Thousands take to the streets in northeast Syria in support of Kurdish-led force
Middle East

Residents in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli took to the streets on Thursday in a demonstration supporting the resistance of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the recent attacks by pro-Turkey fighters in the region.


Issued on: 19/12/2024 - 
By: NEWS WIRES

Syrian Kurds wave independence-era flags during a demonstration in support of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeastern city of Qamishli, on December 19, 2024. © Delil Souleiman, AFP


Thousands of people demonstrated Thursday in northeast Syria in support of a US-backed, Kurdish-led force that for weeks has been pushing back against Turkey-backed fighters, an AFP correspondent said.

The show of support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) comes after Islamist-led rebels toppled Syria’s longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.

A Turkish defence ministry source said Thursday that Ankara would push ahead with military preparations until Kurdish fighters “disarm”.

Demonstrators in Qamishli for the first time raised the three-starred flag adopted by Syria’s new authorities, symbolic of the uprising against Assad's rule that began in 2011, the correspondent said.

“Long live the SDF resistance,” demonstrators chanted, also yelling, “The Syrian people are one” and “No to war in our region, no to Turkey’s attack” on northeast Syria.

Others raised the flag of northeast Syria’s semi-autonomous Kurdish administration, and of the SDF, which spearheaded the fight that defeated Islamic State group jihadists in Syria in 2019.

Qamishli resident Mazloum Ahmed, 39, said people “came out today to support our forces”.

“We have been on this land for thousands of years,” he said, adding: “We must obtain our rights... in the new Syrian constitution.”

Another demonstrator, Salha Kalash, 50, said “the Syrian people must be one and fight to protect our land”.

“We want a democratic Syria where everyone has their rights... it's time for us to have our place in a Syria of justice and equality”.

On Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said 21 pro-Turkey fighters were killed after they attacked a Kurdish-held position near the northern town of Manbij despite a US-brokered ceasefire extension in the area.

Concerns have grown over a possible Turkish assault on the Kurdish-held Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of Manbij.

The SDF on Thursday accused Turkey and allied fighters of “not adhering to the (ceasefire) decision and continuing attacking” south of Kobane, encouraging residents to “take up arms against the (Turkish) occupation”.

Turkey accuses the main component of the SDF, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants at home.

Both Washington and Ankara consider the PKK “terrorist” group.

A military chief from Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said this week that Kurdish-held areas of Syria would be integrated under the country’s new leadership.

The Kurdish administration has extended a hand to Syria’s new authorities, but fears it could lose its limited self-rule in the northeast.

(AFP)

Turkey won't halt Syria military activity until Kurd fighters 'disarm'

AFP , Thursday 19 Dec 2024

Ahram Online - 

Ankara will push ahead with its military preparations until Kurdish fighters "disarm", a defence ministry source said Thursday, stressing Turkey faces an ongoing threat along its border with northern Syria.


File Photo: Turkish-backed Syrian rebel fighters take part in a military exercise in the countryside of Afrin in the rebel-held Aleppo province. AFP


KURDISH YPJ FIGHTER


The comments came as concerns grew over a possible Turkish assault on the Kurdish-held Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of Manbij.

Turkey has thousands of troops in northern Syria and also backs a proxy force there which has engaged in ongoing clashes with the SDF, a US-backed Kurdish-led force that Ankara sees as an extension of its domestic nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"The threat posed by the terrorist organization to our borders and our operation areas in Syria continues," the source said.

"Until the PKK/YPG terrorist organization disarms and its foreign fighters leave Syria, our preparations and measures will continue within the scope of the fight against terrorism."

Turkey accuses the YPG (the People's Protection Units), which makes up the bulk of the SDF, of being affiliated with the PKK which both Washington and Ankara consider a "terrorist" group.

Since 2016, Ankara has carried out several major operations against the SDF.

But Turkey believes Syria's new rulers and Ankara-backed insugents "will liberate the regions occupied by the terrorist organization PKK/YPG," the ministry source said.

The fighting between Turkish-backed factions and Syrian Kurdish fighers comes more than a week after insugents toppled Syria's longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad.

Washington on Tuesday said it had brokered an extension to a fragile ceasefire in Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Turkey.

But the defence ministry source insisted Ankara was not talking with the SDF, saying it was "out of the question for us to meet with any terrorist organization".

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday the Manbij truce had been "extended through the end of the week, and we will, obviously, look to see that ceasefire extended as far as possible into the future".

But the Turkish source said "every step taken by terrorist groups that pose a threat to the security of our country and Syria is followed, and preventive and destructive measures are taken".

Hollande says attacks on Rojava "unacceptable"

Former French President François Hollande said that attacks on Rojava are unacceptable, and added: "I cannot tolerate the abandonment of the Kurds. 

I am calling on France and the international coalition to protect the Syrian Kurds."


ANF
PARIS
Thursday, 19 December 2024,

International reactions to the attacks by the Turkish state and its affiliated armed groups on areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria (Rojava) continue. Former French President François Hollande, speaking during a live broadcast on Franceinfo to discuss developments in Syria, said that the attacks on Rojava are unacceptable and warned that Europe cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening in the Autonomous Administration regions.

When reminded of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's remarks suggesting that the European Union should strengthen its ties with the jihadist group HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham) and asked whether HTS could be trusted, Hollande responded: "First, they need to provide evidence. Let me issue a warning here: HTS is not the only Islamist group. There are also Turkey-backed groups and other, more democratic groups. We need to see what these groups will do in the areas they control."

‘Kurds helped us against ISIS, they cannot be abandoned’

Hollande continued by highlighting the importance of supporting Syrian Kurds, and said: "There can be no attacks against the Syrian Kurds. It was the Syrian Kurds who helped us in our fight against DAESH (ISIS). Without the Syrian Kurds, it would not have been possible to uproot DAESH from Syria. France provided them with full support. As President, I could not, in good conscience, accept the abandonment of the Syrian Kurds today. Additionally, the Syrian Kurds are currently keeping thousands of DAESH prisoners under control. If these individuals are released, sooner or later they will return to our own territories."

‘Kurds play a crucial role against terrorism’

Hollande called for the protection of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and said: "The Kurdish autonomy must be respected. What I mean by that is that the Syrian Kurds play an important role. They have been, and continue to be, absolutely vital in the fight against terrorism. However, this does not mean that they must separate from Syria. The message should be that they need to coexist within the region."

‘France and the International Coalition must protect the Kurds’

The former president insisted on France’s responsibility, saying that "France must protect the Kurds. France, along with the International Coalition established to fight terrorism, has a duty to protect them. As for Von der Leyen, Europe cannot ignore what is happening in this part of Syria. While I was in the European Council, I encountered Europeans who viewed Syria as a distant place with no impact on the European continent. But we experienced terrorist attacks, and so did they. Therefore, they need to understand that what happens in Syria can also have repercussions on our own territories."

Ousted Assad regime leaves Syria, economy in ruins

December 18, 2024 

Middle East Monitor – 

People gather to celebrate with the ‘Syrian revolution flag’ after performing the first Friday prayer following the collapse of the 61-year-long Baath regime in Syria and the end of the Assad family’s rule in Aleppo, Syria on December 13, 2024 [Kasım Rammah – Anadolu Agency]

Syria’s collapsed regime of Bashar Al-Assad left the country and its economy in ruins, turning it into a den for terrorist organisations and illegal activity, Anadolu Agency reports.

The country suffered from displacement and uncountable deaths, while its capital stock and economic activities were plagued by the civil war and international sanctions, as the country’s production, foreign trade and foreign exchange earnings plummeted. Its economic indicators, budget balances and exchange rates have also been destabilised.

Syria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have halved in 2010-2020 and the country’s dependence on imported goods soared, including staple food products, and its local industrial and agricultural production collapsed, according to various sources, such as the World Bank, the UN, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Gold Council.

Syria’s GDP is estimated to have been $37.1 billion in 2022, $39.5 billion in 2023, and $29.3 billion in 2024—a stark difference from $60 billion in 2010, before the civil war.

The country’s GDP per capita declined from $2,800 in 2010 to $2,100 in 2022 and 2023, and it is estimated to fall further towards $1,600 by the end of the year.

READ: Russia dismantles air defence system at Hmeimim air base in Syria

At the same time, the overthrown regime’s revenues fell 35 per cent year-on-year in real terms in 2023 versus 2022, and 85 per cent compared to the pre-civil-war period, before 2010.

Oil production, exports down

Meanwhile, Syria, once the largest oil exporter in the Eastern Mediterranean, lost its key position in oil production and oil exports as a result of the capture of oil-rich regions by non-regime forces. Syria’s oil production of 383,000 barrels per day before the civil war dropped to 90,000 barrels per day last year.

Syria ran a foreign trade deficit of between $7 billion to $10 billion annually from 2007 to 2011 but the country’s foreign trade declined rapidly as the unrest that started in March 2011 grew into a full-blown civil war, which resulted in international sanctions and, consequently, the country’s foreign trade volume fell from $29 billion in 2010 to $4 billion in 2023.

Syria ranked 176th in the world last year, with its exports reaching $650 million, and 163rd in the world with imports totalling $3.4 billion.

The country’s most important exports were olive oil, calcium phosphate, cotton, spices, canned vegetables, cast iron scrap, shelled fruits and wheat, while its imports were sunflower oil, wheat flour, petroleum, animal feed, rice, sugar, cement, tea, electricity and construction iron.

Syria’s rapidly growing population reached 22 million in 1990-2011 and recent estimates show the population stands at 18.5 million.

Meanwhile, the civil war in the country led to serious losses in employment, as the unemployment rate is estimated to have reached 57 per cent.

Depreciating currency, rising inflation

The Syrian pound depreciated 270 times against the US dollar in 2011-2023, which further fuelled inflation, while inflation reached 64 per cent in 2022 and 141 per cent in 2023. Inflation projections show it is estimated to be at 95.1 per cent by the end of this year and 69.4 per cent in 2025.

READ: US officials warn of ‘imminent’ threat of new Turkiye military incursion into Syria

Syria used to be one of the prominent countries in the Middle East in gold and oil reserves, with an estimated gold reserves of 25.8 tons in 2011, and although this figure is estimated to have remained relatively the same after the civil war and the fall of the regime, there is reportedly no reliable data to be found on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Meanwhile, the largest oil and gas fields in the country are occupied by the PKK/YPG terrorist organisation. The organisations operating in gas and oil-rich areas, which are concentrated in the north-east, are estimated to have extracted at least 150,000 barrels on a daily basis.

Despite the Caesar Act imposed by the US on Syria, which sanctioned Assad for war crimes against Syrians under the first Trump administration, the PKK/YPG is reported to have sold most of its crude and processed oil to the regime, and its annual income from the oil sold to the Assad regime and Northern Iraq is estimated to have exceeded $1.2 billion.

Prior to the civil war, Syria was one of the most dynamic markets in the Middle East and the steps towards the transition to a free market economy and rising oil reserves triggered rapid growth in the country’s economy, creating business opportunities for foreign firms and investments, as the booming oil and gas industry and infrastructure projects made Syria an attractive market, though the conflict, starting in 2011, put a pause to foreign direct investments.

Syria has 11 safe zones, and in these designated zones, foreigners can establish companies and projects in line with incentives and five-year tax exemptions.

Agriculture badly hit

However, the decline in all sectors of Syria also hit its agriculture, as the cultivated land in the country fell 25 per cent, versus the pre-civil-war period. The World Bank reported that the access of farmers to seeds, fertilisers, fuel and machinery spare parts, which are needed to grow crops, became increasingly more difficult, resulting in diminishing agricultural production.

Syria became a major producer and seller of the highly addictive Captagon drug, a brand name for the prohibited psycho-stimulant fenethylline, reportedly with the influence of the PKK/YPG. The World Bank reported that the drug business is estimated to have yielded a revenue of up to $5.6 billion in 2020-2023, while those involved in the Captagon sales are said to have profited $1.8 billion per year.

GUST ARBITER

Study: 80,000 Syrians work in Germany in professions lacking specialised personnel

December 18, 2024 

Middle East Monitor

In response to Al-Jolani’s call, Syrian people take to the streets in celebration in Hanover, Germany, on December 14, 2024 [Somaya Abdelrahman/Anadolu Agency]

The results of a study indicated that the return of Syrian refugees living in Germany to their homeland could negatively affect the German economy and increase the gap in the shortage of skilled workers.

A study issued by the German Economic Institute (IW) showed that about 80,000 Syrians in Germany work in professions that suffer from a shortage of skilled workers.

For example, the number of Syrians working as technicians in the car mechanic sector has recently reached more than 4,000.

The Institute reported that about 7 out of 10 vacant positions in the field of automotive technology cannot be filled with specialists possessing the appropriate qualifications.

Many Syrians also work in other professions that suffer from a shortage of workers. Statistics indicate that about 2,470 Syrians work in the field of dentistry with contracts subject to compulsory social security; 2,260 Syrians work in the field of childcare and education; 2,160 in the field of nursing and health care; 2,100 in climate-related jobs in the field of electrical engineering and 1,570 Syrians work in the field of plumbing, heating and air-conditioning.

Fabian Semsarha, an economist at the IW and author of the study, stated that “Syrian workers are important to the German labour market, as they contribute significantly to alleviating the shortage of specialised personnel in Germany.” The study also indicates that many Syrians work in other professions, such as doctors, with the number of Syrian doctors working in Germany estimated at around 5,300. The study confirmed that their return to their homeland could worsen the shortage of personnel and lead to problems in providing health care.

Semsarha believes that the contribution by Syrian personnel is often underestimated in the debate about the possibility of their return.

“In many professions, it may become difficult to fill positions if these people leave the country,” he said, calling on politicians to provide safe residence opportunities for working Syrians.

According to the Federal Employment Agency, there were an average of 213,500 people of Syrian origin working in jobs covered by social insurance in Germany between June 2023 and May 2024.

Of the total number, 86,000 are employed in support jobs, while 127,000 are employed in skilled jobs that require vocational training or university studies. There are also around 155,000 Syrians who have registered as unemployed, making it possible for them to immediately enter the labour market.

A Christmas miracle in Syria

(RNS) — Assad was the King Herod of our time. Like Herod, he slaughtered the innocent.

Syrians gather during a celebratory demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar al-Assad's ouster, in Damascus' central square, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Thomas Reese
December 16, 2024

(RNS) — At a time when most of the international news is full of gloom and doom, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria is a happy surprise, almost a Christmas miracle. Bashar al-Assad, the last scion of the family that ruled Syria for 50 years through fear and terror, is gone.

Assad was a King Herod of our time. He arrested, tortured and killed thousands of Syrians and forced millions more into exile. He used barrel bombs and chemical weapons against his own people. Cities harboring opponents to his regime were leveled with no regard for the cost in civilian deaths, children or adults. Nowhere was safe, not churches, not hospitals. Like Herod, he slaughtered the innocent.

Assad was aided and abetted by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon. The West imposed economic sanctions to try to squeeze him out of power, but in latter years was more concerned about quashing the Islamic State group and al-Qaida than the plight of the Syrian people under Assad. American troops are still in Syria to attack Islamic State group fighters. We also support the Kurds in Syria, who have been one of our most loyal and effective allies.

RELATED: Despair in the Holy Land

Meanwhile, Western intelligence and the media failed to see how weak the Assad regime had become. Its economy was in shambles. Its allies were occupied elsewhere: Russia in Ukraine, Iran and Hezbollah with Israel. Its soldiers were poorly paid and unwilling to die for a regime that did nothing for them. In hindsight, the fault lines were evident.

The fall of Assad has rearranged the Middle Eastern chessboard. Turkey, which backed the rebels, will have more influence in Syria and elsewhere. Russia is confined to a narrow strip on the coast of Syria and may soon have to evacuate the country, where they are not welcome.

Iran has lost its most strategic ally in the Middle East. Without a land route through Syria, Iran cannot resupply Hezbollah, which is already crippled because of its war with Israel. With a severely weakened Hezbollah and Syrian refugees departing for home, the politics of Lebanon will now change. Iraq, too, could be safer if Syria is no longer a safe zone for terrorists.

But all is not well in Syria. Soldiers of its new rulers, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, have liberated Damascus, Aleppo and Hama, but they do not control the whole country. Numerous rebel groups will compete for dominance, including pockets of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Bringing the country together will not be easy.

The more radical groups will not lay down their arms. The Kurds, who opposed Assad, fear the Sunni Arab majority that has now taken over the country. The Assads belonged to a minority Shia sect called the Alawites. They and other minority groups that allied themselves with Assad also now fear for the future.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is labeled a terrorist group by the United States and other Western countries. Its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, has a U.S. bounty of $10 million on his head. In the past, he opposed the Islamic State group’s attempts to take over his forces. He was allied with Al-Qaida but broke with the group in 2016. He is focused on Syria not on a global jihad.

According to The New York Times, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is described as pragmatic and disciplined by those who have studied it or interacted with it in Idlib Province, the territory it controlled in northern Syria prior to the fall of Assad.

So far, al-Julani has said and done all the right things. He has disarmed Syrian soldiers and sent them home. He has told civil servants to stay at their jobs and told his supporters not to take revenge on Assad supporters. All religious and ethnic groups are to be left in peace. Looting will not be tolerated. He has told his soldiers not to hassle women about their clothing.

It is as if he learned from the mistakes the U.S. made after conquering Iraq.

On the other hand, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has jailed its critics in Idlib. And Facebook and other social media are full of threats against groups allied with Assad, especially the Alawites.

What should the United States and Western governments do in response to the Syrian revolution?

First, it should immediately suspend the $10 million bounty on al-Julani. Nothing could be more disastrous for American foreign policy in the Middle East than an American-backed assassination of the liberator of Syria.

Second, the U.S. should suspend the classification of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham as a terrorist group as long as they do not carry out terrorist activities in the future. It can always be reclassified as a terrorist group in the future if needed.

Third, the United States should welcome the positive words coming out of Damascus and lift economic sanctions if their actions continue to be consistent with what the new rulers are saying. International aid organizations should be allowed to help the Syrian people immediately.

Fourth, we should do all we can to facilitate the safe return of refugees to Syria. Many of these refugees have the skills needed to rebuild Syrian society and its economy.

Most importantly, we should not try to micromanage the future of Syria. We want to ensure the protection of Christians, Kurds and other minority groups, but Syria is unlikely to become a Western-style democracy. We should talk with everyone and be willing to facilitate dialogue but not choose sides.

If Syria maintains peace with its neighbors (including Israel) and rejects global jihad, we should see the new Syria as a potential ally, not an enemy. If it is willing to give up or destroy its chemical weapons, we should be happy to help it root out Al-Qaida and the Islamic State group from Syria with intelligence and logistics, but not boots on the ground.

The new Syria provides hope but no guarantees. It may all go up in flames if internal factions war with each other or the victors take vengeance on the defeated. The United States should do what it can to encourage peace and reconciliation, but should not pour gasoline on the fire by taking sides.

Anti-Genocide Activists Target Israeli Drone Manufacturer in Brooklyn


Activists hope to evict Easy Aerial from its headquarters for providing drones and software to the Israeli military.

By Arvind Dilawar , 

Truthout

December 19, 2024

Easy Aerial / Truthout

On December 11, activists opposing the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip picketed the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City for the fifth time since September. The activists, collectively known as Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard (DBNY), seek to pressure the manufacturing complex’s board of directors to evict two tenants connected to the Israeli military: Crye Precision, which produces camouflage and tactical gear, and Easy Aerial, which produces drones and related software.

Easy Aerial has come under pressure from activists following a report from the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights in November, which not only describes the Israeli assault on Gaza as “consistent with the characteristics of genocide,” but specifically highlights “the use by Israel of artificial intelligence in directing its military campaign.” The report explicitly points out the complicity of businesses that provide such technology.

Since October 2023, the Israeli genocide in Gaza has killed at least 44,000 Palestinians, including 17,000 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health as cited by Al Jazeera. The true toll of the genocide, obscured by the ongoing Israeli attacks and blockade, as well as a propaganda campaign by Israel, may top 330,000 deaths by the end of the year, according to estimates published in The Guardian.

As the U.S. government continues to provide Israel with both weapons and diplomatic cover — most recently, by voting against a UN resolution demanding a ceasefire, coincidentally also on December 11 — activists like DBNY see collective direct action as their best means of curbing the violence. They also describe their organizing as a direct response to solidarity requests from Palestinian labor unions urging workers around the world to halt the flow of weapons to Israel.
“Instrumental to Maintaining and Optimizing Israel’s Military Occupation”

Easy Aerial manufactures autonomous aerial and ground drones, and develops related software, with headquarters in Brooklyn and additional offices in Gan HaShomron, Israel. The company was founded in the United States in 2014 and had one of its early forays into the Israeli market in 2019, when it and an Israeli drone developer, Blue White Robotics, received a grant from the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation, a joint Israeli-U.S. governmental initiative funding cooperation between the private sectors of both countries. The grant was meant to further development of drone software for “homeland security” applications, but the project never went to market due to a lack of subsequent funding and competition from other developers, according to Ivan Stamatovski, co-founder of Easy Aerial.


Israel Has Built an Economy Fueled by Genocide at Home and Abroad
With the help of the US, Israel exports instruments of oppression abroad, while testing them against Palestinians.By Ciudong Ng , Truthout September 1, 2024

Nevertheless, Easy Aerial has been connected to the Israeli military since at least 2021, when the company advertised its products being used to monitor the Israeli border. In addition, Easy Aerial has provided drone-related software to Elbit Systems, the largest weapons developer for the Israeli military, since at least 2022, according to a social media post from Easy Aerial’s other co-founder, Ido Gur.

Stamatovski describes the company’s earlier efforts as “paid research,” but says that the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, are what really introduced Easy Aerial’s products into the field.

“What we make is ‘tethered drones’ that can stay in the air for multiple hours,” Stamatovski told Truthout. “Wherever you place them, they can provide overwatch and perimeter security. And this is what was an immediate need after October 7.”

Stamatovski acknowledges the demonstrations organized by DBNY, but writes them off as misguided, as he characterizes Easy Aerial’s drones as defensive rather than offensive. He also says the UN’s recent warnings to businesses providing technology to the Israeli military doesn’t apply to Easy Aerial for the same reason.

But legal advocates reject such distinctions between offensive and defensive technology as overly simplistic.

“New technologies, such as surveillance drones, have been instrumental to maintaining and optimizing Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian territories and entrenching its system of apartheid, segregation, land grab and population control,” Marwa Fatafta of Access Now, which advocates for human rights in technology, told Truthout. “The argument that these surveillance drones are not used for military purposes is ludicrous, to say the least.”

Fatafta points out that companies like Easy Aerial presumably have little control over whether their products are deployed within the internationally recognized boundaries of Israel or in the Palestinian territories — which would make such companies complicit in the occupation. Furthermore, surveillance is an intrinsic aspect of both traditional warfare and AI-directed warfare, in which a vast amount of data, like surveillance footage, is used in the selection of targets.

Even if Easy Aerial claims ignorance of these facts, the company is not absolved of its responsibility, according to Fatafta. In addition to the aforementioned UN report implicating businesses that provide technology to the Israeli military, the International Court of Justice issued an opinion in July reiterating the illegality of Israel’s occupation, and obligating states — and, by extension, businesses therein — “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
“They Work Alongside War Criminals”

Since September, DBNY has been taking the fight to Easy Aerial’s doorstep. Each week, activists with the group distribute flyers to the more than 11,000 people who work for over 450 businesses in the 300-acre complex, including art studios, food vendors and entertainment companies. The flyers in English and Spanish provide background on Easy Aerial, Crye Precision and the Brooklyn Navy Yard itself, which was formerly a shipbuilding facility for the U.S. Navy, but today is owned by New York’s municipal government and managed by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation as an industrial park. In addition to the weekly flyering, DBNY has organized demonstrations to coincide with the corporation’s board meetings and public events. Activists have also been directly petitioning the corporation’s executives, board members and staff, demanding they evict Easy Aerial and Crye Precision from the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

While the response from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation to DBNY has been official silence paired with harassment from hired security — including drone surveillance — the response from workers has been “overwhelmingly positive,” according to the activists.

“Most of them have been shocked and disgusted to learn that they work alongside war criminals,” a spokesperson for DBNY, who declined to share their name due to the persecution of activists in the United States, told Truthout. “Despite the silence and escalating repression from Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, our movement is only getting stronger, with the increasing participation of local workers and community members.”

The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Truthout.

Similarly, DBNY has received no response from Easy Aerial or Crye Precision, which supplies camouflage to the Israeli military via a private Israeli manufacturer, Agilite.

Crucial to DBNY’s messaging to the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s workers and neighbors is the fact that companies like Easy Aerial and Crye Precision are not only profiting from the Israeli genocide in Gaza, but from the increasingly militarized policing of people in the United States as well. As the activists’ flyers underscore, in addition to the Israeli military, Easy Aerial and Crye Precision supply the U.S. military, border patrol and even the New York City Police Department, which announced a partnership with Easy Aerial in 2022.

Ultimately, DBNY hopes to replicate the recent successes of other activists targeting weapons manufacturers supplying the Israeli military. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Boston, for example, was able to force the closure of Elbit Systems’s offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in August, following a year of demonstrations, as reported by Cambridge Day.

According to DBNY, until the Brooklyn Navy Yard ceases to host businesses trading in “blood money” from targeting people in Gaza and the United States alike, all New Yorkers and visitors should boycott the complex. To that end, the activists have created a petition demanding the eviction of Easy Aerial and Crye Precision, as well as pledging a boycott until that time.

“We also urge all tenants and workers to take autonomous actions at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and by joining our campaign to disrupt, strike and boycott all genocide profiteers,” said the DBNY spokesperson. “Through sustained collective action, we will force Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation to terminate their contracts with Easy Aerial and Crye Precision, and cut ties with the military-industrial complex.”

“We will continue to fight until Crye Precision and Easy Aerial are expelled from the Brooklyn Navy Yard,” they continued. “And we will continue to resist until all war criminals are out of Brooklyn.”

This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license.


Arvind Dilawar is an independent journalist. His articles, interviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere. Find him online at: adilawar.com

Doctors Without Borders Says Israel's Assault on Gaza Bears 'Clear Signs of Ethnic Cleansing'

"People in Gaza are struggling to survive apocalyptic conditions, but nowhere is safe, no one is spared, and there is no exit from this shattered enclave," said the humanitarian group's secretary-general.


Palestinian children gather to receive bread in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, Gaza on December 19, 2024.
(Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Dec 19, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

The international humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières published a report Thursday detailing how the Israeli military has systematically destroyed conditions of life in the Gaza Strip over the past 14 months by dismantling the enclave's healthcare system, forcibly displacing most of the population, choking off humanitarian aid, and reducing much of the territory to rubble.

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, noted in its 34-page report that its staffers have witnessed and in some cases been the victims of large-scale "violence unleashed by Israeli forces," which has "caused physical and mental damage on a scale that would overwhelm any functioning health system, let alone one already decimated by a crushing offensive and a 17-year-long blockade."

While MSF secretary-general Christopher Lockyear stressed that the group doesn't "have legal authority to establish intentionality" on the part of the Israeli military, "the signs of ethnic cleansing and the ongoing devastation—including mass killings, severe physical and mental health injuries, forced displacement, and impossible conditions of life for Palestinians under siege and bombardment—are undeniable."

"People in Gaza are struggling to survive apocalyptic conditions, but nowhere is safe, no one is spared, and there is no exit from this shattered enclave," said Lockyear, who visited Gaza earlier this year. "The recent military offensive in the north is a stark illustration of the brutal war the Israeli forces are waging on Gaza, and we are seeing clear signs of ethnic cleansing as Palestinians are forcibly displaced, trapped, and bombed."

"What our medical teams have witnessed on the ground throughout this conflict," he added, "is consistent with the descriptions provided by an increasing number of legal experts and organizations concluding that genocide is taking place in Gaza."

Even if Israel's assault ended today, MSF said, "its long-term impacts would be unprecedented, given the scale of the destruction and the extraordinary challenges of providing healthcare across the strip."

"The cumulative physical toll and mental trauma caused by the extreme violence, loss of family members and homes, repeated forced displacement, and inhumane living conditions will scar generations," the group added.



Medics care for patients at a clinic set up by Doctors Without Borders in Rafah, Gaza on April 24, 2024. (Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images)



MSF's report, titled Gaza: Life in a Death Trap, finds that Israel's response to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack "provoked the collapse of Gaza's already-vulnerable healthcare system" and compromised its ability to provide humanitarian assistance with attacks on aid workers.

Since October 2023, at least eight MSF workers and "many of their family members" have been killed in Gaza, the group said Thursday.


"The pattern of attacks outlined above coupled with its foreseeable consequences and the denial of access to medical care and humanitarian assistance... effectively demonstrate Israeli forces waging a 'war on the health of Gazans' that has left the healthcare system in shreds," the new report states.

The report quotes MSF staffers relaying their horrifying experiences working in Gaza's barely functional hospitals and clinics without adequate supplies to treat the massive influx of Israeli airstrike victims.

"There are wounded lying everywhere," Karin Huster, medical referent for MSF in Gaza, said in June. "Bodies are being carried out in plastic bags, the smell of blood is unbearable. Hundreds of people are in the hospital waiting for news of their loved ones injured in the bombardments."

"Nothing justifies what I saw today," Huster added. "These children, the three-month-old baby, the 7-year-old, the 12-year-old who died, the 25-year-old man, the 78-year-old woman, all with horrific injuries: Why did they deserve this?"

MSF's report contributes to a rapidly growing body of research and analysis accusing the Israeli government of perpetrating genocide and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.

Human Rights Watch said Thursday that "Israeli authorities have deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the population in Gaza by intentionally depriving Palestinian civilians there of adequate access to water, most likely resulting in thousands of deaths."

"In doing so," HRW added, "Israeli authorities are responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide."

Doctors Without Borders said Thursday that "an immediate and sustained cease-fire must be implemented" and the "complete destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza and all things that make up the very fabric of society must stop."

Additionally, the group urged Israel's allies to end their unconditional support for the assault on Gaza and demanded an independent investigation into attacks on humanitarian workers.

"Israeli authorities continue to actively block MSF and other humanitarian organizations from providing lifesaving assistance to people trapped under siege and bombardment," the group said. "States must leverage their influence to alleviate the suffering of people and enable a massive scale-up of humanitarian assistance across the Gaza Strip."

UPDATED

Teamsters Union Launches 'Largest Strike Against Amazon in US History'

"We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win," said one Amazon warehouse worker.

Workers picket in front of an Amazon Logistic Station on December 19, 2024 in Skokie Illinois. Workers employed by companies contracted by Amazon and represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters went on strike today at seven Amazon facilities across the United States.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Jake Johnson

Eloise Goldsmith
Dec 19, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

The Teamsters launched what the union described as "the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history" on Thursday morning to protest the e-commerce behemoth's unlawful refusal to bargain with organized drivers and warehouse workers across the country.

Workers in New York City, Atlanta, San Francisco, and other locations are expected to participate in Thursday's strike, with more facilities prepared to join if Amazon's management doesn't agree to negotiate contracts with unionized employees.

The union said Wednesday that Teamsters locals are also "putting up primary picket lines at hundreds of Amazon Fulfillment Centers nationwide."

"Amazon warehouse workers and drivers without collective bargaining agreements have the legal right to honor these picket lines by withholding their labor," the Teamsters said.

Sean O'Brien, the union's president, said in a statement late Wednesday that "if your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed." The Teamsters had given Amazon until December 15 to agree to contract talks.

"We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it," said O'Brien. "These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they've pushed workers to the limit and now they're paying the price. This strike is on them."

The Teamsters union represents roughly 10,000 workers at 10 facilities across the U.S., at least seven of which are taking part in Thursday's walkout.

Leah Pensler, a warehouse worker at Amazon's DCK6 facility in San Francisco, said that "what we're doing is historic."

"We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win," Pensler added.



(Photo: Eloise Goldsmith/Common Dreams)

Ali Mohammed, who works for an Amazon Delivery Service Partner, told Common Dreams on the picket line at the DBK4 facility in Queens that drivers usually work 10-hour shifts, sometimes more, to handle the large number of packages they receive daily. Mohammed said he drives Uber on the side to make ends meet.

"I'm hoping they can sit down and, you know, strike up a conversation at least… and make a deal," Mohammed said, adding that Amazon should "look out for their workers a lot more instead of just thinking of their own pockets."

Amazon, which has a market cap of over $2 trillion and spends big on anti-union consultants, insists it doesn't have a legal obligation to bargain with the Teamsters and has accused the union of attempting to "coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them."

But the National Labor Relations Board has said Amazon is a joint employer of some of its delivery drivers, meaning the company must bargain with workers who have joined the Teamsters.

"Amazon is one of the biggest, richest corporations in the world," said Gabriel Irizarry, a driver at DIL7 in Skokie, Illinois. "They talk a big game about taking care of their workers, but when it comes down to it, Amazon does not respect us and our right to negotiate for better working conditions and wages. We can't even afford to pay our bills."

Yuli Lema, a driver for a different Amazon Delivery Service Partner, told Common Dreams that her pay is "not sufficient" and she simply wants Amazon to "sit down with the union and negotiate."

"Why [don't] they want to negotiate with us?" Lema asked.

The strike comes months after the Amazon Labor Union, which successfully organized warehouse workers in Staten Island in 2022, voted to formally affiliate with the Teamsters in an effort to finally secure a contract. The JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island is among the facilities that have voted to authorize strikes.

"I've seen the Teamsters win big battles," said Dia Ortiz, a worker at DBK4 in New York. "We're ready to do what it takes to win this one."

Rich Pawlikowski, a United Parcel Service driver who joined Amazon workers on the picket line in Queens on Thursday morning, told Common Dreams that "we're all standing together."

"They're not looking to get rich," Pawlikowski said of striking Amazon workers. "They just want a living wage. You know, New York's expensive. We just want everybody [to have] enough to pay their rents, to pay their bills, to eat, to put a roof over their heads, and for their families to have a decent life."

Amazon workers in US strike days before Christmas

By AFP
December 19, 2024

Workers at several Amazon facilities from southern California to New York are picketing - Copyright AFP/File Benoit PEYRUCQ

Thousands of workers at Amazon facilities across the United States went on strike Thursday, the Teamsters Union said, halting work at the height of the busy holiday gift-giving season.

The union, which says it represents some 10,000 workers at the massive online retailer’s facilities around the country, called the action the “largest strike against Amazon in US history.”

Workers will picket at facilities in New York, Atlanta, southern California, San Francisco and Illinois, with other Amazon Teamsters “prepared to join them,” the union said in a statement.

“The nationwide action follows Amazon’s repeated refusal to follow the law and bargain with the thousands of Amazon workers who organized with the Teamsters,” it said.

Less than a week before the Christmas holiday, the strike threatens a significant disruption of deliveries of Amazon orders as Americans rush to send last-minute gifts.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien said in the statement.

“We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it.”

Workers at a New York facility became the first Amazon employees to unionize in April 2022, with several other sites since following suit.

Originally an independent union, the Amazon workers voted in June to affiliate with the Teamsters.

Amazon has repeatedly sought to block the unionization efforts, with legal proceedings still ongoing.

The Teamsters represents only a tiny fraction of the 1.5 million employees at Amazon, the nation’s second largest private employer after Walmart.

The union has some 1.3 million members nationwide in sectors ranging from freight delivery to cafeteria employees.

In the 2024 presidential election, the union chose not to endorse either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, the first time it did not back the Democratic nominee since 2000

'They Are Done With the Disrespect': Atlanta Amazon Drivers Join Strike Threat

Teamsters Union launches 'largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history'

Jake Johnson,

 Common Dreams
December 19, 2024 

Sean O'Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, speaks outside of a UPS Distribution Center in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., July 14, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The Teamsters launched what the union described as "the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history" on Thursday morning to protest the e-commerce behemoth's unlawful refusal to bargain with organized drivers and warehouse workers across the country.

Workers in New York City, Atlanta, San Francisco, and other locations are expected to participate in Thursday's strike, with more facilities prepared to join if Amazon's management doesn't agree to negotiate contracts with unionized employees.

The union said Wednesday that Teamsters locals are also "putting up primary picket lines at hundreds of Amazon Fulfillment Centers nationwide."

"Amazon warehouse workers and drivers without collective bargaining agreements have the legal right to honor these picket lines by withholding their labor," the Teamsters said.

Sean O'Brien, the union's president, said in a statement late Wednesday that "if your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed." The Teamsters had given Amazon until December 15 to agree to contract talks.

"We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it," said O'Brien. "These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they've pushed workers to the limit and now they're paying the price. This strike is on them."

The Teamsters union represents roughly 10,000 workers at 10 facilities across the U.S., at least seven of which are taking part in Thursday's walkout.

Leah Pensler, a warehouse worker at Amazon's DCK6 facility in San Francisco, said that "what we're doing is historic."

"We are fighting against a vicious union-busting campaign, and we are going to win," Pensler added.



Amazon, which has a market cap of over $2 trillion and spends big on anti-union consultants, insists it doesn't have a legal obligation to bargain with the Teamsters and has accused the union of attempting to "coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them."

But the National Labor Relations Board has said Amazon is a joint employer of its delivery drivers, meaning the company must bargain with workers who have joined the Teamsters.

"Amazon is one of the biggest, richest corporations in the world," said Gabriel Irizarry, a driver at DIL7 in Skokie, Illinois. "They talk a big game about taking care of their workers, but when it comes down to it, Amazon does not respect us and our right to negotiate for better working conditions and wages. We can't even afford to pay our bills."

The strike comes months after the Amazon Labor Union, which successfully organized warehouse workers in Staten Island in 2022, voted to formally affiliate with the Teamsters in an effort to finally secure a contract. The JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island is among the facilities that have voted to authorize strikes.

"I've seen the Teamsters win big battles," said Dia Ortiz, a worker at DBK4 in New York. "We're ready to do what it takes to win this one."

Montana Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Youth in Historic Climate Case


The ruling is a victory “for every young person whose future is threatened by climate change,” one petitioner said.

By Chris Walker , 

Truthout

PublishedDecember 19, 2024

On Wednesday, the Montana State Supreme Court ruled to keep intact a lower court’s decision from last year, which found that a law banning state lawmakers from considering greenhouse gas emissions when permitting fossil fuel projects was unconstitutional.

The lower court ruling was made in late 2023, after 16 young petitioners sued the state on the grounds that a state law allowing such permits to be considered violated the Montana constitution’s provision on ensuring a “clean and healthy environment…for present and future generations.” Republican lawmakers sued to have that order rejected, and in July, the state Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the matter.

In a 6-1 decision, the court found that the original ruling was sound, and that the petitioners’ rights had been violated. Chief Justice Mike McGrath authored the opinion of the court, stating that the “right to a clean and healthful environment and environmental life support system includes a stable climate system.”

Notably, within the first trial in 2023, the state refused to present any climate science whatsoever in favor of keeping the Montana law in place.

Rikki Held, one of the young petitioners in the case, lauded the action from the state Supreme Court.

In Major First, Judge Rules in Favor of Montana Youth Suing Over Climate Crisis
A judge has ruled that officials’ failure to address the climate crisis violated constitutional rights. By Sharon Zhang , Truthout August 15, 2023

“This ruling is a victory not just for us, but for every young person whose future is threatened by climate change,” Held said.

Nate Bellinger, a lawyer with Our Children’s Trust, one of the organizations that represented the youth, also celebrated the case’s outcome. The ruling “affirmed the constitutional rights of youth to a safe and livable climate,” Bellinger said.

While the ruling is a huge win for young people and climate advocates, it does not require the state to take proactive steps to address the crisis, such as passing legislation to mitigate the effects of climate change. Still, the Montana Supreme Court’s decision means that the permitting process must take into consideration how a particular project may contribute to the rise in greenhouse gases, providing a mechanism for residents to sue if the state ignores the standard.

While its numbers have lessened somewhat over the past few years, Montana’s output of carbon emissions has more than doubled since 1970. Only 14 states in the U.S. have seen emission rates go down during that time frame, while the remaining 36 states have seen emissions numbers increase.

This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license.

Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, and is based out of Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on the American people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker.

Global warming can’t be ignored, Montana’s top court says, upholding landmark climate case



Youth plaintiffs in the Held v. Montana climate case leave the Montana Supreme Court, on July 10, 2024, in Helena, Mont. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)

Dale Schowengerdt, representing Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and state environmental agencies, argues before the Montana Supreme Court, on July 10, 2024, in Helena, Mont., in the youth climate lawsuit Held v. Montana. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)

BY AMY BETH HANSON
 December 18, 2024

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a landmark climate ruling that said the state was violating residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment by permitting oil, gas and coal projects without regard for global warming.

The justices, in a 6-1 ruling, rejected the state’s argument that greenhouse gases released from Montana fossil fuel projects are minuscule on a global scale and reducing them would have no effect on climate change, likening it to asking: “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?”

The plaintiffs can enforce their environmental rights “without requiring everyone else to stop jumping off bridges or adding fuel to the fire,” Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote for the majority. “Otherwise the right to a clean and healthful environment is meaningless.”

Only a few other states, including Hawaii, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York, have similar environmental protections enshrined in their constitutions.

The lawsuit filed in 2020 by 16 Montanans —who are now ages 7 to 23 — was considered a breakthrough in attempts by young environmentalists and their attorneys to use the courts to leverage action on climate change.

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“This ruling is a victory not just for us, but for every young person whose future is threatened by climate change,” lead plaintiff Rikki Held said in a statement Wednesday.

During the 2023 trial in state District Court, the young plaintiffs described how climate change profoundly affects their lives: worsening wildfires foul the air they breathe, while drought and decreased snowpack deplete rivers that sustain farming, fish, wildlife and recreation and affect Native traditions.

Going forward, Montana must “carefully assess the greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts of all future fossil fuel permits,” said Melissa Hornbein, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center and attorney for the plaintiffs.

Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte said the state was still reviewing the decision, but warned of “perpetual lawsuits that will waste taxpayer dollars and drive up energy bills for hardworking Montanans.”

“This decision does nothing more than declare open season on Montana’s all-of-the-above approach to energy,” he said, which promotes using both fossil fuels and renewables.

A day earlier, Gianforte held meetings on how the state can increase energy production, which involved energy suppliers, large energy consumers, public utility companies, transmission stakeholders and legislators.

Incoming Senate President Matt Regier and House Speaker Brandon Ler, both Republicans, joined Gianforte in alleging the justices were overstepping their authority and had strayed into making policy.

“Judicial reform was already a top priority for Republican lawmakers,” Regier and Ler said, warning the justices to “buckle up.”

Montana courts have blocked or overturned numerous laws passed by Republicans in the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions as being unconstitutional, including laws to limit access to abortion.

In seeking to overturn the District Court ruling, the state had argued the plaintiffs should be required to challenge individual fossil fuel development permits as they’re issued — which would have involved trying to challenge even smaller amounts of emissions.

Carbon dioxide, which is released when fossil fuels are burned, traps heat in the atmosphere and is largely responsible for the warming of the climate. June brought record warm global temperatures for the 13th straight month, according to European climate service Copernicus. The streak ended in July.

Montana’s Constitution requires agencies to “maintain and improve” a clean environment. A law signed by Gianforte last year said environmental reviews may not consider climate impacts unless the federal government makes carbon dioxide a regulated pollutant. The Montana Supreme Court’s ruling found that law to be unconstitutional.

Democracy Now!

Alex Gibney on 'The Bibi Files,' Netanyahu’s corruption case and how endless war keeps him in power

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a hearing in his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv on December 10, 2024. 

MENAHEM KAHANA/Pool via REUTERS

Amy Goodman

and

December 18, 2024

As the official death toll in Gaza tops 45,000 and Israel’s wars throughout the Middle East continue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in court for a long-awaited corruption trial, making him the country’s first sitting leader to face criminal charges. He is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. For more on this extraordinary case, we speak with acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney, whose latest documentary The Bibi Files features leaked behind-the-scenes footage of police interrogations of Netanyahu, his wife and those accused of bribing him.

The film has been banned in Israel, and Netanyahu even tried unsuccessfully to stop it from screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, but Gibney says it is being widely shared inside Israel through unofficial channels. “Strictly speaking, this is a film about corruption,” Gibney tells Democracy Now! “It starts with petty corruption — being bribed with gifts and cigars, champagne, jewelry — but then the ultimate corruption is how he’s tried to elude a reckoning for his misdeeds, and in so doing, he wraps himself in the mantle of prime minister and then wages endless war.”




This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

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

The official death toll in Gaza has topped 45,000. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting a different battle inside Israeli courts. The first sitting Israeli prime minister to face criminal charges, he’s finally taking the stand at his long-running corruption trial. The case has gone on for years. He’s charged with fraud, breach of trust, accepting bribes in three separate cases.

We turn now to an extraordinary new documentary that offers an in-depth look into the charges against Netanyahu, featuring leaked footage of police interrogations of Netanyahu himself, his wife Sara and those accused of bribing him. This is the trailer to The Bibi Files.
INTERROGATOR: [translated] Our first question for you is whether you or any of your family members have received any gifts or favors from wealthy businessmen in the last decade.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] This is preposterous and insane. You’re trying to incriminate the prime minister on nonsense.


RAVIV DRUCKER: In this case, the facts are really simple. The prime minister and his wife are getting gifts.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] It’s a total lie!

RAVIV DRUCKER: And on the other side, Netanyahu did favors.

BENEFACTOR: [translated] We must find a way to reward him.


INTERROGATOR: [translated] What do you need to reward the prime minister for?

NIMROD NOVIK: Government officials are not allowed to take gifts. This is corruption.

RAVIV DRUCKER: The police, they investigated everybody.

BENEFACTOR: [translated] If this comes out, I’m dead.


INTERROGATOR: What did you get?

SARA NETANYAHU: Champagne and cigars. [translated] Necklaces, rings.

NIR HEFETZ: Sara Netanyahu is very important. Both of them never surrendered, never compromised.

SARA NETANYAHU: [translated] My husband is the strongest prime minister we’ve ever had.


NIR HEFETZ: They start to believe that they are untouchable.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] Without shame! Saying things that didn’t happen!

AMI AYALON: After the catastrophe of the 7th of October, the war became another instrument to stay in power.

NIMROD NOVIK: When people serve for too long, it gets into their head.

RAVIV DRUCKER: The indictment made him dependent on the extreme right in Israel. He is now captive to their whims.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] This is nonsense.

RAVIV DRUCKER: Put all Israel in turmoil.

NIMROD NOVIK: Netanyahu is the architect of chaos.

AMI AYALON: He survived in a state of war. He survived in a state of instability. He’s not a crackpot. He tried to kill the system. Nobody is above the law.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: [translated] Do you remember that line from The Godfather? [in English] “Keep your friends close. Keep your enemies closer.”


AMY GOODMAN: That’s the trailer for The Bibi Files, leaked secret footage of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The new documentary The Bibi Files is directed by Alexis Bloom and produced by Alex Gibney. The Bibi Files cannot be legally distributed in Israel due to privacy laws.

For more, we’re joined by filmmaker Alex Gibney. In 2008, he won an Oscar for his film Taxi to the Dark Side about an Afghan man who was tortured in prison at Bagram.

Thanks so much for being with us again, Alex. I went to see this film the other night at the theater. This is powerful. Explain why in this trailer we can’t see Netanyahu’s face in these deposition tapes. And how did you get these deposition tapes, when he, his wife, his son Yair and others are being questioned by police?

ALEX GIBNEY: OK, I’ll answer the — hi, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: Hi.

ALEX GIBNEY: I’ll answer the questions in reverse. I was leaked these tapes. They’re interrogation videotapes done by the police that were a precursor to the indictment of Netanyahu on corruption charges. And in the tapes, you can see Netanyahu, his wife Sara, his son Yair and many of the people who attempted to bribe Netanyahu. They were — I thought they were explosive and very important. This, by the way, was before 10/7 or the war on Gaza. This when there was a big crisis over the judicial reform attempts by Netanyahu, which, of course, were done in part so he could elude any consequence from, you know, impending bribery charges.

But the key thing to understand about distribution in Israel is, when I got these leaked tapes, I made a promise to the source that I would not distribute the film in Israel, because the source could go to prison. There are privacy laws that make it mandatory that if you are photographed as part of an official proceeding — i.e. a police interrogation — you can’t cause those videotapes to be released, so — unless you get the permission of Netanyahu and Sara, etc., which wasn’t going to happen. So, anyway, that is the occasion of why these things can’t be — this film can’t be released and why we had to, you know, black-bar the trailer in order so that the trailer wouldn’t be freely visible — I couldn’t cause the trailer to be freely visible in Israel. Though I should say that it’s being widely pirated there.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Netanyahu is going after you?

ALEX GIBNEY: Netanyahu, as soon as it was announced that we were going to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, he went to an Israeli court and tried to stop the screening in Toronto. Now, how that was going to happen, I don’t know. But in any event, it was denied. But he certainly tried to stop us. And I understand the Netanyahu administration, through a number of mechanisms, are trying very hard to go after a guy named Raviv Drucker, who’s one of the producers of the film and is a longtime Israeli journalist who has an expertise in this kind of corruption, has been the bane of a number of prime ministers, but particularly Netanyahu.

AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to another clip from The Bibi Files. It begins with Ami Ayalon, the former head of Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet.
AMI AYALON: And after the catastrophe of the 7th of October, the war became another instrument to stay in power. He survived in a state of war. He survived in a state of instability. He survived when we fight each other. He survived when our enemies fight each other.

GILI SCHWARTZ: A forever war is beneficial to Netanyahu. This makes people feel like they are always in danger, like they always need him. There is always some huge threat. I think that that helps him remain prime minister.


AMY GOODMAN: That last voice, the young Israeli woman, Gili Schwartz, is from Kibbutz Be’eri, where more than a hundred people were killed on October 7th last year. Alex, if you can elaborate on what they are saying? I mean, as we speak, Netanyahu is in court in Israel right now. What this means? They say he wants to wage wider war because, otherwise, he’s no longer going to be protected by the prime ministership, by being prime minister.

ALEX GIBNEY: That’s right. I mean, I think, strictly speaking, this is a film about corruption. And it starts with petty corruption, being bribed with gifts and cigars, champagne, jewelry. But then, the ultimate corruption is how he’s tried to elude a reckoning for his misdeeds, and in so doing, he wraps himself in the mantle of prime minister and then wages endless war. Now, I can’t think of really anything more corrupt than somebody who is administering the killing of women and children in order to be able to stay in power. But that is what they are alleging, and that is what the film is about.

AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to another clip from The Bibi Files. This one begins with Prime Minister Netanyahu addressing the U.S. Congress this past July.
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Together, we shall defend our common civilization. Together, we shall secure a brilliant future for both our nations.

NIMROD NOVIK: Well, I would say that, tragically, the Americans don’t know how to call him out. There was no plan for ending the war of Gaza, bringing the hostages home and changing dynamics in the region. And things only got worse. Netanyahu is the architect of chaos. And as we speak, when all eyes are on the front in Gaza and the front in Lebanon, he is implementing his plan in the West Bank with the extreme right. He may create a situation where it’s irreversible.


AMY GOODMAN: And that’s Nimrod Novik, former adviser to Shimon Peres, in The Bibi Files, the documentary produced by Alex Gibney, who’s with us now. So, talk about how this trial plays out right now. I think most people in the United States aren’t even aware. I mean, you have the horror in Gaza. You have what’s now taking place in Syria, what’s happening in Lebanon. Explain how this all fits in.

ALEX GIBNEY: Well, this is a trial that’s been going on for four years. And Netanyahu has been trying to elude a reckoning related to these charges for that much time. And what he constantly does is to wrap himself in the mantle of leadership. And so, what better way to do that? And this is a tried and true political formula, as grisly and as grotesque as it is, is to wage war, is to continue to use weapons and say, “We’re in danger of being annihilated, so we must strike back.” But, I mean, the destruction that’s going on in Gaza, for example, is a kind of wanton destruction at this point that is just beyond any kind of moral reckoning. And, you know, I think that also the United States bears some responsibility for this. That’s why we included those clips of him in the Congress. You know, we supply Israel with so much aid and so much —

AMY GOODMAN: And to be clear, Sara, his wife, and when she’s being questioned, she yells at the police and says, “Do you know how he’s treated in the United States when he addresses a joint session of Congress?” Alex Gibney, we’re going to have to leave it there, Academy Award-winning filmmaker and producer of The Bibi Files. His next film is about Luigi Mangione and the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. I’m Amy Goodman. Happy birthday, Jeff Stauch!