Arab Public Opinion about the Israeli War on Gaza

The results of the survey demonstrate the locality of the war as felt by Arab public opinion, with 97% of respondents expressing psychological stress as a result of the war on Gaza.

NEWSROOM

JANUARY 13, 2024 

https://moderndiplomacy.eu/

A night-time bombardment of Gaza City. © UNICEF/Eyad El Baba

The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies announced the results of the public opinion poll regarding the Israeli war on Gaza on Wednesday 10 January 2024. The poll was carried out on a sample of 8000 respondents (men and women) from 16 Arab countries. The survey questions were selected to determine the opinions of citizens in the Arab region on important topics related to the Israeli war on Gaza.

The results of the survey demonstrate the locality of the war as felt by Arab public opinion, with 97% of respondents expressing psychological stress (to varying degrees) as a result of the war on Gaza. 84% expressed a sense of great psychological stress.

Extent of psychological stress felt during the war on Gaza

About 80% of respondents reported that they regularly follow news of the war, compared to 7% who said that they do not follow it, a further indication that the Arab public sees this war as a local event. To access the news 54% of respondents relied on television, compared to 43% who relied on the internet.

Extent of news followship about Israel’s war on Gaza

It is noteworthy that the results highlighted that Arab public opinion does not believe that the military operation carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023 was in pursuit of a foreign agenda. 35% of respondents considered that the most important reason for the operation was the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, while 24% attributed it mostly to defence against Israel’s targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and 8% saw it as a result of the ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip.

The most important motivations for Hamas to carry out the military operation on 7 October 2023

	Most important	Second most important
The ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land	35	13
Defending al-Aqsa Mosque against attacks	24	21
The ongoing blockade of Gaza	8	12
Ongoing and expanding settlement on Palestinian land	6	8
Liberating Palestinian detainees and prisoners in Israeli prisons	6	13
Israel’s rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state	4	5
The United States’ failure to achieve a just peace	2	3
The international community’s disregard for Palestinian rights and the ongoing occupation	4	5
Halting the normalization process between Arab governments and Israel	2	3
Carrying out the plan or agenda of a foreign power such as Iran	2	2
Other	2	1
Don’t know / Declined to answer	5	0
No second option	0	14
Total	100	100

While 67% of respondents reported that the military operation carried out by Hamas was a legitimate resistance operation, 19% reported that it was a somewhat flawed but legitimate resistance operation, and 3% said that it was a legitimate resistance operation that involved heinous or criminal acts, while 5% said it was an illegitimate operation.

Assessments of Hamas’ military operation on 7 October 2023

The results showed that there is an Arab consensus of 92% expressing solidarity with the citizens of the Arab region with the Palestinian people in Gaza. While 69% of respondents expressed their solidarity with Palestinians and support for Hamas, 23% expressed solidarity with Palestinians despite opposing Hamas, and 1% expressed a lack of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Solidarity with Palestinians and support for Hamas

The majority of respondents rejected comparisons between Hamas and ISIS made by predominately Israeli and Western politicians and media personalities.

Comparisons between Hamas and ISIS

When asked about the responses of regional and international powers to Israel’s war on Gaza, 94% considered the US position negatively, with 82% considering it very bad. In the same context, 79%, 78%, and 75% of respondents viewed positions of France, the UK, and Germany negatively. Opinion was split over the positions of Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China. While (48%, 47%, 41%, 40%, respectively) considered them positively (37%, 40%, 42%, 38%, respectively).

Evaluation of international and regional positions

In the same context, 76% of respondents reported that their position toward the United States following the Israeli war on Gaza had become more negative, indicating that the Arab public has lost confidence in the US. Furthermore, respondents demonstrated a near consensus (81%) in their belief that the US government is not serious about working to establish a Palestinian state in the 1967 occupied territories (The West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza).

About 77% of respondents named the United States and Israel as the biggest threat to the security and stability of the region. While 51% saw the United States as the most threatening, 26% considered the biggest threat to be Israel. While 82% of respondents reported that US media coverage of the war was biased towards Israel, only 7% saw it as neutral.

How opinion on US policy in the Arab region has changed since the war on Gaza

Evaluation of US seriousness in establishing a Palestinian state in the 1967 Occupied Palestinian lands

Biggest threats to the peace and stability of the region

	Greatest Threat				Second Greatest Threat
	Gaza war	2022	2020	2018	Gaza War	2022	2020	2018
United States	51	39	44	43	25	25	23	28
Israel	26	41	37	37	33	28	38	40
Iran	7	7	10	13	10	13	19	15
Russia	4	6	2	3	8	8	4	7
France	2	2	2	1	10	5	3	1
Turkey	2	2	2	1	3	2	5	2
China	1	2	1	0	2	2	2	0
Other	1	—	—	—	2	—	—	—
Don’t know / Declined to answer	6	1	2	2	0	—	—	—
No second option	0	—	—	—	7	17	6	7
Aggregate	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Evaluation of US media coverage of the war on Gaza

Arab public opinion sees the Palestinian Cause as an Arab issue, and not exclusively a Palestinian issue. A consensus of 92% believe that the Palestinian question concerns all Arabs and not just the Palestinians. On the other hand, 6% said that it concerns the Palestinians alone and they alone must work to solve it. It is worth noting that this percentage is the highest recorded since polling began in 2011, rising from 76% at the end of 2022, to 92% this year. Some countries recorded significant increases. In Morocco, it rose from 59% in 2022 to 95%, in Egypt from 75% to 94%, in Sudan from 68% to 91%, and in Saudi Arabia from 69% to 95%, a statistically significant increase that represents a fundamental shift in the opinions of the citizens of these countries.

Consideration of the Palestinian Cause as an Arab issue over time

Arab public opinion is almost unanimous in rejecting recognition of Israel, at a rate of 89%, up from 84% in 2022, compared to only 4% who support its recognition. Of particular note is the increase in the percentage of those who rejected recognition of Israel in Saudi Arabia from 38% in the 2022 poll to 68% in this survey. Such a statistically significant increase also applies to other countries such as Morocco, where the percentage rose from 67% to 78%, and Sudan, where it increased from 72% to 81%.

Support/opposition for recognizing Israel over time

When asked about their opinions on what measures Arab governments should take in order to stop the war in Gaza, 36% of respondents stated that Arab governments should suspend all relations or normalization processes with Israel, while 14% of them stated that aid and support should be brought into Gaza without Israeli approval, and 11% said that the Arab governments should use oil as a weapon to assert pressure on Israel and its supporters.

Measures that should be taken by Arab governments to stop the war on Gaza

	Most important measure	Second most important measure
Suspend relations or normalization with Israel	36	15
Deliver aid to Gaza without Israeli approval	14	16
Use the oil weapon to pressure Israel and its supporters	11	13
Establish a global alliance to boycott Israel	9	11
Provide military aid to Gaza	8	10
Announce military mobilization	5	6
Reconsider relations with the United States	4	6
Reconsider relations with states that support Israel’s war on Gaza	3	5
Build alliances with states that have taken practical steps against Israel	3	4
Other	3	2
Don’t know / Declined to answer	4	0
No second option	0	12
Total	100	100

There is a near consensus among Palestinian respondents from the West Bank (including Jerusalem), around 95%, that safety and freedom of movement between the governorates and cities of the West Bank and their sense of security and personal safety have been affected negatively since 7 October 2023.

Negative effects experienced in the West Bank since 7 October 2023

A further 60% of Palestinian respondents in the West Bank said that they had been subjected to or were witnesses to raids by the occupation army forces, while 44% said that they were subjected to arrest or interrogation by the Israeli army, and 22% reported that they were subjected to harassment by settlers.

Frequency of witnessing or happening upon incidences of raids, arrests, or settler harassment in the West Bank since 7 October 2023

This survey is the first of its kind to gauge public opinion on the topic across the Arab region. The field work was conducted from 12 December 2023 to 5 January 2024 in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and the West Bank, Palestine (including Jerusalem). The surveyed communities represent 95% of the population of the Arab region and its far-flung regions. The sample in each of the aforementioned communities was 500 men and women, drawn according to cluster and self-weighted sampling methods to ensure that every individual in each country had an equal probability of appearing in the sample.

Protests sweep across 56 Moroccan cities against ongoing Israeli attacks against Gaza
Demonstrators condemn war in Gaza, support South Africa's 'genocide' lawsuit

Khalid Mejdoup |13.01.2024 - 


RABAT, Morocco

Protests against Israel's attacks in Gaza, which have been ongoing for more than three months, took place in 56 cities in Morocco.

According to a statement from the Foundation for Supporting the Issues of the Ummah civil society organization, demonstrations were organized at 113 locations under the slogan: "No to the displacement of Palestinians."

Protesters, condemning the war in Gaza and the international community's silence, congratulated South Africa for filing a "genocide" case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

They urged the Moroccan government to reconsider its normalization agreement with Israel.

Morocco and Israel signed a normalization deal Dec. 10, 2020, where Morocco resumed diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for recognizing Morocco's sovereignty in Western Sahara.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul

During 100 days of war, a Gaza doctor pushes through horror and loss in his struggle to save lives

By Associated Press AP
 Jan. 13, 2024

Dr. Suhaib Alhamss, the director of the Kuwaiti Hospital in Gaza's southern town of Rafah, kneels in Islamic prayer in his hospital office. Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. Overwhelmed with the dead and wounded as Rafah's population swells with displaced people, Alhamss has struggled to save lives as his hometown and hopsital have transformed over the 100 days of the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — For a few hours every day or night, Dr. Suhaib Alhamss tries to sleep on a thin mattress in an operating room. He swings in and out of half-consciousness, both too tired to open his eyes and too tense to let go. Thunderous shellfire often rattles the windows of the hospital he directs in the southern Gaza Strip.

But the worst sounds, Alhamss said, come from inside Kuwaiti Hospital: the cries of tiny children with no parents and enormous wounds. The panicked screams of patients jolted awake to the realization that they've lost a limb.

The Israel-Hamas war, which started 100 days ago Sunday, has exposed him, his staff and the people of Gaza to a scale of violence and horror unlike anything they had seen before. It has rendered his hometown unrecognizable.

“This is a disaster that's bigger than all of us,” Alhamss, 35, said by phone between surgeries.

His hospital, donated and funded by Kuwait's government, is one of two in the city of Rafah. With just four intensive care beds before the war, it now receives some 1,500 wounded patients each day and at least 50 people dead on arrival — adults and children with shrapnel-shattered limbs and pulped bodies, bone-exposing wounds and tattered flesh.

Over 23,400 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the war, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The count does not distinguish between civilians and militants.

Israel, which mounted its blistering air and ground campaign in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that saw 1,200 people killed and 250 others abducted, holds the group responsible for civilian deaths by embedding militants in buildings used by non-combatants.

To make room for the daily rush of war-wounded, Alhamss has crammed a few dozen extra beds into the intensive care unit. He cleared out the pharmacy, which was largely empty anyway since Israel's siege has deprived the hospital of IV lines and most medicines. Still, patients sprawl on the floors.

“The situation is completely out of control,” he said.

A urologist by training and a father of three, Alhamss has watched aghast as his city and hospital have transformed over the course of the war.

With its low-rise concrete buildings and trash-strewn alleys teeming with unemployed men, Rafah, the strip's southernmost city, long has been a squalid place straddling the Egyptian frontier. Notorious as a smuggling capital during the Israeli-Egyptian blockade, it contains Gaza's only border crossing that doesn’t lead into Israel.

Now it's the flashpoint in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Apartment towers have been blasted into flat, smoldering ruins. Israel's evacuation orders and expanding offensive have swelled Rafah's population from 280,000 to 1.4 million, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians jammed into flimsy tents smothering the streets.

Most people spend hours each day in search of food, waiting in motionless lines outside aid distribution centers and sometimes plodding kilometers (miles) on foot to carry back canned beans and rice.

The faces he sees around the city have changed, too, as Israel presses on with its goal of destroying Hamas. Fear and strain crease the features of his colleagues, Alhamss says. Blood and dust smear the faces of the incoming wounded, while waxy gray skin and eyes circled by darkening rings are marks of the dying.

“You can see the exhaustion, the nervousness, the hunger on everyone's faces,” Alhamss said. “It’s a strange place now. It’s not the city I know."

Aid trucks have trickled through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. But it's nowhere near enough to meet the besieged enclave's surging needs, humanitarian officials say. In the absence of vital equipment, medical staff have applied their ingenuity to new ends. Alhamss dresses patients' wounds with burial shrouds.

“Each day I have people who die before my eyes because I don’t have medicine or burn ointment or supplies to help them,” he said.

He is too overwhelmed to dwell on all that he's seen, but some images spring up unbidden: the vacuous stare of a young boy who survived a strike that killed his entire family, a newborn rescued from his dead mother's womb.

“I think, how will they go on? They have no one left in this world,” Alhamss said. His thoughts turn to his own children — 12-year-old Jenna, 8-year-old Hala and 7-year-old Hudhayfa — sheltering at their grandmother's Rafah apartment. He sees them once a week, on Thursdays, when they come to the hospital to give him a hug.

“I am terrified for them,” he said.

Alhamss knows fellow doctors and nurses who were killed in their homes or on the way to work by artillery, missiles, exploding drones — so many kinds of incoming fire. He has lost dozens of his medical students at the Islamic University of Gaza where he teaches, ambitious men and women “with so much life left to live," he said.

But grief is a luxury he cannot afford. When asked how he felt, he answered with a simple “It's God's will.”

“We all will die in the end, why be afraid of it?" Alhamss asked. “We have no choice but to try to live in dignity, to help those we can.”

___

DeBre reported from Jerusalem.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Israel 'failed to disprove' genocide case before World Court: South Africa


January 12, 2024

Israeli Foreign Ministry Legal Counsel Tal Becker (L) attends the hearing of Israel’s defense at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against South Africa’s genocide case in Gaza against Israel on January 12, 2024, in the Hague, Netherlands 

[Dursun Aydemir – Anadolu Agency]


Israel “failed to disprove” South Africa’s genocide case presented before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa’s Justice Minister said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Following Israel’s defence at the World Court, Ronald Lamola, who led the South African delegation, told reporters in The Hague: “State of Israel, today, failed to disprove South Africa as compelling that was presented before the Court.”

“We believe and remain very confident that those facts (are) still in violation of the Genocide Convention,” Lamola said.

Regarding Israel’s claim that South Africa “misunderstood” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reference to the Amelekites (descendants of Amelek) and that the term has nothing to do with “incitement to genocide against the Palestinian people”, he said that such reference cannot be ignored.

“How can you ignore the statement of the Prime Minister’s Amelek reference?” he asked, noting that it was repeated by other Israeli ministers “clearly showing implementation of policy”.

Amelekites are an ancient group of people seen in the Jewish scriptures as persecutors of the Israelites.

The Minister reiterated:

No matter what some individual within the group of Palestine and Gaza may have done, and no matter how great the threat to Israeli citizens might be, genocidal attacks on the whole of Gaza … with the intent of destroying them cannot be justified at all

Lamola also responded to Israel’s accusation calling South Africa’s arguments “confusing and partial”. He said most of its arguments, including humanitarian aid and displacement, were also by the UN.

Ammar Hijazi, the assistant Minister for Multilateral Affairs of the State of Palestine, said that Israel has “not been able to provide any solid arguments on the basis of fact and law”, during its oral arguments.


What Israel has provided today are many of the already debunked lies that have been said before

Hijazi said.

VIEW: Israel is relying on the US to veto a UNSC verdict should the ICJ rule in favour of South Africa

UN human rights experts welcome start of genocide case against Israel at ICJ


January 12, 2024

UN human rights experts yesterday welcomed the start of the genocide case against Israel that was brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Anadolu news agency reported.

Any decision the ICJ reaches on provisional measures must be respected and implemented by the parties to the dispute, stressed the experts in a statement.

They added: “ICJ decisions are final, binding, and not subject to appeal. Adherence to any order the Court may make by the parties involved is imperative for protecting the rights of Palestinians and reinforcing the primacy of international law.”

Commending South Africa for bringing the case to the ICJ “at a time when the rights of Palestinians in Gaza are being violated with impunity,” the experts called on all states to cooperate with the court.

The experts also welcomed the statements of support by many states for South Africa’s action in bringing the case to the court, as well as the principled stand taken by individuals and organisations in the world that have expressed support for the case by South Africa.

Public hearings in the genocide case against Israel began at the ICJ yesterday, when South Africa presented hard evidence of Israel’s intent to commit genocide by highlighting the calls and actions of the prime minister, ministers and the army since 7 October.

Israel mounts its defence today, saying it is carrying out self-defence.

READ: OIC applauds delivery of South Africa genocide case against Israel at ICJ

Jordan blames Israel for regional tensions; backs S Africa in 'genocide' case

January 12, 2024

Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan speaks during the Security Council meeting on The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at United Nations Headquarters. 

[Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images]


Jordan said, on Friday, Israeli “war crimes” against Palestinians were to blame for heightened regional tension and violence in the Red Sea which it said threatened to ignite a wider war in the Middle East, Reuters reports.

Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, also voiced support for South Africa’s “genocide” case against Israel at the UN’s top Court over the war against Hamas in Gaza, and said Amman was ready to submit legal documents and appear in Court if the case proceeds.

Israel has denied allegations that it has committed war crimes, and rejected as “grossly distorted” the accusations brought by South Africa that the military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide campaign against the Palestinian population.

In comments after the US and Britain launched strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the Movement’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Safadi said the international community had failed to act to stop Israeli “aggression” against Palestinians which was endangering regional security.

“The Israeli aggression on Gaza and its continued committing of war crimes against the Palestinian people and violating international law with impunity are responsible for the rising tensions witnessed in the region,” Safadi said in remarks carried by state media.

The stability of the region and its security were closely tied, Safadi said.

“The international community is at a humanitarian, moral, legal and security crossroads,” he said.

“Either it shoulders its responsibilities and ends Israel’s arrogant aggression and protects civilians, or allows Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his extremist ministers to drag us to a regional war that threatens world peace.”

Safadi said Israel was pushing the region towards more conflict “by continuing its aggression and its attempt to open new fronts,” and that Israeli military actions against civilians in Gaza met the legal definition of genocide.

“Jordan supports South Africa in its case against Israel,” he said. “We will submit legal documentation and appear at the Court when or if the case is accepted.”

'I believe this court case will change things,' protester says outside ICJ

'I'm confident there will be a hearing and I hope it will change a lot of stuff, I think also it's also important to remain in the streets and to still be visible.' As South Africa's case against Israel is held at the International Court of Justice, MEMO speaks to pro-Palestine demonstrators in the Hague who expressed hope that those who are sitting on the fence or unsure about what was happening will now see there is a genocide unfolding in Gaza.

January 12, 2024 

WATCH 

MEMO at the Hague: ‘I believe this court case will change things,’

 protester says outside  ICJ

OPINION
Mr Biden, you are a war criminal


US President Joe Biden speaks at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, on January 5, 2024

 [Kyle Mazza – Anadolu Agency]

by Dr. Johannes Dragsbaek Schmidt
Middle East Monitor.
January 12, 2024 

In case you forgot Joe Biden, you are the commander in chief and the president of the United States. You are responsible for the slaughter and mass atrocities in Gaza. More than 24,000 have been killed in three months and almost 60,000 have been injured; 8,000 more are missing. About two-thirds of those figures are made up of children and women. According to the WFP, 70 per cent of the population is starving and half of the physical infrastructure, housing, hospitals etc have been bombed to rubble. You have signed the death sentence of these innocent human beings. Israel’s leaders openly promote collective punishment and without any hesitation brutally attack hospitals, schools and UN facilities. Untreated sewage and overcrowding are leading to the rapid spread of disease, with the full support of the White House in Washington.

The consequences are that your country is sinking together with Israel and your friend the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. Your country is isolated both diplomatically, politically and morally. Your support of the most intense bombing campaign in history is not only related to human rights, which you normally use as a weapon to coerce other countries, it is also undemocratic, goes against the Geneva Convention and is an attempted genocide and ethnic cleansing. South Africa has filed a case at the main judicial body for the United Nations, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Your country is not only complicit, but in real time Israel would not be able to commit genocide without your help.
Crimes against humanity

Let us take it one by one. The crimes against humanity include mass starvation and famine. The denial of water, fuel, electricity, medical supplies and food to the 2.3 million Palestinians living in the camp, ghetto, prison or whatever you prefer, is not only a war crime it is genocidal examples of aggravated war crimes explicitly prohibited by provisions of the 4th Geneva Convention on Belligerent Occupation. Israel as the Occupying Power does not enjoy any right of self-defence against an Occupied People and is under a pervasive duty to protect the civilian population under all circumstances. Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently said: “For over two months, Israel has been depriving Gaza’s population of food and water, a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a method of warfare.” It added: “World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime, which has devastating effects on Gaza’s population.”


Half of the population are starving, nine out of 10 are not eating every day

According to HRW: “Providing weapons that knowingly and significantly would contribute to unlawful attacks can make those providing them complicit in war crimes.” The same organisation has called for an arms embargo to be imposed on Israel to stop its unlawful attacks.

On 25 December 2023 the Times of Israel wrote that 245 US transport planes and 20 ships have delivered more than 10,000 tonnes of military aid. The Defence Ministry has made 40 billion shekels (almost $2.8 billion) in additional purchases from the US of armaments and military equipment since the start of the conflict.

According to Bloomberg, your country has sent “2,000 laser-guided Hellfire missiles that can be launched from Apache helicopters,” as well as an array of other mortars and ammo, including “36,000 rounds of 30mm cannon ammunition, 1,800 of the requested M141 bunker-buster munitions and at least 3,500 night-vision devices.” Approximately 92 per cent of Israel’s arms industry is either financed by or delivered from the US. These weapons are used to kill Palestinian refugees including women and children in an unprecedented manner. This is not all. Other sources note that Israel is using 155mm shells and 120mm mortar shells to strike both Lebanon and Gaza with white phosphorus. Your Administration has also provided intelligence and logistics help in order to expedite a smooth genocidal war against the Palestinians.

In addition, there are at least 15 US navy ships in the region, air surveillance, American drones over Gaza, fighter squadrons and thousands of troops to project US military strength in support of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank and as a deterrence against Israel’s neighbours.

Mr Biden. This is your legacy

Your government cannot support a ceasefire in the UN Security Council in the unjust onslaught of the people in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In fact, there is no war. There is no self-defence. One of the best equipped armies in the world is committing attempted genocide by using a scorched-earth annihilation strategy. There is no real war taking place. There are some 300,000 soldiers against a small group of 30,000 guerilla fighters with light weapons. This cannot be described as a war. The biggest forced displacement in history of more than two million people, or more than 80 per cent of the total population, in the shortest span of time is the disaster that will taint your records for future historians.

Your unwavering support for the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv is undermining future references to human rights and democracy by your Administration. My guess is that the Orwellian Newspeak of ‘pauses’ instead of ceasefire and ‘no visa for violent and militant settlers’ from the West Bank (implicitly recognising the illegal settlements) are blatantly clear examples of the primitive hypocrisy coming out of the White House. It is easy to see that the attempt to mislead the world by claiming that the US is trying to moderate Israel’s brutal massacre against the Palestinian people is pure propaganda and spin. This is also the case with your government’s rebuke against the fascist ministers in Israel suggesting mass deportation of Palestinians from Gaza.

May I remind you that Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the beginning of October aggressively tried to force Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Adullah to take in hundreds of thousand refugees. In December, your friend Netanyahu told members of the Likud party that Israel is “working to facilitate the so-called ‘voluntary migration’ of Gaza’s Palestinians.”

Danny Danon, Israel’s former ambassador to the UN, was interviewed by Kan Bet radio and claimed he had been contacted by “countries in Latin America and Africa that are willing to absorb refugees from the Gaza Strip.”

“We have to make it easier for Gazans to leave for other countries,” he said. “I’m talking about voluntary migration by Palestinians who want to leave.”

There is no existential threat against Israel from an enemy with no army, no air force, no navy, no state and almost no civilian infrastructure, this is indeed a combat between David and Goliath. As stressed by Jeremy Scahill from the Intercept, Mr Biden you have shown unwavering and staunch support for Israel over the past 50 years. The Palestinians do not have hundreds of nuclear weapons which are in the possession of the so-called Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Israel can burn Gaza and its people to the ground because the US facilitates it, politically and militarily. It does not have hundreds of nuclear weapons. Mr Biden, you have been defending Israel’s disproportionate use of force, collective punishment and brutal massacres in plural.

READ: Erdogan accuses US, UK of ‘seeking bloodbath’ in Red Sea

Your government is also supporting the more than 60,000 American settlers in the West Bank. They believe in the heroism of the terrorists and racists Baruch Goldstein and Meir Kahane, two American citizens whose followers are part of the Likud led government. They are seen as the prophets of the settler movement and the American fanatics who compose approximately 15 per cent of the total settler population in the occupied West Bank. In addition, there are about 100,000 US citizens in occupied East Jerusalem.

During the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, as Scahill notes, in public you Mr Biden were neutral, but in private you met with then Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, and it appears from Begin’s biography that your support for the brutality of the invasion even outstripped the Israeli standpoint. According to Begin’s account, you said you would go even further, even if that meant killing women and children. Israel’s former Ambassador to the United States from 2009-2013, Michael Oren, writes that in Israel’s alliance with America, the first principle was ‘no daylight’. The second, ‘no surprises’. The US and Israel always could disagree but never openly. This is the point as he says “we are an ultimate ally for the United States.”

When elected three years ago, after four years with Donald Trump, you said that you would promise to reclaim the mantle of global leadership as “a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and security.” But now we see your real purpose as a full time promoter of apartheid in Israel and disaster in Gaza.

Israel’s violations of international law include collective punishment, an emerging famine and diseases due the restriction of food, water, medicine and fuel. It is unprecedented and is eroding all narratives about democracy and human rights. You are even violating US law. According to the US Foreign Assistance Act section 620I “No assistance shall be furnished to any country when it is made known to the president that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance.”
Catholicism and terror

Mr Biden, you once referred to himself as “Israel’s best Catholic friend.” A friend who supported and supplied Israel with more than 22,000 guided and unguided bombs which have been dropped on Gaza. According to reports in the New York Times, the Biden Administration is so committed to fuelling the carnage in Gaza that it has even invoked rare emergency powers for transferring tank ammunition without Congressional review. The arms shipment was put on an expedited track right after Washington vetoed a ceasefire proposal in the Security Council.

According to military historian Robert Pape: “Gaza will also go down as a place name denoting one of history’s heaviest conventional bombing campaigns,” comparable to the carpet bombing of German cities in World War II.

Mr Biden, you probably don’t care. One of your famous predecessors Eisenhower advocated “that the nation guard against the potential influence of the military–industrial complex.” This is interesting because it appears that your administration consists of the most right-wing neoconservatives in the history of the United States. Advisers and foreign policy “experts” who still believe the US is Master of the Universe.

Your Administration’s corporate ties illustrate your personal involvement as a warmonger. Your Secretary of Defence and comrade in arms, Lloyd J. Austin III, serves on the board of Raytheon, one of the world’s largest weapons makers while Blinken is affiliated with Pine Island Capital Partners, an investment firm which specialises in defence companies. Both companies have high stakes in delivering deadly weapons for the ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza.

The recent Memorandum on United States Conventional Arms Transfer Policy (CAT) from 23 February 2023, states clearly: “The United States CAT Policy will bolster the security of allies and partners and contribute to shared security objectives; enhance global deterrence; promote respect for international humanitarian law and human rights; adhere to international nonproliferation norms; strengthen partnerships that preserve and extend our global influence. Hypocrisy is evident and the world is watching.”

Mr President, you and your government do not comply with international humanitarian law, but it also seems as though you do not uphold your own laws. This can be seen in the light of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in front of our eyes. The brutal massacres with lethal support from you and your government have clearly shown that you are bereft of commitment to democratic principles. 153 nations demanded a ceasefire in a UN General Assembly vote and again you were isolated when voting against, with ten smaller countries including Israel and Austria. Security Council resolutions were met with a veto from you. It is shameful and shows that you are a war criminal directly supporting famine and genocide. Mr Biden, you, your government and Congress are enabling these annihilations.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

US quietly sent American Air Force unit to aid Israel in Gaza genocide

Middle East Monitor
January 12, 2024

Residents and civil defense teams carry out a search and rescue operation around the rubble of the building that is demolished after Israeli attacks in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on January 8, 2024

 [Ashraf Amra – Anadolu Agency]

The US is quietly providing intelligence to Israel for targeting purposes in Gaza, deploying US Air Force “intelligence engagement officers on the ground,” according to a deployment order obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and published at the Intercept.

While the administration of President Joe Biden has publicly insisted US forces are not directly aiding Israel’s military campaign in Gaza beyond the rescue of prisoners of war, the newly uncovered deployment orders suggest American personnel are secretly advising on offensive target selection and intelligence gathering.

Freedom of Information Act materials show the US Air Force dispatched officers specialising in “targeting intelligence” to Israel in late November as concerns that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza started to grow. The revelation contradicts assurances that US advisers are solely focused on hostage recovery.

READ: Israel’s AI system for target selection has generated ‘mass assassination factory’ in Gaza

“I’ve directed my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise the Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts,” said Biden three days after the Hamas attack.

But several weeks later, on 21 November, the US Air Force issued deployment guidelines for officers, including intelligence engagement officers, headed to Israel, the Intercept reported.

Experts say the team would likely provide satellite imagery and analysis directly used for Israeli bombing of suspected Hamas sites in densely populated Gaza. This sensitive targeting support allows the US to coordinate with Israel’s military while avoiding public scrutiny.

The deployment order was issued by the Pentagon’s air component command for the Middle East, Air Forces Central (for Central Command). The document provides deployment instructions to airmen sent to the country, including “airmen assigned as the Intelligence Engagement Officer (IEO)” — personnel who specialise in sharing sensitive intelligence with partner militaries.

Rights advocates argue that by bolstering Israeli capabilities, Washington makes itself complicit in potential war crimes including genocide. US administration statements celebrate supporting Israel’s “self-defence” but conceal specifics of weapons supplied to the occupation state and intelligence provided to target Palestinians.

“As a general matter, US officials who are providing support to another country during armed conflict would want to make sure they are not aiding and abetting war crimes,” Brian Finucane, a former legal adviser for the State Department who now works for Crisis Group, told the Intercept.

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.

EPA proposes new rules for methane emission fees

BY ZACK BUDRYK - 01/12/24 - THE HILL

A Biden administration rule issued Friday would establish new fees for methane emissions, one of the most potent drivers of climate change, under the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Methane Emissions Reduction Program, an enforcement provision in the 2022 climate law, imposes fees on excess emissions, and those fees will increase over the rest of the decade. The fee will initially kick in at $900 per metric ton this year, rise to $1,200 next year and increase to $1,500 from 2026 on.

The Friday proposal hammers out further details on how the fee would be calculated and when oil and gas facilities would be eligible for exemptions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects the rule will reduce emissions from methane by about 80 percent.

Methane comprises about a third of greenhouse gas emissions, and while it dissipates in the atmosphere faster than carbon dioxide, it is more potent as a warming accelerant.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Friday that facilities will be exempt from the fees if they comply with recently finalized Clean Air Act rules on industrial operations.

“Today’s proposal, when finalized, will support a complementary set of technology standards and historic resources from the Inflation Reduction Act, to incentivize industry innovation and prompt action,” Regan said in a statement. “We are laser-focused on working collectively with companies, states, and communities to ensure that America leads in deploying technologies and innovations that aid in the development of a clean energy economy.”

It received harsh reviews from the American Petroleum Institute, the biggest lobbying group for the oil and gas industry. Dustin Meyer, American Petroleum Institute’s senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs, called on Congress to repeal the fee, saying: “While we support smart federal methane regulation, this proposal creates an incoherent, confusing regulatory regime that will only stifle innovation and undermine our ability to meet rising energy demand.”

Meanwhile, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said the rule was a step in the right direction but that it would be insufficient amid an unprecedented level of fossil fuel production, including record highs for oil production.


“It’s significant that this rule holds polluters accountable for their super-polluting methane emissions, but the real issue is continued fossil fuel expansion,” Jason Rylander, legal director at the CBD’s Climate Law Institute, said in a statement. “After the hottest year on record, we know full well that fines won’t fix the climate emergency. The Biden administration needs to move toward phasing out climate-killing oil and gas, and a good place to start would be denying permits for new facilities to export fracked gas.”

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Proposed Rule to Reduce Wasteful Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Sector to Drive Innovation and Protect Communities

January 12, 2024

Contact Information

EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule to tackle wasteful methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, delivering on Congress’ directive in the Inflation Reduction Act to incentivize adoption of industry best practices that reduce pollution.  The proposed rule will assess a charge on certain large emitters of waste methane from the oil and gas sector that exceed emissions intensity levels set by Congress. Working in tandem with unprecedented funding secured by President Biden under the Inflation Reduction Act and recently finalized technology standards for the industry issued in December 2023, the proposed Waste Emissions Charge encourages the early deployment of available technologies and best practices to reduce methane emissions and other harmful air pollutants before the new standards take effect.

“Under President Biden’s leadership, EPA is delivering on a comprehensive strategy to reduce wasteful methane emissions that endanger communities and fuel the climate crisis,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Today’s proposal, when finalized, will support a complementary set of technology standards and historic resources from the Inflation Reduction Act, to incentivize industry innovation and prompt action. We are laser-focused on working collectively with companies, states, and communities to ensure that America leads in deploying technologies and innovations that aid in the development of a clean energy economy.”

“I’m pleased to see the Biden Administration move forward with this critical program to slow climate change and protect our one and only planet,” said Senator Carper, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “We know methane is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in our atmosphere in the short term. Thankfully, the Methane Emissions Reduction Program – which Congress adopted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act – will incentivize producers to cut wasteful and excessive methane emissions during oil and gas production.”

“For too long it has been cheaper for oil and gas operators to waste methane rather than make the necessary upgrades to prevent leaks and flaring. Wasted methane never makes its way to consumers, but they are nevertheless stuck with the bill,” said Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “The Methane Emissions Reduction Program and the proposed Waste Emissions Charge will ensure consumers no longer pay for wasted energy or the harm its emissions can cause. I commend EPA for taking the next step to hold the largest polluters accountable and protect American families from dangerous methane pollution.”

“EPA’s proposal for a fee on oil and gas methane pollution implements the clean air protections for Americans that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund. “It’s common sense to hold oil and gas companies accountable for this pollution. Proven solutions to cut oil and gas methane and to avoid the fee are being used by leading companies in states across the country.”

Methane is a climate “super pollutant” that is more potent than carbon dioxide and responsible for approximately one third of the warming from greenhouse gases occurring today. The oil and natural gas sector is the largest industrial source of methane emissions in the United States. Quick reduction of these methane emissions is one of the most important and cost-effective actions the United States can take in the short term to slow the rate of rapidly rising global temperatures.

EPA issued a final rule in December 2023 to sharply reduce methane emissions and other harmful air pollution from new and existing oil and gas operations.  In addition, EPA is working to implement the three-part framework of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program.

First, EPA is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to utilize resources provided by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act to provide over $1 billion dollars in financial and technical assistance to accelerate the transition to no- and low- emitting oil and gas technologies, including funds for activities associated with low-producing conventional wells, support for methane monitoring, and funding to help reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations.

Second, EPA is working with industry and other stakeholders to improve the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program and increase the accuracy of reported methane emissions.    

Third, with today’s proposal, EPA seeks to encourage facilities with high methane emissions to meet or exceed the levels of performance set by Congress – performance that is already being achieved by leading oil and gas companies. The Inflation Reduction Act established a Waste Emissions Charge for methane from certain oil and gas facilities that report emissions of more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.  As directed by Congress, the Waste Emissions Charge starts at $900 per metric ton of wasteful emissions in 2024, increasing to $1,200 for 2025, and $1,500 for 2026 and beyond, and only applies to emissions that exceed the statutorily specified levels.

EPA’s proposed rule addresses details regarding how the charge will be implemented, including the calculation of the charge and how exemptions from the charge will be applied. Facilities in compliance with the recently finalized Clean Air Act standards for oil and gas operations would be exempt from the charge after certain criteria set by Congress are met. The agency expects that over time, fewer facilities will face the charge as they reduce their emissions and become eligible for this regulatory compliance exemption. 

In the meantime, the Waste Emissions Charge will help encourage the oil and gas industry to stay on target to lower emissions. Oil and natural gas operations with methane emissions in excess of the emissions intensity levels established in the Inflation Reduction Act can reduce or eliminate any charge by deploying readily available technologies to reduce harmful and wasteful emissions. This program will help to level the playing field for industry leaders already employing best practices and drive near-term opportunities for more widespread methane reductions while EPA and states work toward full implementation of the Clean Air Act standards.

Together, EPA’s Clean Air Act rule and the three Inflation Reduction Act provisions will advance the adoption of clean, cost-effective technologies, reduce wasteful practices, and yield significant economic and environmental benefits, while driving continued innovation in methane detection, monitoring, and mitigation techniques.

For more information, please visit the Methane Emissions Reduction Program website.

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern marries after years of delays

Former NZ prime minister Jacinda Ardern with her partner Clarke Gayford following her victory speech in 2020 

(Mark Baker/AP)

SAT, 13 JAN, 2024 -
AP REPORTERS

New Zealand’s former prime minister Jacinda Ardern has finally married her longtime partner, Clarke Gayford, in a private ceremony in the scenic Hawke’s Bay region of Aotearoa.

The former Kiwi leader finally tied the knot with her now-husband after almost five years of engagement, a Covid-19 postponement, the birth of their daughter, and running a country.

Details of the event were closely held by the pair, but the ceremony is reported to have been staged at a luxury vineyard in the Kiwi food and wine region, 200 miles from New Zealand’s capital, Wellington.

The former New Zealand prime minister was seen embracing her new husband, Clarke Gayford, at their wedding

 (Felicity Jean Photography via AP)

It is believed only family, close friends and a few of Ms Ardern’s former colleagues were invited, including her successor and former prime minister Chris Hipkins.

Earlier, police met with a small group of protesters who had plastered a wall with dozens of anti-vaccination posters outside the venue. One protester was also seen holding a sign that read “Lest we forget jab mandates” on the outskirts of the property.

Ms Ardern, 43, and Mr Gayford, 47, reportedly began dating in 2014 and were engaged five years later, but due to Ms Ardern’s government’s Covid-19 restrictions that reduced gatherings to 100 people, the wedding planned for the southern hemisphere summer of 2022 was postponed.

“Such is life,” Ms Ardern said at the time of their decision to call off the wedding. “I am no different to, dare I say, thousands of other New Zealanders.”

Just 37 when she became leader in 2017, Ms Ardern quickly became a global icon of the left. She exemplified a new style of leadership and was praised around the world for her handling of the nation’s worst-ever mass shooting and the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2018, Ms Ardern became just the second elected world leader to give birth while holding office. Later that year, she brought her infant daughter to the floor of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Ms Ardern at her wedding in Havelock North, New Zealand

 (George Heard/AP)

New Zealand, under Ms Ardern’s government, had some of the strictest coronavirus mandates in the world, which prompted several rallies during her final year as prime minister. It also led to a level of vitriol from some that previous New Zealand leaders had not experienced.

Ms Ardern shocked New Zealanders in January 2023 when she said she was stepping down after five-and-a-half years as prime minister because she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do the job justice in an election year.

Since then, Ms Ardern announced she would temporarily join Harvard University after being appointed to dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has also took an unpaid role combating online extremism.

In June, Ms Ardern received one of New Zealand’s highest honours for her service leading the country through a mass shooting and pandemic. She was made a Dame Grand Companion, meaning people will now call her Dame Jacinda Ardern.

SPORTS GRIFT

ESPN returns 37 Emmys won using fake names: report

BY CAMERON KISZLA - 01/12/24 THE HILL


(KTLA) — The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) has taken back at least three dozen Emmy Awards that were won by fake ESPN employees, then re-engraved and given to hosts who were ineligible for the awards, according to a report in The Athletic.

NATAS has taken back 37 awards given for the “College GameDay” program, which won multiple awards for outstanding weekly studio show.

At the time of the show’s victories, on-air talent was prohibited from winning outside of individual categories to “prevent front-facing talent from winning two awards for the same work (termed ‘double-dipping’ in the NATAS rulebook),” The Athletic reports.

In an attempt to honor on-air talent, however, ESPN executives included employees with names “similar to the names of on-air personalities — and with identical initials,” according to Katie Strang’s report.

“Since at least 2010, ESPN inserted fake names in Emmy entries, then took the awards won by some of those imaginary individuals, had them re-engraved and gave them to on-air personalities,” Strang reported.

Some of those who took awards intended for fictitious “associate producers” were faces of the network, such as Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, and reporters such as Shelley Smith and Gene Wojciechowski.

The Athletic also analyzed some on-air talent’s social media posts about their Emmy Awards and noted that some, such as “SportsCenter” anchor Linda Cohn, received awards for which they were not eligible.

Patriots, coach Bill Belichick mutually part ways

The award winners declined to comment or could not be reached by The Athletic. In a statement, ESPN confirmed they brought in outside counsel for an investigation and “the individuals found to be responsible were disciplined by ESPN.”

“Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names that may go back to 1997 in Emmy categories where they were not eligible for recognition or statuettes,” the statement said. “This was a misguided attempt to recognize on-air individuals who were important members of our production team. Once current leadership was made aware, we apologized to NATAS for violating guidelines and worked closely with them to completely overhaul our submission process to safeguard against anything like this happening again.”

As a result of the revelations, NATAS has barred ESPN executives from future Emmy consideration, and the “senior leadership of ‘College Gameday'” is also barred from this year’s ceremony, NATAS told The Athletic.

“While it is not known who orchestrated the scheme, Craig Lazarus, vice president and executive producer of original content and features, and Lee Fitting, a senior vice president of production who oversaw ‘College GameDay’ and other properties, were among the ESPN employees NATAS ruled ineligible from future participation in the Emmys,” the report said.