior to Cyrus, and that Iran is the same as Persia and all Iranians are therefore Persians. This event was in part to bolster Hitler’s message that Iran is the land of the Aryans, (They promoted that Iran is a form of the word Aryan that means land of the Aryans) and he, the Shah, is the Arya-Meher, (lover or the love of the Aryan race). This title was given to him by his own party right before he was deposed with full humility of a clown in 1979 by the religious opposition (Khomeini) and for his implementation of extremely racist and prejudice policies of Persian “supremacy” against the rest of Iranians (there are at least 12 distinct cultures and nationalities within Iran who are not Persian).

Today the Persian propaganda machine invites the Western tourist to visit Persia! a fictious land which never existed, except for a short period of time under the 10,000 guards during the Cyrus to the time of Alexander. At the present time being revived under the IRGC who are labeled by the State Department as an FTO group and by a die-hard monarchist living abroad. As it will be covered in the future articles “Who Are the Persian”, we shall find out that many Iranians believe that today’s Persian are no longer belong to the Iranian people. and due to many invasions by many outside invaders, they have lost their status as being of Iranian stock. The Shah’s extreme human rights violations against minorities and his opposition to human rights for all, didn’t matter as much as the importance of his ephemeral pro-West, pro-Israeli policies. What a dreadfully grave (and expensive) state of affairs it will be for Israel and for its allies in the West if a new “minimo-shah” is ‘selected’ if and when we see the collapse of Iran’s economy and inevitable, its regime.

2. Second, is the driving force of Persian Shiitism, a Muslim sect that came to power under Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, and birthed the current ideological identity of Persian Religious- Nationalists who are ruling Iran today. Just like Erdogan of Turkey who is vying to be the Caliph of the Muslim world (Sunni sect), the current regime in Iran considers itself to be the true standard- bearer of Islam. None of these two Islamic states were the founder, or co-founder of Islam, yet they have become the Nany whose love for the child far exceeds that of the mother state of Arabia where Islam was born. They are the converters to Islam, who now play a considerable role in the world of Islam. Especially over the Saudis and the rest of the Arab Gulf States, who the Persian and the Turks consider they have deviated from the original message of the Prophet Mohammad after his victory over the merchant tribes of Quraysh in Mecca at the Battle of Badr in 624 CE.

A post victory message put out by the new Muslims who won that battle over the infidels encouraged the harassment of some Jewish merchant tribes of Medina, who centuries earlier had fled Judea under the Greco-Roman occupation. This was in follow up to the persecution of Jews under the Roman occupation and start of Jewish Diaspora. These Jews who had been doing business peacefully with the defeated tribe of Quraysh now naturally became the new unwanted competitors. ‘The friends of my old enemy are now my new enemies” who were the merchant Jews who were considered as friends of the defeated Quraysh tribe. Prior to the Islamic victory under the Prophet Mohammad, the Jewish merchants in diaspora, along with the native merchant tribes of Quraysh, had thriving businesses trading goods by caravan between Gaza situated on the Mediterranean Sea and the rest of the Levant, including mainland Arabia and the rest of the Middle East.

With the victory by the sword, of the Muslims in 624 CE, the main trade routes from Gaza and Judea to the mainland in the Middle East fell in to the hands of the newly victorious and empowered Muslims. The role of the Jewish merchants was reduced to shopkeepers, local traders, grocers, bookbinders and money lenders, within the new and fast- growing world of Islam. The status of the Jewish population in the expanding Islamic world gradually improved since they were considered to be “People of the Book”, yet they were viewed with disdain and cast down by many in the newly formed Muslim communities and their leaders for never converting to Islam. The Jews who adopted a stoic life of pacifism, led a frugal and thrifty social existence by employing good business sense, loaning money with interest, and promoting scholarly culture for their children. They carried with them a copy of the Torah to guide them during times of despair.

These Biblical practices enabled them to accumulate not an insignificant amount of wealth, more than an average member of the Muslim community, and they kept it through remaining obedient to their faith and the political poser ruling over them. These qualities made them to be the to-go-to people by political leaders for economic advice and for borrowing money to finance their political plans. This loan was to be repaid with nominal interest along with the original principle. It is worth mentioning that after the rise of Islam, one of the early differences between the Jewish merchants and the newly empowered Muslim merchants was how much interest rate to be charged on borrowed money. Today, the Islamic economy and the Jewish economy both apply a charge for borrowed money but under different names.

In the Islamic economy, Muslims don’t call the charge interest (riba), since collecting riba (interest) is a sin and forbidden according to Islamic Shariah law. Instead, the interest-free appearing in Islamic banking system is based on the old concept of giving of yearly alms or a religious tithing (10%) which consists of Khamss (5% up to 20%) on properties seized in a religious campaign (Anfal) or business in service of Islam. It is based on conquest and gain. Zakat (2.5 to 20 %) on wealth, Sadaqha, an additional charity alms, is to be given voluntarily. Adding them all up, this interest- free banking as is it exists in Iran, reaches over 50% which matches that of some of the highest taxed and interest charging economies in the world. One might notice that the application of Sharia economic law in Iran has been utterly disastrous. Like the Gulf states, if it wasn’t for the massive oil revenue sold on the world market (oil-nomics), they would face a total economic and political collapse. Simply put, Iran is on the brink of collapse and war is good both, for business and for oppressing the minorities.

Since ancient times, and particularly in the last 1400 years with the rise of Islam, the Jews have lived in a state of diaspora, subjected to various forms of persecutions, genocides and expulsion from place to place. However, they have never given up the two most important aspects of their culture. First, they have carried with them the history of their people and their faith and observing an exceptional obedience. Second, they have refined their sophisticated mastery of money acquisition, of doing business, and of exquisite money management to the envy of the merchants of the lands from where they were persecuted or expelled. The rise of Hitler in Germany, and the holocaust was the apex of antisemitism and yet, thanks to the Jewish merchants of Europe like the Rothschild family (originally from Frankfurt Germany), whose financial resources and lending to the Allied forces made in part, the defeat of Hitler in WWII possible. Modern day Israel came into being after WWII in 1948, existing on the same land they are now protecting and believe it has belonged to them since the time of Abraham, Issac, Jacob (Israel) and the twelve tribes of Israel.

Sadly, and dangerously, these merchant battles between the children of Abraham continues today, not only in Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and throughout the entire Middle East, but it is also making its way to the cities in Europe and even America. Today, the Jews are being accused by countries like Turkey (look up history of antisemitism in Turkey) and by Iran, of controlling New York City, the financial capital of the world and the Federal Reserve of the United States and the gate valves of world’s money flow. Nothing will stop either Turkey nor Iran, especially Turkey, from attempting to eliminate the Jewish presence in the Middle East and their influence in the West’s financial centers. This Islamic bloc wants to replace the Jewish monetary system with their own financial, cultural and political influences and agendas.

The undercurrents of this political plan by the Turk- o-Persian alliance to unleash ISIS-Like Hamas on the innocent Israelis, and the unjustifiable, entirely out of proportion response by the IDF against the poor Palestinians, is just a part of the bigger game plan by the Turk-o-Persian alliance to also completely oust the United States from the Middle East. Change and Democracy in the region are frightening concepts to these old and corrupt ideological moss-backers. A clash of civilization which Samuel P. Huntington writes about is just about will the forces of tyranny now governing Iran and Turkey comes to the West, or will the forces of democracy changes Iran and Turkey, and ultimately the entire Middle East? The world recognizes the legitimate and democratic right of the Palestinians to a homeland of their own, but not on the Turk-u-Persian, ISI-Jihadist terms and conditions, but instead on the basis of Israel itself wanting to survive and live in peace with its Muslim neighbors and cousins and brothers. After all that is the spirit behind the Abraham Accord, to achieve economic cooperation, to dissemble the rivalry between the children of Abraham.

3. In Iran, from the time of Ayatollah Khomeini beginning in 1979 to president Ahamadinejad and onward to the time of Qasim Soleimani, by orders of the current supreme leader, and the IRGC leadership, leaders of Iran have all continuously called for the destruction of Israel. They are the reincarnation of the ancient Persian Haman in the Book of Esther, seen today in Hamas who are sacrificing the poor and the innocent Palestinians for their own long term political goals to defeat the West politically and economically, without wanting a war with Israel or with the United States and the West (Iran and Turkey are frightened and fearful of what happened in Iraq could happen to them!).

Seeing the danger of expansion of war with Iran, allegedly equipped with the A-bomb and backed militarily by Russia and China, for the first time, Iran’s president Raissi visited Saudi Arabia to prevent war with Israel. The purpose of his visit was not as much to provide help for the Palestinians in the face of Hama’s defeat, or provide help for Hezbollah in Lebanon (the next line of confrontation), but instead to ask the Saudis to intervene on their behalf with Israel and the with the United States to not attack Iran, and that they may be even willing to join the Abraham Accord themselves.

So, what can Israel do?

1. The relentless and disproportionate response by Israel against the Palestinian people has by far overshadowed the sympathy for and the legitimate rights of Israel to defend itself against acts of terrorism by Hamas. Mr. Netanyahu, would do best to realize that the righteousness of Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Joseph is not the same as his rigorousness to indiscriminately victimize the entire Palestinian people. At the same time, the world must compel Hamas, ISIS, Jihadists, Iran, and Turkey’s leadership with proven criminal records, to realize that they are not the standard-bearer of the piety of Prophet Mohammad. Had Israel existed at the time of Prophet Mohammad, surly, he would not have called for the destruction of Israel.

2. Israel should not go to war with Iran in favor of the rejected vestiges of the old regime not only by the religious leaders, but also by the Iranian people who loudly and clearly chanted they do not want the current regime, nor they want to return to the refused regime of the past. Nor should Israel be convinced that a “soft” regime-change in which the Persian Mullahs are quietly abandon power and the Pro-Israeli Persian nationalists are inserted back to power is desirable. The wishful thinking of such a group is to keep the Iranian military, especially the IRGC and the current political system intact, while simultaneously ignoring rights of the many diverse nationalities living in Iran remains the same. Such a scenario will bring an unwanted civil war and much bloodshed among these various nationalities who no longer want a sovereign Iran, to be governed and controlled by the Persian nationalists whose questionable Iranian identity.

3. Israel needs to fight back against the spreading antisemitism and the accusations that the Jews own and control all the financial system of the world. Especially in a world where close to 10% of the world population live in extreme poverty and hunger, starting in Palestine. It is among these poor and hopeless people, where Turkey and Iran are recruiting their ISIS and Jihadists. This can start by urgently meeting the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people, showing the world that Israel as a country and the Jews as a people have the spirit of Menscheit operating within their hearts to care and to help the Palestinian people. Israel is fast losing the hearts and mind of the people around the world, which is exactly what the Turk-o-Persian alliance want to be the final outcome of this conflict.

4. Finally, as we know in the aftermath of WWI and WWII, the map of Middle East was changed and as a result, in 1948, the modern State of Israel was created. Now the time has come for the United Nations under the leadership of the United States and without further war and violence to redraw the map of the Middle East to make right the wrongs of the past. This time with the peaceful States of Palestine created next to the State of Israel. Most significantly, a new and normalized map of the Middle East, where the new state of Greater Kurdistan emerges from the ashes of ISIS and the Jihadists and the radical religious-nationalist states that continue to support them. Israel can be an agent of change not death and destruction in a wider war which can become The Wars of The Clash of Civilizations.

Ardishir Rashidi-Kalhur, the President of Kurdish American Education Society, Los Angeles, U.S.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Ekurd.net or its editors.

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