Israel 'Has Gone to War Against the Entire Palestinian People': Sanders


"Any objective observer knows Israel has broken international law, it has broken American law, and, in my view, Israel should not be receiving another nickle in U.S. military aid," Sanders said.


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivers a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate on March 6, 2023.
(Photo: Sen. Bernie Sanders/YouTube Screengrab)

OLIVIA ROSANE
May 12, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders repeated his calls on Sunday for the U.S. to cut off military aid to the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it continues its devastating war on Gaza.

Sanders spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" in response to a U.S. State Department report released Friday, which found that it was "reasonable to assess" that Israel had used U.S. weapons to violate international humanitarian law in Gaza but that the U.S. was "not able to reach definitive conclusions" as to whether U.S. weapons had been used in any specific incidents.

"Any objective observer knows Israel has broken international law, it has broken American law, and, in my view, Israel should not be receiving another nickle in U.S. military aid," Sanders said.

Friday's report came in response to National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20), in which President Joe Biden tasked Secretary of State Antony Blinken with obtaining "certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments" that they use U.S. arms in line with international humanitarian law and will not "arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance."

The report, made to Congress, was criticized by human rights organizations who said it mischaracterized both the law and the facts in order to avoid imposing consequences on Israel for waging a war on Gaza that the International Court of Justice has determined could plausibly amount to genocide.





"The people of our country do not want to be complicit in the starvation of hundreds of thousands of children."

Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA's national director of government relations and advocacy, called it the "international version of 'thoughts and prayers.'" Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called it "woefully inadequate" and told reporters, "If this conduct complies with international standards, God help us all."

Speaking before Sanders on "Meet the Press," Blinken denied that the report was an attempt to get out of holding Israel accountable.

"What the report concludes is that, based on the totality of the harm that's been done to children, to women, to men who are caught in this crossfire of Hamas' making, it's reasonable to conclude that there are instances where Israel has acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law," Blinken said.

He added that both Israel and the U.S. would continue to investigate those incidents.

"When we can reach definitive conclusions, we will," Blinken said, "but it's very difficult to do that in the midst of a war."

In response to Blinken's remarks, Sanders countered that "the facts are quite clear."

He said that Hamas was a "terrible, disgusting terrorist organization" and blamed it for starting the war. But he argued that Israel's response had been beyond disproportionate.

"What Israel has done over the last seven months is not just gone to war against Hamas—it has gone to war against the entire Palestinian people, and the results have been absolutely catastrophic," the senator told NBC.

Sanders went on to outline some of that catastrophe: a death toll that surpassed 35,000 on Sunday, with two-thirds of the dead women and children; the destruction of around 60% of all housing; the devastation of infrastructure such a as water and sewage as well as the healthcare and education systems; and the fact that hundreds of thousands of children are now at risk of starvation.

Sanders referred to Section 6201 of the Foreign Assistance Act: "Any country that blocks U.S. humanitarian aid is in violation of law and should not continue to receive military aid from the United States," Sanders explained. "That is precisely what Israel has done."

Sanders' remarks came as Israel escalated its assault on Gaza over the weekend, issuing new evacuation orders in both Rafah and areas in the north. Biden has said that a major ground invasion into Rafah would be a "red line" and threatened to withhold certain kinds of weapons if Netanyahu ordered such an invasion, but Palestinian and human rights advocates say that Israel's current actions in Rafah should already count as a major ground operation.

Speaking on "Meet the Press," Blinken acknowledged that the U.S. had not seen a "credible plan" from Israel to safely evacuate the more than 1.4 million civilians sheltering in Rafah ahead of an invasion.

Sanders told NBC that he thought many Republicans and also some Democrats wanted Israel to invade Rafah, but that this was not an opinion shared by the majority of people in the U.S.

"Poll after poll suggests that the American people want an immediate cease-fire. They want massive humanitarian aid to get in," Sanders said. "The people of our country do not want to be complicit in the starvation of hundreds of thousands of children."

'Watershed Moment': Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine Kicks Off in South Africa

South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said the movement to end Israeli apartheid is "following in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela" and "will not rest until the freedom of the peoples of Palestine is realized."


Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti and South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor hold hands and talk at the Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine in Sandton, South Africa on May 10, 2024.
(Photo: Katlholo Maifadi/DIRCO)

BRETT WILKINS
May 10, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

As Israeli forces continued their devastating assault on the Gaza Strip and deadly occupation of the West Bank, human rights defenders from around the world gathered Friday in South Africa—which is leading a genocide case against Israel at the World Court—for the inaugural Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine.

The conference began with a moment of silence for the nearly 35,000 Palestinians—most of them women and children—killed by Israeli troops during the 217-day war and "complete siege," which has also wounded more than 78,000 people, displaced around 90% of the strip's population, and starved at least hundreds of thousands of others—dozens of whom have died.

Meanwhile, Israel's illegal occupation and settler colonization have intensified in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where soldiers and settlers have killed at least 467 Palestinians and wounded or arrested thousands of others—some of whom were tortured—over the past seven months.

"This conference must make sure that we mobilize the world... and free the people of Palestine," Rev. Frank Chikane of the African National Congress (ANC) and World Council of Churches said at the start of the symposium.



Thanking Chikane for "spearheading" conference organizing efforts, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor hailed the "watershed moment" of "anti-apartheid movements on Palestine from around the globe coming together and joining forces in the struggle for justice for the Palestinian people."

"It has never been so urgent for the progressive forces around the globe to come together in a collective effort to exert maximum pressure to end the genocidal campaign underway in Gaza, and to end the apartheid system in Israel and the occupied territories, which is worse than what we experienced in our own country," she asserted, echoing past remarks by other South Africans and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Pandor highlighted South Africa's December filing of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, a move supported by over 30 countries and regional blocs and hundreds of advocacy groups. In January, the ICJ found that Israel is "plausibly" committing genocide in Gaza and ordered its government to prevent future genocidal acts—an order human rights monitors say Israel has ignored, largely by blocking humanitarian aid. In March, the ICJ ordered Israel to allow more aid into Gaza.


"We will continue to do everything within our power to preserve the existence of the Palestinian people as a group, to end all acts of apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people, and to walk with them towards the realization of their collective right to self-determination," Pandor said. "We continue to do so following in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela and will not rest until the freedom of the peoples of Palestine is realized."


Ronnie Kasrils—a communist who went from being a guerrilla fighter in the ANC's armed wing during the apartheid era to a government minister in a free South Africa—warned against compromising in the fight for freedom. He also reaffirmed Palestinians' legal right to "armed struggle, an international right of resistance against tyranny, against military occupation."

"There is no need to pussyfoot around the fact when we have our discussions about the rights of the Palestinians to resist with arms," Kasrils stressed.

Palestinian lawmaker, physician, and activist Mustafa Barghouti said that "we've woken the people of the world against genocide and injustice... and hypocrisy of international governments."

"Israel initiated this war but Israel will not be the one who decides how it ends," he added.

Lamis Deek, a New York-based attorney specializing in international human rights, called for "liberation of all the land from institutions of Zionist violence and supremacy, return, reparations, justice and accountability for every Zionist crime, and restitution."

Declan Kearney, a member of Northern Ireland's Legislative Assembly and national chairman of the Irish republican and democratic socialist party Sinn Féin, noted that "Palestinian and Irish freedom fighters share a special bond. Our commitment is absolute and unbreakable."

The Republic of Ireland said in March that it would intervene in the South African ICJ case and the country—along with fellow European Union members Spain, Slovenia, and Malta—is set later this month to join the nearly 140 nations that recognize Palestinian statehood.

The United Nations General Assembly voted 143-9 on Friday to approve Palestine's bid for full U.N. membership. The United States—Israel's leading international backer—and Israel voted against the proposal, which will head to the U.N. Security Council and an almost certain U.S. veto.

Kearney echoed other speakers who stressed the importance of international solidarity, applauding the "unprecedented" global outpouring of support for Palestine.

"We are with the Palestinian people on their long walk to freedom and will never abandon them," he vowed.

While many Israelis and their backers bristle at the apartheid label, Palestinians and individuals ranging from Carter to the late South African bishop and human rights campaigner Desmond Tutu to United Nations special rapporteurs have for decades called Israel's policies and actions in Palestine apartheid.

Major human rights organizations—including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Israeli groups B'Tselem and Yesh Din—have also done so. So have prominent Israelis including a former Mossad chief, multiple former attorneys general and ambassadors, and a growing number of journalists, artists, veterans, and others.

'Unhinged' Israeli Ambassador Literally Shreds UN Charter Ahead of Palestine Vote

"Shame on you," said Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan shortly before the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution supporting full membership for Palestine.

Gilad Erdan, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, puts a copy of the U.N. Charter through a paper shredder on May 10, 2024.
(Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

JAKE JOHNSON
May 10, 2024
COMMOM DREAMS

Shortly before the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution Friday supporting full U.N. membership for Palestine, Israel's ambassador took to the podium and put a prop copy of the U.N.'s founding document through a handheld paper shredder.

In a speech that one journalist described as "unhinged," Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan described Palestinians as "modern-day Nazis" and condemned the U.N. General Assembly for choosing to "reward" them with "rights and privileges."

"You are shredding the U.N. Charter with your own hands," Erdan said as he fed a small copy of the document through a miniature paper shredder. "Shame on you."

Watch:

Erdan's bizarre performance came just before the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution urging the Security Council to reconsider Palestine's request to become a full U.N. member following a U.S. veto last month. Palestine is currently a nonmember observer state of the U.N.


The General Assembly voted by a margin of 143 to 9—with 25 abstentions—in support of the resolution. The nine countries that voted no were the United States, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Papua New Guinea.


In addition to backing its bid for full U.N. membership, the resolution gives Palestine "the right to introduce and co-sponsor proposals as well as amendments within the assembly," The Guardianreported.

Riyad Mansour, Palestine's permanent observer at the U.N., said ahead of Friday's vote that support for the resolution "is a vote for Palestinian existence."

"I stand before you as lives continue falling apart in the Gaza Strip," said Mansour, noting that "more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, 80,000 have been maimed, 2 million have been displaced, and everything has been destroyed" by Israeli forces over the past seven months.

"No words can capture what such loss and trauma signifies for Palestinians," Mansour added.

"The U.S. and Israel are isolated and the world is on the side of Palestine."

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, called the U.N. General Assembly's passage of the resolution "an unprecedented move that shows once again how unbelievably isolated [U.S. President Joe] Biden has made the U.S."

In anticipation of Friday's vote, a group of Republican U.S. senators led by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) introduced legislation that would halt U.S. funding for any entity—including the U.N.—that gives Palestine "any status, rights, or privileges beyond observer status."

Current law requires the U.S. to "cut off funding to U.N. agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state—which could mean a cutoff in dues and voluntary contributions to the U.N. from its largest contributor," The Associated Pressreported Friday.

Craig Mokhiber, a former U.N. official who resigned in October over the body's failure to act in the face of Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, wrote that Friday's vote further shows that "the U.S. and Israel are isolated and the world is on the side of Palestine."

'Most Thorough Legal Analysis' Yet Concludes Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza

The University Network for Human Rights report also stresses that other nations are legally obligated to "refrain from recognizing Israel's breaches as legal or taking any actions that may amount to complicity."


A Palestinian boy observes the site of an Israeli strike on a school

 sheltering displaced people in the central Gaza Strip on May 14, 2024.
(Photo" Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)


JESSICA CORBETT
May 15, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

The University Network for Human Rights on Wednesday released and sent to United Nations offices a 105-page report that it called "the most thorough legal analysis" yet to find "Israel is committing genocide" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The network partnered with the International Human Rights Clinic at Boston University School of Law, the International Human Rights Clinic at Cornell Law School, the Center for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, and the Lowenstein Human Rights Project at Yale Law School for the analysis, which draws from "a diverse range of credible sources" and the territory's history.

"After reviewing the facts established by independent human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies, we conclude that Israel's actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023, violate the Genocide Convention," the report states. "Israel has committed genocidal acts of killing, causing serious harm to, and inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, a protected group that forms a substantial part of the Palestinian people."

As of May 1, Israel's assault had killed "more than 5% of Gaza's population, with over 2% of Gaza's children killed or injured," the analysis notes. In recent days, Israeli forces have ramped up their attack on Rafah—where over a million people from other parts of the besieged enclave sought refuge—and the total death toll has risen to 35,233, according to Gaza health officials, with another 79,141 Palestinians injured.

"Israel's military operation has destroyed up to 70% of homes in Gaza, and has decimated civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, universities, U.N. facilities, and cultural and religious heritage sites," the document says, noting the "staggering" number of forced displacements. "Civilians in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger and deprivation due to Israel's restriction on, and failure to ensure adequate access to, basic essentials of life, including food, water, medicine, and fuel."



"Israel's genocidal acts in Gaza have been motivated by the requisite genocidal intent, as evidenced in this report by the statements of Israeli leaders, the character of the state and its military forces' conduct against and relating to Palestinians in Gaza, and the direct nexus between them," the publication continues, pointing to comments from "officials at all levels of Israeli government, up to and including" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel has faced mounting allegations of genocide since launching its retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7 attack—including an ongoing South Africa-led case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its January preliminary ruling ordered Israel to uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention.

The Wednesday report declares that "Israel's violations of the international legal prohibition of genocide amount to grave breaches of peremptory norms of international law that must cease immediately."

"These violations give rise to obligations by all other states: to refrain from recognizing Israel’s breaches as legal or taking any actions that may amount to complicity in these breaches; and to take positive steps to suppress, prevent, and punish the commission by Israel of further genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza," the document adds.

The United States has long provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid and diplomatic support—which have soared since October 7, despite growing pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to cut off such assistance. The Democrat has incrementally increased his criticism of the Israeli assault in recent weeks, angering far-right leaders in both countries.

The new legal analysis—which was sent to the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel—came on the same day that 20 human rights groups issued a joint statement.

The rights organizations—including Amnesty International, Mercy Corps, and Oxfam—called on world leaders "to urgently act in bringing to an end, and pursue accountability for," Israel's grave breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.

Both documents were released on Nakba Day, which commemorates the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Some experts and campaigners contend that the Nakba—Arabic for catastrophe—continues today.

Critics Denounce Israel's Defense Against Genocide Charges as 'Dishonest Talking Points'


"The problem for Israel is that the world has seen what they've done," said one observer.


Israeli representatives attend a hearing at the International Court of Justice regarding South Africa's claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza on May 17, 2024 in The Hague, Netherlands.
(Photo: Mouneb Taim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY
May 17, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

The arguments presented by Israeli representatives at the International Court of Justice on Friday were not unexpected, as the government faced a new set of hearings on the Israel Defense Forces' assault on Gaza, but observers said the legal team's defense of the country's actions in the Palestinian enclave were "hard to stomach" in light of mounting reports about the lack of humanitarian aid and the rising death toll.

Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, principal deputy legal adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Gilad Noam, the deputy attorney general for international law, presented Israel's arguments against South Africa's claim that the ICJ must stop the IDF's invasion of Rafah, from which 630,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee since Israel seized a border crossing there and began moving troops into residential neighborhoods.

More than 1 million people have been forcibly displaced to Rafah since October as Israel has decimated cities across Gaza in what it claims is an effort to target Hamas fighters—but which has killed at least 35,303 people, two-thirds of whom have been women and children. The World Food Program and the U.S. Agency for International Development have both said in recent weeks, following months of warnings from humanitarian groups, that famine has taken hold in parts of Gaza due to Israel's near-total blockade on humanitarian aid.

Tourgeman claimed that South Africa—which launched the genocide case against Israel in December—has turned "a blind eye to Israel's remarkable effort" to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza residents and said Israel has taken "proactive steps" to ensure medical care is still being provided. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) disputed the claims at a press briefing shortly after the hearing.

"The last medical supplies that we got in Gaza was before May 6," WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said at a U.N. press briefing, referring to the date Israel seized the Rafah crossing. "We don't have fuel. We have hospitals under evacuation order. We have a situation where we cannot move physically."

Al Jazeera journalist Tareq Abu Azzoum reported Friday that U.N. officials had confirmed no aid has come through either the Rafah or Karem Abu Salem crossings in recent days.

"That reflects how much Israel is working to erase truth and change the facts on the ground as it continues its relentless bombardment of Rafah and the Jabalia refugee camp," Abu Azzoum said.

Marc Owen Jones, associate professor of Middle East studies and digital humanities at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, accused Israel of using the ICJ hearing to promote "dishonest talking points" to the international community.

"This is why a lot of what it says comes across as completely dishonest—because it is completely dishonest," Jones told Al Jazeera. "There is a difference between the reality on the ground and what Israel is trying to present to the international community... The aid situation is desperate."

Kate Stegeman, a policy and advocacy consultant in South Africa, said it was "particularly hard to stomach" Israel's denial that civilians and medical staffers were killed by the IDF at Al-Shifa Hospital, one of the facilities where multiple mass graves have been found containing hundreds of bodies, including those of women and children.



Tourgeman also focused part of her defense on statements made by Israeli officials about their objectives in Gaza. She claimed that when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Gaza must not pose a threat to Israel and when Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the military operates "neighborhood by neighborhood" and will reach every location in Gaza, they were speaking expressly about Hamas.

The legal adviser did not mention Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's recent call for the "total annihilation" of Rafah and other cities, Gallant's statement that he had "released all the restraints" on the military, or a former intelligence chief's comment in October that "the 'noncombatant population' in the Gaza Strip is really a nonexistent term," among other statements.


While the Israeli representatives claimed the country "has been and remains committed to acting in accordance with its international legal obligations," said one critic, "the problem for Israel is that the world has seen what they've done."

Citing Ethnic Cleansing, US Army Major Resigns Over Israel's Assault on Gaza

"As the descendant of European Jews, I was raised in a particularly unforgiving moral environment when it came to the topic of bearing responsibility for ethnic cleansing," wrote Maj. Harrison Mann.

Members of the Nofal family mourn next to the bodies of their relatives, who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza on January 9, 2024 in an attack that used U.S.-made bombs.
(Photo: Mohammed Talatene/picture alliance via Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY
May 13, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

An American Army officer on Monday described months of being increasingly disturbed by the images and news of Israel's U.S.-backed bombardment of Gaza, which culminated in his public resignation from his position at the Defense Intelligence Agency to avoid further complicity in Israel's "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians.


Army Maj. Harrison Mann published his resignation letter on LinkedIn, saying he had distributed it internally on April 16 to announce his resignation from the agency.

As an officer at the DIA, Mann said, he has been unable to escape the fact that his place of work "directly executes policy" for the Biden administration, including its "nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel, which has enabled and empowered the killing and starving of tens and thousands of innocent Palestinians."

"My work here—however administrative or marginal it appeared—unquestionably contributed to that support," wrote Mann.


He described wrestling with the question of whether he could continue working at the DIA, reasoning with himself that, "I don't make policy and it's not my place to question it."

"However, at some point it became difficult to defend the outcomes of this particular policy," Mann wrote. "At some point—whatever the justification—you're either advancing a policy that advances the mass starvation of children, or you're not."


At the time Mann sent his letter to his colleagues, Israel was conducting airstrikes and preparing its ground invasion of Rafah, the southern Gaza city that over 1 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced to since October.

Israel has continued to block aid to Gaza even after saying in early April it would open a crossing and a port, and has now pushed the enclave into what the United Nations World Food Program chief said earlier this month was a "full-blown famine." Dozens of people have died of starvation. At least 35,091 people who have been killed in Israel's military assault—two-thirds of those killed have been women and children, despite Israel's claim it is targeting Hamas fighters.

Mann wrote that as the bombardment dragged on and U.S. President Joe Biden's defense and funding of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued, his mind turned to his European Jewish relatives.

"As the descendant of European Jews, I was raised in a particularly unforgiving moral environment when it came to the topic of bearing responsibility for ethnic cleansing—my grandfather refused to ever purchase products manufactured in Germany—where the paramount importance of 'never again' and the inadequacy of 'just following orders' were oft repeated," wrote Mann. "But I also have hope that my grandfather would afford me some grace; that he would still be proud of me for stepping away from this war, however belatedly."

Mann publicized his letter about six weeks after foreign affairs officer Annelle Sheline resigned from her position at the U.S. State Department, saying her work in the human rights realm in the Middle East had become "impossible" in light of Biden's material and political support for Israel's assault on Gaza.

Education Department official Tariq Habash, a Palestinian American, also resigned in protest earlier this year, and a top official who oversaw arms transfers at the State Department, Josh Paul, stepped down in October, citing the Biden administration's decision to send more arms to Israel as the war began.

In February, U.S. Air Force member Aaron Bushnell died after self-immolating in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., having said he was engaging "in an extreme act of protest" to avoid being complicit in genocide.

On LinkedIn, Mann wrote Monday that he "received an unexpected outpouring of support" when he distributed his letter internally, and appeared to address other federal employees who may be questioning their complicity in Biden's policies.

"I am sharing [the letter] now in the hope that you too will discover you are not alone, you are not voiceless, and you are not powerless," wrote Mann.

Feds United for Peace, which includes employees across 30 federal agencies who have advocated for a cease-fire in Gaza, called Mann's letter "incredibly significant."

The New York Times reported that it is not known "whether other military officers have resigned in protest of U.S. foreign policy" since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October and the IDF's deadly retaliation, "but the resignation of an active-duty officer in protest of U.S. foreign policy is likely uncommon—especially one in which the officer makes public the reasons for doing so."

Israel's Deadly Bombing of World Central Kitchen Convoy Was No Anomaly: Report


A new analysis from Human Right Watch argues that numerous attacks on humanitarian relief operations by Israeli forces prove the April 1 bombing that killed 7 people was "far from being an isolated 'mistake.'"

A view of damaged vehicle carrying Western employees after Israeli attack in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on April 02, 2024. Seven staff members of the humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), including Western nationals participating in food relief efforts and a Palestinian were killed due to attack.
(Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

JON QUEALLY
May 14, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

A deadly attack on a convoy of World Central Kitchen aid workers which killed 7 people last month was not a one-off occurrence, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday, but rather representative of a documented pattern in which Israel military forces have targeted relief personnel and infrastructure despite being informed of the exact locations of those operations.

"Even though aid groups had provided their coordinates to the Israeli authorities to ensure their protection," an analysis by HRW found that eight such attacks on such operations, including the April 1 bombing of the WCK in Deir al-Balah, have been carried out by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) over the last seven months.


According to the group's report, "Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organizations before the strikes, which killed or injured at least 31 aid workers and those with them."

"Israel's allies need to recognize that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened over and over again, and they need to stop." —Belkis Willi, HRW

Details of the various attacks, said HRW, show that the WCK bombing was "far from being an isolated 'mistake,'" as the Israeli government has claimed.


Citing figures from the United Nations, HRW notes that over 250 aid workers have been killed in Gaza by Israel since the Hamas-led attack on October 7 of last year.

"Israel's killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers was shocking and should never have happened under international law," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict, and arms director at Human Rights Watch. "Israel's allies need to recognize that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened over and over again, and they need to stop."




The other seven attacks documented in the report are:Attack on a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors without Borders) convoy, November 18, 2023
Attack on a guest house of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), December 9, 2023
Attack on an MSF shelter, January 8, 2024
Attack on an International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) guest house, January 18, 2024
Attack on an UNRWA convoy, February 5, 2024
Attack on an MSF guest house, February 20, 2024
Attack on a home sheltering an American Near East Refugee Aid Organization (Anera) employee, March 8, 2024

Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Israeli authorities requesting more information about these documented incidents, but said it received no response.

"Israel should make public the findings of investigations into attacks that have killed and injured aid workers, and into all other attacks that caused civilian casualties," the group said on Tuesday. "The Israeli military's long track record of failing to credibly investigate alleged war crimes underscores the importance of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) inquiry into serious crimes committed by all parties to the conflict."

In addition to military targeting of relief operations, the Israeli military has been accused of various crimes, including indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations, forced displacement, and the targeting of medical facilities.

Also on Tuesday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) released a report documenting Israel's pattern of attacking its facilities, including hospitals, clinics, and ambulance services in Gaza during the current campaign.

"In view of this extensive timeline of reprehensible actions, MSF once again calls on all parties to respect and protect healthcare facilities, healthcare workers and patients in Gaza and the West Bank," the group said Tuesday. "An immediate and sustained ceasefire must be implemented in Gaza now to put an end to the suffering of people and the destruction of Gaza. We demand an immediate and unfettered flow of aid into the entirety of the Gaza Strip. We demand accountability for our colleagues and their family members who have been killed and wounded, and for patients."

In early May, following a month pause of Gaza operations following the deadly attack, WCK announced it was resuming its relief efforts in the area. It has also started construction on a new kitchen facility to elevate and support its mission to feed the people of Gaza as Israel's assault not only continues but intensifies.

"We have spent the past few weeks honoring the lives of Saif, Zomi, Damian, Jacob, James, John, and Jim. We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding people as these seven heroes brought to their work every single day," the groups said on May 5. "As our work in Gaza resumes, our demand for an impartial and international investigation into the April 1 attack remains."

'Dark Times': Israeli Historian Ilan Pappé Detained, Interrogated by FBI

"The good news is—actions like this by the USA or European countries taken under pressure from the pro-Israeli lobby or Israel itself smell of sheer panic and desperation," the renowned author said.


Ilan Pappé speaks at a Lannan Foundation event in January 2019.
(Photo: Lannan Foundation/YouTube/screen grab)

BRETT WILKINS
May 16, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

In what one observer called "a whole new level of insanity and paranoia," renowned Israeli historian and professor Ilan Pappé—a staunch critic of Zionism—was detained and interrogated this week by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents as he entered the United States at Detroit's airport.

In a Wednesday Facebook post, Pappé said that he was questioned by FBI agents for two hours after arriving at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on Monday.

He wrote:
The two-men team were not abusive or rude, I should say, but their questions were really out of the world! Am I a Hamas supporter? Do I regard the Israeli actions in Gaza a genocide? What is the solution to the "conflict" (seriously this what they asked!) Who are my Arab and Muslim friends in America... What kind of relationship [do] I have with them?

"They had [a] long phone conversation with someone, the Israelis?" he added, "and after copying everything on my phone allowed me to enter."

"I know many of you have fared far worse," Pappé wrote, referring to Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British Palestinian plastic surgeon and rector of Glasgow University in Scotland who last month was denied entry to Germany—and by extension all 29 Schengen Area nations—before the ban was overturned earlier this week.

"The good news is—actions like this by the USA or European countries taken under pressure from the pro-Israeli lobby or Israel itself smell of sheer panic and desperation in reaction to Israel's becoming very soon a pariah state, with all the implications of such a status," he added.




Pappé's treatment sparked outrage among Palestine defenders.

"The detention and interrogation of internationally renowned Israeli anti-Zionist historian Ilan Pappé at Detroit airport by the FBI is latest in the long list of episodes of intimidation and bullying across the West to defend the indefensible—the Israeli genocide of Palestinians," University of California, Berkeley history professor Ussama Makdisi said on social media Wednesday.


Entrepreneur and geopolitical commentator Arnaud Bertrand said, "We've reached a whole new level of insanity and paranoia."


Pappé, 69, is a scholar of Palestinian history at the University of Exeter in England. He's published over 20 books including The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, an examination of the Nakba expulsion of more than 750,000 Arabs from Palestine by Zionist militants—who sometimes massacred Palestinians to sow terror among them—during the establishment of the modern state of Israel in the late 1940s.


He has also been a leading Israeli critic of Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza, which according to Palestinian officials has killed, maimed, or left missing more than 125,000 people since the October 7 attacks. During a Wednesday interview with Al Jazeera marking the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, Pappé asserted that Israel's current onslaught is "even worse" than the 1948-49 ethnic cleansing in many ways.

"What we see now are massacres which are part of the genocidal impulse, namely to kill people in order to downsize the number of people living in Gaza," he said. "Ethnic cleansing is a terrible crime against humanity but genocide is even worse."


Pappé's latest title, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic, details "how pro-Israel lobbying groups influence the Middle East policies of Britain, the U.S., and others."

Reacting to the author's detention, ACLU human rights lawyer and New York University professor Jamil Dakwar said, "One wonders if this 'VIP welcome' related to his anti-genocide activism and his new book."

'We'll Be Back,' Says UAW Chief Shawn Fain After 'Tough Loss' in Alabama



Organizers are expected to continue their effort, drawing inspiration from a recent success in Tennessee that followed two defeats.


United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain stands with Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama in 2024.
(Photo: United Auto Workers)


JESSICA CORBETT
May 17, 2024

COMMON DREAMS

Workers at a pair of Mercedes-Benz plants near Tuscaloosa, Alabama narrowly voted against joining the United Auto Workers this week, according to a preliminary tally on Friday.

As of press time, the UAW webpage had the National Labor Relations Board tally at 2,045 in favor of joining the union (45%) and 2,642 opposed (56%).

Voting at the large facility in Vance and the battery plant in Woodstock kicked off Monday and wrapped up Friday morning. Speaking to reporters Friday evening, UAW president Shawn Fain said that it was "obviously not the result we wanted" but "we'll be back in Vance."

"These courageous workers reached out to us because they wanted justice," Fain said of the Mercedes employees. "They led us. They led this fight, and that's what this is all about—and what happens next is up to them."

"It's a David v. Goliath fight. Sometimes Goliath wins a battle but ultimately David will win the war."


"Justice isn't just about one vote or one campaign, it's about getting a voice and getting your fair share," he continued, noting that "workers won serious gains in this campaign."

Fain added that "it's a David v. Goliath fight. Sometimes Goliath wins a battle but ultimately David will win the war."


The Alabama election followed a UAW win in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where Volkswagen workers last month voted to join the union.

Labor reporter Mike Elk noted that the "tough loss" in Alabama was "not a blowout," and organizers now have "a solid base that future campaigns can build on like they did at Volkswagen," where winning a union election took three rounds of voting.



The UAW has ramped up organizing in the U.S. South since securing contract victories last year following a "Stand Up Strike" targeting Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the American automobile industry's "Big Three."

The Alabama organizing effort has garnered support from progressives and union workers around the world. The U.K.-based Global Justice Now said Friday that "we stand with Mercedes autoworkers who are voting to join UAW to better their lives and help end the so-called 'Alabama discount.' It's time we end the U.S. South and Global South 'discounts' that allow corporations to perpetuate a race to the bottom that hurts all workers."

Meanwhile, Republican leaders in U.S. Southern states have shown "how scared they are that workers organizing with UAW to improve jobs and wages," as the Economic Policy Institute put it last month, after Govs. Kay Ivey of Alabama, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Bill Lee of Tennessee, and Greg Abbott of Texas issued a joint statement accusing the union of coming to their states to "threaten our jobs and the values we live by."


Mercedes has said that it "fully respects our team members' choice whether to unionize and we look forward to participating in the election process to ensure every team member has a chance to cast their own secret-ballot vote, as well as having access to the information necessary to make an informed choice." However, both employees and the UAW accused the company of union-busting ahead of the vote.

During his remarks to the press Friday evening, Fain charged that "this company engaged in egregious illegal behavior" and pointed to ongoing probes by German and U.S. officials into "the intimidation and harassment that they inflicted on their own workers."


The Alabama facilities are operated by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, a subsidiary of a German parent company. The UAW said Thursday that Germany's Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control has launched an investigation into worker claims.

"Autoworkers in Alabama should have the same rights and be treated with the same respect as autoworkers in Germany," Jeremy Kimbrell, who has worked at one of the Alabama plants since 1999, said in a statement. "My coworkers and I are grateful to the German government for taking our testimonies and the evidence we have provided seriously and taking the first steps to hold the lawless, reckless Mercedes managers in Alabama accountable for their action."

Mercedes toldQuartz that it "has not interfered with or retaliated against any team member in their right to pursue union representation" and is "fully cooperating with the authorities."

As The Washington Postreported Friday:
Alabama business leaders, politicians, and clergy have also stepped in to warn workers against voting for the union...

In a video posted this week on a Mercedes-run website about the union election, Rev. Matthew Wilson, a pastor and city council member in Tuscaloosa, told workers of the union vote: "This one change I would be careful of... As a lifelong resident of Tuscaloosa, we have come too far to turn around now."

ESPN sportscaster and retired University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban also spoke to Mercedes workers this week. According toAxios, "Saban owns multiple Mercedes dealerships and has reportedly said he does not endorse the UAW's campaign."

Kay Finklea, a Mercedes employee and member of the UAW's voluntary organizing committee, told the outlet that "they don't stop the line for hardly anything, but they shut the line down and they had a meeting with Nick Saban in there to talk to us about teamwork and the tactics and methods he used as a football coach."

The Alabama effort is widely seen as a test case for unionizing more auto workers in the South. Before the results were announced, Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley, toldReuters that "if the union wins, they improve their momentum dramatically for future organizing."

US Lawmakers Sound Alarm Over Threat to Rooftop Solar in Puerto Rico



"Net metering has proven essential for families in Puerto Rico and essential for Puerto Rico's progress towards its own renewable goals."


A member of Barrio Eléctrico—a Puerto Rican non-profit advocating affordable solar power for families—installs a photovoltaic panel on a rooftop in this undated photo.
(Photo: Barrio Eléctrico)


BRETT WILKINS
May 17, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


More than 20 members of the U.S. Congressional Democratic Caucus on Friday urged a federal colonial oversight board to safeguard affordable access to rooftop solar power in Puerto Rico by protecting net metering, which the lawmakers called essential to the island's clean energy goals and economic growth.

Net metering "makes household renewable energy sources, like rooftop solar, more affordable for families by ensuring they are reimbursed for the extra energy they produce but do not use," the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats explained in a statement.

"A continued commitment to preserving net metering and a renewed focus on solar energy will benefit the island's economy and people."

However, the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) for Puerto Rico—the controversial unelected federal body tasked with approving and revising Puerto Rico's obligations under a 2016 bankruptcy law—recently directed Democratic Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and the territorial Legislature to repeal Act 10, which protects net metering through 2031.

"Any attempt to reduce the economic viability of rooftop solar and batteries by paring back net metering should be rejected at this critical stage of Puerto Rico's energy system transformation," 20 congressional Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote Friday in a bicameral letter to FOMB members. "Net metering has proven essential for families in Puerto Rico and essential for Puerto Rico's progress towards its own renewable goals."

"Net metering has served the people of Puerto Rico well," the lawmakers argued. "It not only compensates homeowners for their contribution to the grid and their reduced dependence on imported fuels, but it also makes renewable energy production economically viable for millions for whom it would otherwise be out of reach."

The letter continues:
Net metering is an engine for economic recovery. Currently, the renewables sector contributes approximately $1.5 billion to Puerto Rico's economy each year and employs more than 10,000 people. In addition to the direct economic benefits, the tens of thousands of solar and storage installations on the island today provide critical backup power for Puerto Rican families and businesses, helping them avoid economic hardship while supporting uninterrupted economic activity during power outages. Many of these systems provide a literal lifeline to people who depend on the uninterrupted operation of medical equipment.

Weakening or ending net metering in Puerto Rico could be devastating. Rooftop solar has added over 800 MW to an electric system whose demand is about 2,500-3,000 MW. As a result, residential solar technology is responsible for most of the progress the archipelago has made toward its ultimate goal of generating 100% renewable energy by 2050. Puerto Rico's net metering and rooftop solar programs have successfully displaced energy that would otherwise be generated by imported fossil fuel, lowering overall costs for all ratepayers.

"Making rooftop solar and battery storage systems less affordable could hurt the lowest-income people most," the lawmakers contended. "Should net metering be eliminated or weakened, the result would be a growing divide between those stuck with exorbitant energy prices from imported fossil fuels and those who can afford their own dependable solar and battery system. Slowing the adoption of rooftop solar and batteries would mean missed opportunities to leverage the private market to protect those most vulnerable to another hurricane's impacts."

After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico's energy grid in 2017, many Puerto Ricans turned to renewable energy—especially solar—to keep the lights on. Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced up to $440 million in residential solar funding for vulnerable households via the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund.

"Undermining net metering would dramatically slow one of the most active solar and battery markets in the country at the time it is needed most."


Puerto Rico "needs more renewable production, not less," the lawmakers added. "Undermining net metering would dramatically slow one of the most active solar and battery markets in the country at the time it is needed most... We urge you to protect net metering in Puerto Rico. We believe that a continued commitment to preserving net metering and a renewed focus on solar energy will benefit the island's economy and people."

The lawmakers' letter follows a call earlier this week from the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico for U.S. President Joe Biden to replace six FOMB members "who are supportive of Puerto Rico, supportive of solar power, and supportive of dissolving the board as soon as possible."

The FOMB has been decried as an anti-democratic colonial body that dictates the island's budget and operates in secrecy. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to protect the board from public scrutiny.